Do a search below using the city or postal code search box if your city is not listed above.
Get dining news including restaurant closures and qualify for giveaways.
Located in the West End’s Buchan Hotel, the Parkside restaurant has delectable food for reasonable prices. All entrees are under 20 dollars.
We went to Parkside for DOV this year and given all the raving reviews, expected it to be amazing. Well, this cozy restaurant was good, but fell below our high expectations.
I had the gulf prawns appetizer and it was quite delicious, a mixture of unexpected flavours. However, all of our entrees were very average. I tasted my friend's rabbit dish and it was a little bland and dry. My beef short ribs were good, but relied a lot on the thick gravy sauce it came with. The side dishes tasted a little funny and quite a few people at our table didn't like them. Everyone ordered the lemon tart for dessert and it was nice and tangy, just the way I like them!
Our server was very friendly, polite, and attentive. Overall it was a good experience to try new things, but the food isn't amazing enough (especially given their regular menu price) for us to return. I hear they're closing and re-opening as a new restaurant, so maybe we will go back to give the new version a try.
Checked out Parkside on a Tuesday night as part of Dine Out Vancouver 2009. Nice little place, hidden away in the residential area of Haro Street.
Food - Had the gulf prawns to start followed by the low temp shortrib and lemon tart for dessert. The prawn dish, garnished with orange, olives and bacon, was incredible. Shortrib was pretty good, but I've had better. My girlfriend had the minestrone, saddle of rabbit, and chocolate bar & melted chocolate drink for dessert. The saddle of rabbit was excellent and the chocolate dessert was phenomenal. Though medium-to-small serving in size, overall they offered some very tasty, satisfying dishes.
Service - Very good service. Two servers were looking after us the entire night. Both were friendly and prompt with drink requests.
Ambiance & Value - As noted in previous reviews, this place is quite pricey. The ambiance was great though. A small, intimate venue that's perfect for a romantic date, or a relaxed upscale dinner with friends. Recommended.
For our last DOV of 2009 we tried Parkside because their menu looked really good.
It wasn't an easy place to find - hidden in the residential area on Haro Street. Very quaint and romantic were my first thoughts upon entering this establishment. We were seated at a table in the corner, which I liked instead of being sandwiched between other patrons. The waitress was friendly enough, but seemed impatient when we hadn't really decided what to order since I went into the restaurant first, while my husband went to find parking. (In the 5 minutes after he sat down, she came 3 times to take our order) Our DOV choices included the Boudin blanc w/ salad of apples, celery, walnuts, endive, green grapes, Gulf prawns w/orange, fennel, pork cheek bacon, black olive, Saddle of rabbit w/mushroom duxelles, petit pois, Parmesan sauce, the Medallions of red deer w/celeriac purée, glazed chestnuts and salsify, farro, spiced wine poached pear. Our desserts included the sorbet and the lemon tart brule. Everything was really delicious. The combination of textures & tastes was done really well and presented nicely. My only complaints were the side dishes to the saddle of rabbit were a bit salty and the deer at first bite was a bit too tender. However, overall the portions were great and the hot out of the oven fresh bread? WOW! I think it's the first time I got bread that was still steaming from the oven! I loved the sorbet and it's different flavors. A great way to end our DOV experience this year. And the rabbit went really well with a glass of their Blue Mountain Gamay Noir-yummy! Parkside was almost perfect, but I can't figure out what was missing...perhaps some more lighting would have been nice. We do like to see what we eat & not squint at each other in the dark. =)
I had the onion cheese tart as an appetizer. It wasn't how I expected- I guess I was thinking it would be crisper for some reason, but the sauteed onions made it quite soft. Still good though, and good size. I upgraded to the rack of lamb for my main. The lamb was a bit on the fatty side, but overall, was good. I had the blue cheese dessert- big portion, tasty. One of my friends had the chocolate trio- oh, I wish I had gotten that! Very rich chocolate ice cream, and the cookie that came with it was divine.
I liked the cozy, dark ambience of Parkside. I think we had three plates of bread- as soon as we were finished one, they immediately brought us more. Very good service.
Would come here again.
I agree with th former reviewer. I did not go there during Dine Out, but I also have the overall impression that the food, while good, is not spectacular or particularly memorable and can be improved on. The setting is very comfortable, relaxing, and enjoyable, and service is up to par. For the overall dining experience you get, the price is reasonable, but with some improvement in the food quality (in terms of flavour), this place has the potential of getting into the top category of restaurants around town.
Went there for dinner on a monday nite. parking is still a concern and there was no valet. the place is on the smaller side and there was no hostess this evening i was there. was greeted by the person behind the bar. very attentive and seated us out in the patio. patio has a 10pm curfew. the restarurant was nicely decorated.
this is a quaint spot for a meal in the city but away from the humbug that you normally get. the 3 course meal is 49 and the 4 course is 57. you can order ala carte as well but the prices were not on the menu. the veal porterhouse was 32.
tried the soup which was a shellfish bisque with wild prawns, and halinut quenelle. the artic scallops with pea puree and balsamic reduction, and the froie grais to start. the soup had a nice smoky flavor possibly from the glazing of the shellfish stock. the quenelle was light, fluffy and melt in your mouth. the scallop i had was a little too cramelized and well done for my liking. i perfer big juicy scallops that are not cooked completely through. The froie grais was simply impecable. Melt in your mouth delicious.
For the main I had to try the Berkshire Pork/the black pig. There are not many places in the city that you can enjoy this pork. It was done two ways. One was a lean cut(possibly from the loin) wraped in prosciutto. the other was a fatty cut that was braised and served with savoy cabbage. The other entree i did get a taste of was the Veal Porterhouse steak. both the entrees were good. The fatty pork was a big too much fat and the lean was dry for my liking. The veal porterhouse was pretty good. Did not ask how we wanted it done. Come out medium well and a bit tough and dry. Overall food presentation was good and and portion was good for what was charged.
Had the grapefruit sorbet for desert. Nice light syrup with grapefruit segment and sorbet. Which was a great way to end a rich meal. The deserts here are good. Might come here just for deserts next time.
Ok I have been here twice now, both times, not so good. When asked about a dish, if I say it tastes rancid and do not eat it, maybe check it. I was ignored a few times so the servers could bunch up and gossip. The food was mostly ok, below an Earls/Cactus type chain both times. Nice space. The drinks were subpar, but I slung drinks for years so I am picky there. Hey they are a rarity in that they do a game and mushroom menu, so that gains mega points. Too bad the delivery need work.
One word of advice, if someone comes on and praises a restaurant and has only the one review, I am sceptical as to whether or not they are an owner/manager, or related to likewise. Just my opinion, which we are all entitled to have. I tend to feel it is a plant/advertisement and there are a lot out there.
This is my third time dining at Parkside and the experience was unique and memorable. I've always loved Parkside for it's location (slightly hidden from the glare of downtown), service (knowledgable staff that understand their clients), and food ingenuity (a constantly evolving menu). This most recent experience met my expectations and continued to hold the bar high.
Although Parkside provides all of it's dishes 'a la carte' one of the reasons I enjoy dining there is because of the set 3 or 4 course meal combination. Appetizer, Entree, and Dessert allow you to enjoy a wide range of flavors and creations throughout the ever changing menu. I've included my favorite dish from each category according to their current menu.
Appetizer: Farfalle Proscuitto. Bowtie pasta with a virgin olive oil sauce including thinly sliced Proscuitto and sun dried tomatoes. This dish was a great starter as it was quite light however maintained great balance with the accents of sun dried tomatoes and proscuitto. The size of the dish is quite large for an appy.
Entree: Rack of Lamb. This was by far the best Lamb I've had in quite some time. A tender and fresh cut of meat that was perfectly cooked and seasoned. I will always order the lamb dish at Parkside as they've managed a level of expertise with it.
Dessert: Trio of seasonal Citrus Sorbets. These sorbets were made on site using fresh ingredients and were not overly sweetened. It's quite refreshing after the Parkside meal described above.
I must mention that they recently raised their prices for the set 3/4 course meals which is understandable yet somewhat disconcerting. The chef also tends to prefer rich sauces that may overpower the more subtle flavors. As mentioned previously the serving sizes were larger then necessary which is probably meant to compensate for the price. Otherwise the whole experience was quite worthwhile and I will recommend it to anyone who is looking for a warm, friendly, non pretentious meal.
Tried 6 restaurants for DOV this year, and I love the food from Parkside the most.
We arrived late due to the traffic. So my boyfriend dropped me off at the door and he would go park the car. When I arrvied, they told me each seating for DOV is 2 hrs, fair. About 5 mins later, my bf arrived, and the server already wanted us to order when my bf JUST sat down. I am not kidding, he only got 10 sec to look at the menu before the server came to take the order. So he only ordered what the server recommnanded cux he didn't really know what's on the menu.
Everything tasted fantastic. The seafood soup was just right. I ordered the duck and my boyfriend ordered the veal. Each dish got a few different preparations. So like the previous reviewer said, they were like mini tasting dishes. That is a brilliant idea since most people go for DOV are there to TRY the food of a restautant they haven't been to. The duck was grilled nicely and crispy. The duck breast was very juicy. I had the pineapple up side down cake, and my boyfriend had the ice cream trio. The pineapple cake was kind of sweet but I couldn't stop eat it. My boyfriend said the ice-cream was very rich and smooth, and the dark chocolate one is as rich as a piece of chocolate truffle. One thing I like about the food is all food were served in the right temperature. The hot dishes were all HOT (including the cake). It's could sound like a standard, but believe me, that is very impressive for DOV. It's like all dishes were prepared for me, but not mass production. I had cold dishes which supposed to be hot in a few other places during DOV.
Ambiance is ok. Food was excellent. Service was too pushy at the begining, but overall still ascceptable because it was DOV. Would go back and see what they have in regular time.
**Disclaimer: I do not work for Parkside, nor do I have any friends who work there, etc.
The reason I gave this place a 5 out of 5 is because my first and only experience to Parkside was, for a lack of a better word, perfect. While I have not had the pleasure to dine at Lumier, West, Cin Cin, or other places as such, I have visited a myriad of restaurants in this city, and Parkside has set the bar, at least for myself. I visited Parkside during the summer of 2005, so my memory might be a little tainted.
The restaurant has valet parking, which is a pure blessing, since its located on Haro, West of Denman, in a residential area, where finding parking for outsiders is equivalent to finding a vegetarian item at Memphis Blues Barbeque House.
When I called to place reservations, I asked them to print me a menu without prices so my date will not feel bashful about ordering anything. They obliged absolutely without sneer or contempt.
The décor is modern and yet warm and very romantic. Even though it’s a small place, every table seems like its in a world of its own. I remember having a frisse with duck confit roulades, which was excellent. Then I had a rib eye with a wild mushroom sauce. Obscenely good. My date had a salad and a mushroom dish. Pure heaven.
Our waitress was a pro. Right away, I felt like I was very welcomed, appreciated, and given respect. She was anything but pretentious and provided us with a warm, friendly, non-rushed but prompt service.
While I spent a considerable amount of money at Parkside (around $120), it was worth it. The food, the service, and the ambiance were all excellent (my date went REALLY well, thank you for asking).
If you are looking for a romantic evening, where the restaurant experience compliments the date, not overpowers it, this is the perfect place. Over and above that however, Parkside is for anybody who wants to have an excellent dining experience. I will defiantly come back.
I have been to the Parkside twice, loved it both times!
As for charging a cake cutting fee and charging for hot water and charging for filtered water...... too bad people are too stupid to realize that it costs money to operate a restaurant.
Do you think that making hot water is free? Did they get the cup free? Is it free to wash it? NO duh.
If you don't want to pay a cake cutting fee .... then don't bring your own desserts... restaurants rely on profit to survive so why should they let you treat it like your living room. Maybe they should just give everything away free.....
My friend took me to Parkside for my birthday in the summer. It was absolutely fabulous. The food was amazing, they had an amazing foie gras appetizer, I love foie gras, when done right.
The room is absolutely beautiful, they serve wine very elegantly. There is nothing about this restaurant that I do not love.
And I had roasted duck for my main, cooked perfectly medium rare, and absolutely delicious! They obviously use excellent quality ingredients.
I would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone!
My visit was during Dine Out 05, where quality of participating restaurants fluctuate significantly. However my experience at Parkside lived up to my expectations, which can't be said for most places during the event. Hence the lenient rating of 4, where 3.5 would be more appropriate.
Parkside possesses a different aura than most others in the city. Settled in a purely residential corner of the Westend, walking there from your car would feel as though you are visiting a friend's home. This mood continues into the restaurant where warm colours, soft lights, a low ceiling, and retro details give you an abundance of warmth.
Service is decent. Staff are easy to access and are the casual variety. What separates Parkside from other restaurants is that they open to 11pm and 12am. This means you can have a proper dinner at late hours, and not go to a pub and wash down their so-called food with beer.
We can only recall a blurred image of our foods that night. Ravioli was good. Veal shank was tendor and juicy. Dessert was quite interesting. Care was put into preparing the meal, and quality shines through. Their portions were much bigger than I expected and would still be large if it was not Dine Out. However, I do find their flavours to be very strong, and occassionally overpowering. An vege soup was steeped in aroma, while truffle sauce and veal shank jus was aggressively seasoned. Some foods need strong flavours to accompany, but not every course througout a meal. This is probably the biggest obstacle they need to overcome before they can venture into extraodinary foods.
Their main courses are now $24, and that is a good price. Add on large portions in a settling room and you have a winner. Although Parkside cannot be considered a top spot in the city (not yet, at least) it's certainy a good choice for casual semiformal dining, especially late in the evening.
Okay, full disclosure - we love this place. We come for special occasions, and Dine Out every year. And, once again, it just keeps on being a wonderful place to eat. Between the 3 of us, we had pretty much everything on the dineout menu, and nary a complaint amongst us. Great food, great wine, great place!!
I don't know where the previous diner went to, but it could not have been here. This is by far my favourite restaurant in Vancouver. They hit the mark on every aspect.
The atmosphere of the room is perfect. It is warm and cozy, very clean without any hint of pretentiousness.
Service is impeccable. The servers have no problem explaining any detail on dishes that I am not familiar with, and does it in such a way that I don't feel talked down to.
And the food, absolute heaven. The foie gras is impeccable, if its on service when you go definitely get it, they charge a little extra for it, but its worth it.
The food is perfectly seasoned and delicious. This restaurant deserves to be on the best of Vancouver list!
Been lurking on this site for a while now and always find some helpful reviews on here so I decided to write about my Dine-Out experience here as it was really very impressive!
The place was hard to find on a dark rainy day as it's wedged between a bunch of residential buildings.
Service was very good, not as prompt as some other fine-dining establishments, also wasn't very helpful with the wine recommendations but she came by often enough without having to ever ask.
The food was as the rating indicates, Incredible! I can't imagine what the food would be like sans Dine-Out if even this cheap taster menu was that good! I had the roasted rabbit which had a delicious foam sauce but it did rely on the sauce a lot, not that it's a bad thing. My guy-friend had the red-wine reduction Deer steak which he described was cooked perfectly and very flavourful! I tried some of it and he was completely right!
The price considering it's Dine-Out Vancouver was very reasonable but the regular menu is pretty expensive!
Ambiance was very cozy, nice warm little spot for romantic and formal dinners.
When I have a fatter wallet this will definitely be my first choice! I can't wait to go back!
With the level of service they provided, and the absolutely fantastic dinner, I just didn't feel okay NOT writing Parkside a review! I really can't say enough great things about this place - it NEVER disapoints. The service was PHENOMENAL. It actually outshone the food, which is pretty darn hard to do. You know, it's all the little things that count, like remembering what your coat looks like so you don't have to be asked at the end of the night. (Seriously, at Rare, they said, "oh I'm sorry, we don't remember what your coats looked like...". How unclassy.)
They fois gras was exquisite, well worth the $5 upgrade, and the server brought extra bread to enjoy it with. The duck entree was so good and creative - it was basically a mini tasting menu of duck served in a duck consumme! The pineapple upside down cake was also exquisite. I have to say I'm impartial to ice creams/mousses/cremes, so it wasn't the best dessert I've ever had - but for a cake, it was excellent. SO MOIST, beyond belief. The trio of chocolate ice creams was so rich and delicious as well. Thank you Parkside for a wonderful wonderful meal.
I was recommend to sample dinner at Parkside by a fellow food-loving friend. Locating it was an adventure, as it was in a hidden location by a residential neighborhood on Haro st. by Deman.
Walking in the Room was very pleasant. Modern materials and design mixed with elements of traditional fixtures seem to have made the room never out of style yet cozy, and not overly intimidating. You can get a slight feeling of the energy of the kitchen through the sand blasted glass window, as it was hidden yet showcased at the same time.
For having three coursed at $45 the food is superb. Relatively well written menus with a wide array of choices that would please most dinners. Having said that, the food that arrived on the table fell nowhere short of expectation. Simple clean flavors not overly complicated to the palate.
For example, a salad with an egg, a simple dressing, and chicken liver. It is a very simple array of ingredients, but when the egg is perfectly poached, and chicken livers are beautifully seared, and the salad is as fresh as can be, it all works together to becomes a very good eat. It is nothing overly fancy, but the actual cooking is executed properly. That is what’s important. For the price you pay, they give you skillfully cooked tasty food. This goes for everything that comes out of that kitchen, expect the risotto fell short.
Service was quite decent, friendly and most of all genuine. Staff is relatively knowledgeable, and professional. I simply walked away from my table after dinner and the staff, with no questions, knew which jacket was mine at the coat check and automatically handed it over. Note that the restaurant was completely full on that evening.
Overall a very pleasant experience, and I would recommend to anyone who is dinning within a $50/per person budget. I would rank Parkside comparable with restaurants like The Pear Tree.
Parkside's 1st annual wild mushroom and game festival during the last 2 weeks of October looked interesting on paper and after sampling a 3 course meal: starter of Wild boar bacon/wild mushrooms cream sauce with fettucine; Rabbit cacciotore main course and Panna cotta dessert ... it was absolutely delicious although way too rich for my stomach.
The portions were surprisingly huge and filling. A $49 four course prix fixe menu is an option and I'm glad I only went for only 3 for $39! (I've eaten here once before during DineOut and it was equally as good with lighter fare - again 3 course prix fixe at a bargain price of $25.)
Service is attentive and servers very observant. I was here with 2 others and most of the time in deep conversation and appreciated the non-intrusive service.
I like the design of the space. On cold windy days the front door curtain needs to be heavier or drawn more due to the strong draft blowing into the restaurant everytime customers arrived or departed. The lack of tablecloths is a minor flaw in an otherwise elegant and well lit room.
I would also recommend taking a taxi here as it is hard to find parking - I suppose one could always use the valet service.
We have been meaning to go here since it changed from Delilahs. I am too full up to really write a review but I can assure you that value for money, taste for taste, and service to service it is pretty hard to beat. Such perfect service and what a deal. A 3 course meal of this calibre for $45 p.p. I started with the Fois Gras pate style with toast (+$2), my partner the Jerusalem artichoke soup, followed by the Deep sea cod encrusted with prawns and my partner the Venison medallions and finished off with the creme brulee and the sticky toffee pudding. Each plate was shared 50/50 and if it wasn't a fight would of broken the good ambience in the place. The lights could be lowered a tad but thats being a little to critical of a place and menu that has been well thought out and executed. Go here you will NOT be dissapointed.
| 1. | Adesso Bistro (24 m) |  |
| 2. | Mum's Gelati (152 m) |  |
| 3. | Damso Modern Korean Cuisine (153 m) |  |
| 4. | Poncho's (154 m) |  |
| 5. | Mainly Organics Pizza (155 m) | |
| 6. | Zakkushi Charcoal Grill (155 m) | |
| 7. | Kingyo (157 m) | |
| 8. | Madangcoul Korean Restaurant (159 m) |  |
| 9. | Tavola (161 m) | |
| 10. | Pizzo Pizza (161 m) | |
