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Cafeteria's revolving menu of old & soon to be new favourites rotates on chef Durbach's whim with daily, eclectic menus and inventive offerings of beer and wine displayed on old fashioned letter boards.
I came here last week and my streak of picking awesome restaurants kept rolling. The Cafeteria is a new restaurant on Main Street replacing Ping's. We got there fairly early to avoid the main dining rush and there was only a few tables seated. The space is small and clean with large menus on both walls. I would have given the ambiance a 4 but unfortunately I was being blinded by the sun for most of the night. I overheard that blinds are on order so hopefully that gets fixed. Now on to the good stuff...
They have a pretty decent wine selection with many being offered by the glass. They will also open a bottle if you order two glasses of anything.
We started our dinner by sharing the scallop sashimi. It was a large portion of thinly sliced scallops with sesame seeds, avocado, a drizzle with sesame oil and a bit of heat. It was very tasty. I ordered the duo of beef and my dining companion had the veal. Both were very large portions and over the top in terms of flavour and quality of ingredients.
My duo of beef included a few slices of steak, I believe sirloin and braised beef cheek. The beef cheek was barely held together and literally melted in your mouth. At $18, this was one of the best dishes I have ever had which seems strange to say. I tried the veal scallopini and it was great: a large portion of veal loaded with mushrooms accompanied with a simple tagliatelle. We finished with the crumble which was tasty as well but at that point I was so full that I only had a small bite.
The service was outstanding the entire night; very attentive but not intrusive. I would assume with their price point and small space, they need to flip tables fairly quickly. We never felt like we were rushed and the place was packed shortly after our arrival.
Cafeteria is on my list of favourite restaurants in Vancouver. I hope they live up to my high expectations on subsequent visits which will be often.
Wow! What a place -- we checked it out for the first time and are so glad we tried it. For appetizers the scallop carpaccio was excellent, the mozarella salad was excellent as well. My rib steak was very very good, and a huge portion with delicious crispy potatoes and a salad for $19. DH's vegetarian ravioli was the only item that was not that great, the sauce was on the sweet side and although well prepared, just not to our liking all that much. Dessert was good as well, with a very nice wine list and great service. We frequently dine at restaurants in this price range, and from our one visit I feel like Cafeteria definitely comes out on top. Will be back for sure!
A couple of the other reviews sound pretty down. We had a good meal, but maybe it was the night we went(???)
We started with bocconcini salad and mushrooms, very nicely done. We moved to tomato fennel soup, and then mains, which included a bacon-wrapped pork chop and a perch dish. They were all very nice.
We found the wine list to be quite nice, and we had a great time. The service was professional, and not pushy in any way.
I guess what I'm trying to say is we were not left wanting anything, and so it was a great dinner experience. It isn't the cheapest restaurant in town, though, I'll admit.
We enjoyed the food; the service was professional and friendly, though not *very* friendly - kind of distant friendly, like 'we are here to do our jobs, and we will do them properly' but I mean, hey, what do you want? The value is pretty much there I guess. The ambience is ok for what it is... and it is called "Cafeteria" so keep that in mind.
Well, I wouldn't run right out and go back to Cafeteria in a heartbeat, but it'll be on my list of 'try again' restaurants.
Went to this quaint little restaurant, in The month of February, this review is past its date, but i love cafeteria so much, I just wanted to put a review up. This was the Month of the Notorious Dine Out Vancouver 2011. I work in the Industry and really did not want the hassle, long line ups and Dine out menu, and decided to go to Cafeteria. Really Heard great things about the nice Chalkboard type menu, Having a daily fresh sheet as a menu. I went here with a friend, it was quite a busy place, and they do not take reservations. So me and my friend arrived around 7 o clock, was seated quickly by the hostess. A very small but charming dining area, My only complaint about the Restaurant is its a little hard to see the Menu on the wall, as they do not give u a hand written one. But starting off with the food, had the three course, 32.50. Very affordable, little bit cheaper then dine out. For sure the food would be alot fresher then a dine out menu, as per since dine out Vancouver is busy lots of restaurants Prep food ahead of time. I ordered the Beef tataki, veal scallopine on a mushroom and pea rissoto, and apple pannacotta. my friend order salad, lamb pot roast, peanut butter pie. The service was fast and prompt, very friendly and great. Food came out in good timing, in between coursing of our 3 course meal. The beef tataki was great!!!! if not excellent, lots of crunch from wasabi peas, and could not distinguish what else was on it. but with a great ponzu sauce. IF you don;t like raw beef you should try the tataki. Following on with the second Course, The best rissoto ive had by far in a restaurant and one of the best veal scallopines or veal dishes ive eaten. And end it off with a pretty good pannacotta. The evening was great, food was great, will probably be a regular. If you want superb food at a good price, Come to Cafeteria!!!!!!!!! SOOOO GOOD, i would say one of the best restaurants ive dined in. Thank you Chef Andrey Dubrach and his team!
Being familiar with Pied e Terre and La Buca, I was a little worried that it would be too similar to these restaurants even I enjoy them. I was pleasantly surprised that it was similar in some ways and different in some ways - all good. Quality of food and service was similar - good consistent cooking as well as service. Ambiance and setting were different - casual, friendly and comfortable environment. We had a great time hanging out and even people were waiting, we never felt we were rushed. We had 2 Osso Buco's and a duck confit - I tried both dishes and both were above average for sure.
Regarding waiting, they don't take reservation. We decided to be smart and went there early by 6pm on Sunday and got a table right away. With such a tiny restaurant, chances of queuing is high. If you are not one of those patient people, go early or late!
I read about Cafeteria in a recent "We" paper. Quote: "This is seriously good food, minus all the seriousness." Yes, the servers were attentive, friendly and non-pretentious but the menu was. Really? You have to make me guess as to what each item is on the board? Halibut cheeks and chicken wings...on the same plate? Really?
I had a paysanne salad. It was ok but the pork was over salty and the poached quail egg was hard. The steak florentina was okay but the onion rings on top didn't seem to match. Plus the bread underneath the salad was mushy. And what Italian serves feta cheese with a panzanella salad? The server said there was feta cheese in it but we didn't notice any. I think the price for the steak was fair but the salad was overpriced. Not rushing to go back.
I read good reviews about this restaurant plus I work next door so I sometimes see a lineup so I thought it might be worth a try, wrong decision!!! Couple weeks ago my friends and I went down on a Saturday night. We arrived at about 6 and we were the second table there. The ambiance was ok and the staff were friendly. I ordered a venison with pasta, one of my friends ordered a steak with spicy sauce and rice, and others ordered other stuff. When my order arrive i thought to myself, oh, this must be a side dish for my entree, but boy was I wrong. That WAS my main dish!!! I can't believe I just paid $22 for some what looks like minced beef with pasta...it was blend, tasteless, and the pasta was definitely undercooked...and the portion size was laughable. I had to go somewhere else to eat afterward. My friends weren't too impressed with their dishes either. Let's just say that we won't be heading back anytime soon...anytime ever!!!
Always admired Parkside in its days of glory and wanted to try the latest venture from Andrey Durbach. Read some reviews with mixed feelings about what to expect. Tried it on Halloween night, usually a slow day for restaurants.
Arrived at 5:20pm with no problems in seating. Reasonable range on menu board considering the limited number of items. Mussels were fresh, generously portioned and interesting in flavour. Beef carpaccio was well done albeit a rather standard fare. Duck confit was outstanding, skin beautifully crispy and yet flesh soft, moist and delicious. A steal at $18.5. Ravioli also excellent. Desserts well priced and delicious, the flourless chocolate torte a good finish to the meal.
Service attentive and friendly. As restaurant was not full, one never felt rushed (as reported by some other reviewers).
Overall, great value for quality of food in this day and age. Probably would not stand in the rain on a cold winter's night waiting to get in. No matter how commendable the food, one always thinks twice before embarking on a significant wait for a no reservation room (similar sentiments when we go to Vij's).
I enjoyed my meal but wasn't surprised or left wanting more. Nothing was particularly good or bad. I ordered the pork and felt it was just okay. Pricing is on the high side for unpolished, so-so food. Very busy but very small. I felt the service was very good.
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