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This restaurant was voted best hotel restaurant in Vancouver. Great atmosphere, incredible menu and wine list.
I reviewed Diva back in 2007 and have steadily visited whenever I had enough extra money to splurge without feeling guilty. Those who haven't been to Diva, understand that Diva is expensive. But each bite, I promise you, is an experience, and is worth every penny.
Most recently, I was treated to Diva on my birthday - their seven course tasting menu was fantastic. My favorite dishes (including the snacks that came pre-meal) was the chicken bacon (thinly pressed and not oily at all like I thought it would be), the fois gras (smoothest fois gras I've had by far), the tuna (light and amazing flavors) and lobster (came with a corn sauce that was both rich in flavor but light on the palette to compliment the perfectly cooked lobster). The most innovative was the sea cucumber which tasted exactly like the ocean (but in a good way!), and the butter toast ice cream, which tasted exactly like buttered toast but in ice cream form.
Service again was outstanding - my boyfriend was able to go into the restaurant before our reservation to drop off flowers (which they provided a vase for), drop off my gift (a ring, which they found a box for, filled it with sand and presented it to me with a truffle on top), and pick our table, just overlooking the kitchen. They had moved a table to accommodate this special seating with a view. During the course of the meal, our server was attentive and professional, as always.
As for value, I agree that Diva's portion sizes are smaller than usual, but the tasting menu did fill me up (not "stuffed" but definitely full) and most importantly, I left satisfied with an incredible taste experience that is hard to find elsewhere. For those ordering ala carte, you will probably need to order a three course meal (appy, main and dessert) to completely fill you up.
Can't wait to go back to Diva.
I had dinner here with my wife. The place is beautiful and the staff were all great. We were given some fancy bread and butter when we sat. Next came some complimentary amuse bouche, 2 watermelon soda shot glasses, very nice :)
Menu is neat and they have some different stuff here. Wine list is expensive, was tough to find a bottle under $50.
Appies:
I had the $14 Qualicum Bay Scalllop - dish was small, just a few bites and was ok but nothing special. 3/5
She had the $19 Puffed Quebec Foie Gras - this was very good, melt in your mouth great appy. 4/5
Entrees:
I had the $19 Ricotta Agnolotti - Dish looked cool but once again, small portion. There was a little bit of pasta and it wasn't the delicate agnolotti that I was expecting from a place of this caliber, it was kind of doughy. Also there was a parmesan foam that came with it. Neat touch but I would have prefered some fresh parmigiano reggiano sprinkled over it. 3/5
She had the $27 Chicken Breast - The chicken was cooked PERFECTLY and this was an excellent meal. Lots of flavors going on here. 4.5/5
Desserts:
I had the $9 Dark Chocolate Praline Bar - This was WOW Good! Excellent, came with a little semi freddo on the side.. 5/5
She had the $9 Diva's Carmelized Silton Cheesecake - This was also great and she loved it. 4/5
This meal ended up being $159 taxes in with a bottle of Reisling.
I have mixed feelings about the food here.
My appy wasn't that good, hers was awesome.
My entree wasn't that good, hers was awesome.
Desserts rocked...
I decided to eat lunch here and try some other items..
Round 2:
I dine alone this time, same fancy bread, same complimentary amuse bouche but this time was orange soda, nice again :)
Appetizer: I had the $12 Diva Roll - Looked like an amazing and perfectly crafted roll, tasted kind of boring. 3/5
Entree: I had the $28 Duck Breast - Was cooked perfectly medium rare and was a great dish Also a very small portion.. 4/5
Dessert: I had the $9 Dark Chocolate Praline Bar AGAIN it was that good. 5/5
I also had a $5.25 Cappuccino with dessert. 3/5 It was the most expensive cappuccino I've probably ever had and it was Average. I can get an excellent cap for $3.25-$3.75. Why is this one $5.25 if you make it worse then my usual coffee bars? I guess because you are a fancy place you can over charge for this.
This lunch came to $61 taxes in.
Overall this place is beautiful. They do unique stuff with food, the portion sizes are tiny so you have to order appy, entree, dessert at the very least. Not recommended for hungry people.
Food was average - amazing depending on what items I tried, kind of makes it hard to rate this place for me.
I would return sometime..
I was a bit disappointed in Diva at the Met. We were there for our anniversary last evening.
The food itself was very good but we found the portions to be somewhat skimpy. The waitress bought us an amuse bouche to start. Since my husband had ordered halibut for his entree she arranged for the kitchen to give him an goat cheese starter while she presented me with a small piece of fried halibut. Both were very good. We shared the lobster gnocchi as an appetizer. It was $18.00. The dish we absolutely delicious. There were a couple of generous pieces of lobster but there were only 12 small gnocchi. Come on now how expensive is gnocchi and at $18.00 for the plate there should be more. For our entrees I had the thyme roasted chicken and my husband had the special of the day - halibut with olive mash. The halibut was supposed to come with fava beans but when hubby mentioned that he did not like fava beans our waitress said he could substitute whatever he would like for the fava beans. He substituted asparagus and was very pleased with his dish. The halibut was pan seared and served with a buerre blanc sauce and morel mushrooms. Perfectly cooked. The serving was very small however, there was probably only 4 oz. of halibut. I was very disappointed with my chicken. It was very well prepared but the menu said roast chicken so I was expecting more than 1/2 a chicken breast (maybe about 4 to 5 oz.) served with a side salad and no starch. Generally with roast chicken, you get at least 1/4 of a chicken and usually more than that. When we finished our appetizer and entrees hubby said he was too hungry to just share a dessert like we usually do so we both had the chocolate souffle with pistachio ice cream. Dinner consisted of 1 appetizer, 2 entrees, 2 desserts, 1/2 bottle of wine and was $126.00 before tip. I would have rated the value higher than a 3 if the servings were more substantial.
Service was very good. Our waitress was great with making substitutions for us. Wine and water was topped up and she was very good with checking up to see how the food was.
The ambiance is very nice. We had a table looking into the open kitchen so we could see all the dishes as they came out. The lighting at our table was a bit dim so I had to pull out a little flash light so I could read the menu.
I would probably give it another try but there are many restaurants that I feel provide better value. We're usually pretty full after sharing an appetizer and each having an entree. Neither one of us has a hugh appetite so maybe they've cut back on their portions since some of the previous reviews that I've read.
I'd go back. Drinks aren't that expensive, the food is reasonable for the price and it's very creatively constructed. No same old, same old here. Definitely try their beef tartar, and try their Italian spritzer-type drinks at just a bit over $5. Delicious. Truthfully, their portions are small. Not tapas small, but small. This isn't quite the place to go when you're famished, more just for a quiet night out. That also isn't hard to achieve, since this place is small and the seats aren't crowded. It ended up about 2/3rds full by the time I left, but the level of service never changed. Water was quickly refilled, our dishes were explained to us (which was nice, since sometimes they're quite complicated and you're not sure what exactly you're eating!) and service in general was friendly and attentive without being intrusive; just what you'd expect from an establishment like this.
I'd go back.
My friend and I picked this restaurant originally because we both felt like having souffle, and Diva at the Met seemed to be one of the few places that has them. The ambiance was great, and the greeter was very friendly. I loved the decor, especially the plate settings. Our server was attentive and very friendly.
My friend and I both ordered the pink salmon as our entree. The server then brought us our bread (which was EXCELLENT, by the way), and then an amuse-bouche to start, compliment of the chef. It was a beef brisket wrapped in mash potatoe then deep-fried. Since I don't eat beef, I told our server, and he went into the kitchen and brought out a shrimp cocktail for me instead, which I thought was very nice of him.
Our entree was nice, the salmon was cooked and seasoned nicely, but the highlights of the night has got to be our dessert. When our server brought us the dessert menu, we couldn't find what we were really there for - our souffle!! We looked at the dessert menu online and they had a dark chocolate souffle with pistachio ice cream, and my friend and I were both craving that! So we asked our server whether there is a slight chance that they still serve souffle. He went into the kitchen and told us that they could still make that for us, but next time if there's something specific we want, we should call ahead just to make sure that it's available, or if it's not available, then they'll be happy to have the kitchen prepare it for us. He was very nice about it, so that was great.
Their souffle was definitely to die for!!! Not to say the amuse-bouche and our entree wasn't good, but the souffle alone was enough to bring us back here (and the outstanding service too!).
Highly recommended!!! Very memorable dining experience!
Even though it's been several years since my very first visit to Diva & it was back in the day I didn't know about dinehere to submit any kind of review, Diva still sticks out in my mind as one of the best restaurants I've ever eaten at. From beginning to end, everything was wonderful - service, food, presentation all top notch! It's not a very large place, but I remember it being warm, cozy and inviting. Hmm, perhaps it's time to go back for some more magic. =)
The food here is AMAZING. I ordered an ahi tuna and butternutsquash soup. Simply dvine. I high recommened this restaurant. It is expensive, but worth EVERY PENNY. Service was great, everything was great. Simply the best restaurant in Vancouver.
My beau held his birthday dinner at Diva. We were a small party and eased comfortably into a table closer to the kitchen. Diva has an open concept kitchen, and you can see the immaculately clean and well organized cooking space. The head chef and sous chefs were onsite working away on food prep and delicate plating.
Our party ordered: the lobster gnocchi, salt spring island goat cheese & pear salad, and the shaved pemperton root vegetables to start. For our main courses: caramelized lamb sirloins, red wine crusted rib eye, and herb risotto w/ grilled salmon. We spoiled ourselves w/ the stilton cheesecake and chocolate souflee for dessert. From appies to dessert, each dish were in generous portions, admirably plated, and each tasted absolutement fantastica. 4.5 for all!
The wait staffs were attentive and observant. Drinks were refilled w/o us having to wave anyone down. Questions and dietary concerns were respected. One of our diner was gluten-free and dairy free. Of course, nothing on the menu offered such entres. The wait staff got an idea of what the diner liked- and requested the chefs to make something completely off the menu. The result was a wonderful herb risotto dish- flavorful and totally hit the spot w/ what the diner craved. It's incredible how the chefs at Diva were able to accommodate such dietary restrictions on the fly.
Our dessert arrived with a neat little chocolate happy birthday plaque, and our dairy free diner were treated to a fresh wildberry sorbet on the house. It was lovely how thoughtful the staffs at Diva were.
Hands down, we had the most IMPRESSIVE birthday dining experience.
It was roughly $70 food and booze per person. After being pampered- you'll feel no qualms tippy generously.
Go and dine DIVA!
This was a birthday dinner and I have to give them credit for reading the notes in the reservations (and guessing the correct birthday guest) without having to remind them. It's definitely nice to not have to make an excuse to excuse yourself from the table in order to remind them that this is a birthday.
I wasn't too impressed with the food. We had to try the lobster gnocchi based on the reviews. This was delicious but as other's had mentioned, the gnocchi was very tiny and the portions were incredibly small for $18. For entrees, we had the pork loin and the black cod. The pork was not bad but I didn't enjoy the smoked black cod dish. For dessert, we had warm souffle cake, which was OK.
Service was...decent. He was kind of crazy and he knocked over a glass of beer. But that happens.
Some restaurants do comp. platters or desserts for birthdays, but Diva does not. I didn't expect it though.
Only one of us drank and our bill was over $130. I don't think I'd recommend Diva. I just wasn't impressed enough and there are far better fine dining options.
The Diva is one of those places that you have to try, even if just once. I was fortunate enough to be treated by friends to a birthday dinner. I'll just start by saying, it's quite heavy on the wallet with dinner averaging almost $100/person for 3 courses and a glass of wine.
Dinner started off with their assorted house bread basket. The one with the walnuts is brilliant - simple yet delicious. One in our party claimed it to be best part of the meal!
Both my starter and main was great. My braised short ribs were very flavorful - a very rich and appropriately spicy dish. My salmon main was also very good. I'm not positive on how it was prepared, but I think the salmon was poached. I've never had salmon prepared this way, but it's buttery silky texture was a very pleasant change from the usual grilled way I normally have it.
The service was good, we waited quite a while for our entire party to be completed, and our server was patient at all times (but then again, the restaurant was pretty empty - even the 4-5 chefs in the kitchen looked bored). I even got a dessert wine on the house in honor of my birthday. :)
However, a girlfriend noted how she didn't like the way another server described the dish when it arrived in front of her. Instead of presenting the dish, he unprofessionally pointed with his fore-finger and wiggled it around the dish at each component. It was quite distasteful for that calibre of restaurant.
As expensive as the restaurant was, compared to some others, the portions were actually satisfactory. None of us left hungry, for some, they left disappointed with the food, but not hungry.
Would I return? For another special occasion perhaps - but I'm not in a rush to.
The desserts are delicious! A great port list, too. Plenty of alcohol to serve your after dinner needs. Service is impeccable, not at all pretentious.
If you are planning to go this restaurant, do their 5 or 7-course tasting menu. It simply provides the best value in Vancouver. Period.
Food: The chef, Hamid, is an award/competition winning chef and amazing person. What he puts on his plates is not just food, but also genuine passion. He utilizes many molecular gastromy techniques, traditional french techniques, and often showcases his Persian root. The menu changes frequently. If you do the 7-course. you will sample some truffles, caviars, and/or foie gra, and fresh local ingredients,. . The bread service is excellent, offering 2~4 different kinds of in-house baked warm bread. In addition, you get 3~5 amuse bouche and may get petit four at the end. All for $75. Now, don't be skeptical of food quality.It is Michelin-star like quality and creativity. Truly, even without the extras (amuse bouch and petit four), it is a great deal. You may not necessarily like every single dish presented to you. This is typical of many tasting menu; there are hits and some misses. Flavour may not be there, but there are passion, effort and care. That's fine with me.
Service: Actually, I wanted to give a 4. Nothing wrong with the service. Friendly and professional. It is just not on a par with food quality and not suitable for multi-course meal. Wine service is average. I had my meal with a wine-paring. There is no explanation on flavor profile of wine served, after showing great enthusiasm on food they serve. They simply transport wine from the bar to your table. In addition, no white linen tablecloth and no crumbing service between courses. This is a huge let-down, because the chef plays with different textures and the table easily gets messy with crumbs and crispy debris. Again, the level of professionalism and friendlyness the servers and managers show deserve 4 or 5 stars, but some details are disappointing, considering you sit there at least 2 hours.
Ambiance: It would be 4-star 5 years ago, but not with all these new restaurants in Vancouver. Not the most trendy or romantic atmosphere.
We went to Diva for a special night out based mainly on the reviews we read here. It was very nice. Overall all of our food was very good, for appetizers my scallops and the chicken salad appetizer were fantastic. The mushroom veloute was creamy and rich. The short ribs were not as flavorful as others I've had. For mains, my beef was SO GOOD and I loved the chef's take on the baked potato that came with it -- but I found the actual mashed potatoes a bit gluey textured and tough to finish. My companions all loved their mains as well, except one who had the agnolotti, he liked it but decided it had "too much going on." Service and decor five star. I have been here and to Connor Butler in the last month and in my mind Diva is way better for the price.
DIVA AT THE MET is one restaurant that truly lives up to fine dining standard. It is in a downtown hotel so you expect the price is on the high side. However, they do make sure you get the quality service and product.
Food: It's descent. If you order the more expensive dish, you do get the exotic (more expensive) ingredients on your plate.
Service: Service is good like a hotel restaurant would be.
Ambiance: I am not feeling the contemporary decor. I mean the decor is not bad but the look and feel is too common. How many homes and restaurants can pull off nice contemporary decor? Many. I believe you have seen a lot already. But you don't see design like BACCHUS, another hotel restaurant in Vancouver, that often. So you get the wow factor at BACCHUS but not at DIVA AT THE MET.
I laugh at a lot of Vancouver restaurants trying to market themselves as fine dining but they have mean and lazy waiters, bad food with cheap ingredients and so so or ugly decor with fine dining price tag. They are not any cheaper than DIVA AT THE MET but they don't have any good quality DIVA AT THE MET has. I always call them out and shake my head in disbelieve how disrespectful they are to consumers and to the industry and to themselves, there is no work and business ethic at all. If you want a truly fine dining experience, DIVA is a great place to go. Watch out those fake fine dining places.
The Diva is a very nice place for breakfast. I had the eggs benedict, side of bratwurst with freshly squeeze orange juice, almond croissant and coffee.
The benny’s preparation was unusual. The sauces was not the normal hollandaise sauce but with a spicy undertone. I preferred the usual lemon juice, egg yoke and emulsified clarified butter recipe. The fried bread with the under pinning of hash browns tastes over inspired. Here again I like the English muffin under, better(?). It’s hard to tamper with a tried and true “benny”. I’ll try another item on the menu the next time. The almond croissant was extraordinary flakey and scrumptious. Could have had two!
My friend had the continental breakfast: Orange juice, coffee, scramble eggs with a side of sausages as well. The waitress was “sunny side-up” so early in the morning, very helpful and professional.
The ambience for this restaurant is par excellent and is an oasis of calm. I highly recommend the Buffet Brunch, the DC Burgers for lunch and the five star dinners!
Diva is one of the best. Service is always excellent, food is of the highest caliber. Great place to meet for drinks, or appys. Try the $40 DC burger its yummy.
Checked out Diva on a Monday night as part of Dine Out Vancouver 2009. A nice place, apparently re-modeled (but I hadn't been there previously), just off the lobby of the Metropolitan Hotel Vancouver.
Food - I would describe our dishes, not so much as "meals", but as "edible art". I had the Coconut Curried Milk & Yam Soup to start, which was fantastic, but a fairly small portion. My main was the Seared BC Albacore Tuna and dessert Caramelized cheesecake. The main was decent, and the dessert was phenomenal. I also had an "extra course" of Pan-fried scallops which were absolutely incredible.
My girlfriend had the Brandade Salad, Braised Beef Shortrib and the Chocolate Desserts. The Espresso pot de creme (which came with the chocolate) was probably the best dessert I've ever tasted in my life. Amazing!
Service - Our waiter was excellent. Exactly what you'd expect from this type of restaurant. My girlfriend loved that he referred to us as "the lady and the gentleman". Drinks were promptly served and re-filled. Though food service was a bit slow, I enjoyed the relaxed pace, which fit in quite nicely with the comfortable, intimate setting.
Ambiance & Value - Not a great value; small portions for a higher price, but that's to be expected. Ambiance was nice. Candlelight, soft music, open-style kitchen, and a beautiful bar.
Took my wife here for her birthday and no regrets here. We spent $200 and it was worth every penny.
The service was outstanding. I would've gave it a 5, but our server didn't warm up until the end of the meal. She was very professional, but didn't utter a word to us about anything that wasn't related to the food. But our server did go above and beyond-- I had the tasting menu and my SO did not, but she went ahead and arranged with the kitchen for small samplers to be served to my wife while I dined so that she wouldn't be just sitting there in between her courses. The waitress was also very accommodating when we had a dilemma with the dessert. Very nice touch.
As previous diners have noted, the food was amazing, especially our appetizers, Bay Scallops (done perfectly), Truffled Lobster gnocchi (delicious!), tuna tataki (flavourful). If we hadn't had so much food, I think we both would've enjoyed the entrees much more. The chocolate souffle is a must!
The room is interestingly shaped, there were 6-7 tables in the front area where the kitchen & chefs are clearly visible, but the rest of the tables are somewhere in the back (couldn't see them). But at least the chairs are very comfortable and the room is nicely-lit and warm in its neutral colours.
Yes, a full meal will cost ya, but it's worth it.
Came here with a client for lunch today. My client had the pea soup with mint with a main dish with risotto. She especially loved the risotto. I had the prix fixe ($30) which included a dungeness crab salad with hollandaise, a chicken breast and a desert. The dungeness crab was the height of freshness, the chicken was excellent and firm and the desert was amazing - they called it a soda pop, I think. Our server was a little on the young side, but was very good at what he did... he just seemed a little uncertain sometimes. The decor is top notch... It's a great place to bring a client without breaking the bank (a la Yew!).
Brought my boyfriend here for his birthday, we were very impressed with our perfectly baked bread and sampler appetizers! We had this ball of coconut explosion that had lemon juice that burst out in your mouth! We had the taster menu which was a 6 course meal, with wine pairing. The selected wine was all great, the service was attentive. The food was perfect in every way! I don't even know where to start to describe how wonderful everything tasted! Very detailed to attention presentation and all the selected ingredients was fresh and the sauces were perfect to my taste buds! Last but not least BEST DESSERT EVER!! I had some kind of creamy peanut butter chocolate cake with a piece of super crispy waffle that was on top of the cake, and ice cream on the side that just melted in my mouth! I would definitely recommend Diva for any occasion!!
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