I heard about the Kamayan experience at Kulinarya and just had to make a reservation - it's…read moreprobably one of the most unique dining experiences in Vancouver! Originally my reservation was for 7, but about 2 hours before, we had an additional person want to join. The restaurant was flexible about adding her, although it took them an additional 15 minutes or so after our reservation time to finish setting up our table (still missing the shrimp, which they brought out later)
Kamayan Feast ($50 per person) - Just look at my pictures: the Kamayan Feast includes a HUMONGOUS spread of food. There's so much food that I'm having trouble deciding even where to start describing it all! The feast starts with a mound of jasmine rice serving as a base. It's perfectly cooked, and even a little starchy/sticky so it's more easily picked up by hand. It's then topped with their mouthwatering Ginataang Kalabasa - kabocha, green beans, and eggplants stewed in a coconut milk curry with extra umami from shrimp paste. The curry soaks into the rice, adding that extra flavor dimension and the veggies are all undeniably delicious. It's added in enough quantity to delight, but not enough to make the rice soggy or flow off the table. Multiple people in my party agreed that the kabocha was the best dish - super sweet and tender.
Then after that the proteins, so much it's kind of ridiculous. Firstly some spring rolls, fried until perfectly crisp on the exterior, filled with tons of flavorful ground pork and vegetables. Secondly a mountain of chicken quarters, charred until perfection, smoky and flavorful, sweet and aromatic, slightly yellow due to turmeric. There's Pritong Isda - fish that's professionally butterflied, completely devoid of bones, and deep fried until the entire small fish is the perfect crisped up skin textured. It's salted heavily and there's then a bit of a lemony kind of acidity. There's then Crispy Pata, entire bone hocks, super fatty, charred with a deeply caramelized crust. The skin is a hard crunch, with most of the fat rendered out, while the meat is tender and falls off the bone. Inihaw na Pusit is next and is the only dish I didn't enjoy - it's squid that's stuffed with tomatoes and onions and grilled until extremely overcooked and rubbery. Not great. Hipon shrimp came out last, although I can't say anything about it since I didn't try any.
Crispy, oily shrimp chips add more decadence, then in addition to the rice and proteins, they served the meal with dragonfruit, watermelon, pineapple, and oranges. As other reviews indicate, the quality of the fruit isn't the best - we noted especially mushy watermelon, for example.
The Kamayan no longer comes with Puto during the meal or Halo-Halo as a dessert. Not really a problem since there's no humanly possibly way to finish all the food in the first place. We left completely stuffed to the brim and still had enough food left over to fill 4 large takeout containers, packed until bursting, and we still had probably another box worth of rice which we had to leave behind.
To be honest the food is a little hit or miss (I especially want to call out the poor quality of the fruit), but the overall dining experience is top of the line. I am already looking forward to returning on my next trip to Vancouver.
Washrooms - Two unisex rooms
Note: Kulinarya has a 20% service charge for the Kamayan feast. This is clearly disclosed on the menu. Also, they provide gloves and/or utensils upon request.
Food: [4/5]
Service: [ ]
Other: [++]
Final Rating: 5/5