criacowMt. Pleasant, VancouverSince January 3, 200819 Reviews
(3.1)- Food
(3.3) - Service
(3.1) - Value (3)
- Ambiance (3.2)
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(3.1) (3.3) (3.1) (3) (3.2)I love weekend brunch. I cook at home most of the time, but brunch on the weekends requires going out to eat. I was really surprised to find the Hideout Cafe just up the hill from New West Station; it's in an area that's mostly wedding shops and chain restaurants. However, I've noticed that downtown New West has been gaining a good number of little gems lately, and the Hideout Cafe is on the list.
I had a tasty omelette, with whatever the special ingredients of the day were (I forget now). The service was outstanding, although that was partially because I was the only one there at the time (it was around 2pm on a Sunday, the weekend of one of the major festivals). The server and I talked about food, New West, and lots of random things while my meal cooked.
Good food, great tea selection, and a location in a neighbourhood I've been spending more and more time in--I'll definitely be back.
I've eaten at 9th Avenue Grill several times, and it's never disappointed. It's nothing spectacular, but it's solidly good every time I go. Good, wide-ranging menu of breakfast fare, plus some lunches (burgers and sandwiches and the like).
It's a rather small place, and everything's packed together, so don't expect a huge amount of space. That said, the service is good, the food is tasty, and I keep going back. There are three places in Vancouver I go to routinely for brunch; this is one of them.
I was wandering up Cambie and decided to drop in here and try it. Crepes and gelato! Excellent idea.
The crepes were good, but not outstanding; the service was good, but not outstanding. The prices were a bit high ($8.75 for a small crepe that didn't even make a meal)--but the food was tasty. Oh, and the gelato is Mario's (from the place on 1st and Quebec), which isn't bad stuff.
It's not a bad neighbourhood place, but it's not really worth travelling halfway across town for.
While trying to expand my Yaletown horizons, I wandered past Boulangerie La Parisienne, and, hey, I like sandwiches.
The sandwich I had was okay; the combinations were, in some cases, a little strange, but tasty enough. The mocha was bitter and not so tasty. It's kind of a standard bakery shop inside, with counter seating facing out to the street--that was nice, especially at Mainland and Helmcken--but with weird digital advertising flashing at you. The price was a bit steep ($11 for a small sandwich and a mocha). All in all, it's okay--not bad, but certainly nothing special.
Three stars for most items feels right here, as the place is solid, but nothing outstanding. The crepes were good; the smoothie was tasty. Service was friendly, if slow. The place has a good atmosphere, something of a cross between a lounge and a sidewalk cafe; I sat at the bar along the front window and watched people going to and from the Quay Market across the street.
If you're in the neighbourhood and in the mood for crepes, it's a good place to stop off.
The Artigiano on Hastings is quickly becoming my weekday coffee hangout. Of all the places I've been, it has the best atmosphere--it's comfortable and relaxing, and just a nice place to be. The service is friendly and the coffee is great (although what they're brewing changes by the day; the Kenyan dark roast is what I have enjoyed most so far). The prices are on par with other coffee shops in the area. I've enjoyed what I've tried here, but it's really the atmosphere that keeps me coming back.
I work right near Tinseltown/International Village, so I've been slowly trying the different places there. Some are quite good. Vana...doesn't seem to be.
The service was standoffish, like she was annoyed I was even there; the food was bland (and it seems hard to make Vietnamese bland, but there you go; it seems to entirely rely on adding "spicy sauce" afterwards); and, as mentioned, it's a food court, so they really have no control over the atmosphere. The prices are somewhat low, which is nice.
Toby's is quickly becoming my main Friday night hangout. They've got a good beer selection, both on tap and in the bottle, and the food's quite good.
The layout of the place is neat -- a small lower floor, with the bar, a few booths, and some tables in the middle, with a much larger floor upstairs (and a balcony around where you can look down on the lower floor). Even with all the space, it's often quite busy on a Friday night.
Two words of caution: there's often live music or DJs, and while they're often very good, they're also often very loud, so if a loud pub isn't your thing, then be warned. (Personally, I enjoy it, and the music often adds to the atmosphere of the place.) Also, we went there once on a Friday at 10:30pm, and the kitchen had already closed, so if you want food, get there earlier.
All in all, it's a fun and exciting place to hang out at the end of the work week.
This place mostly falls into the category of "nothing special, but not bad, either," except that the meals are about $20/plate. The service was friendly, but really slow--on a night when we were two of about 20 people in the whole restaurant. The place is really dark inside, to the point where we thought it was closed at first before trying the door; we had to use the candle to identify what was what on the plate.
The food was okay, but fairly bland and uninspired. Mexican is supposed to be rich in spices and flavors, but each thing on the combination plate tasted like the rest.
So, again, nothing special, but not bad--but not really worth the price, either.
In fairness, the last review before this was last June, so maybe things have changed?
My friend and I were there late on a Sunday night. We had dinner and several drinks; I had a couple of martinis before switching to beer.
The beer selection's good, especially for Mount Pleasant; while I love my neighborhood, it isn't exactly known for its pubs. The Whip is definitely more of a lounge, but it's a lounge with a global beer selection in addition to wines and cocktails.
The food was quite tasty; I had the brewmaster's sandwich, which was so loaded with stuff that it was more of knife-and-fork material on bread. Delicious. And even the fries were good--the seasoning was just right.
The place feels something of a combination of a lounge and a warehouse. It's certainly nice enough, even if it's less my thing. The music, however, was *excellent*; mostly Canadian, quite ambient with random bits of more rock-ish stuff thrown in. We were there after last call and nobody was grumpy or pretentious about anything; the service was prompt and friendly.
So, yeah. No complaints! I'm sure I'll be back again.
The ambiance of this place is amazing. It feels a lot like the sort of places you'd find in Tokyo; loud, happening, exciting. You're greeted at the door, everything's good, the chefs will comment on your food choices and help you find other ones.
I came here with a friend one day after work, and we tried a bunch of different menu items. I wasn't super-impressed by anything; it was all pretty good, but nothing fantastic. Same for the drinks we tried.
But the service is friendly, the ambiance is excellent, and I'd totally go back.
Sometimes, for lunch, I just want soup and salad, with fresh ingredients in excellent combinations. Now that I've found Crisp Salad, I know where to go on those days.
They have about 50 ingredients, including various meats (grilled wild salmon, even) and vegetables, and you can add a number of dressings at the end. They also have daily soups, fresh organic coffee, and other such things.
It's a good quick place for grab-and-go. The eating environment was a bit sterile and a bit small; not exactly ideal for hanging around and eating, although you can. They also apparently do takeout, delivery, and catering.
Before I begin, I should mention, regarding my scoring here: I was talking with a friend over dinner at Mysala about ratings and reviews, and how I hadn't had a five-star experience in Vancouver yet (or, maybe, anywhere). Mysala was one of the best meals I've had, and it's a solid 4 1/4, maybe 4 1/2 stars, but it wasn't a 5.
I really liked this place. It starts with an unassuming door off Granville, in between velvet ropes, like so many of the nightclubs on the street; it's also fairly dark inside, and very well-decorated. The place is somewhere between a lounge and a restaurant; very chill, very relaxing, very comfortable.
My friend and I split salmon pakoras; I also had the daal soup and the greens salad. The daal was pleasantly spicy--it had a good kick to it, but the spice didn't stick around and burn after it was done. We went through a good number of the cocktails on the menu during the night. I definitely recommend the bindi. Try the chaitini as well (but more for dessert).
The waitress was great. She was attentive, fast, and friendly, and was bartending as well as doing table service.
The prices were higher than normal Indian food; expect $9.50 for a cocktail (not bad, admittedly, for Granville) and $15-$25 for an entree. It's worth the additional price, though; this was some of the best Indian food I've ever had.
It doesn't look like much from outside, but KC's Cafe is actually a nice little diner.
The food was good, if nothing spectacular; country breakfast and lunch. I enjoyed my eggs blackstone and coffee. (The coffee was surprisingly good, I should note; I didn't feel the need to hide it under sugar and cream, as is often the case at small breakfast joints.)
The country diner ambiance inside a strip mall shop is an interesting idea, and it actually works fairly well. Music is present but not intrusive. The place feels warm and inviting. The service was excellent; friendly and fast. I'd definitely go back again if I were in the area.
When I first heard about Library Square, my first thought was, "The public library has a *pub*? I love Vancouver even more now." Turns out, it's not exactly in the library, but it's right next to it.
The ambiance is excellent. It's a mostly-darkened room with comfortable booths and tables throughout. There are a bunch of TVs all over, mostly playing hockey and soccer. The music was good--mostly early 90s, the night we were there, which is my era--but not so loud as to be intrusive. The service was fast and friendly; our beers were never more than half-empty before another round was offered. And the food was good--solid pub food, nothing special but tasty and not bad.
I should note that we were there on a Tuesday night; I'm told the place is more of a nightclub Friday and Saturday, so I have no idea what it's like then. (yet.)
I work just up the street from Chambar, so when I heard they were opening a daytime coffee shop, I was excited. It lived up to my hopes.
Medina specializes in coffee and waffles--for $6, you can get coffee and a waffle with one topping. I had a mocha (which cost a little extra) and a waffle with blueberry vanilla compote; total with tax: $8.15. Everything's made fresh and tasty.
The service is very friendly and quick. They're still working out a few of the kinks, so I'm leaving it at 4* for now; the mocha was a little off and the staff had to keep checking to figure out how to work things. But this is what you expect when the place just opened two days ago, and I'm sure they'll get it worked out in time.
The space is small, intimate, but nicely decorated and very comfortable. The music was unobtrusive, and having the window street to watch people moving about on Beatty was nice.
I'll definitely be back. A lot.
I work in this area, and had passed by the giant SAVE ON MEATS sign; honestly, I figured it was a relic from an earlier era, and was now some kind of shop or something that thought it cute to keep the old sign.
Nope, it's still there. The front is a butcher shop, and the back is an old-style diner. The whole diner feels like a timewarp from the 1930s or 1940s; it's all counter service, and you sit on stools around old yellow countertops. The waitress walks up, gets your order, cooks it right behind the counter, and hands it to you. The ambiance is pretty good for that--although remember it's in a butcher shop, so if you're sensitive to smells, you can expect to have a worse experience than I did. The crowd is an interesting mix; when I was there, there were a couple of people in suits, my co-workers and myself from our tech firm, art students, homeless people, and construction workers.
The food was solid, nothing special; what's surprising is the quantity and price. I had a grilled cheese sandwich with french fries for $3.50; the deluxe burger with fries is $4, and the portion sizes are quite generous.
I've been there twice so far. Everything's been pretty good--nothing spectacular, but nothing terrible. The staff is friendly (and remembered me the second time I went), the service is a bit slow, the food is tasty, and the place is nice.
If I were looking to dine in again, I'd probably go somewhere else, but as a neighborhood takeout/delivery option, it's just fine.
I stopped in for dinner recently, and was pleasantly surprised--the food here was very good, and the menu is very wide and diverse for a vegetarian-only place. (I also liked the revolution theme; the menu was well-designed.)
The service is very slow. Our waitress was friendly enough, but it took forever. The food, though, was definitely worth the wait.
One more thing: for dinner, go early. We got there around 6:30 and were seated immediately. By the time we left (around 7:30), the line waiting for a table was out the door and down the block.
