By Sherman Chan,
Special to The Post

Joyce , a fellow blogger, and I tried Tapenade Bistro. We ordered the Grilled Vancouver Island Octopus with capicola, fingerling potato salad, carrot & citrus emulsion and pickled mustard seeds. The octopus was lightly seasoned. It had a hint of smokiness.  
We had Salish Sea Mussels in a Moroccan broth made of harissa, piperade, preserved lemon and mint. The mussels were cooked just enough.  
I had the Oven Roasted Halibut Filet with faro risotto, wild mushroom, grilled leek, Swiss chard and rhubarb. This fish was fresh and well-seasoned.  Viv chose the Bouillabaisse. It had Salish sea mussels, fresh fish, saffron & tomato broth and rouille on a crostini. The salmon was over-cooked.
Mr. had the Seared Albacore Tuna with chickpea panisse, roasted peppers, green olive, crudité vegetables and smoked tuna aioli. It had a buttery soft centre. The chickpea panisse had a polenta quality. Joyce tried the 8 oz Heritage Angus Flank Steak with gratin potatoes, smoked bone marrow, broccoli, aged cheddar and braised shallot.
For dessert, I had the White Chocolate Panna Cotta with aerated chocolate, honey comb, blackberry and chocolate sable. Joyce had the Lemon Tart with basil crème fraiche, strawberry curd and brown butter shortbread. The lemon curd was tart. The basil crème fraiche was nice. Mr. had the Brown Butter Financier with chamomile, honey yogurt, kumquat marmalade and crushed pecan. We loved the marmalade. Overall, I was pretty surprised with the food at Tapenade.
Sherman Chan is the #1 ranked food blogger on the Vancouver portal of Urbanspoon.com. Read more of his reviews at www.shermansfoodadventures.com.

3711 Bayview Street, Richmond, BC

The Good:
• Generally on point proteins
• Decently-priced for the portion size
• Fairly good service

The Bad:
• Desserts were okay, but lagged behind the mains
• Service was pretty good, but was a little stretched when there were more customers