pickywicketLower MainlandSince September 21, 200712 Reviews
(2.9)- Food
(3.4) - Service
(2.8) - Value
(4) - Ambiance (3)
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(2.9) (3.4) (2.8) (4) (3)After being out of Vancouver for a while, I noticed that this local neighbourhood place had been renovated and re-opened with new owners.
What a treat!
I took my wife and kids and was very pleasantly suprised. From the childrens menu to the wine list, they seem to hit the right notes.
I had the halibut and it was phenomenal, my wife went for the steak and she loved it. Even my kids were happy with their food.
We shared the crab cake and it was the best we have ever had.
Wine list is good and reasonable selections abound.
Did not try dessert but we will on our next visit.
Nice place for Surrey.
After reading many reviews here, I had to check this place out.
One peeve, they do not open until noon - I start work early and normally eat by 11 or 11:30, would be nice to see them open a bit earlier.
Food was very good, ordered 5 differerent tacos and enjoyed them all. Would like to see some identification of each taco ordered.
WOW some of the salsa was hot.
They serve many different salsa's on the counter, all had great taste, 1, 2, 3, ? had a $hitload of fire.
I almost self incinerated, next time I go, I hope they rate which are medium, hot, and incindeary. That way I can choose to add some flavour without needing a colon transplant.
I eat here pretty regularly.
Last night I had another great meal.The spicy tuna sashimi at $5 for 4 pieces is a screaming deal.
The chicken karage is 5 pieces of chicken wings accompanied by a huge salad all for $5.
The best deal is the toro sushi at $1.30 per piece, this is awesome and melts in your mouth.
Service is good and the tea is always filled regularly.
Most everything I have tried is great value for the dollar.
The ambience is not someplace you want to take a date, but for great cheap Japanese, I come here regularly.
Had dinner here last week and was very impressed. I had heard very good things from friends and they were not wrong.
Our Server was just excellent, he was prompt, attentive, knowledgable and treated my five year old son like an adult. I think he has been there a while as he seemed to know several of the locals.
I had the carpaccio to start, then the duck with a small side order of seared scallops. All of the food was excellent. Finished with creme brulee for dessert
They have a great reserve wine list and it has very fair markups.
This is a great casual spot with the service and food quality of fine dining, and you can even bring the kids.
I went for lunch last week with my 5 year old.
Server greeted us (first customers of the day) like we were interupting her.
My son ordered the burger with "a mountain of fries" he was served a bun and a slab of meat inside a soup bowl with a few cold french fries. (and we were the first customers - so how did they get cold fries???)
I ordered the chicken wing dinner, it arrived with a bit of a noxious odor, the rice was several days old, and the chicken wings were below mediocre.
I would not go back.
Ate lunch here today, (usually try do about every 6 weeks) and was not disapointed.
For $8.95, you get miso soup, tempura, sashimi, beef teryaki and rice.
The tempura was right out of the oil, hot crisp and fresh, the sashimi was great, and the teryaki was good.
Always great service and good value for downtown.
We had been wanting to try this place since it opened - we got the worst restaurant experience ever. (under Italian fusion they had sweet & sour pork, breaded lemon chicken etc. it should have sent us running)
Service: I knew we were in trouble when I asked what type of vodkas they had and after she checked the answer was gin or vermouth! As we ordered, she asked us to point to each item on the menu so she could copy it down. She had never opened a bottle of wine before so another server was showing her how and that server broke the cork off in the bottle. Our appy’s came quickly, immediately followed by the entrees, but only for 2 of the 4 of us. The other two entrees took 45 minutes – (yes! I timed it). While I was eating my meal, servers took away my cutlery 4 different times!
Food: Bruschetta - 3 slabs of cold grilled bread topped with cold mix, the prawn skewer actually tasted good in a coconut sauce, the proscuitto & melon – how can you screw that up. The entrees were horrid. My wife ordered whole wheat raviolis with asparagus & Alfredo sauce – pasta all stuck together in a gooey bland sauce, the filling tasting like glue. A friend ordered beef saltimbocca & prawns – prawns were okay but the beef was a thin rolled piece of shoe leather. I ordered the veal osso bucco – a massive chunk of meat in a thick tomato sauce, I tried to cut it with a steak knife and had trouble – really. I took a bite and could not even chew it. One of my companions said I must be over reacting so he took a bite and exclaimed “Oh God”. I flagged our server to send it back and she asked if I wanted the kitchen to redo it. As it needed about 5 more hours of cooking, I ordered another dish. This time “boneless chicken thigh cacciatore”. When it finally arrived, long after everyone else had finished, it was 2 bone-in chicken legs that were covered in the same bland tomato sauce, only slightly less tough than the veal.
Don’t waste time or money.
I ate dinner here last night and was quite impressed.
I ate a mixed platter that had tandoori chicken, butter chicken, lamb curry, spinach paneer, raita, daal, and rice pudding. All served with naan.
Portions were very large, and everything was great except the daal which had the taste of way too much raw garlic in it. I asked for medium heat, next time I will ask for hot.
The place is quite nice looking, and service was good.
I can't wait to go back.
After reading reviews here, I found Luxe for dim sum yesterday.
I agree, best dim sum south of the Fraser River. Food was hot, fresh and flavourful. Pretty good selections although you have to order rather than choose of carts.
Service was good and friendly, prices on average for dim sum. (Not $2 per dish)
I made the mistake of ordering lemon chicken - I know I know it is neither dim sum nor even chinese food but I had a craving. What arrived was overcooked chicken covered in heavy fish and chip batter with a weak and flavourless lemon sauce.
I will go back and I will stick to the dim sum or chinese menu items.
My wife and I recently went for dinner.
I opted for the 7 course tasting menu with wine, wife had the 4 course.
Highlights included the incredible mussels escabeche that had flavors out of this world, the Humboldt squid which was not anything like what we expected, the ling cod with lentils, and the sloping hills pork that absolutely melted in your mouth. Obviously the chef knows his stuff and uses some great ingredients.
The cucumber salad was limp and not up to snuff.
Desserts were good but not great, possibly influenced by the fact one was a plum dish and neither of us really likes plums.
Overall the food was extremely good, and we both were very stuffed by the last course. Portion of the wine pours were adequate, and the wine pairings were good if not overly inventive.
I have to agree that the service could use some improvement. It was not busy on the night we went, but sometimes service was lacking. At one point early on our server asked if the pace of dishes was good for us, we said it was but then things slowed down! I waited 40 minutes between a course and my wife started to get edgy, as she did not have a course coming at that time. A bonus was that the kitchen sent out a fifth course for my wife even though she ordered the four course menu. I would be afraid to be here if the restaurant was fully booked because I think service could really plummet.
Generally I find it difficult to opt for a tasting menu because I like to be in control of what I eat. Here I received some dishes that I would not have ordered and enjoyed them immensely.
The bill before tip came to $280, not cheap but it is fine dining.
I eat here at least once a week.
The Pho tops any I have had anywhere in the Lower Mainland.
Ambiance and service are not top notch, but hey this is Pho!
Served fast, hot, fresh and great value for the money.
The spring rolls are also great.
Ate here last week with my 5 yr old son, he said it was better than McDonalds! We both enjoyed the buffalo carpaccio and he then had the linguine and meatballs while I had the duck.
Good value, soild food, enjoyed the martinis and the fact they have a decent selection of wines by the half bottle at reasonable prices.
I wouldn't take my kids unless it is early as I think they get busy later on, but will return with and without the kids.
