Tuc Craft Kitchen: Dine Out Vancouver
Last winter, as I was locking my bike to a parking meter* outside of a print shop, I looked across the street to see a small camera unit following a frosted-tipped, sunglass wearing, slightly portly, food connoisseur down the sidewalk. Yes, the Food Network sensation, Guy Fieri was in town to film an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
After multiple takes of Fieri’s exit from a Camaro SS (top down of course – in the middle of winter), the star and his crew entered a small restaurant just off of a narrow alley adjacent to the Bourbon Pub. The restaurant, as I would learn, was the farm-to-table gem: Tuc Craft Kitchen.
I went about the rest of my work day as normal, but that night, as I was retelling my Fieri sighting to a friend, I googled Tuc and was impressed by their menu of elevated simple ingredients. I made a mental note to return.
Fast forward to this year’s Dine Out Vancouver.
Browsing the extensive list of restaurants, I again came across Tuc. It just so happened that the restaurant was two blocks from the theatre I had planned to go to with a date. Perfect. We made a quick last minute reservation for Dine Out and showed up a few hours later.
What a treat! From start to finish, the meal was fabulous.
We were seated in the loft area at the rear of the restaurant. Our waitress was a breath of fresh air. She had answers for all our questions along with excellent suggestions.
After a somewhat lengthy discussion of the menu options, we made our decisions for all three courses.
Appetizers
First to arrive were the ‘salted courgettes & cheese’ accompanied by ‘marrow & hay’. The courgettes (fancy word for zucchini we learned) and cheese plate was a cold, yet tasty bite of veg, vinegar and cheese. The presentation was stellar and the cheese was creamy and fresh.
The courgettes were aptly juxtaposed with the piping hot beef bones with caramelized bone marrow and leek strings. The bones were placed on ciabatta bread, a perfect vessel for soaking up the savoury marrow.
Entrees
For our mains we chose Ayano’s chicken karaage and ribs’n fries. The karaage (fried chicken thighs) was placed upon a bed of tasty yakisoba noodles (stir-fried wheat flour) and flavoured with mirin and sake. The dish had the potential to be very greasy, but it managed to balance precariously on the line of indulgence.
Our other main was less of a cultural leap, but equal in flavour. The ribs’n fries consisted of pork that was falling off the bone, an orange flavoured barbecue sauce and curly yam fries. The meat was terrific, but I felt the fries were slightly underwhelming. My date suggested a quick toss in ‘American Chip Spice” (it’s an English thing…).
Dessert
For dessert, we stuck with the theme of ordering different dishes and were treated with a lemon pudding and butter tart n cream. The pudding was small but decadent, eaten slowly with teaspoons. The tart did not resemble a standard butter tart at all, but ticked all the boxes on salt, sweet and creamy.
There were a few small add-ons for some of the items we ordered, but the base price for both meals was $25. Incredible! I would definitely go back. The standout dish of the evening: marrow & hay.
You can find Tuc Craft Kitchen at 60 W Cordova. Look for a red Camaro out front.
*ProTip: Parking meters are the perfect urban element to lock your bike to. Check out our City Cycling section for more on urban riding.
