GuinnessGuyDeltaSince March 29, 20085 Reviews
(3.2)- Food
(3.4) - Service (3.6)
- Value (3.3)
- Ambiance (3.6)
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(3.2) (3.4) (3.6) (3.3) (3.6)As previous reviewers have commented, this is NOT the kind of place I expected to find in Steveston, let alone outside Gastown. I've really got to hand it to the owners who have created a restaurant with a very focused vision. For example, there was not a single Chardonnay and just one Sauvignon Blanc on the white wine list and that's great because they have picked wines that go well with cheeses. Bravo! The beer, wine, sherry, and port lists have many interesting choices (see the website). We loved the chalkboard menu, wooden tables/chairs, music, and overall feel of the place. It's not cheap but I didn't think it was overpriced either: you pay for what you get. And we had a great experience and will definitely go back if for no other reason but to encourage more restaurants like this in the chain-loving 'burbs.
Nice to see a whole section of the menu devoted to vegetarians but don't expect anything too creative. I enjoyed my dish, ALAMBRE VEGETARIANO ("a saute of mushrooms, onions, tomatoes with cheese, served with two flour tortillas $9.50") but I won't rave about it. The margaritas were fine and a good deal at 2 for $8 (special). Like other reviews have mentioned, the service is geared to efficiency so don't expect to linger over the menu; still, the servers are friendly and certainly helpful.
So the food is fine and the service is fine but overall I'd definitely go back and recommend Dona Cata to friends because the whole package is very good: the Friday and Saturday night music, food, service, ambiance ... I really enjoyed it.
A new favourite on Scott Road
A quick little late-evening meal: our Chana Masalla ($8.95) had plump chickpeas in a delicious uniformly spiced (about medium) sauce, the vegetable pakoras ($5.95--plenty for two people!) were light, crisp and flavourful. I have to add that we also eat a sodium reduced meal at home and found that neither dish tasted "salty" at all. My chai was not overly spiced but still very enjoyable. The servers/bussers (we must have had six over an hour!--not that busy at 9:30pm) were all friendly and helpful if asked. Original Tandoori King (south on Scott Rd) is good but we now prefer Mahek.
A wonderful meal sitting at the bar. Our server/bartender was great: experienced, well-informed, willing to ask for changes, chatty ... our meals (seafood sampler and salmon and chips) were beautiful: cleanly prepared allowing us to taste the delicious fresh fish. Very good selection of wines and beers and the view is incredible. Memorable to say the least.
We've heard and read too many great things about Pearl to think anything other than we must have had a VERY off night when we dined in March. We ordered the "Spring BC" menu with wine pairings which seemed to be great value but ... the prawns were tasteless and the dish was more ornate than flavourful, my halibut was flavourless and tasted of too much butter, the wine pairings appeared WAY before our dishes (the wines were very good selections we must say!), the brewed coffee was dreadful, and the server tried very hard but was too intrusive and seemed inexperienced serving in a fine dining restaurant. The computers were down which naturally caused a bit of a fuss but when our bill was totalled $200 more than it should be, our server used the lack of computers as an excuse rather than apologize. A very disappointing evening for us and our friend from overseas ... let's hope it was an anomaly.
