My friends and I were very excited to try Published on Main, which was recently voted as Canada’s Best Restaurant. It is truly amazing that a Vancouver Restaurant was selected as Canada’s Best Restaurant. We wanted to see what the hype was all about, and determine if it was well-deserved or overrated.
Contemporary with an emphasis on local and sustainable ingredients, Published enjoys supporting their much loved local farms and producers. Highlighting the best of what they can find for each season, quite literally as they have a passion for foraging born of our journey through some of Europe’s top restaurants.
They definitely offer a large variety of carefully curated dishes, and flavours to be shared amongst friends. I found their dishes to be very aesthetically pleasing and inventive. As someone with a restricted diet, I did not taste most of the plates we ordered, so cannot comment, but my friends really enjoyed the Aebleskiver, Mussels and Yellowtail, in particular.
The vibe at the restaurant is very approachable and modern, and is a great choice for a special occasion restaurant.
The green harissa cauliflower was the main dishes I ordered, which was a truly delicious and unique take on cauliflower. Slightly spicy, it had many interesting layers of flavours, and was rather filling.
honey mussels in jalapeno escabeche with fennel and hazelnut
My friends mentioned that this was one of the best dishes. A friend said this was the best dish he had ever eaten at a restaurant.
yellowtail crudo with elderflower ponzu, shiso and green rice furikake
This was also a popular dish.
Summer salad - charred cucumber with cherries, tomatoes and a pecan tasty paste
Aebleskiver - three savoury danish donuts stuffed with stewed herbs and served a top a fresh herb emulsion
This was another popular dish, which reminded them of Asian pastries.
Cavatelli - bc fire morel mushrooms and barley grass fed butter
Hay - aerated hay custard with green apple and chamomile
I really enjoyed this dessert, which had impeccable presentation, had very interesting flavours and was not too sweet. It was a refreshing way to end the meal.
Memorable apple cider vinegar jellies and toffee candies accompanying the bill were a literally sweet end to the meal.
Overall, this was quite a fascinating experience. Is Published on Main Canada’s Best Restaurant? Maybe, maybe not. I like the concept of sharing plates, so customers can try a lot of different dishes. Published on Main sets itself apart from other restaurants from its emphasis on local and sustainably sourced ingredients, and innovative dishes. I was glad to have had the opportunity to try Canada’s Best Restaurant.