One of the newest culinary additions to the Gastown neighbourhood, The Blacktail Florist is a bright space, offering a West Coast menu featuring local and seasonal small plates and tapas.

@Phoelam and myself were quite excited to try this new offering, so we decided to make a girl’s night out of it.

I’ll start by saying that I’m all for seasonal, organic and local products. There are several restaurants that do that in the city, and they do it well. What I found at The Blacktail Florist was that the dishes they deemed adequate for sharing came with a hefty price tag and we’re not, in my opinion, big enough to share between two people. In the end, it’s about the experience and the quality of the food, and of course, the flavour. This review is just a recap of my personal dining experience. Here we go:

Now for my favourite dish: The Wild Mushroom Poutine ($12) –  the fries were the real winner in this dish – they were very crispy and managed to keep their crisp even while in the gravy, and full of potato flavour! The gravy was tick and was complimented well by an assortment of wild local mushrooms. I highly recommend getting this dish.

Moving on, we shared the Salad of Spring Vegetables and Mushrooms ($11) – beautiful presentation, delicious dressing and execution. However, for $11 to have only a few slices of carrots tossed with a few greens while having half the dish covered in dressing, well, I didn’t really feel this dish was worth the price.

The BC Nugget Potatoes  (2 for $4) – When they say two , they really mean a small nugget potato cut in half.  The potatoes were baked crispy on the outside and succulently soft in the middle, almost like a crispy baked potato. The strong flavour of the cheddar was perfect for the mild potato, and it was balanced well with a hint of sour cream and a bit of chives. Beautiful to look at, this dish left me wanting more.

Buttered Peas ($8) –  These peas were coated in a lightly salted butter,and had a hit of lavender. The texture of the peas and the crunch of the walnuts was very satisfying.Moving on, we ordered the Mushroom Caps Stuffed with Kale and Cured Duck ($4 for 4) – the duck had a nice bit of fat, which  went well with the kale. This is another dish that had a very nice presentation and execution. Look at the detail!

Dessert came in the way of the Flowers Rose and Elderflower Ice ($9) – I was expecting something a bit tangier, since the description mentioned sour cream, but I could only taste berries. The rose flavour gets completely missed.

 Overall, The BlackTail Florist gets full marks for innovation and for showcasing the flavours of our province well. The prices are a tad high, and the portions aren’t big enough to share, I’m sorry, but they’re not. Will you leave the restaurant satisfied with your experience? I think yes. Will you leave full? No.