Crab & Shrimp Lollipops with ginger lemon mayo *($13)

candied pecans, apple cider vinaigrette ($11)

In terms of the crab and shrimp lollipops I was expecting something grilled and light but it was actually covered in batter and deep fried. It was a lovely dish, just not what I expected. The lollipop reminded me a lot of crab claw balls you get at Chinese restaurants/banquets (so yum!). The shell was crunchy, and the meat inside was juicy. The ginger lemon mayo also brightens up the dish quite a bit, so don’t be shy about coating the lollipop in it.

The grilled pear salad was good, but we liked the lollipops better. The grilled pear was soft, sweet and juicy. I quite enjoyed the blue cheese as well as it gives the salad a nice punch (because lets be honest, salads can be quit boring). The apple cider vinaigrette was also a great pairing with the salad as it worked well with all the other flavours of the dish.

For our entrees, Ryan decided on the braised boneless short ribs with confit shallots, buttermilk smashed potatoes and green peppercorn cream ($24). You know between this short rib and the one I had at The Flying Pig, I am pretty sure going forward I am just going to pick short rib every time it’s offered on the menu. The short rib at Cedars melted in our mouths and was very tender and juicy. The buttermilk mashed potatoes was also quite divine; super buttery and silky.

I had the Cedars Pepper Steak buttermilk smashed potatoes, crispy onions, green peppercorn cream ($25). Steak was good, but short rib was definitely better. And of course, mashed potatoes was awesome here as well.

Last and certainly not least, we shared their peanut butter pie. I know sounds kind of meh right? But according to our waitress it was a staff favourite so we gave it a go. OH. MY. GOD. Delicious!

We were really looking for a chocolate dessert and were confused as to why we couldn’t find any; well the peanut butter pie is actually entirely covered in chocolate. They really should put that in the description (would probably help with sales!). It’s described as peanut butter mousse filling but to me the filling tastes more like peanut butter cheese cake (covered in chocolate). So, so good! Highly recommended. If you’re going to try a dessert at Cedars do the peanut butter pie. It’s also quite large and rich (which is why I said the texture is more like a cheesecake than a mousse), so share it with someone; you likely won’t be able finish it on your own.

We also tried their apple crumble with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce the night before. It was…ok. I expect ALL crumbles to be served hot, ours was luke warm. This meant the ice cream wasn’t melty and the crumble itself wasn’t gooey and the top wasn’t crispy. The dish had a lot of potential if it was served, well, hot. So…yeah, a bit underwhelming.

All in all though, Cedars does serve up some mighty yummy dishes, it’s worth a try and Tigh-Na-Mara is a great option if you’re looking for a quick romantic getaway from Metro Vancouver.

You can follow Tigh-Na-Mara on Twitter at @Tigh_Na_Mara  or check out their website at http://tigh-na-mara.com/.