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Elixir is a French restaurant located in the Opus hotel on Davie in Yaletown. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner with a good selection of wines. Closed with "100 Days" taking its place until a new restaurant is launched in its place in early 2011.
Me and my friend wanted to check this place since walking by a few times, and it looked pretty cool at night.
The drinks were expensive, but that's a given for most lounges in yaletown. The crowd was a little older than we were hoping(some pple in their 50s), there was a good mix of ppl, nice music, and overall good atmosphere...
The service was allright, nothing really special, but enough to keep us satisfied. They were giving out free Heineken beers the night we went, so that was a nice bonus! I would definitely go out here again to have a few drinks...
Elixir is located in the Opus Hotel in Yaletown, one of the top 500 hotels in the world, or so their publicity says.
Not many people in the restaurant at 6:00 pm. Our server was VERY young and inexperienced. Time will take care of that, I guess. Any question at all had to be referred. A trainee...? We hit a snag VERY early on when the wine we ordered was not immediately available - they couldn't get into the wine safe... They DID comp us a glass of red wine while we waited for the locksmith...
For appies, the Other Half ordered bacon-stuffed scallops, a special. I ordered prawn cocktail. Three scallops with the bacon inside was an interesting concept, but the bacon was soft and grey. Tasted OK. The prawn cocktail was a bit bizarre... came with a chopped mix of mango, cucumber, avocado, and overripe pineapple. The sauce was poured over the prawns...tomato based , I think. Prawns were fresh, but the rest was a bit strange.
For entree, the OH ordered salmon with "spicy peppers, chorizo, mussel & butter bean ragout". Fish was cooked properly, came with four huge mussels. Reportedly tasted fine.
I ordered ribeye steak and frites, with peppercorn sauce and a wilted watercress salad-garnish. The steak was more chewy than ribeye should be, with some extra gristle thrown in. Frites were limp, peppercorn sauce was bland.
For dessert, OH ordered apple tarte tatin which, we were informed breathlessly, would take 15 MINUTES because it was presented on puff pastry. The caramel sauce was overcooked, and melded firmly to the plate - a real tough chew if it could be chipped off the plate. I ordered the cheese plate with a vintage port. All three cheeses were very salty and strong...manchego, pecorino and Roquefort. Unfortunately, the one bottle of vintage port was running very low, and I did NOT receive a full serving. They offered to give me a "bit of something else" to bring up the volume to a full serving. The "something else" was run-of-the-mill tawny port, and that followed the vintage. Not impressive.
Value was about average for this type of restaurant. Service was awkward and rushed. Ambiance = we were seated in the "garden room" with windows open to the sidewalk and traffic. A bit noisy, plastic "wicker" and plastic plants.
I would not rave about this restaurant. For the price, there are much better places within a block...
We decided to grab a few drinks at Elixir on our way out one weekend evening. I'd have to say I was sadly disappointed. Perhaps we were there too early, but as I said, it was a starting point for our evening. The kir royales were made with too much cassis, even though we specifically asked the bartended to go light on the cassis. Then the champagne glasses were very sticky on the stems. Not worth going here for drinks, but maybe for the food?
It's a general maxim that the more upscale the restaurant, the less you get to eat... well, this is certainly true of Elixir. I had Angus tenderloin, but it was a small cut, with four spears of asparagus and a small amount of potatoes. My friends' entrees were even smaller! We came away HUNGRY. No way were we going to bother with dessert at those prices... plus, our meal took forever to arrive. Actually, it took forever just to order. They were happy enough to take our wine order but we had to ASK to order our dinner. (The wine was nothing great) The food was good, but no better than any other restaurant; I never thought there would be a day when I'd praise Cactus Club, but honestly, you could have had the same meal there, just as good, TWICE as much to eat, and paid half.
I won't be back to Elixir again; it's just surfing the fact that it's a trendy place.
My first experience here was alright so I gave it a second and third try. The food is alright but I expected more from such a beautiful setting in a boutique hotel. The last time I was in, I had not too tasty mussels and soft fries. My friends all felt the same about their meals - unimpressive food and service for an impressive place. Maybe it was an off-night but in Vancouver, diners can afford to expect consistency or they don't come back. It did not help that the service was undesirable which made it the last time I will step foot in Elixir. Most of the staff are pretentious and not helpful. I called the restaurant manager the next day who told me to call the marketing director to comment and did not receive a return call. Elixir did not give me a reason for another chance or a rave recovery review.
This place was highly touted before it opened, so I was tempted to try, but my experience is that everything was good but not great. Nothing offended, but there was nothing memorable to make me want to go there again.
Best bar food in town, good restaurant and lounge food too. Sit at the bar or in the banquettes and let the bartenders take care of you, always better service and more interesting. Great wine list. Servers are a bit weak, call Michael by name and he'll treat you better. When at the bar I like Swan, a talented bar man that always leaves you wanting to stay for more fun, or to come back again.
Swan steered me to the steak tartare one day, and I go back just for it. I tend to let him order for me, just tell him how I feel and my order is usually spot on. Try any veg soup, and get a side of day veg whenever there, you are welcome, trust me, perfection and I'm a meat guy. The daily specials always rock, here you will see mushroooms alot in season, yumtistic. The oysters are good too. Deserts are tasty, though small - typical of this city. But if on a Weekend night, you best look your best or the dumb doormen won't let you in, they are dumb so don't fret you'll figure it out and get in.
So ya go and stick to the bar and graze through the menu.
I had visitors from out of town and they were staying at the Opus....so we decided to go to Elixir. It was busy as it is Dine Out week and though we had no reservations, they fit us in. I had the Waldorf salad, bacon wrapped tenderloin. My salad was really fresh and the dressing was great. The tenderloin was tender and perfectly done. My friends had the warldorf salad and the petit hen coq au vin while the other person in our party had the chestnut celeriac veloute and pan seared trout. The petit hen was a little dry but the fish was good. We finished it all. For dessert I had the amaretto creme brulee while they had the warm toffee pudding. My creme brulee was excellent while the toffee pudding was heavy. We finished our meals with double espressos.
By the time we left, there was a long line but we never felt rushed and always had pleasant and courteous service. The ambiance is a little tired looking but will certainly return to try the rest of the menu.
After many visits to the Opus Lounge & Elixir Bar and sampling the masterful little creations of Don Letendre, i finally made it to the velvet room at Elixir last nite.
This morning i woke up dreaming of the foi gras, eel & wild mushroom starter...better than sex really...along with everything else. Gravlax was bursting with freshness; succulent moules in delicate curry sauce with perfect frites (i'm sure they were double fried...bless them); sea bass perfectly paired with the texture and flavours of fennel...and the tarte tatin for dessert was delicate caramelized pomme feuillete perfection.
Service was lovely too...our charming waitress got an a+ right off the bat for her Nigella Lawsonish descriptions of atleast a half dozen specials and continued to deliver with care and enthusiasm.
Elixir is rooted in classic french bistro style but nips and tucks with asian flavours much like that 'other chef' in town but unlike 'that place' elixir is brasserie first and foremost, delivering in sensuous euro style. Superbe.
This restaurant has changed a fair bit since I ate there around 2 years ago. Then it looked like a French brasserie and I had a mediocre sable fish that's not even on the menu anymore. Now it features several smaller rooms including one with red velvet walls and gilt mirrors, pretty swank. They had the option of ordering small plates which are larger than appetizers, but smaller than entrees, which was an excellent way to try many different things. Lobster ravioli and beef tenderloin were tasty; beef tartare was excellent. Portions were smaller than expected and food quite expensive. Service was prompt and the restaurant, plus the flashy bar next door, was full of attractive young people, kind of a 'see and be seen' vibe.
Came to the Opus lounge for some live music and drinks from the Elixir next door; the music was good, but unfortunately the drinks and service were not.
Standing at the front waiting for our bill went on for TWENTY MINUTES; the hostess merely informed me that she couldn't help me and that our server was busy, despite the seated area of the restaurant being empty. Our drink bill was split, I paid first but when my friends went to settle, the server tried to charge them for the drinks I'd already paid for.
Not going back, unless I ever get the urge for heinously overpriced drinks and poor service.
Last Saturday I was invited by some friends to have drinks at Opus Hotel. Well, I must say what a cool place to have drinks. The Opus Bar has a great vibe with funky modern furniture, cool music and a great cocktail list. Our server suggested that we try one of their ‘Signature Lifestyle Character Cocktails’. I went with her suggestion and ordered a ‘Sexy Cocktail’. The cocktail came in a tall thin ‘vase’ like glass with sparkling wine and Alize Rose. It had edible flowers as a garnish. Very tasty! It was the first time I had sparkling wine on ice. All the cocktails that we ordered were different, tasty and inventive.
One thing that really stood out was the music. They had a DJ playing in the bar. Cool modern style. Not too loud which was nice. So many times you go to a place where the music is way to loud and you can’t here yourself think.
After our drinks we decided to move over and have dinner in the restaurant. The room is totally different from the Opus Bar. Elixir looks like a French bistro. It has two private rooms and a bar. We sat in the Velvet Room. The room’s décor has velvet curtains, dark woods with beautiful mirrors. The restaurant was quite busy with a couple of large tables. My friends told me that they heard good things about the chef and the restaurant. Well it was a great experience. We ordered a bunch of dishes to share. All the dishes were tasty. I love going out for dinner and sharing food with friends. To compliment the night we had a great server who was friendly, attentive and quite comical! The server definitely added to the experience.
All in all, a great experience. I look forward to going back and trying more of the cocktails!
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Wifey and I had a bad experience at Elixir during one of the Dine Out Vancouver one year and haven't been there for dinner until a couple weeks ago.
We've lunch and brunched at Elixir a number of times and while the food is always outstanding the service doesn't always match the quality of food. Namely, they seem understaffed during the day and of staff they have don't seem to know what they are doing. Service is awkward; ranging from things like not giving us the right menus or not knowing the menu to simple things like greeting and order taking.
On the most recent occasion however, we went for dinner service and the entire wait staff seem to be french (we joked maybe they were actually young starving actors with really good french accents). Service was impeccable and once again, food was outstanding. We had Moule Frites and seafood cocktail to start... some of the best starters we've ever had! Followed by Rib-eye steak for me and Halibut for wifey. Both were done perfectly!
We'll be back for sure!
My girlfriend took me out to Elixir for my birthday. First, our host says she can't find our reservation, then she admitted that she's new and doesn't know how to operate the computer. Finally someone arrives and instructs her to take our coats.
We're then led into the dining room. Empty!! At 8:15pm on a Saturday night? We should've backed out right then but, the ambience of the room is quite elegant and I was hoping that we could still have a nice evening. So I peruse the Wine list and ask for 2 glasses of Champagne. Our waiter informs us that they're out of 3 of the 4 Champagnes and only the Moet at $26 a glass is available. So, I asked for a bottle of French Pinot Blanc, which at $35/bottle is quite reasonable. 5mins later, he returns stating, they don't have any in the fridge and maybe I should try the $45 Okanagan Blanc, "it's better anyway than the French". Or he can go look in the store room for it. I ask him to do so, only to have him return 5mins later stating that he can't find it and suggesting the next French Pinot Blanc at $60 a bottle. At this time it was 8:30pm and we haven't even had a drink yet.
Next we order an appetizer. The "Moules & Frites". While the moules where fresh, the sauce was watery & plain and the frites were soggy and came with standard mayo & ketchup.
The entrees:
Scallops (with a strange tasting sauce) burned and chewy, the Artic Char with bland tasting vegetables and slightly overcooked fish. In the meantime, the ambience changed from romantic music to lounge beat at double the volume. The adjacent bar was packed with a noisy crowd cheering the hockey game.
We opted out of dessert or further libations and headed for the door. We had to find our own coats because we were given the wrong ticket number earlier.
Suffice to say, we will never return and inform our foodie friends to avoid this place.
Unfortunately, Elixir has become an unquaffable potion of pretense and clueless teen staff.
Had lunch at Elixir last year and simply had to go back. This time for breakfast and both times we ate in the beautiful corner room. Not sure what they call the room but it really is nice, especially romantic spot. Elixir is so cool we came back that same evening for dinner, this time occupying the tiny, formal dining room. If you want a unique breakfast experience you definitely must come here...the live mellow jazz music was a nice touch too. Food overall is excellent. The only down side might be that they appear to be understaffed at times...slow...someone else mentioned this in a previous review. But it is a rather smallish restaurant so I can't really complain as I suppose patronage these days is unpredictable. Can't wait to go back.
I have eaten there twice and I had a pleasant time there.The food was pretty good and the servers were really nice.Its a really nice resturant too.Its not the best resturant I have been to but I would go back for sure.
I chose the eggs benedict, and on our server’s suggestion, smoked salmon instead of ham; I have a stronge dislike for hollandaise on my eggs, so I requested that our server omit it from my dish. John ordered simple eggs over-easy, with sausage, roasted fingerling potatoes and multigrain toast.
After 25 minutes, I asked the server where our breakfast was. Countless tables around us were already chowing down, and we were getting impatient. The food arrives. Our breakfast made “hotel continental breakfast” look like the work of an Iron Chef. My poached eggs are poached hard, really hard, I observed this right away. The salmon on top of the toasted english muffin looked alright, but I wanted my eggs. The plate had a few fingerling potatoes and a thin slice each of honeydew melon and cantaloupe. At least the kitchen didn’t put hollandaise on top of my eggs, but there was definitely hollandaise on my fruit! John’s “over-easy eggs” arrive “over-poached in a bowl”, with sausage, potatoes and fruit. We have no problem “eating mistakes” if it’s still cooked properly. We could not eat this. The server is promptly summoned and is told about the mistakes and the ill-preparation of our simple dishes.
About 5 minutes goes by, and John’s correct dish arrives. The eggs are correctly cooked, but the same plate of sides is used again, instead of new hot sausages, fingerling potatoes and toast; in fact, the sausage that John already had sampled a bite of the first time, arrived with the remake!! My dish does not arrive. I don’t know if I was more distrought that the food was not brought together, or if it was the fact that I was starving and had no energy. At this point I would’ve eaten the tablecloth. When my dish does arrive 7 minutes later, there is hollandaise poured all over my plate, and regrettably, I cannot eat it. I call the manager over at this point, who is actually the maitre d’ with a business card. He offers to take care of the bill, as he should have.
I had to wait quite a while at the front of house before I was noticed and then waved to find a seat on my own. The menu looked fantastic though...this was right at the height of the water crisis and they couldn't serve coffee...wot, no filtered coffee? Isn't it worth buying a few gallons of water and some coffee plungers? I ordered poached eggs with sourdough bread, bacon, and home fries. My poached eggs came in a bowl, my bread was wholewheat rather than sourdough, and my potato wedges were undercooked. I don't think I will be going back, too bad because their menu looks great.
Our party of four had dinner here on Friday night. My three friends tried the $38 menu, I tried their $48 menu. From the moment we were seated, our server Arnold was attentive and charming. He really knows the meaning of good service - everyone in his section was well looked after.
As I review the food, I'll just write down what everyone had
First Course
Mushroom Soup with Cod Croquette ($38 menu) - The croquette was tasty, the soup had a great truffle flavour but texture was a bit runny
Mixed Asian greens, Japanese root vegetables, scallion-soy dressing ($38 menu) - Looked great and tasted great - dressing was unique and veggies were fresh.
Pumpkin and Aromatic Lobster Bisque with Gingerbread Croutons ($49 menu) - Absolutely delicious! Texture was just right and it was very tasty. Gingerbread croutons were unique and added to the presentation with the colour contrast.
Second Course (Entree)
Mussels indochine, red curry, bamboo, cilantro ($38 menu) - Very tasty! Mussels were fresh and the curry was very tasty - not overwhelmingly spicy.
Grilled ribeye, tarragon-shallot butter, pomme frites ($38 menu) - Steaks were prepared perfectly to diner's request. The fries could have been a little more aesthetically pleasing. The dipping sauces could be a little more inventive.
Miso-yuzu mustard baked sable fish, creamy crab croquette ($49 menu) - The sablefish was excellent - not overcooked and melt in your mouth delicious. The crab croquette was also very tasty and the sauce drizzled over the dish went with the food perfectly. Great presentation too.
Dessert
Chocolate devil’s food cake with sour cream gelato ($49 menu) - Absolutely to die for if you're a chocolate fan. I was so full by this point I couldn't finish the whole piece :( The gelato was very good as well.
Upside down pineapple cake with coconut sorbet ($38 menu) - Very tasty and also great presentation.
Chocolate espresso milkshake with peanut butter cookies ($38 menu) - My fiance loved this dessert. It was a great alternative to the post-dinner coffee.
The ambience was really great - restaurant was packed and so there was lots of chatter/buzz. Great music as well.
All in all I was very impressed with the food and service. Will definitely be going back!
Last night I had dinner at Elixir, and the verdict is not good. Whatever happened to this so called quality restaurant? Although the food is alright, the service is terrible! Its not like this is Lumiere where dinner takes 3-4 hours over 10 courses. This is only 3 courses and it takes almost 3 hours. Each meal takes forever to be served. Constantly being ignored for service: no plates for our bread (until we asked), the same happened to our water, our wine didn't even come even after the steak arrived. Totally felt ripped off last night. It even took longer for the bill to come back to us after we pay, does it really take 30 minutes to get the credit card bill for us to sign? Elixir charged us 18% for service that we didn't even get. All I can say is that I will never eat at Elixir again in my whole life, along with my other 9 friends that came with me.
| 1. | Caffe Artigiano (20 m) | |
| 2. | Cactus Club Cafe (25 m) |  |
| 3. | JJ Bean House of Coffee (32 m) | |
| 4. | Yaletown Gelato & Espresso Bar (32 m) | |
| 5. | Agro Cafe (32 m) |  |
| 6. | Simply Thai (34 m) |  |
| 7. | Steamrollers (38 m) | |
| 8. | Hapa Izakaya (42 m) | |
| 9. | Chez Faye Cafe (58 m) |  |
| 10. | Cento Notti (58 m) |  |
