Bin 941 Tapas Parlour (Vancouver, BC)

Since its opening in 1998, Bin 941 has been wowing its customers and critics alike with its approach to tapas-style dining, Pacific Northwest-style. The emphasis is on sharing small plates, a formula that worked so well that other Vancouver restaurants started to adopt the trend. Our good friends took us here several years ago because they considered it one of the best restaurants in the city. The success of Bin 941 has led Chef Gord Martin to open Bin 942 and Go Fish!, both of them equally highly regarded.

So it goes without saying that we needed to return, especially since we were lodging at the WorldMark only blocks away. The menu changes frequently, so the chances of repeating what you had eaten before is not likely. Four of us settled on steamed mussels and chorizo in a mesquite smoked tomato broth; duck breast and fingerling potato on port cranberry jus; spinach salad with fried calamari and white nectarine with toasted coconut dressing; greens with goat cheese and hazelnuts dressed with apple cider clover honey vinaigrette; pommes frites; and portobello mushroom with asparagus gazpacho, goat cheese and aged balsamic vinegar. All were wonderful, but I will most fondly remember the mussels and the bread-dipping-worthy broth.