Best Thing I Ate This Week: Pearl Couscous and Bebe Scallops at Pax Romana

“The addition of spice in a good dish doesn’t make it hot, it makes it flavourful.”

I heard a world renowned chef say this once at a multi-course dinner, and took the note to avoid describing any dish that tingled my tastebuds as “spicy.”

At Commercial Drive’s Pax Romana—the Mediterranean tapas bar that serves up world-spanning charcuterie plates and a selection of the globe’s funkiest wines—an unexpected new dish is the perfect depiction of the above quote: something bathed in spices, and yet decidedly not hot.

Their pearl couscous and bebe scallops ($18) is a dish with pops of spherical texture delivered in a ceramic bowl, looking like a bubbling gift from the ocean; juicy red pomegranate seeds, crunchy puffs of quinoa, tangy pickled tapioca and grilled to tender-perfection baby scallops are tossed into a bed of finely cooked pearl couscous and sprinkled with caviar. The surprising twist: it’s all sitting in a creamy foundation of bravas crema agria—a smokey, tomato “salsa” balanced out with a garlicky, tangy sour cream.

Spoonfuls of this dish are a beautiful interplay of texture and flavour: first, bursts of sweet, red pomegranate and lush spurts of salty caviar play on the tongue, then smokey flavours of the bravas crema dazzle the palate.

The experience is made ever-more decadent by the atmosphere—should you be lucky enough to snag the booth at the front of the restaurant—as natural light pouring in from the large window that faces the street illuminates your eating area for a picture-perfect Instagram capture of the dish and, in my case, a delightfully cloudy glass of natural Georgian orange wine. 1670 Commercial Dr., paxromana.ca