Sneak Preview of New Fishport Seafood Bistro

First things first, I want to make the disclaimer that I am related to Chef Sam Leung, who is the executive consultant of the kitchen and this is how I was able to snag a seat at the sneak peak dinner before the restaurant opened. Completely renovated from top to bottom, the restaurant has 10 tables in the main dining room and 1 private room with a table for 10 people. This is a pretty modest size for a seafood restaurant.

I’m excited about this restaurant for 2 reasons. First reason is that I’ve been enjoying Chef Sam’s eclectic dishes since he was at the helm of Dynasty Seafood Restaurant. His mixture of creative fusion dishes and traditional Chinese dishes led Dynasty Seafood Restaurant to winning ‘Restaurant of the Year 2017’ from Vancouver Magazine, the first Chinese restaurant to ever win that award. My second reason is that the owner of the restaurant, Wendy, is also the owner of a wholesale seafood distribution company. That means the restaurant will not only have access to some of the freshest seafood, but also can offer lower prices by getting rid of the middle man.

Now that the standard information is out of the way, let’s move on to what’s important - the food. I had no idea what was being served. There was a menu printed for that night but since it was in Chinese and I can’t read Chinese, it might as well have been in Sanskrit. Also, a vast majority of Chinese menus are written in pun/poetic fashion to make the dishes “lucky” so even if you can read Chinese, you may still not understand any of it. We started with 2 appetizers - deep fried fish skin and spicy pickled pig’s feet. I know these dishes may sound super off putting to a lot of people but they were delicious. The fish skin was crunchy and salty and did not have any fishy taste. It felt like eating a potato chip but was low carb. As for the pig’s feet, while it was delicious, I am not sure if there’s an accurate but appetizing way of describing the dish. The feet were crispy but gelatinous, slightly chewy, which is exactly what you want with pig’s feet. You’re not looking to eat meat, more of trying to eat the thick skin on the feet. In terms of flavour, it was mostly spicy and garlicky with hints of vinegar. I guess for those uninitiated, it does not smell or taste like feet.

Menu for the evening

Deep fried fish skin

Spicy pickled pig’s feet

Onward with the rest of the menu. The first course was king crab and cantaloupe salad, topped with a generous spoon of caviar, served in a beautiful bowl. The chilled king crab was sweet and the cantaloupe was very refreshing. I am not a huge fan of caviar and I found it to be a bit too salty and overpowering for such a delicate dish. That being said, the king crab and cantaloupe was a very good starter. Next up was another fusion dish with an abalone and seared foie gras over sweet bean curd. I am going to confess that I generally do not like foie gras. The only time I’ve ever liked foie gras was when I had the foie gras poutine at Au Pied de Cochon in Montreal. The foie gras was extremely rich and it definitely needed both the sweet bean curd and the cherry tomatoes to help offset the fattiness. The abalone was cooked perfectly, firm and sweet, not tough or overly cooked but unfortunately, it seemed kind of out of place, like a beautifully dressed third wheel on a date. By the way, if you’re ever in Montreal, go to Au Pied de Cochon and get whatever the chef recommends.

King crab and cantaloupe salad, topped with caviar

Peppered abalone with seared foie gras over sweet bean curd

The third dish was a surprise and was not included in the printed menu (or that’s what I was told). It was cooked eggplant and chopped garlic served in a giant mortar and pestle. A thick soy based sauce is poured over the dish and smashed/prepared tableside. I love dishes prepared tableside because it provides additional drama to any dish. I also love garlic and eggplant. This was one of my favourite eggplant dishes of all time because even with all the smashing, it managed to keep the eggplants from being overly mushy and the garlic provided a kick to the otherwise subtle flavouring in the eggplant. It was a welcomed break after the heavier offering. Next was another individually plated dish of two stir-fried palm sized prawn, with a “sui mai” that’s actually fish maw wrapped around chopped pork and shrimp. The prawn was incredibly fresh and sweet and beautifully cooked. It was firm and just cooked, not rubbery or mushy, like a lot of overcooked seafood tend to be. I really enjoyed going between the saltier prawn and the lighter but creamier “sui mai”.

Chilled eggplant with garlic and soy sauce

Pair of prawns with a fish maw “sui mai”

The next dish was served in what I can only describe a metal tray inside a large wash basin. It’s a traditional village dish of a large fish head cooked in a wine broth with fried eggs and ginger. It’s suppose to be really good for people prone to headaches and it’s DELICIOUS. The broth was milky from the fish and the eggs and ginger added spicy and meatiness to round up the entire dish. This was so amazing that everybody asked for seconds. Don’t worry about fish bones. The head is from a large fish (not really sure which one) and it stayed in large chunks. After the soup, we were presented with a soy sauce chicken. As per tradition, the chicken is served with the head and the butt, to symbolize wholeness and to have a beginning and an end. The chicken was just cooked and was very tender. The soy sauce was pretty light and had a sweetness to it. Being from a seafood restaurant, I was pretty happy with the quality of the chicken.

Fish head and fried egg soup

Soy sauce chicken

The next dish was probably my favourite dish of the night, a Hakka dish, inspired by the owner’s hometown. It was large chunks of fish swimming in a fish broth with spicy and sour preserved vegetable. It was served in a epic bronze vessel. It was so big that I had to include 2 photos, one just to demonstrate the size of it. The fish was supple yet firm and you can taste the sweetness that comes from high quality seafood. The sourness of the preserved vegetable brings a brightness to the dish and the ample amounts of pepper to really spice things up. It shares some similarity to a tom yum goong but it’s also completely different. If you are only getting one new dish to try here, make it this one. It’s huge, delicious and a show stopper. Similarly to the previous dish, I had to include 2 pictures for this next plate of food for size reference. This is probably the largest oyster I’ve ever eaten. It was actually palm size. I don’t really like cooked oyster but for something I generally don’t like, it wasn’t that bad. It was topped with some sesame flavoured seaweed to add some contrast to the oyster. It wasn’t overly soft which I think is a good thing. What I did enjoy was the bite of egg noodles with a creamy sesame sauce hidden underneath the oyster. The sauce taste similar to the Japanese sesame salad dressing. This plate of food was so filling that I was really grateful that it was the last savoury course of the night.

Last dish/dessert course of the night! This also happens to be a classic dessert dish from the chef’s hometown. Steamed egg custard that’s so smooth and silky that it looks like a bowl of milk. In fact, it’s often called steamed milk. It’s often just lightly sweeten and is exquisitely delicate. It’s also the perfect way to end off a 3 hour epic meal.

Fresh fish in broth with peppery preserved vegetables

Large oyster with noodles in sesame sauce

Large oyster with noodles in sesame sauce

Steamed egg custard

I feel like I should finish with some final thoughts. Overall, the restaurant had very high quality seafood and dishes to highlight this. I would say that all the traditional Chinese dishes were amazingly well done and probably some of the best I’ve ever had. When it came to the individually plated courses, they were unique and it was nice to see the chef experimenting but they do feel less cohesive and need to be refined. I would definitely come back whenever I am in the mood for fresh Chinese seafood for dinner. I would highly recommend that you give the restaurant a try - you may need to make reservations though because I heard that they’re fully booked for the next couple of weeks.