Five Sails continues to prove it's one of Vancouver's top fine dining destinations
Listen, we know there are so many restaurants opening in Vancouver that it can be hard to revisit some of the ones that have been around for years. However, take this as your sign that you need to return to Five Sails (or experience it for the first time).
The bougie restaurant located in the Pan Pacific Hotel is definitely no spring chicken, with the restaurant dating all the way back to 1986 when it first opened. But, since its revamp in 2020 when it underwent a change in ownership from previous owners Chef Ernst Dorfler and Gerry Sayers to the current Glowbal Group, the restaurant has proved time and time again that it is well worth a follow-up visit if you haven’t been in a while — especially since Chef Alex Kim has joined the team.
Kim has been cooking at the restaurant since 2022, but you may recognize him more from his recent TV debut as the runner-up on Top Chef Canada season 12 (the same show that shot the owner of Touk chef Chanthy Yen to stardom the year prior). He’s also received accolades like winning gold at the 2025 Canadian Culinary Championships. This all goes to say, he obviously knows what he’s doing when it comes to food, which is immediately clear when you taste the incredible food he is cooking up.
We had the recent pleasure of stopping by the restaurant and experiencing its current featured tasting menu titled “The Altitude: B.C. Spring.” Here, Kim walks patrons through a tasting menu that takes you from B.C.’s waters all the way to the mountain tops.
Kim explained that the menu was inspired by his travels through Peru, where the ingredients and cooking techniques shifted with the elevation. This menu brings that same perspective home, with each course featuring a different part of the province, both in ingredients and also in how it’s prepared.
Diving in (quite literally), we were presented with the first course themed around Coastal Waters, which included one of our favourite bites of the evening.
Fans of Kim will not be surprised to hear that we were presented with The Oyster. This dish is a take on a dish that Kim prepared during the Canadian Culinary Championships, one that includes a delicately poached oyster served on an edible tartlet shell. Looking at the oyster and being told you can eat the whole thing, shell and all, almost feels like a prank. But after encouragement from our server, we took the plunge, and oh boy, was it worth it.
The Oyster (Marco Ovies/Dished)
Following this first course (which also included a delightful bite of what can best be described as a mini seaweed taco with Pacific shrimp, cucumber, and sea grapes alongside a delightful pairing of 2019 Tinhorn Creek, Blanc de Blancs, from the Okanagan Valley) was an equally whimsical and elevated bite.
Moving into the Deep Waters segment of the menu, we were equally surprised by the Albacore Tuna and Caviar. This dish featured something we had never seen on a menu before: tuna ice cream. What we initially thought was a simple tin of kaluga caviar actually hid a layer of tuna ice cream meant to be dolloped onto a delightful waffle made of Kennebec potatoes that was also topped with a mixture of gochujang and more tuna.
Albacore Tuna and Caviar (Marco Ovies/Dished)
Albacore Tuna and Caviar (Marco Ovies/Dished)
This is another one of those dishes that, despite sounding a bit unconventional, is one you need to experience. Plus, this is expertly paired with Baptism by Firetruck Cider from Truck 59, which is located in Kelowna. There’s something delightful about being presented with a can of cider during a wine-paired meal, a feeling that Glowbal’s wine director, Sarah McCauley, continued to evoke during our meal.
Other highlights from this portion of the menu included the Scallop bundled inside a mandu and served on top of a shellfish bisque with asparagus and citrus foam (paired with a sake from Artisan Sake Maker located here in Vancouver), and Halibut with charred peas, spinach, and a shio koji broth.
Following this, we were invited by our server into the kitchen, where we entered the Valleys and Foothills section of the menu and enjoyed a lovely bite of Liver Paté paired with tart rhubarb and a buttery sablé breton. Kim had presented us with a number of dishes at our table so far, but this allowed us the opportunity to ask him any questions and see exactly where the magic happens.
Liver Paté (Marco Ovies/Dished)
Once brought back to our table, we were presented with the Fraser Valley Chicken, which had one of the more unique presentations we saw that night. Here, in place of a sauce, Kim opted for what can best be described as am edible white blanket of sorts. Once cut into, we discovered our chicken, along with some other fun flavours that we won’t spoil. Kim shared that hiding the dish under this blanket adds to the surprise and fun for the guests. This was also served with an edible centrepiece: deboned chicken wings (served on a fork for easy eating) and a foie gras custard.
Fraser Valley Chicken (Marco Ovies/Dished)
Our meal then moved into the Interior Planes, and featured other standout bites including Beef Cheeks served with an onion tarte tatin, herb-stuffed Wild Morel, and Spring Lamb with a stinging nettle and ramp chimichurri.
Our meal was coming to a close as we summited the metaphorical mountain and entered the Sub-Alpines and Mountains section of the menu. Here is where desserts lived, including the fresh Wild Berries served with gold strike honey and preserved currant, following the Wildflowers served with spruce tip semifreddo and meringue.
Wildflowers (Marco Ovies/Dished)
And while we can gush about the incredible menu served by Kim and the expertly paired beverage program courtesy of McCauley, we need to give credit where credit is due to Elaine England, restaurant and bar manager at Five Sails.
Instead of a wine to pair with our dessert, we were presented with the Alpenglow — a concoction consisting of Licor 43, elderflower, lemon, spruce tip, and egg white. There is so much to love about the cocktail menu here — so much so that we needed to order a few other cocktails.
Alpenglow (Marco Ovies/Dished)
While not technically part of this spring tasting menu, England is serving what we consider one of our favourite cocktails in the city on this most recent iteration of the Five Sails bar menu. Called Toasted Grove, this nutty, rich, and warm cocktail is a perfect way to end any meal in our opinion. It’s a deceptively simple drink and includes house-made brown butter maple-infused rum and lemon bitters. If you were to order anything extra with this tasting menu, this is the drink to do it with.
Now four years into his tenure at Five Sails, Kim and his team are still crafting an experience that surprises and delights. So do yourself the favour and, if it’s been a while since your last visit and you’re looking for a truly special meal, make that return visit to Five Sails. It’ll be well worth your time.
Five Sails
Address:Â 999 Canada Pl., Vancouver
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