VANCOUVER COURIER
A visit to Main Street Reef as friendly as trip to the Islands
First impressions are everything. How can you not warm up to a place where staff can’t do enough for you? We hit The Reef (figuratively speaking) at a time of evening when this cozy, colourful room is ablaze with the sun’s late, but intense rays. “No problem!” says our server. “We’ve got a bucket of sun glasses over here?” “Can we use a phone?” “I’ll bring you one,” she says, and delivers a cordless to the table.
Even before we see the menu, this place warms our hearts. And then I find myself wondering why such elemental pleasantries should stand out so much in a city whose economy is supposedly based on hospitality.
Aside from service, the Reef excels in the way It wears its ethnicity so comfortable. A constant background of reggae and calypso seems to dance with the room’s vibrant oranges, yellows and greens that match the floating flowers at the tables. Yet the Caribbean character is never so much in your face as to displace space. In fact, it only enhances it. Casual, cheerful and affordable, no wonder the Reef has already gained a popular following.
Three more words that will either tempt you or temper your enthusiasm: jerk, roti and hot. Spice hounds will find a list that runs the gamut from fiery jerk chicken wings to soundly peppered roti, curries and more.
Less robust palates will probably steer towards a sextet of coconut and lime-touched shrimp stretched out on a fluffy bed of pilaf($8), or the surprisingly quiet tones of ackee and saltcod-Jamaica’s proclaimed national dish that resembles scrambled eggs with a gently spicy flavour ($8).
Even if it sounds esoteric, ackee and salt fish is actually a very tasty item. Ackee is an evergreen fruit, not native to Jamaica but introduced to the region from West Africa, in the 18th century. In fact, Caribbean cuisine flows from a wide variety of ethnic influences, dominated by African and East Indian, and conjures up romantic images of swashbuckling seafarers. Jerk cooking has its origins in the slow smoke, pit-roasting technique know as boucan and favoured by a lively bunch of Frenchmen, known as “buccaneers”-who introduced it too the Islands.
Blackened jerk chicken wings ($6) make for a great starter with sufficient carbon but heat not so excessive as to nuke RandB’s smoothly textured dark cream ale (offered by the pitcher $13.85-12 on Wednesdays). Also good for nibbling are plantain chips with (mild) ketchup for dipping ($4) and the house patties ($3.50). A small army of hot sauce bottles marches onto the table, including mango-based fruit chutney whose innocent beginnings belie its incendiary conclusion.
Overall, though, unless you ask for it (or douse your plate carelessly with dollops of Fear itself or other such concoctions), the heat here is manageable. Curries come with cooling dahi (mint and yogurt infusion) and mango chutney, that go especially well with the goat (quite tender and served bone-in, $8).
The roti is also well prepared, tender and substantial, wrapped in a solid flat bread papoose and redolent with spices ($8). Run-glazed ribs are meaty though less interesting ($9).
Speaking of rum, my guess is that The Reef’s list adds up to one of the better offerings in town. Beers run from a trio of locals on tap to a few Caribbean prerequisites like Red Stripe and Dragon, Wines, though, are a tough call for this kind of food. However, Intelligent, well-priced populist choices include Quails Gate Gewurztraminer and Hawthome Mountain Riesling. Fruit cocktails-and, yes they have parasols-wrap up a good list that makes this a respectable neighbourhood watering hole (complete with small bar) between chicken wings.
As the rays give way to an atmosphere almost resembling the languid aura of a Caribbean night, and the kitchen’s pyrotechnic flashes become less frequent, plaster cast masks on the rear wall-each with proprietary candle-seem to wing in silent approval, in tapas-crazed Vancouver, affordability rules. With nothing on the menu over $10 and service to match the happy mood, a visit to The Reef is almost as friendly as a trip to the Islands themselves.
Courier dining reviews are conducted anonymously.
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