I am usually not someone who indulges in fine dining, however, the 30th birthday of a dear friend marked a momentuous occasion for a gathering with a group of close university friends at a fancy restaurant. This was a great mini milestone of sorts during COVID-19, as it allowed us to re-connect with good friends for some much-needed social connection, as well as enjoy a fancy night out in the heart of Vancouver’s downtown area.
I decided to go with the over-dressed theme, as I have not been to a fine dining restaurant in many years, and wanted to go all out.
Unsurprisingly, many popular restaurants such as Nightingale and Miku were fully booked out on the weekend but our VIP managed to clinch a reservation at Black + Blue. I am not someone who frequents steakhouses frequently, so cannot really speak to the quality of the steaks. However, after some discussion, our group of friends decided to go with the tomahawk steak and several seriously delicious sides, split between the 5 of us.
It was a really rich and satisfying dinner, an indulgent treat to celebrate a lot of exciting personal milestones for members of our group.
You are definitely paying a premium for the elevated and stunning ambience. With attentive service and trendy music , Black + Blue is definitely a place to be seen downtown. Black + Blue is also rated as the No. 1 restaurant in Vancouver, so I was really curious about it.
Their glass meat locker located in the center of the bottom floor of the restaurant was seriously awe-inspiring. This restaurant takes their meat seriously!
Even the washrooms were upscale - adorned with marble, mirrors and wood-panelling.
Their starters and sides were rather rich and sinful, but complemented the well-marbled steak perfectly.
We ordered the B + B bread (baked in-house, caramelized onion, maldon salt, balsamic butter, rosemary) - an utterly buttery and soft few slices of heaven on a plate, mac and cheese sticks (truffled cheese sauce) - one of their most popular sides which was really unique, sautéed mushrooms (garlic, rosemary, herb butter) - which really brought out the delicious flavour of mushrooms, a vegetable I am usually quite neutral about, as well as broccolini (chilli, lemon, almonds) - not pictured, but a much-needed and refreshing serving of vegetables to counter-balance the meat. As well, crispy brussel sprouts (lemon, capers, parmesan) were served alongside the main course - delicious, crunchy and a great counter-point to the heaviness of the meat.
Split between 5 people, portions for the sides were just perfect, and added a great deal of variety to a steak meal.
The main course, tomahawk steak, was picture and palate-perfect.
As someone who was inexperienced with eating steak, I asked for mine to be cooked well-done. It was really juicy and tender, even for a well-done chunk of meat. I will definitely be ordering the medium-well or medium-rare version to allow the flavour and juices of the meat to shine through, in the future. My fellow guest licked the tender meat right off the bone.
The tomahawk steak is essentially a bone-in ribeye steak. It is taken from the rib section, with the large rib bone still attached. Its appearance resembles that of a tomahawk ax. Having a bone-in ribeye insulates the meat while it cooks, making your meat more moist and tender. It seems to be one of their most popular items, as we saw a few dining tables order the same gigantic and visually appealing dish, to be shared between a few diners.
We ended off the delicious dining experience with a customized, delicious Matcha passionfruit cake from L’Atelier Patisserie. It was really great - I would recommend it for a birthday cake for a small group of friends. The matcha financier complemented the passion fruit cream & white chocolate matcha mousse, making it a great light and fruity option, which was not too sweet.
Name of the birthday person is removed to protect their privacy
We even spotted some members of the cast of Riverdale, Camilla Mendes and Casey Cott, presumably with their partners, dining there, which was really cool. I guess you can visit Black + Blue to see celebrities ;)
I would recommend Black + Blue for a special occasion, date night or birthday milestone gathering. There seemed to be a lot of couples, friends and birthday events occurring there, and some really fancy rooms for occasions. As someone who is not a steak connoisseur, I cannot speak to the quality of steak compared to other popular Vancouver steak restaurants, but I had a really great dining experience, and it was a classy and memorable occasion.