It was an anniversary dinner and I had requested for a window seating. Though I was forewarned this request will be noted but not guaranteed I did see a few available spaces by the window. I did not feel any effort was placed to accommodate my request. The server got our drinks wrong and it took a very long time to arrive. No effort was made to engage us in conversation. The food was pre-made, cold and absolutely awful tasting. Just because the restaurant is closing down in a couple of weeks it does not mean the guests should feel they are being served food scraped from the bottom of the barrel. The higher prices they charge should reflect the quality of the food. Very disappointing. Would not return if they weren't already closing down.

Came here for the annual Dine-Out Vancouver 2011. The scene was great at the waterfront, and the restaurant's got a romantic feel to it. The food was overall great, but a little on the light side in terms of size. The steak was done just the way I wanted. One thing is that the apple cranberry crisp may be a little too sweet for some. Would definitely return.

Came here with my friend as we always wanted to try it out. The room is quite nice and the view is outstanding. Unfortunately, that's pretty much as good as it gets, the service was mediocre and the food wasn't very good at all, they couldn't even get a caesar salad right, it came out almost warm, sitting up at the pass bar too long? Who knows? All I know is I won't be back, like the previous review said, a good tourist trap.

Went during the week for lunch for the first time. Ceasar salad to start and very good with shaves of cheese but no croutons, only bread sticks. Had the sable fish and pasta. Decent size for the fish but pasta was a bit too much. They said it was tagleterre (sp) but it looked and tasted like fettucine. The pasta had some peas and in some sort of light broth/butter sauce. Perhaps some grilled veggies to make it not that starchy for lunch. Very good service and great views. Would only go again on an expense account.

I've been to Aqua Riva many times, and each time it's been good overall.

My g/f & I went there on Sunday for dinner - we had the DineOut menu - and we had a good time. Service was prompt. We never had to wait long for food or drinks. This one bus boy was excellent at making sure our water glasses were always filled~he even anticipated when we needed more water and was there waiting to refill it just as I was putting my glass back down! (Huge thumbs up for him!) Our server was polite and professional, but didn't come by during every course to ensure everything was okay. But she brought the bill without us having to ask her for it.

Food was great. The seared scallops and tempura prawns/mussels both tasted good, except the chef needs to make sure he doesn't serve up mussels that are still closed shut - there were a couple of these in my g/f's bowl (this usually means they aren't cooked or have gone bad). The entrees we ordered, Wild Salmon and Steak, were also tasty but the salmon was cooked a little too much (not medium as the server said it would be done). The steak was cooked to perfection and sauce complimented it very well. The cheesecake dessert was so much better than the apple crumble. The crumble part was too soggy. Despite the criticisms, the food still gets a 4 b/c the little things weren't enough to bring it down to a 3.

The ambiance gets a 3 b/c it was quite noisy. I know it was peak dining hours and most of the ppl there were doing the Dineout, but we had to talk louder than usual for us to hear each other. Decor is alright and the view is beautiful, so still a great place to go.

I mean cmon, if i was a tourist, paying $60 a head, i would be pissed. Aqua Riva is a true tourist trap. Nice view, pretty decore, and bad service. I had the lamb, it was bad. the waitress made me mad, she was plain, overly friendly for the price, and kinda rude. I will probably not return, unless its part of a cruise.

I went to Aqua Riva for dinner last night with relatively high expectations based on a family member's previous experience. I'm sad to say that I was relatively unimpressed with the food.

My friend and I opted for wine with dinner but couldn't decide based on the server's knowledge (or lack thereof) of what would have best suited our meal. She seemed a little unfamiliar with the wines listed and couldn't make a solid recommendation, however, she was more than happy to provide a few samples for us to decide. We ended up choosing a nice white wine from the selection she brought.

I started with a caesar salad, which was quite good. I'm not a fan of croutons in my salad, which was perfect, as this was served with two straw-like breadsticks. The generous portion of parmigiano shavings on top was really good as well.

The disappointment came with the entrées. My friend and I both opted for the pesto Halibut from their fresh sheet. It was cooked nicely, but the flavours did not really go well together. There was a lemon butter on the plate that was really sweet and tasted like it should have been a dessert sauce and really clashed with the garlic & pesto. The risotto was cooked nicely and had a nice flavour on its own, but again, didn't go well with everything else. To enjoy my meal, I had to eat everything separately which was difficult as everything was basically piled up on top of each other. For a 'fine dining' establishment, I really expected more.

To finish the meal, we opted for espresso vodka instead of dessert - I'm not really a fan of desserts anyway and there was nothing on the menu to really tempt me.

The view here is really outstanding and basically kicks things up a notch - the food just isn't on par with the ambiance. I will likely not return anytime soon. At this price point, there are far better restaurants around.

I knew nothing about Northwest Pacific food until we went to Aqua Riva for a good time last week. I was blown away by the flavourfulness of the food and completely changed my mind on some things that I have always hated. I loved their soup, their fish, their succulent pork ribs, etc etc. I came back a converted man.

So I was excited to find that Aqua Riva gets good reviews on dinehere.

Typical of Vancouver, diners ate really really early. The restaurant was filled when we got there at 7 Wow.

The decor was modern and cozy.

The four of us shared a plate for 6. My girlfriend and I each had a cup of soup. The perfect balance of tanginess and sweetness along with some little tasty onionettes in them. I can picture myself craving this. Girlfriend's girlfriend got garlic soup, which tasted and was great. Weird looking! We all shared the beets salad.

For entree, I decided to get the mushroom and fish which was really an appetizer. They were so good! Another thing I will crave in the future.

All food came with veggies which makes it more value. My girlfriend was getting pissed that I kept on reaching over with my fork for her salad.

No room for dessert. That's how filling it is. And the prices were in the $20 range.

Price is reasonable, service is friendly and efficient (and me and the other male patrons really like the cute blonde waitress which is not surprising) and very very worth trying.

I went to aqua riva for a friends birthday a month ago and i thought the ambiance was really nice. Its a really nice restaurant the view of the water is nice. But i think this restaurant is a little bit overrated. i mean its nice, nice open kitchen i am in the industry so i know what kitchens should look like, awesome kitchen there. but anyways back to dinner the bread they broguht was great, but the tomato bruschetta looked like tomato barf no effence, it tasted like my aunt made ahahha. But the bread did taste fresh, anyways for dinner i ordered an appetizer and a main entree. For the food it might be a little over priced but the food is good, but not outstanding and anything that i could not make. I have to say for the appetizer the museels and clams in a thai broth was very good, except the fries were over salted, it was like they did not know how to season things, just dumped a whole pile of salt in it. other then that the appetizer was good very tasty thai broth. and for the main i had wood grilled tenderloin was very good, the dumplings were not the dumpling i thought they were more like beignets or tempura prawns. but overall the food was good, but the service lacked a bit. we did have a big table but our waitress looked like she did not wanna serve such a big group. but this restaurant is kinda overrated.

I've been to Aqua Riva on numerous occasions (for NYE dinner, brunch, b-day's..etc) and have thoroughly enjoyed each visit.

The food is your standard "find dining" food..lots of seafood. It wasn't spectacular..but still pretty good.

The service is very attentive. Our drinks were never empty before the waiter came by to ask if we'd like another.

The ambiance is beautiful at night overlooking the harbour. In the daytime..well, that's a different story; it's still nice..just...a bit "colourful" for my liking.

Overall, I think this is a pretty good "fine dining" restaurant.