When I visited: March 2018

Location: Vancouver (within the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel)

Rating in the Michelin Guide: Not rated in the Guide

Dining Owl Hoot rating: 4/5

Team: Hector Laguna (Executive Chef), Jayden Kresnyak (Sous Chef), Mark Amos (Sous Chef)

What to wear: Men – jeans or nice trousers and a shirt; women – jeans and a smart top or a smart dress / workwear

Ambience: Smart / casual, sleek

Course of the meal: Arctic char

If I could change one thing: Better pen for writing out the check

Review:

I hate jet lag, but a good cure for it is a light lunch following a nap, and Botanist is a great choice if you are in Vancouver. The restaurant has quite a ‘businessy’ vibe with lots of meetings going on on a weekday, but you could also go casual. The emphasis on lighter, healthier food and sensibly-sized portions, as well as the light, bright décor reminded me of London restaurants like Spring, Core and Texture.

We ordered jasmine teas to drink and got cubes of brioche with European style creamy butter while looking at the menu (and admiring its stylish font, along with the shiny Robert Welch cutlery). The mains of Arctic char with wild rice, red cabbage, a mustard quenelle and tarragon were gorgeous, well above the average fish dish. The lemon ring-shaped polenta cake with quenelle of lemon sorbet, panna cotta, tart apple mini cubes and champagne jelly was also exquisite.