pkwokShaughnessy, VancouverSince March 12, 200598 Reviews
(3.5)- Food
(3.6) - Service (3.4)
- Value (3.3)
- Ambiance (3.4)
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(3.5) (3.6) (3.4) (3.3) (3.4)I have been a fan of the original Go Fish by the side of Granville Island for many years, so when this new place opened, I decided to give it a try.
I had the salmon sandwich, which, at the original location, was always outstanding no matter what other ingredients and sauces they put in it. However, this time, it was quite bland tasting, and the salmon was a bit overcooked so that it was slightly dry. This sandwich was definitely non-memorable.
Also, halfway through the meal, I started to miss the fresh air and the carefree setting of the original location. It just doesn't feel right sitting in an indoor, very 'urban' setting eating this kind of casual seafood.
Perhaps because I went at an off hour (around 3 pm), the place was almost empty, but at the original location, whatever time you go, it is always busy.
I think the owner should have stuck to the original BIN 942 concept. They are probably not doing as much business here as they were before, when it was BIN 942.
I was there at a 'corporate event', at which my banker entertained a bunch of clients, and we had a private dining room next door to the main restaurant. This may account for the incredible service we got, but this is not to say that the service at the main restaurant is less good -- I simply don't know because I have not eaten there.
We had a multi-course dinner, and guests had choices for the courses. Suffice it to say that every dish was outstanding, and my fellow diners, including those who had different dishes from what I had, were similarly impressed. From the name of the restaurant, I thought they only specialized in seafood, but they had meat dishes as well, and those were equally outstanding.
I shall return for sure.
The first time I ate here was many years ago, not long after they opened, and I had a very good experience then, except that the food was a bit on the "rich" side (too much butter in the sauce). I had the rabbit then. I hadn't returned until now not because the previous experience was bad, but because this place is far from where I live and where I have my normal activities.
This time, I started with the 'ceasar salad with bacon', which is on their Today's Specials blackboard. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but generally, when I eat out, I expect to get food that either I can't cook myself (or can't cook as well), or is too troublesome to cook. What, you may ask, is it about a ceasar salad that you can't easily make at home? The answer: the dressing. Unfortunately, this time, I was really disappointed with their ceasar salad. There was so little dressing that most of the salad was dry, and whatever dressing there was was so bland in flavour that I really couldn't remember anything about the taste afterwards. The romaine was not the freshest and not as crispy as I get at many other restaurants. So, some romaine, some thin slices of cheese, one strip of bacon, and a bread stick. That's it. That's something I can easily slap together at home in no time. Maybe it was my mistake to go for the ceasar salad, but I was really expecting something not so run of the mill.
Next was the main course, and I chose the lamb chops. To give them credit, the dish looked great and the lamb was very nicely cooked, tender and juicy. However, this time, the opposite to the ceasar salad happened. The flavours were too strong, too salty, and just completely overwhelming. The side vegetables also had a very overpowering flavour, something spicy that caused me to sweat all over my scalp.
After that, I wouldn't dare go for the dessert.
Maybe I should have had the rabbit instead, and maybe I was just unlucky this time around. The place was almost full by the time I left, so obviously there are many other customers who appreciate their food.
Who would have guessed that such a nice Italian restaurant has sprung up in Chinatown (or at the fringe of it)? I had lunch there with my wife just now. The appetizers were very creative and very tasty. We had two different pasta dishes for our main course, and both were yummy, cooked just right (al dente). We saw that some of the people at the neighbouring tables ordered pizza, and all the pizzas looked great (at a very decent size), so I presume that they tasted great as well. The price is not cheap, but you get what you pay for. The only slight negative was that bread did not come free, and they charged $1.50 or $2 for 'a side of bread', which consisted of 4 small thin slices of freshly toasted bread, drizzled with olive oil. There weren't too many people there, so the place was nice and quiet, but considering the hard surfaces everywhere, it may get noisy in the evening. But then, Italian restaurants are always noisy anyways. If you haven't been here, you really should try it out.
I have eaten here quite a few times since they opened in early 2009. This restaurant has certainly gone through its ups and downs since. In the early days, it was mostly up, and the place was jam packed all the time. Then, around mid- to late 2010, things started to fall apart, as you can see from the reviews posted from that time up till late 2011, and customers started to desert the place. I don't disagree with those negative reviews, as I, too, was disappointed with the food when eating there during that period. Lately, they seem to have found their grooves again. I just had a wonderful lunch there with a friend. They had tightened their menu, got rid of the unpopular dishes, and re-focused on what the kitchen staff can do best. The price has also dropped from $32 to a more reasonable $29 for the prix fixe (which most customers go for), and in addition, they offer an a la carte menu if you don't mind paying more. Everything we had was top notch in flavour, and the portions were decent. I see that customers have largely returned, as the restaurant was almost full during the lunch period when we were there.
It is time to give this place another chance. Do go and try it out.
Over my last 3 visits in the last 2 years, every visit has given me a better impression of this place. Rob Feenie is definitely making an impact here. The food is incredible. Not just the "RF" designated items (which used to be the case a few years ago), but everything is good now. Prices are not cheap, but considering that you often pay more at "5 star restaurants" without getting food this tasty, I think the value is outstanding. Portions are decent, and ingredients are always very fresh. The service can't be compared to those "5 star" places, but is what you would expect at an affordable fine dining establishment. I will return.
There are a lot of restaurants in the immediate neighbourhood of this place, and most are catered to tourists, which means so-so food quality. This one, however, is a bit special. The setting is in a heritage building, with an entrance off an alley. The decor is casual but nice, and the food is very, very good, not what you would normally expect at a run-of-the-mill Italian restaurant. I had the grilled calamari, my wife had an ahi tuna sandwich, and my daughter had a prawns pizza. Every dish was tasty and very well prepared. We looked at nearby tables, and the food that the other guests were having was also very nicely presented, so I imagine that they, too, tasted very good. Prices are very reasonable for what you get. A good place to go to, to avoid the usual tourist trap.
I have to admit that it has been many years since I last ate here, so I may have missed the period when the two previous not-so-great reviews were written. However, I have eaten here a total of 4 or 5 times since I first came here some 17 to 20 years ago, and every time, I and my family have had a most enjoyable dining experience, from the delicious food, to the attentive and courteous service, to the very cosy and comfortable setting with a great view. The cuisine is always creative, using local ingredients (especially the veggies and edible flowers that they grow on site), and really satisfies the taste buds. Although the price is not cheap, you get what you pay for. The wine selection, too, though a bit on the expensive side, is wonderful. The only drawback is that the place is a bit out of the way, and if you want to take the last ferry back to Vancouver, you will have to start eating early and eat quickly, which defeats the purpose of going to a restaurant with such a relaxing, cosy, and beautiful setting. Best is if you stay overnight, if not at this beautiful boutique hotel, then at another one nearby or in Victoria.
Having eaten here several times, for both lunch and dinner, I can fully understand why some reviews are very positive and some rather negative. The food quality is best characterized by the term 'hit and miss'. Some items are outstanding, fully worthy of 4 stars, while some other items are only mediocre, hence my overall 3-star rating. However, because of the reasonable prices and the premium location, the place is full all the time. Service is always very good, but this will sometimes go unnoticed because of the VERY loud ambient noise here and the crowded seating, which are distracting to me. Otherwise, the decor is nice and the setting is upscale.
I have eaten here several times over the last few years. The food has been absolutely delicious every single time. Service is slightly variable, depending on how busy the restaurant is (and most of the time it is quite busy). Sometimes they are understaffed, and service can be a little lacking, but whatever staff they have, they do try their best. Sometimes I feel bad for them, as they have to rush in order to attend to all the tables. Despite this, the attitude of the staff is always very good. The decor is one of the best among Chinese restaurants. That huge mural on the wall is really impressive, especially good as a backdrop for photos.
My most recent visit was for dinner whereas previous visits were for lunch. The dinner portions are HUGE, and given the prices they charge and the quality of the food, they are unbeatable value for money.
I will have no hesitation returning to this place and recommending it to others.
I have eaten here twice. The first time was 3 years ago. While the experience then was very good, it wasn't that memorable, and in any case, because the food quality at many Chinese restaurants vary from time to time, I wanted to wait for a second try to confirm my impression before writing a review. Little did I know that circumstances were such that my 2nd try would be 3 years later.
This time, my wife particularly asked the restaurant to recommend their best dishes, which includes roasted squab, mixed appetizers as an opening dish, snake soup, geoduck, and fish done two ways (meat pan fried, and the bones deep fried to be so crispy that you can chew up and swallow them. These and the other dishes (which I can't recall right now) are all exceptionally done. In fact, the experience this time is even better than the one last time. I also noticed that the decor now is a lot better than what I remembered.
The restaurant was jam packed, so the food took a while to be served, but it was all worth the wait. The service was as good as you can expect from a typical high quality Chinese restaurant. My only quibble is that the parking is a bit cramped, both in terms of the parking spaces themselves and in terms of getting in and out of and negotiating the turns in the underground parkade.
I have eaten here several times. The first few times were at lunch. Their noodle dishes were excellent, especially the wonton noodle soup, with huge and fresh wonton. Fried rice was also very well done, and other smaller appetizer-type dishes were all excellent. The only disappointment is the congee. It is not up to the standards of the other better congee places in town.
Recently, I and some friends went there for dinner, for the first time. All I could say was "wow". I never expected food of such wonderful quality at a noodle-congee place. Every dish was spectacular, and portions were big. The "set" of 4 dishes (at our choice) came with a bonus dish of chicken. I thought maybe it would be a tiny dish like an appetizer dish you get at some Shanghainese restaurants, but no, it was of a full, "main course" size. There was so much food the four of us couldn't finish it. When the bill came, it was only around $55. What a bargain. Highly recommended.
I ate here twice recently with friends. Both times, the food was absolutely wonderful, in decently large portions, yet prices were very reasonable. They have a large variety of noodles in soup, some traditional Vietnamese, others more creative. Everything was delicious, and the ingredients very fresh. Other items like spring roll and satay were also excellent. The place is very clean and bright, and the decor modern. Service was fast, courteous, and efficient. Highly recommended.
I ate here twice -- once for dinner and once for lunch.
The time I ate dinner here with a bunch of friends, every dish was delicious and "surprising" in that both the flavours and presentation were not what one would find at a typical Japanese restaurant, but they were all pleasant surprises. I was most impressed.
The more recent visit, for lunch, impressed me a little bit less. The menu is simpler for lunch. The cold dishes, especially the ones with raw fish, were all wonderful in every way. The hot dishes were a bit mixed. None was bad, but some were outstanding whereas some were 'meh'. One of the two beef tendon with rice dishes was an example of something that seemed "over tended to". I couldn't make out the beef tendon in the big patch of brown, gooey stuff next to the rice, and the taste was so so, as if the chef was trying too hard to mix different flavours in order to come up with something new and surprising but failed to impress in the end. The ox-tail with noodles in soup was another one such dish. However, there were more good and impressive dishes than there were 'meh' ones, so, overall, I still rate this restaurant highly.
As with other Izakayas, the noise level is high at this place, particularly because it does such good business that it is always full during peak meal times. It seemed a bit understaffed for my lunch visit, but service was still quick when you could flag down a waitress, and the kitchen sure turned out orders very speedily.
I forgot to mention the desserts. At lunch, there were only 2 desserts on the menu. On first sight, none seemed special -- a creme brulee and a almond tofu, but we decided to try one each anyway. When it arrived, we could not figure out which was which, so special and creative was the presentation, and the flavours -- all I could say is "wow". Do try the desserts if you go here.
Having read the favourable reviews, I decided to give this place a try, despite its menu's not looking too attractive to me.
Boy, am I glad I did. Everything from the bread (very fresh and soft, accompanied by extremely flavourful olive oil) to the dessert was outstanding. Just the Amuse-bouche alone was impressive enough, both in terms of presentation and flavour. It certainly wetted my appetite for what followed. My appetizer was the quail. It was very hot (i.e., fresh off the oven). The outside was crispy, yet the inside was soft, tender, juicy, and very flavourful. The accompanying salad matched its flavour very well. My main course was rabbit. Both texture and flavour were outstanding. After that, I already felt quite full and was going to skip dessert, but decided that, given everything that had gone on before, I would really be remiss if I didn't try their dessert, so I went for the waiter's recommendation -- lemon cream. Again, the item name didn't sound that attractive to me, and I would not have ordered it had the waiter not recommended it highly, but one mouthful and I was convinced. It was incredible. Rarely have I tasted a dessert that is so memorable.
The bill came to just over $50, and I thought that was pretty good value for what I got.
This restaurant has now become a new favourite of mine.
There are plenty of very good restaurants in town, but this one is now near the top of the list for me. Having read good comments about it both here and elsewhere, I decided to give it a try, and had the chef's tasting menu for $65. I chose a few dishes from the day's menu, and let the chef decide the rest. I ended up getting also a couple of dishes that were not on the menu, yet every dish was outstanding. They were of good portions, beautifully presented, and delicious. The brown butter clams, particularly, was very memorable. Only the dessert, a chocolate cake of some sort, was less than spectacular (but still good). For $65, that was good value for money. The wine selection was also very good. Highly recommended.
I did not have a good experience with the food when I first went a Joey (the one on Broadway) several years ago, but was pleasantly surprised with this one this time around.
The menu had changed from my first Joey experience, and all menu items are now very appetizing and attractive. I went with a large group of people this time around, and we shared several appetizers -- all outstanding and creatively put together. The main courses were also very tasty, with very sizable portions. The best of all was the final bill, which we all agreed was very reasonable.
The wine selection, too, was wide and good.
Highly recommended.
It has been a few years since I and my family last ate here. A recent re-visit has confirmed that they have largely maintained their standards. Some dishes were as good as I remembered from my last visit, while others were almost as good. The chef is creative in coming up with menu items that are not found elsewhere, and appetizers were particularly outstanding. This time, the restaurant was not as jam-packed as it used to (perhaps hurt by the HST and the new drunk driving laws), but it still got to be almost full on a weekday evening, which attests to its popularity. The noise level can be quite high if the place is full and guests are talkative, but that's what a bistro atmosphere is supposed to be. I ordered a glass of white wine, and it came in a small carafe, I would say probably 8 oz. or more, so quite a deal (the wine was very good). All in all, it was an enjoyable meal by all.
I and a friend went for lunch there. The menu was very attractive, and not only was the food we ordered wonderful, the food in neighbouring tables looked very appetizing as well. Portions are not big, but enough for lunch. The price was quite high, but you would expect that in a hotel of this class and in this location. Decor was very contemporary, and seating was comfortable. Lots of natural light. The only drawback was that the place was very noisy. Too many hard surfaces, perhaps.
7 of us went there, after seeing the glowing reviews.
The food, on average, was not bad, but not outstanding. Appetizers were generally very satisfactory. Main courses were more variable. Some had rather bland taste, while others would fit into the 'outstanding' category. Also, some pasta dishes like the ravioli was not very big in portion, while the garganelli was huge. However, considering the reasonable prices, it was overall good value for money.
The ambience was also good, but the low ceiling was a bit stifling, although it is less bothersome when you are sitting down. Service was a bit variable this particular evening, as there was a big party out at their patio, and sometimes all the waiters disappeared from the indoor space, perhaps to sing "happy birthday" for that party. This should not be a recurring problem. The desserts were also good but not outstanding.
The location of this restaurant is rather unique, without much competition in the immediate vicinity. If you like this kind of setting and environment, it is not a bad choice, but I'd rather go to the many other restaurants around town that offer more spectacular food.
