New Eats: Sai Woo

We love the trees in Sai Woo.

The new restaurant, located in a carefully restored historic Chinatown space, has been beautifully decorated by Falken Reyonds design, with river-stone gradients of grey felt banquettes, exposed brick, mosaic tile, button-disk light features and warm reclaimed wood. But those architectural Persian ironwood boughs reaching throughout the sophisticated dining room stole our hearts as only trees inside can. Our stomachs did well for themselves, too. With a background in Cantonese cooking (plus a dash of influence from Jamaican family), chef Douglas Chang’s menu hits a cool, unpretentious-yet-astute chord, with dishes like Coca-Cola glazed chicken wings, sweet-and-sour sweetbreads and a rare beef salad topped with wakame, preserved celery and crisped leeks with a crunchy rice cake dusted in egg yolk powder (you’ll dab up extra from the bottom of the bowl with your finger). Don’t miss the fried rice, which, elevated by scallion oil, transcends preconceptions, or the tuna salad served on curly kale with a 24-hour marinated tea egg. Cocktails wow, kombucha on tap is nicely balanced and a dessert of steamed molasses cake with sweet butter and kumquat preserves makes for a light and delicate end.

Keep an eye our for the 75-seat underground lounge, soon to open; it’s got the sexy, fly-by-night vibe other venues dream of. —Adrienne Matei

Sai Woo, 160 E Pender St., Vancouver, 604-568-1117, saiwoo.ca