Miradoro Restaurant at Tinhorn Creek
byWith the morning sun appearing over the hills and illuminating Osoyoos Lake I am still dreaming about the meal Michelle and I enjoyed at Miradoro last night. Recently handed top honours as “Best Winery Restaurant” in the Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards, Miradoro Restaurant takes the best of BC, and the best of the Okanagan valley, and pairs it majestically with Tinhorn Creek Vineyards‘ lush varietals.
Taking into consideration the calibre of the food, the quality of the wines, the modern design of the restaurant and the spectacular wrap-around views of the entire vine-and-orchard-filled valley, it felt odd to walk into a practically empty Miradoro — but such is the norm around this time of year in this seasonal oasis.
The population of nearby Osoyoos in the off-season is about 5,000 — doubling in the summer months — with the May Long Weekend being the official start to summer. Once the floodgates are open, winery tasting rooms are packed and reservations will be strongly recommended. In the meantime, lucky for us, we were part of a select group of diners who chose Miradoro last night along with a family, and a young couple on a date.
Warming the palette
Michelle had been eyeing the menu online before we even left the Lower Mainland but she selected our starters based on their wine pairings (although we skipped the Chardonnay for the clams and got the 2 Bench Oldfield Series white 2012 with both).
we wai kai scallop & cauliflower
with shallot, caper raisin sauce, sunflower seed
steamed gulf island clams
with chorizo in saffron tomato sauce
I had to go for the Halibut (you can probably check back my ‘Food‘ archives and see that it’s always my favourite dish to try), and I was absolutely charmed by this presentation. Buttery but clean and crisp, with rich couscous and perky valley vegetables.
forno roasted halibut
with charmoula, carrot cous cous, cabbage puree, pickled local walnut, radish
Pairing: Chardonnay 2012
Michelle selected the duck, and while it was less rare than she was used to, there was so flavour lacking whatsoever and the root vegetable fudge offered a sweet contrast.
duck breast
with root vegetable fudge, sunchoke puree, ras al hanout granola, harker’s organic cider
Pairing: Oldfield Pinot Noir 2009
We had to go out in style and peruse the dessert menu, deciding on the lemon crema and tiramisu.
lemon crema
with citrus mint salad & lavender sablé cookie
tiramisu
classic italian pudding with mascarpone, marsala, cocoa & espresso (the best we’ve ever had).
What I love about this winery restaurant is that it’s not always about Tinhorn Creek’s wines, they have a full compliment of other Osoyoos and Oliver wines available on their dessert wine list. However, we went with the Tinhorn Creek Kerner with our sweets, tipping our hats to the host and rounding out a meal that burst with fresh local flavours.
Canadian Concert Series Contest
You can still enter to win your own experience at Tinhorn Creek Winery in my Canadian Concert Series contest. Until May 1st, enter to win a 1-night stay at the Watermark Beach Resort and two tickets to The Boom Booms concert at the Tinhorn Creek vineyard amphitheatre. Head over to my contest post for details on how to enter to win.
Michelle and I are in the area to experience life at Osoyoos Cottages. Located on the east side of Osoyoos Lake, with a driveway flanked by pastures and an ecological reserve, it’s a budding lakeside community we’re calling home for the next few days.
3 Comments — Comments Are Closed
One of my absolute favourite restaurants in the Okanagan! Great food, stunning view and incredible service.
We visited last September and the restaurant was near capacity with wine tourists. Although we enjoyed our meal, the service was stretched to its limits. We should have expected this as we frequent other seasonal locales, but we bowed to the group and got into the negative vibe that was created. Suddenly nothing was quite right…service, wine, food, weather, politics, etc. and the night was a bust.
I am not complaining, however, just pointing out that even the greatest restaurants have to balance expected service levels with limited resources during high seasons in order to maintain a decent level of profitability. But, as patrons, we should also balance our expectations, as it is very difficult to maintain the pursuit of perfection when seasonal employees are thrust into the fire of high season with limited knowledge of the menu, wine list and other unique traits.
My suggestion is to enjoy an extra bottle of wine (why you are in wine country) and allow the kitchen and servers to perform with limited pressure. If you are not in any kind of rush, perhaps ask the server/manager to suggest a starting time for the meal that will allow the chef/kitchen to perform at their finest. Asked in a cordial way, I can imagine your group will be afforded the best possible attention.
Also, if you know you are going to have two or more bottles during the evening and it is really busy, order them at the beginning and have the server leave them at the table. That way, you can save cellar runs and, if they leave a corkscrew, allow the host to ensure glasses remain full if the server is predisposed.
Very much looking forward to our next visit to see if the reviews are correct and my points are valid.
Cheers!
Absolutely love it there! The view is amazing, and the food is outstanding. Plus Tinhorn’s wines… it’s a win/win/win. Hoping to get up there again this summer.