Araxi Restaurant Review, Whistler, BC, Canada

Reviewer: Foodnut.com Araxi Restaurant + Bar 4222 Village Gate Square Whistler, BC V0N 1B4 (604) 932-4540 (604) 932 3348 (Fax) Araxi Restaurant + Bar Website Book Reservation

Araxi Restaurant + Bar is a popular restaurant in Whistler’s village. They focus on British Columbia cuisine with lots of seafood. Executive Chef James Walt celebrates carefully sourced local ingredients including the freshest seafood. This restaurant is renowned to be the top spot in Whistler. Araxi has 3 well regarded restaurants in Vancouver.

Decor, Vibe – Araxi has elegant interior decor with soft hues and many original works of art. Loud, dynamic atmosphere with a separate bar area and patio dining for the summer. Dining room was filled with well heeled tourists and locals.

Menu (Click to zoom into any picture)

Araxi Menu has a variety of small plates, raw shellfish options, and large plates. Everything from seafood to steaks.

Website Araxi Menu

Araxi Full image set

Picks:

Two Tier Seafood Tower ($85) oysters, spot prawns, seared albacore tuna, dungeness crab and avocado roll, salmon sashimi, fresh ginger and horseradish is the ultimate way to start dinner, albeit expensively. The British Columbia small oysters in particular were awesome as was the seared ahi. This is a great dish to taste what the Pacific Northwest is all about.

Roasted North Arm Beets ($18.50) Vancouver Island buffalo mozzarella, truffle vinaigrette and truffle sand, baby sorrel, artisan lettuce and beet chips have very fresh ingredients and an excellent and smooth cheese.

Northern Arctic Char ($29.50) pan-seared with a white miso and sesame vinaigrette, crisp rice roll and sauteed BC bok choy had a nice crispy crust and was excellent and cooked perfectly.

BC Line Caught Halibut ($36.50) arugula and fresh herb crust, light minestrone broth Vancouver Island clams and grilled fennel was very good but had no crust. The meat was very moist and fresh.

Qualicum Bay Scallops ($33.50) seared with curry salt, cured chorizo sausage and sunchoke puree, whole Canadian mustard seed dressing and frisee leaves was a solid dish, much better scallops than our previous day at Umberto. The scallops were smaller and had more flavor, while the toppings added contrast to the subtle internal flavor.

Venison ($36.50) glazed parsnips, potato and aged cheddar terrine, roasted chestnuts watercress and apple garnish was cooked to a nice medium rare and featured some very tender local meats. No gaminess. Chestnuts added some interesting extra texture.

Caramelized Apple Cheesecake ($12.50) mascarpone cheesecake with vanilla-fennel syrup,hazelnut streusel and chantilly cream was very delicious and more of the cake and the traditional cheesecake.

Earl Grey + Milk Chocolate Creme Brulee ($12.50) toasted almond shortbread with dulce de leche had an excellent caramelized top with lots of creamy goodness inside.

House Churned Sorbet ($12.50) Two scoops of freshly made lemon sorbet and was slightly tart and sweet.

OK:

Pans:
Mojito ($10.50) was filled with crushed ice and did not have very good flavor.

Araxi had very good service in the beginning which started to fade as the room got full. They should add additional servers. The food here is excellent, making this an easy recommendation if you’re up at Whistler. High quality food like this is rare at touristy resorts.
Extensive award-winning 44 page wine list with glasses from $9.50, bottles from $29.

Sister restaurants:
Blue Water Cafe
Vancouver, BC, Canada

CinCin
Vancouver, BC, Canada

West
Vancouver, BC, Canada

Restaurant Map: