New Eats: Feast

When we visited Feast, Dundarave’s new neighbourhood bistro, it was abuzz with a patronage of girls in sleeveless blouses and well-appointed older couples, all gathering for oysters on a pretty patio bordered by herb-stuffed planters.

For starters, avocado and beet fries ($12)—unusual and additive in a crispy light batter—and hearty crab cakes ($21.50). Mains are elegant comfort food by chef Kayla Dhaliwall, like fusilli studded with smoky octopus slices ($24), squash curry with black rice ($22) and fast-food style fried chicken in a batter spiked with paprika and Frank’s Red Hot, served with a flacon of gravy ($22). Feast’s ambiance comes from reclaimed wood furnishings and a baby-boomer slow-dance soundtrack (prompting a fellow diner to exclaim, “I haven’t heard this song since high-school dances!” with a wistfulness we’ll presumably one day feel for Nelly’s “Hot in Herre”).

Current off-menu dessert options include crème brulee or a paper bag of cinnamon sugar mini-donuts (no PNE required). —Adrienne Matei

Feast, 2423 Marine Dr., West Vancouver, 604-922-1155, http://feastdining.ca/