All the beef served at upscale White Rock eatery is aged for 36 days, seven of those on-site, to bring out succulent flavour
Shannon Kwantes
Sun
Onyx Steakhouse & Lounge executive chef Amanda Smith and manager Sean Nelson show off the filet mignon, prime rib-eye and the White Rock restaurant’s own brand nine-litre bottle of wine. Ward Perrin / Vancouver Sun
At a Glance:
Ambience: ****1/2
Service: ****1/2
Food: ****1/2
Overall: ****1/2
Hours: Sunday – Thursday
Restaurant 4:30 – 10 p.m.
The Lounge 5 – 11 p.m.
www.onyxsteakhouse.ca
604-542-0334
1225 Johnston Rd.,
White Rock
V4B 3Y8
It’s a time of year for celebration, and Onyx Steakhouse & Lounge was having one on the night we visited. The upscale White Rock restaurant was marking its one-year anniversary and, by the time we left, it was a full house and the wine and conversation were flowing.
Onyx is a contemporary boutique steakhouse that seems to cater to the stylish 45-plus crowd, with the occasional table of younger guests. Proprietors Nicolas and Angela Popoff also own Pearl on the Rock, a few blocks away on the waterfront.
We were greeted by John Linn, the friendly restaurant director, who seated us in a cosy nook with two leather-like wing back chairs. In a booth beside us was a group of women in their mid-30s having a dinner out and clinking their wine glasses. Most of the servers were young women wearing classy black, but the occasional low-cut, cleavage-baring top had my dining partner struggling to focus on his food at times.
The menu is a la carte – all entrées and side dishes are sold separately. This is a great option for those who don’t like the side dishes that restaurants serve with their entrées, or if you’re not too hungry. The herb butter that came with the bread rolls deserves a mention – it tasted like rosemary tarragon butter, a nice change from the traditional garlic butter. We started with escargot ($9), caesar salad ($8) and roasted organic beet salad ($9). My grandmother used to make escargot that I loved as a kid, so I had to see if Onyx had resurrected the dish into something with a modern flare. I was impressed.
The escargot married perfectly with a variety of mushrooms, as did the texture of the gnocchi. The dish was rich, delightful and mouth-watering. The Caesar came with a smooth homemade traditional dressing with the zip you’d expect from a dressing made fresh. My beet salad was very tasty – slightly spicy with mixed greens and a vinaigrette.
I opted for the catch of the day, Albacore tuna ($22), while my dining partner settled on the 10-ounce filet mignon ($34) after surveying red-meat options from prime rib to porterhouse. The tuna was delicate and smooth, with a nutty sesame crust and peppers that were a sweet complement to the fish: just what I had been craving. My guest’s steak came, and his first impression was not good. He had ordered it medium well, an option described on the menu as “hot, with a small trace of pink in the centre.”
But it came back charred on the outside and fully cooked inside. On the bottom of the menu is a special section that outlines different options for how well done you’d like your steak. The scale is from blue-rare (1) to Chicago (8). Medium well is 5, but his steak was done closer to the 7, the Pittsburgh level. Tasty, but not what he’d ordered.
Amanda Smith, executive chef at Onyx, said all the beef served at the restaurant is aged a total of 36 days, seven of those on-site, to bring out the flavour.
The signature onion rings ($5) deserve recognition – I think they were the best I’ve ever had. They were full of flavour, not greasy, and crisp, not crunchy. “The onion rings were a community project, everyone had their hand in developing the recipe,” Linn said later in a phone interview.
We also snacked on the Gorgonzola mac and cheese ($7) suggested to us by our server, and sautéed vegetables ($6). The vegetables were done perfectly. Dessert was chocolate coolant ($7.50): Creme anglaise with chocolate dripping from the interior complemented by homemade marshmallow. It was delicious and not too heavy after our big meal.
Onyx seats up to 60 people in a modern room with a bar down one wall and contemporary lines, browns and wood tones and a unique ceiling design.
We stayed for a couple of hours and enjoyed ourselves and the food. Reservations can be made online.