The Best Thing I Ate This Month: The Acevichado Roll at Ancora

This wasn’t my first trip to Ancora’s stunning waterfront patio. In fact, the 2024 Vanmag Editors’ Pick is a favourite location of mine for people-watching while dining (arguably one of the sunny season’s best combo activities). This time, however, I arrived on a mission. After spending a few weeks in Peru this past fall and falling madly in love with the food—and then suffering through the cold(ish) Vancouver winter—a warm Friday afternoon meant only one thing: ceviche time. 

The ceviche at Ancora is absolutely fabulous, don’t get me wrong. It’s the reason why I originally ventured out of my house and is worthy of a post of its own (seriously, the corn-nut-esque chocolo is incredible). But the decision to pivot to the acevichado roll ($24) is what changed the course of my evening. 

Acevichado is essentially Peru’s contribution to the world of sushi—which makes sense, since not only is there is a ton of Japanese influence in Peruvian cuisine, but this type of culinary fusion (called Nikkei cuisine) is Ancora’s specialty. This specific acevichado roll however immediately became one of the best things I’ve eaten, well, ever. 

Expertly cooked rice surrounds panko prawns, avocado and fresh-as-hell sockeye salmon. It’s served with the same leche de tigre that adorns the ceviche—and somehow when it’s all combined it becomes even better than the sum of its very delicious parts. The roll is deeply flavourful, maintains the ideal crunch-factor and manages to capture the essence of ceviche in a one-bite-at-a-time format. Forget the people watching: I’ve only got eyes for this roll now.

Ancora
2-1600 Howe St.
ancoradining.com