1038 Canada Place, Vancouver

Located inside the Fairmont Pacific Rim, 2^nd floor

Tel: 604-695-5500

Web: http://www.orucuisine.com/

Twitter: @OruRestaurant

Advice: Organize a group of up to 12 friends and request the Chefs Table – this is a foodies dream (advance reservations are a good idea).  Skip the bottled water and have a glass of their filtered tap water.

Bradsell Bramble Cocktail

In this stunning room which is ever so sleek and stylish, my dining experience began as I my dining companion and I reviewed the Pan-Asian inspired menu. All the dishes looked so interesting yet so different, our server provided some helpful guidance with the appetizers and the flavour profiles, we ordered some drinks and appetizers to begin. My friend had a glass of wine while I had the Bradsell Bramble Cocktail ($10) Plymouth gin, fresh lemon juice, sugar syrup, crème du mere.

Grilled Korean Beef Short Rib

Mou Shu Duck Leg

Iceburg Lettuce and Persimmons Salad

We both wanted to taste all the dishes we ordered so we decided sharing was the best way to taste the way thru the menu. We began with the Grilled Korean Beef Short Rib ($14) with bibb lettuce, samjang sauce; this followed by the Mou Shu Duck Leg ($12) steamed buns with hoisin-plum sauce. Then the fun began, we couldn’t decide which entrees to have as they all looked so good, our server suggested we order a salad and upon her advice we enjoyed the refreshing Iceburg Lettuce and Persimmons Salad ($9) with pea tendrils, apple-miso vinaigrette.

Executive Chef David Wong

Vegetarian Chow Fun

Murgh Makhani

Grilled 16oz “Crying Tiger” Rib eye Steak

I was then introduced to Executive Chef David Wong who came by to visit and to offer his suggestions as to which entrees we should have to complement our already delicious meal. The Chef has a wonderful talented team of multi-ethnic chefs in the kitchen who are from all over the Asia-Pacific and each inspired the various menu creations. Our next dish was the Vegetarian Chow Fun ($15) broad noodles, shitake mushrooms, gai lan, bean sprouts, sweet soy which was a huge bowl of comforting noodles and vegetables. We paused to savour the flavours of all the dishes we have already enjoyed. With Chef Wong’s guidance we did choose a couple of entrees to share, both were completely different. Since the restaurant has their own Tandoor oven we had to have the Murgh Makhani ($18) tandoor roasted chicken, naan bread, mint chutney which I loved, this followed by the Grilled 16oz “Crying Tiger” Rib eye Steak ($38) with maitake and shimji mushrooms, chili-lime sauce. If you love steak this “Crying Tiger” is a must, it is served sliced over a bed of greens and topped with the mushrooms and the sauce on the side for dipping.

The restaurant is large and spacious, with large windows on the north and east with views overlooking the Vancouver Convention Centre. I loved the communal table in the centre for those who are dining solo or those who want to meet others while dining. For foodies who love to entertain, instead of eating in, have your friends join you at ORU at the Chef’s Table and the Chef and his team will take care of you with special dishes from the kitchen. ORU which is named for the Japanese word meaning “to fold” has added a design element to the restaurant features with an amazing 54 metre long origami light sculpture on the ceiling that was designed by Joseph Wu.

Dessert Taster Plate

To end our meal, dessert was a must, however I couldn’t decide as all the desserts sounded so intriguing. So what do I do when I can’t decide, I had the server put together a Taster plate for us and ordered all the desserts. Of the seven desserts on the platter my favourites were the Silken Ganache Chocolate Tart with toasted coconut, fruit medley and the most delicious Cardamom Ice Cream; Lassi Parfait with mango gelee, vanilla ice cream and chocolate ginger cookies; Caramel-Pineapple Bread Pudding with lime sugar and jackfruit ice cream.

The restaurant has an impressive cocktail list, wines by the glass or by the bottle and other beverages. I will be back soon for lunch as I want to try one of their Vietnamese subs that I have already heard about.

Review by: Richard Wolak