Sanafir Restaurant and Lounge, downtown Vancouver

While my last attempt at Sanafir on Granville didn’t turn out all that well due to a meal I had earlier in the day at Kintaro that didn’t agree with me, I managed to have the chance to return this past weekend for a good friend’s birthday. And again, they had the upstairs booked out for all of their guests, where you can dine and drink on the Moroccan-style beds - it was a bit like déjà vu, except for all of the good parts this time around.

We arrived a little late and managed to get there to eat dinner at 10 pm. While everyone else had moved on to drinks already, I was just prepping my food order. While perusing the menu, I decided on their daily drink special, which was a Sanafir Special cocktail. It had vodka, cranberry juice, and peach puree, and it was delicious! Since I was still recuperating from my night out that started at r.tl the previous evening, I decided to just have one.

There were a few of us that ended up deciding to eat, so we went with a variety of the Trio Plates. Essentially, you can select a type of trio, either a meat or vegetarian option, and they will bring you that item prepared three different ways with varying influences from along the Silk Road (ie. Mediterranean, Indian, and Moroccan), tapas style.

We also ordered the Naan Bread and Hummus as an extra side to get a little extra bit of carbs in us. The best part of this was the variety of olives that are served on the side.

Naan Bread and Hummus

Since there were so many dishes that I got to try here, I’ll just include all of the individuals pictures and rate them below. Note that the menu normally includes a halibut trio, but since halibut season ended over a month ago, they substituted sablefish instead. As you can see, the Spicy Salt and Pepper Calamari and the Grilled Balgarbi Ribs were my two favourites of the night.

Pistachio Crusted Sablefish

Miso Lime Marinated Sablefish

Creamy Sablefish Korma

Herb Breaded Calamari

Grilled Calamari

Spicy Salt and Pepper Calamari

Hand Rolled Oxtail Ravioli

Garam Masala Short Ribs

Grilled Balgarbi Ribs

For dessert, we got our server to pick her three favourites. I did not at all like how they all tasted more savoury than sweet, and I really wish I just didn’t bother. There were 5 of us trying to eat these three small desserts, and I think the only one we finished was the deep fried banana and mango rolls, since there were four bite size pieces to it. If these are three of the most popular or favourites here, then I think I’ll just skip dessert next time.

Dessert Trio

Sanafir is a great place to go out to eat with friends late night or just have some drinks before heading out elsewhere. The upstairs room is perfect for larger private events, such as birthday parties and other casual company outings (I also went to a company holiday party here a couple of weeks ago). It’s nice to sit and eat on a bed and then be able to lie down and relax and have drinks afterwards when you’re full.

Sanafir Restaurant and Lounge
1026 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC,
604.678.1049
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Price: $$$