Locals in Gastown have a good thing with Medina, Dirty Apron and Chambar at their door steps. The DOV $38 menu was fabulous opportunity to experience Chambar and their standby favorites.

For starters, my companion and I ordered: (i) Carpaccio de Thon Rouge Charred yellow fin tuna Carpaccio, shiso & sesame pesto, shaved Parmesan, Meyer lemon & jalapeño vinaigrette and (ii) the Cappuccino de Champignon Forest mushroom soup, truffle foam, herb goat cheese croquette. Beautifully plated and servings are small but appropriate for rich food with lots of flavour. The tuna Carpaccio is as good as any I’ve tried. The soup is poured at the table so the croquette stays crunchy. Pretty fancy comfort food!

For our entrees, we had (i) Duo de Boeuf Moroccan braised beef short ribs, chick pea charmoula, grilled kabob, spiced zucchini, mint & cilantro salad and (ii) L'omble de L'Arctique Crisp Arctic char, curried risotto, pickled cucumber, yogurt & eggplant caviar. The short rib came with the bone removed and quite tender in reduction juice. The lamb with humus was “gamely” but not overwhelming. Arctic char is like “salmon” but I loved the crispness of it. The risotto was a tad undercooked and salty (maybe it was the caviar?) but nothing a drink couldn’t wash down.

To end the night, we had Americano coffee with (i) Le Fromage a selection of BC cheese and (ii) Parfait au citron frozen lemon soufflé, coconut dacquoise, toasted meringue, pie crust ice cream. The cheese was gobbled up before I could taste much of it but comes with pear, blueberry jam, in-house crisps and sampling of nuts. My lemon soufflé had a light coconut crust base and complimented well with a dollop of vanilla ice cream and almond slices. You don't realize how rich it is until you're finish.

The service was attentive and we finished our 3 course meal within 1.5 hr. The atmosphere was cozy and casual. The room is small, retaining the old world charm of Gastown (brick & mortar) but has nice modern touches. Check it out if you’re in this historic part of town and want to try European cuisine.

Went to Chambar with my brother the other night. The service was prompt and friendly, I was led to a seat right away. Loved the ambiance in the restaurant, it was quite hip and modern; the lighting inside was dim but not too dark.

We ordered the spiced fois gras terrine to start, then the coquette moules frites, and after much consideration, ended our great meal with the Symphonie Tropicale. Out starter took no time to arrive. It was quite unique, because we've never had cold fois gras before. It was definitely a very unique experience for our palate, a GOOD unique experience! But it would be great if there was more of the brioche french toast to go with the fois gras, because on its own, it was quite salty, but the everything balanced perfectly when eaten with the brioche french toast.

Next came the moules frites. The fries were served with a dijon mayo, which we both enjoyed quite a bit. There were plently of mussels in the pot with plenty of bacon. The broth was quite flavourful and delicious and the mussels were cooked just right. We were just too full to order a side of bread to scoop up the reminder of the broth.

We were a little hesitant when it came to dessert, but after much deliberation, we decided to go with the Symphanie Tropicale, which was a coconut macaroon with passionfruit curd and pina colada sorbet. It was a pretty tiny dessert for $11 (we each had about 2 small bites), but it was just so perfect that we couldn't complain. The pina colada sorbet was so refreshing that it make us felt like we were on the beach! We really just wish there was more of it.

Great experience, would definitely go back to try other items on their menu. Or might just go there for drinks and dessert!

Went with a group in a situation I wasn't paying thankfully. Ordered a bison steak mid rare as recommended by the server. Although the service is absolutely fantastic, and the food was pretty good, until I'm old and am full off 200 calories worth of food I'll skip this place. Our portions were so tiny, and I even had a huge dessert after and was barely satiated. Definitely a pre-eating place, and I felt sort of out of place the entire time. Not because I was wearing sweat pants and couldn't afford it, but because I was wearing a dress and heels and other people were wearing very casual wear, while the servers were wearing stuff that looked like you would wear to bed or completely suited up. Had no idea how to dress!

Food: My dining compadre loved the veal (close to ordering a second portion!) and I wasn't that hungry and so ordered the Congolaise mussels for the both us which turned out to be quite good and with a large portion of mussels. Dessert was the highlight - we ordered the passion de chocolat and it was sublime. Rich chocolate cake with a sorbet on the side - a great way to end the night. The people sitting beside us raved about their desserts and now I can see why.

Service: Friendly and attentive but not overbearing - the perfect balance.

Value: portions were small - if I had been hungry, our wallets would have been in trouble. Large plates, small cuts of meat and very few filler veggies. The veal was described to have fingerling potatoes and what we got were 4 small little discs of potato, that all added up would have amounted to just 1 single small fingerling potato! Drinks were ridiculously overpriced for what was received. The saving grace is that the mussels were actually quite plentiful, so don't miss out on those.

Ambiance: great space but not acoustically pleasing - everything was very loud and the way the tables were packed tightly together meant that we were in listening distance to others and it made it difficult to carry on an intimate conversation. A whole mish mash of people, many of whom who thought they were god's gift to the world (to the couple sitting beside us who laughed when a young girl slipped and fell, if you're reading this, you guys are douches and we can all see that you guys are posers, evidenced since by your ugly wallpaper patterned shirt and cheap Breitling model watch and your girl wearing a cheap Guess top thinking she was so classy).

Overall, I would return to this place and recommend others to come as well since the food was very good. I would, however, choose to sit in the corner if possible to distance myself from the mega douches that seem to be multiplying in this city.

After numerous aborted attempts, finally went to Chambar to celebrate a birthday.

I love the room (the brick walls, natural wood tables and the leather seating).

Our servers we pleasant, charming, and attentive.

I ordered the seared scallop appy, the mussels & fries entree, and the chocolate passion dessert. All were delicious, although I found the mussels a bit too smoky for my palate (lots of bacon).

My dining companions ordered the poutine side, flatiron steak, veal tenderloin, and the venison. For dessert they had the tropical flan, the Belgian waffles and the chocolate mousse cake.

As we are apt to do, every sampled each other's dishes, and we had glowing comments all around.

Nice blend of flavours in most dishes. I'm normally not a mussel person, but I'd have to say, I really do enjoy the mussels here. You really can't go wrong. So tasty and the sauce is so soupy, that you feel like slurping that up, too! Great for dipping and great for eating as is, and the added sea salt makes it even more delicious.

The halibut is really good--lightly battered, as tasty as the best fish & chips out there.

I'd avoid the foie gras de canard served terrine style here though as it wasn't very satisfying and definitely not worth the heartfailure thereafter from having consumed something so rich in fat. I don't know if it's because it's duck or what. Also, as far as duck goes, I'd also recommend passing on the duck breast. Way too chewy, and fatty, but somehow still a little dry... and again, chewy to the point where I just stopped eating it after the first bite.

The portions are fair and the prices are alright.

Good solid service. Nice lively casual atmosphere in the middle of a quiet street.

I celebrated Valentines Day here with the gf, and about time as I've been raving to her about a few of their standout dishes I've had here in the past.

Reservations were a must on this evening and we were seated immediately upon arrival with our coats checked. Decor is fantastic and can suit either a quiet or noisy dining experience, though this restaurant has taken upon the latter. Ambience continues to be borderline loud. I wouldn't say it's unbearable nor would you have to shout across your small table but a truly quiet evening out would be out of the question here (perhaps I am biased as I noticed they played a lot of my favourite music: Earth, Wind, Fire, Temptations, Isley Brothers). People must remember that this is not a fine dining establishment and compare it to others as such. This is most definitely a hotspot for the Downtown hip crowd therefore there are touches of ostentatiousness here and there.

We quickly picked out our dishes: the Venison Shortloin Carpaccio to start, the Congalaise, Artic Char and Lamb Tajine to share with the Pear Toffee Pudding to finish. My gf had the Blue Fig Martini while I had a bottle of Celis White. The venison was subtle and was accompanied well with the mild root vegetable julienne and chevril. The mussels are impeccable. Our Congalaise had a generous amount heat from the chilis while the lime and tomato pairing toned down the richness of the coconut milk. Copious amount good to share with 3 people. The frites on the side are not enough to sop up all the sauce - order the fresh, crusty house roll to soak up the rest. The Arctic Char was buttery smooth, and the lentil ragout was again a nice pairing, however ragout being a misnomer as the butter sauce was fairly thin. The fall-off-the-bone lamb shank was unlike anything you'd normally see done to lamb. The honey, cinammon and figs steer the lamb into a rich medley of sweet and savoury flavours, with the yogurt and African red chili pairings on the side help offset your tastebuds with a cool or hot linger. The toffee pudding could prop itself better as a finisher for our meal but was overall a nice, light offset.

Prices lean on the expensive side though the few standout dishes are worth the extra coin.

The service could step it up some to align itself with the better restaurants in town, but I'd hardly call it terrible. Service is somewhat casual though the ambience tends to call for it. Our server was polite and followed up after every dish (they sent out one dish at a time which we really appreciated).

What makes this restaurant so good are the unique pairings of ingredients you wouldn't normally find elsewhere, with a few dishes that make them memorable. To be truly above the pack refinements can be made all over though I think they're happy with how it is now. Their only flaw might be their hype.

Eminently good. Highly Recommend.

Me and my friend came here for the last week of DOV 2012. Been to over 10 restaurants since DOV 2012 began. So we kinda have an idea or expectation that it might not be as good as regular times. However, this is seriously worst DOV experience we ever ever had!! Where should I begin? The 20 min wait for the table even we already made the reservation or mediocre food or the worst part the server didn’t explain the DOV menu then charged us the full prices for one appy and one main course? I will just describe the worst the part. Like normal customers, me and my friend both ordered appy, main course and dessert separately. Here is the key point, I added Foie gras and 8 oz steak on the side as it appeared on the “DOV menu” Foie Gras (add $8) under appetizer section and 8 oz steak (add $10) under main course section. At the point, the server still didn’t say or explain anything. So I just assumed extra 8 dollars more for the Foie Gras cuz that’s how it is on Five Sails restaurant DOV menu. I’ll skip complaining the food part, otherwise I will be writing an essay here. So till the bill came, we were charged full prices on Foir Gras (just one piece) for $18 and 8 oz steak for $48 (even Gotham T bones only costs $48!) We talked to the waitress. She merely said what I ordered is the 3rd appy and 3rd main course and we only have 2 ppl so they have to be charged full prices. There are no fine prints or any explanation saying full prices be4 I ordered the 3rd dishes and did I even mention earlier it’s under DOV menu!! We know it is NOT how it works on other upscale restaurants we’ve been too. So we paid whatever it’s on the bill and decide not going back forever. I think ppl out there should be aware this is how they run their restaurant. Terrible service.

Every now and then I get a craving for the mussels and fries at Chambar. However, on my most recent visit, the service was unusually slow and unattentive. Perhaps the reason is because we sat in the front bar area instead of the back where the main restaurant is?

The food was a let down this time as well. My bucket of mussels was loaded with unopened mussels. Must have been a bad batch. It made me afraid to eat the ones that did open.

I'm not a beer drinker but my friends are and they universally give high praise to the beer menu in this place.

I'll probably give it one more try in a few months since I've been really happy here in the past.

So, i've been slowly working my way through the highest rated and best restaurants in Vancouver and tonight I finally made it to Chambar. I've heard it was good before but every time i tried to book it was either full or the times didn't work. This is my own fault as I always call on the night i'm going somewhere and just see who's got spaces available.
Anyway, as usual i called, they had a table in 3 hours at 9pm which was too late but i thought i'd just call down anyway and take a spot in the lounge which is drop in. On arrival, the lounge turned out to be a couple of knee height tables at the front door, more of a drinks spot and I didn't fancy a seat at a bar for a high end restuarnat like this. We were about to leave when the Maitre de cut us a break and gave us a table in the main restuarant, which was, to be fair, completely full. SO, Great start!

For the starters we had some fish carpachio which was better than any beef carpacchio i have ever tried... If i hadn't known i would never have guessed it was fish actually.. Truly amazing flavours and tastes. My wife had the Terrine, which was smooth, creamy and served with what looked like french toast, which actually tasted better than the pate.. both beautiful. My daughter had a tapas selection, loved the shrimp, but a bit suspicious of the chilli and anchovy sauce.. I tried it and it was ok, but to be fair i'd never eaten a whole chilli before... Not my thing normally.

Mains we had Steak, Lamb and duck breast for my daughter. All were honestly amazing, with outstanding presentation and little accompaniments for sides that i'd never seen before.. Cool bruscettas, cus cus and some sort of mini dumpling.

Overall the experience was fantastic. Enough so that i felt compelled to write my first review of a restaurant despite trying pretty much all of the top ones in Vancouver.

Pricewise this place ain't cheap costing about $250 for the three of us including one glass of wine and one beer but for me, defiantly worth it