Araxi

The Top Table Group boasts four multiple-award winning restaurants. Having enjoyed CinCin, West and Blue Water Cafe in Vancouver, it was only natural that we book a table at their remaining one, Araxi, when we finally made a return trip to Whistler.



In Vancouver, when we go to a fine dining restaurant, it is usually in conjunction with a date night, and the kids stay at home with a grandparent. As this was our special dinner on this vacation, the whole family was in attendance.

The cocktail menu features a page of classics and a page of originals. We chose from the latter, a Frozen Vine,

and a Fig Jam.

We couldn't leave the kids out of the fun, and they each got a Shirley Temple.

One of Araxi's claims to fame is its use of locally sourced ingredients. Lucky for us that our coastal waters have an abundant variety of seafood. We let our server choose our oysters, and he brought us a Gorge Inlet and a Kusshi from Cortes Island, and a Satori from Denman Island.

Where is the wine? Yes, yes, here it is. A lovely Sancerre.

We were given a kid's menu, but the only thing we ordered from it was a vegetable roll as a starter. It was so good, we actually ended up ordering another one later on.

Worried, needlessly in retrospect, that the kids didn't have enough to eat, we ordered the Chilled Soba Noodles as a second appetizer. Good in theory, but it wasn't a hit. With them. I thought it was delicious.

Seeing the Vancouver Island Octopus on the menu, we knew we had to order it. Both the octopus and squid were perfectly cooked and the chickpea puree was a boisterous accompaniment.

The Dungeness Crab Egg Crepe Roll featured crab rolled with wild smoked salmon and an egg crepe. Refreshing and subtly flavoured, it provided a happy counterpoint to the intense octopus dish.

Impeccably decorated, the room was comfortable yet elegant.

For the kids, we ordered a couple of rib-eye steaks for them to share, substituting fries for the potato terrine, mushroom saute and sauce au poivre.

Arctic char, a cousin to salmon, has seen steadily increasing popularity over the years. Araxi's dish saw it served with aged cheddar croquettes, trout caviar, crème fraîche and grainy mustard vinaigrette, along with parsley root puree and roasted local beets.

The B.C. halibut in a roasted garlic and almond crust was served with North Arm parsnips, puffed Manitoba wild rice, nugget potatoes and a saffron butter sauce. Delicate halibut is often hit or miss at many restaurants, but here it was very succulent.

It's not often we bother ordering dessert for the kids, but when we do, (dairy-free) sorbet is usually the only option. Here the flavours were coconut, mango and raspberry (not pictured).

We were excited to see lemon tart on the menu, and it was an easy decision, especially since it came with a raspberry coulis.

Our final dessert was the Apple Tarte Tatin, caramelized Royal Gala apples in puff pastry, served with house churned sour cream ice cream. It was gooey and crisp, with the nicely-sour ice cream offsetting the lavish sweetness of the caramelized apples.

To wrap up the meal, our server brought us housemade mandarin orange jellies. Slurp!