Joe Fortes Goes Back to the Future

The first thing I noticed walking into Joe Fortes on Monday night was the Christmas tree. And then the sound of a piano player covering some tune I couldn't quite place, but knew well. There was no hint of 1985 yet; not a single server with waterfall bangs or a Lionel Ritchie tune to be heard.

We were ushered to our seats on the top floor and presented with menus. I opened the menu enthusiastically expecting the 1985 pricing to be in effect; Joe Fortes annual anniversary discount that lasts a week. Well, I was dissapointed. The menu was the same old pricey seafood. And then at the bottom of the fresh sheet there it was, a notice advertising the 1985 pricing for the week during lunch hours. There was, to be fair, a table d'hote for dinner, priced cleverly at $19.85. But everything else was still in the year 2005 in terms of pricing.

I asked for a lunch menu so that I could see what I was missing. It looked wonderfully affordable; sirloin steak with brandy peppercorn sauce was priced at $11.95; lamb chops with mint sauce and peas only $9.50; and wild salmon on mixed greens, $9.95; along with a good selection of other cheaply priced fare. Further the menu offered some catchy 1985 trivia, such as who won the grammy for best record that year, and which film was seated at number one during the week of November 15th: Tina Turner's 'What's Love Got to do With It" and 'Once Bitten'.

Well, it wasn't lunch, and as delicious as the table d'hote looked for the evening, the three course meal started with West coast clam chowder, followed by an entree of wild salmon with champagne lobster sauce and poached shrimp, and finishes with cinnamon and sultana bread pudding in a Jack Daniels toffee sauce, I noticed that there was mahi-mahi on the menu. I love mahi-mahi, so my choice was made.

According to the server the lunches are expected to be busy, and finish this Friday, which he anticipated would the busiest day. He said they had already almost doubled their customer numbers from last years 1985 price week. Reservations are recommended.

777 Thurlow Street (Corner of Robson & Thurlow)
Phone: 604-669-1940