Burdock & Co Brings the Flavours of Australia to Vancouver This Winter
The dark, chilly days of winter have settled over Vancouver. If you find yourself dreaming of sunshine and greenery, Burdock & Co has a delicious solution. Their newest tasting menu, “Australian Road Trip Under A Cold Moon,” brings the bright, lush flavours of the Southern Hemisphere right to Main Street.
Chef Andrea Carlson recently travelled to Victoria and South Australia. She was actually the first foreign chef hosted by Tourism Australia specifically for a research trip like this. Before leaving, she laughed about expecting dry, dusty outback landscapes. Instead, she found a vibrant spring season full of green hills, wild kangaroos, and penguins. She also discovered a warm, welcoming food community that values local ingredients just as much as we do here in the Pacific Northwest.
Now, she is bringing that inspiration back home. This new menu is available until February 9, and it mixes her hyperlocal philosophy with the unique ingredients she found Down Under.
The menu is a fun blend of two worlds. You will see familiar B.C. ingredients like oysters, sunchokes, and medlars served alongside Australian native botanicals. We are talking about unique items like Geraldton wax, pepper berry, and baby blue eucalyptus.
The meal starts with a strong focus on seafood. You can expect SunSeeker oysters topped with pearls of finger lime. It is a nice connection between the two places because while finger limes are native to Australia, these specific ones are grown by a regenerative farmer on Salt Spring Island.
Another interesting dish features sea bream crudo served with a macadamia nut ice infused with Geraldton wax leaves. Chef Carlson first tasted this aromatic botanical in a cocktail and loved it so much she tracked down fresh bouquets of it at a 4 a.m. flower market.
One dish to look forward to is the native spice broth. It is a deep, aromatic beef pho, but with a twist. It features kangaroo loin and is infused with cinnamon myrtle and pepper berry. The idea came from a meal Chef Carlson had at a restaurant called Anchovy in Melbourne. It felt like a perfect fit for Vancouver, a city that loves its pho.
The kitchen is even making its own version of Vegemite. They use brewer’s yeast from the nearby Brassneck Brewery to create a glaze for roasted lamb loin.
For the sweet side of things, there are some playful nods to Aussie favourites. You will finish the meal with a “Marvellous Bar” made with Turkish delight and Pop Rocks, followed by a classic Pavlova with passion fruit.
If you want to experience these flavours, the “Australian Road Trip Under A Cold Moon” menu runs until February 9, 2026. The tasting menu is $165 per person, and you can add wine pairings that are exclusively Australian.
