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db Bistro Moderne is a casual bistro where the traditions of French cuisine meet the bounty of the Pacific Northwest. The menu reflects the changing seasons with a focus on fine ingredients. Set in a casual and contemporary atmosphere, db Bistro promises dining that is as easy-going and welcoming as it is delicious. Located in Kitsilano, on West Broadway it is the perfect spot for a relaxed dinner with friends, a business meeting, or a once-a-year celebration.
My family and I were here for a birthday the other night. I think the ghost of Feenie's past haunts this place, because the restaurant itself is gorgeous and so beautifully decorated, but is soulless. By the end of the night, we couldn't wait to leave.
The food sounds great on the menu and does indeed look great, but the value is abysmal. Portions for some items are way too small. Some of my companions' dinners did not arrive as ordered: burgers undercooked, extra sauce when no sauce was requested, etc. Bread arrived cold and with frozen butter.
DB was unaccommodating of substitutions and modifications. At this high price point, such a policy is unacceptable.
I ordered my entree and they kicked up a fuss when I wanted a substitution; instead they did not substitute anything but charged full price for half a meal by omitting what I did not want. I was shocked that my $28 dinner was the size of an appetizer, and was so upset that the food could have been amazing and I still would have hated it. Everything tasted okay, but not even close to being worth such trouble. Fortunately my dining companions shared parts of their meals with me. Never have I felt so cheated at a Vancouver restaurant.
Our server was nice enough but I think he may have been new. Waters were consistently refilled but no quality checks were done on the food until the very end when our plates were being taken away. Complaints either went unheard or unacknowledged.
We were not impressed and won't be back.
Stopped for an early dinner on a saturday with a party of four.
The restaurant had just opened and were still getting ready for us, so we had to wait briefly before the server took us to our table.
We ordered the alsatian tarte flammbe appy, the steak frites with peppercorn sauce for a main (with an added side of sauted spinach), with the napolean of raspberries for dessert.
The tarte flambe was quite good, but not especially noteworthy. The steak was ordered medium-rare but it was probably more medium and medium rare. That said, it was still a very good steak and the fries were excellent (hot crisp and tasty). The side of spinach was very good. The napolean of raspberries were good, but again not especially noteworthy.
Our server was excellent, attentive, and pleasant.
Room/ambiance is comtemporary but casual.
Recently had lunch at DB and enjoyed one of the best meals I have had this year. The special of the day was halibut and that's what I ordered. The fish was perfectly cooked and served on a puree of green peas, with asparagus spears and croquette potatoes. The sauce was a piquant lemon butter. Every element complimented every other element. It was very close to perfect. Dessert was the Pavlova, which was also outstanding. Service at DB can be scatter-brained with the different staff (hostess, maître d', server) not coordinating properly but on this day all staff worked together smoothly. The halibut dish was $27, pricy for lunch, but not out of line for dinner, and when you think about it, why should the same meal cost less at lunch than at dinner?
I went because it was inviting, it was pretty empty and I used o come down when it was lumiere.
They have a set menu going on right now for lunch . $28 for a three course meal. The Hen Duo was great and everything we had was awesome. I wouldn't say I'd come back anytime soon even though I did enjoy our meal but this isn't a truly casual joint. Pretty upscale and chic who serves a much more affluent crowd.
Lunch for two came to almost $100. Not quite a bargain but if you got the dough then go big or go home ya?
I recently had brunch here at a table of 6 people for a special family occasion. The dining area, although not large, has a modern feel (which I like) and has a luxe appearance. Initially, I thought I had stumbled across a new addition to my existing restaurant rotation. But then our server arrived. She proved to be unaccommodating, forgetful, and indifferent. When someone at our table had a special request, rather than offer to see if the kitchen could oblige, she flat out said "no, they can't do that". She said "no" a few more times, and only because I really insisted she ask the kitchen, she did. And what do you know, the kitchen COULD accomomodate the request! The food then took a loooong time to come out. When the server finally arrived with our food, she forget to bring out part of the order, and at the end of the meal, she forgot to bring our tea order out with dessert. Each time we politely reminded her, she responded with a lackluster "oh..right". The food was good, but not amazing, and priced on the high side. Overall, Vancouver has too many outstanding restaurants for us to ever return to this place.
Was excited in trying out this restaurant after hearing positive reviews. Wow, can't see the hype. Menu does not offer much variety. Wait staff was snobby. Service was slow. Food is not good at all. Price is not worth the product you get. Overall experience was not enjoyable. Real let down.
I went on a Friday evening, and the place was packed, despite the overall 3-star rating to date. The decor and atmosphere were what you would expect from a nice bistro, and our server was cheerful and attentive, with a warm smile all the time. The free appetizer they gave us at the beginning was OK but unmemorable. My dining companion only ordered a main course, but I went for the $30 set menu, which at first looked like good value for money. My first course was the spring salad. Sadly, that was the only course that was good. The bouillabaisse that followed was lukewarm and rather bland in taste, and the portion was very small for a main course. The Garlic Rouille that accompanied it on the side tasted awful. For the best bouillabaisse in town, you've go to go to Henry's Kitchen. I had ordered a glass of white wine at the outset, which was good, but given the small quantity they gave me (= about half the quantity of a glass of wine at Earl's), it was poor value for money. There was so little wine that I finished my glass well before the main course came. I was thinking of ordering another glass of wine anyway, but the bouillabaisse so turned me off that the thought quickly went out of my head. My dining companion had the steak frite. It was cooked properly, with the centre uniformly deep pink and the outside seared, but the taste was again bland, and the meat was rather 'chewy'. The peppercorn sauce that came with the meat was similarly bland in taste. I had to ask for salt and pepper for my dining companion to enhance the flavour. At $30, I would have expected better. My dessert, a lemon tart, was small but OK in taste. Now, I finally know why the prix fixe menu is only $30, and why this place gets an overall 3-star rating. You can get much better value for money elsewhere.
I do not intend to return.
And I wasn't that big of a fan of Feenies, but DB is worse is almost all aspects than Feenies.
Four of us went for dinner last night to DB, our first time there. The food was an overpriced and faux-fancy take on French Bistro with some Italian thrown in there for kicks. For example, I had the iceberg wedge salad which I was hoping would be a fun take on the classic steakhouse salad, instead they missed the point and served a half head of soft butter lettuce with some traditional salad toppings. One friend ordered the steak, she enjoyed her meal, the rest of us were unsatisfied. The wine menu is outrageously priced, with wines starting at $60, including one bottle we regularly buy from the US for $10 for $60. Service was not great, our waters were always full (good!) but our server put his foot in his mouth on more than one ocassion. Overall I would not go back, and if I had to go back I would only order the bistro classics like steak and fries.
I travel internationally and prefer my own cooking generally so when I go out I look for good value and ambiance and it is should be a special treat. This is basically an upscale "French" diner with service that is efficient but kind of remote and absent simultaneously. I am still digesting my "AAA" steak, so I am not sure. If you know NYC this could have been an innocuous anywhere place on the Upper West Side. Poor value, mediocre streak but good fries. Would not go back and honestly wished we had gone to Mistral just a couple doors down. Do not recommend.
The room now has a lot of very small tables very close together. The table behind us was one inch from one of the chairs at our table. We had reserved a table for four and the small size meant it was a real challenge to get 4 breakfasts, 2 coffees, 1 juice, 4 glasses of water and one tea on the table. It just felt too crowded and awkward trying to pick up coffee cups etc.
The food was okay, but not outstanding, and the prices are pretty high. While my bennies were pretty close to the same price as many other breakfast places $13, the eggs, toast and bacon two in our party ate were also $13.00. The one above average feature of the bennies was the sauce-you rarely get it done right in a restaurant but they did here. Otherwise everyone reported the food was fine. Our bill for brunch for 4 was over $100.00
The service was average, again for an expensive restaurant it was not quite up to par. While our water glasses were refilled a little too often, I waited a long time for coffee. We arrived before our friends by about ten minutes. In most restaurants the server would have asked if we wanted something to drink [coffee, tea, etc.] while we waited for our friends. All we were offered was water and she did not come back to our table until about 10 minutes after our friends arrived. We were there about 45 minutes before our order was taken, and strangely enough our coffee/tea were not brought immediately but only when the food was served. Again, there was no sign of our server in the interim so we could not ask her to bring our beverages earlier. It was another 30 minutes when our breakfast arrived, so in total it took one hour and 15 minutes to get breakfast.
A second cup of coffee was requested and took 15 minutes to arrive. The coffee and tea are served in exactly the same small cups. While appropriate for tea, I for one, prefer my coffee in a taller container.
There are a lot of excellent places to go for breakfast in Vancouver so we won't be back here. The food and service do not justify the prices.
Maybe it is a curse of the location but Feenies had pretty bad service as well and we thought new owners would improve on that.
Ok, so I have not submitted a review in a long while. But last night I had dinner at DB for my fathers birthday.
I had been wanting to try DB since it opened, but have not had the occasion to go.
Well opportunity came knocking so I took advantage.
there were 10 of us and all of us are foodies to some degree.
Appitizers: I ordered the Gruyère & Smoked Bacon Tartes Flambées to share and the Chef provided us with an additional Smoked Bacon & Onion. These were both good, albeit very similar in flavor....
Mains: Two of my companions are on strict diets and right off the bat this was a problem. They were told that the kitchen would accommodate their requests, but that they do not normally do substitutions. Fine. Then a few more people in our party had some requests as well, one didn't want any pasta with the salmon, but instead more veggies, the waiter was hesitant, but complied.
My self and 2 others ordered the DB burger. This is a top sirloin burger filled with braised short ribs and black truffles. MMMMMMM, it comes medium rare, fine with me, but the other two ordered it medium.
The food arrived and immediately there were problems. One of the people on a strict diet had made specific requests and the kitchen still prepared the meal not keeping these in mind. the two DB burgers that were ordered medium came back medium rare and one was 10 mins late! Furthermore, the one who ordered the salmon with no pasta and extra veg instead, got very little in compensation not to mention the serving of salmon was incredible small even for a fine dining restaurant.
From my understanding the rest of the diners meals were prepared properly.
Desert: since it was a birthday we all had cake brought in by us, but were charged $3/plate......
Service: Our waiter started off ok and through the night he was around to fill water glasses, but never came back to see how the meal was or ask if we needed anything else. He also neglected to take drink orders as our guests arrived, instead we had to flag him down. Furthermore, the restaurant was empty and we had to flag him down to get bread and the bread turned out to be room temp and the butter was frozen....wtf.
Overall this was not a good experience. While some of our companions were satisfied with their meals, the ones who had made specific requests were appalled to learn that the kitchen did not allow or like to accommodate specific requests. Furthermore, when you order a $30 burger shouldn't it come how you want it cooked and on time......
Will not return, there are too many better restaurants in Vancouver to bother giving this a second chance!
I had lunch here last week with my gf and it was awesome. It was the first time for both of us to come here and the food was great, it was the best tasting burger I've ever had in Canada or I should say in my whole life. The burger was like 4" high but only 3.5" in diameter, the patty itself is almost 2" high I think. The interesting thing is the minced sirloin beef is encasing some very tasty pulled beef ribs and in the middle of the ribs there is a little bit of foie gras. It was just downright awesome burger, you should try it.
I've been wanting to try DB Bistro ever since chef Daniel Boulud came to Vancouver. I've heard rave reviews about his burger, which I plan on going back to try!
I expected more as far as service goes - the waiter was not very attentive to our empty wine and water glasses at all. In fact, he made eye contact with me from a few feet away as I took my last swallow of wine, but simply smiled and turned away. Kind of surprising, since most servers would clue in to ask if you wanted another. Good thing the food more than made up for it.
To start, I had the Winter Green Salad, with herbed goat cheese, butternut squash, and pumpkin seed and walnut dressing. I know most people would think, "oh, it's just salad" but it was amazing!! The dressing really brought out all the flavours of the salad ingredients, which really tasted fantastic together. I would have ordered this for dessert, it was that good.
My entrée was the seared Arctic Char with cauliflower mousselline, radish, romanesco, and grenobloise butter - never heard of those before, but holy cow, did they ever make for a fantastic combination. My first bite, and I was in heaven. It was a very small portion though, and I was really hungry - so I ended up filling up mostly on bread. The bread was actually nice - a combination of several different kinds - all very nice & fresh. I just wish I could have had another portion of that fish. It was so buttery and delicious, and the skin was seared nice & crispy - I ate all of it (I usually don't eat fish skin).
When I saw the desserts leaving the kitchen and being served to other diners, I changed my selection from the citrus floating island to the chocolate coupe - which was essentially chocolate rice crispies at the bottom of a glass, then a scoop of chocolate coffee ice cream and some kind of velvety-smooth chocolate mousse-type creamy goodness piped around that. And if that wasn't enough, a few shards of very thin chocolate were stuck in to top it all off. It was heavenly!!
I can't wait to go back to see what other fabulous creations are on the menu.
Had heard some good things about this restaurant so already had a certain expectation on the food. I have to say, the food ended up exceeding them. We were a party of 12 and everyone at the table was impressed with their meal - we all had ordered different dishes off the menu and sampled each other's and they were all top notch. Even my discerning partner, a stickler for not paying good money for bad food, was pleasantly surprised at how much he enjoyed his bouillabaise, and he is a tough customer.
I had thought that Market would be my new favorite haunt, but that has easily been surpassed by db Bistro now!
We had a really nice evening here for my girlfriends birthday.
The staff were very helpful. Our waiter was excellent. The room ambiance was very pleasant. Modern decor as the name would imply without being a stuffy room.
The food was really good. I would say elegant and refined, but not overcomplicated, and the prices were reasonable with bigger portions that I expected. I also felt I got better service that the prices would dictate for being a moderately priced restaurant.
We had:
Caesar db Las Vegas - good.
Nova Scotia Lobster Salad - simple yet tasty with a good portion of lobster.
Country Duck Terrine - excellent.
Slow Baked Halibut - outstanding.
Steak dinner special - very good.
I am going back.
I want to try the burger. Yes. The burger.
I'll be honest. I had extremely high expectations for DB and to be frank, they were not met. Don't get me wrong, this is still a four-star place and for an 'affordable' option, it does its self quite well, but after two visits, I am not convinced of its superiority in the Vancouver dining scene. It's caught in limbo between fine dining and authenticity and at its worst, feels like an upscale chain but for me, its more of a reliable option that fails to draw me there unless a guest loves the DB angle or I am in need of a safe fall-back option. Negotiating the menu is a chore, since there is little direction and comparing your options can be daunting. The menu, in my opinion, could be chopped in half and as long as we were left with the DB creations, then I would be happy. Recommendations include the tarte flambee, chicken/escargot fricasse, caesar salad (if you like anchovy), DB burger, chacuterie platter (especially the house made terrine), daily soups, and coq au vin. The one area of the menu they could mostly remove, for my money, is the non-traditional mains. The tuna with hummus was good but not great. The pork duo was limp -- very little wow factor on that plate for my taste, not to mention the star of the dish, pork belly, was average. The Poulet forestiere gets embarrassed by the au vin, and the steak frites barely competes with other I have had in the city. Desserts were elegant and tasty, though again the menu seems to shoot for the widest group possible. The room and service are great and the wine list does a good job of mixing value with quality and unique finds. Had a Spanish white (only $43) that was wicked and a great recommendation. A suitable option indeed but disappointment that it failed to capture my attention enough to move it near the top of my faves list.
The DB burger is delicious but its really nothing but a marketing tool used to grab the attention of the masses. None of the components (foie gras/short rib/the beef itself) are really defined but it is unquestionably decadent and maybe a bit over the top. The fries are amongst the best I've had in Vancouver.
On other visits I had the Artic Char (cooked perfectly with the crispy skin left on) and the Duck Confit (as good as it gets in Vancouver, with an insanely rich 'Lyonnaise' style poutine served with duck jus and mushrooms).
Service is relaxed, friendly, but also entirely professional. The atmosphere is soft, comfortable and entirely neat. Combined with the fair pricing there are very few rooms in Vancouver with this sort of price point that can provide such a solid experience.
Was in the mood for a burger and, unfortunately, Moderne Burger, was closed so we walked a few steps west and decided to dine at DB Bistro Moderne.
The place was empty Saturday at lunch time. There were only 3 other parties in the place. Had the reuben and my partner had the mussels. Both were ok but the sauerkraut was a bit overpowering with the reuben. The service was "ok" but you can feel this restaurant is definitely on the downturn. Combination of the economy and the Feenie Faithfuls? I probably won't come back here anymore.
Again a place for the heavy Wallets but a great venue to entertain and Indulge with good food. fix menu always provide variety. Presentation is adorable. you take a minute wondering what theyve done and how theve done. Service is topnotch always. Its bit slow but if you are in a hurry you shouldnt be here. And must say one of the well balanced menus weve come across in Vancouver.
Went out for a birthday dinner. 4 of us with different tastes.
The setting is nice and simple but chic. The service is pleasant, fast and the waiters respect your privacy.
I had the set menu (the prix fix) and was delivered a great value. My partner and her sister had the loup de mer baked with a salt crust and they really liked it. Their brother had a steak-frites and it is hard to go wrong with this. I had the beef duo as part of my prix fix and it was excellent.
The choice of deserts may be to limited. The souffle is outstanding. My apple pain d'epices was just OK.
Overall a very good experience and we will go back there.
| 1. | Thomas Haas (18 m) |  |
| 2. | White Spot (28 m) | |
| 3. | Caffe Vergnano 1882 (50 m) |  |
| 4. | Moderne Burger (52 m) |  |
| 5. | Greens and Gourmet (55 m) |  |
| 6. | Mistral French Bistro (59 m) | |
| 7. | Dan Japanese Restaurant (62 m) |  |
| 8. | Benny's Bagels (70 m) | |
| 9. | Fassil Ethiopian Restaurant (83 m) | |
| 10. | Dairy Queen (90 m) | |
