The Water Street Cafe is currently celebrating their 21st anniversary in fine form by offering a $20 lobster special that includes your choice of spaghetti marinara or fries. Its a fantastic deal and of course I had to go with it. The pasta was cooked perfectly; just slightly al dente and the sauce was great. The full lobster was a 1 pounder and was fantastic as you'd expect. We finished off with a flour-less espresso chocolate cake with cherries and strawberries that was very good as well. Overall, I really enjoyed my meal and for the price, was a great value. They are definitely celebrating their 21st anniversary in style. I recommend you try and get down their for their lobster special which is available at both lunch and dinner.

The Water Street Café is a solid place. I went there the first time with someone who is extremely picky, so when he chose to take us there, we knew it was going to be good. My subsequent visit was with my parents and they really enjoyed it, even my mother who is also very picky.

The ambiance is nice, quiet and you have a nice view of the steam clock. Sometimes though, I feel kind of bad to see the homeless people outside while I’m sipping on my nice wine, but that’s everywhere in downtown Vancouver, I guess, especially Gastown. If I remember correctly, the music was classical (piano) and it was not too loud.

The service is good, the server was helpful in suggesting what wine to pair with our meals and he was very polite.

The food is pretty basic but perfectly cooked, well presented, the ingredients are obviously fresh and of good quality and the portions are good as well. Both times I went, everyone was entirely satisfied. The wine selection is very good too.

Value is okay. It’s a little bit on the pricey side but I wouldn’t go as far as saying that it’s overpriced. It’s fair for the quality of the ingredients, especially in that area. My parents, who paid for the meal the second time I went, thought the price matched the quality of the food and the portions.

I would recommend the Water Street Café. Don’t expect anything overly creative but you can count on quality, fresh ingredients, decent prices, a good wine list and polite service.

I made reservations here for my birthday dinner and was offered one of their private rooms. I was VERY impressed with the venue and the room. My friends all enjoyed their meals and the ambiance was absolutely perfect.

I had the Stuffed Chicken with Pancetta and Spinach. It was fantastic. The chicken was so juicy and tender. The vegetables were cooked to perfection and the presentation was very pleasing to the eye.

I will definitely be returning to this restaurant. You must try the salmon penne with dill. So creamy, but not too rich and over-powering.

It was early evening of a saturday night when i got there and the place was about half full.
My friend a I shared vongole pasta, seafood rissotto, and green salad.
Can't go wrong with salad.. glazed pecans in them were very tasty.. yum~
our main dishes took so much longer than usual which i thought was very odd since i ordered long before the rush started.
Anyways, finally food came to us.
As soon as the vongole was placed in front of me I tossed the pasta with my fork and it released this oily garlicky steam.... awwww it smells soooo~ gooood!
I didn't get too excited about the rissotto. It was ok.

I will definitely visit again.

I think the WSC is one of those institutions in Vancouver like
Raincity Grill, Il Giardino and others. It's not the hip, hot spot with all the buzz but a charming/cute bistro that consistently delivers quality food.

It had been over a year since my last visit but driving past the rstaurant on commutes home from work later in the evening, I would look over and almost always see diners. When I needed to arrange a dinner for 10 last week, I chose WSC because there was something on the menu for everyone - from vegetarian /
pasta, seafood, meat, and chicken. The winde list is small and reasonably priced. Appetizers and entrees are really well priced. I've been to other restaurants where past prices are more for the same quality.

I ordered the green salad which was has nicely dressed, not dripping or soggy, and linguine with prawns which was very tasty but I think there was a bit too much olive oil added. There was a thin layer of olive oil that remained in my bowl when I finished the pasta. The prawns were big and fresh. Next time I return I'm going to order the caesar salad that others ordered. It looked so fresh and had a very light, appropriately dressed dressing. A caesar salad is a simiple "dish" and I sometimes rely on it as a signal of things to come from the rest of the meal. Thick, goopy caesar dressing just ruins the salad.

The service wasn't exceptional - nothing to praise or complain about.

I don't come here often but every time I visit, I'm always surprised by the quality of their pastas. It's consistent, fresh, tasty and never boring. Any kind of pasta dishes is recommended. If you're not too hungry, you can half order it. It's still just as yummy. Haven't found a place that taste just as good or better.
Their service is good, not outstanding but it doesn't matter because their pasta makes up for it.
Another thing I like about this place is that they don't mind if you're in jeans or hoodies. They will treat you just like everybody else.

Both times i've had the pleasure of dining in this restaurant was during Dineout Vancouver, and both times I came away with a full stomach and a grin on my face. Let it be warned that I have not tried their regular menu but I can imagine what they have to offer.

Situated right across from the Gastown steam clock, I would say that you wouldn't notice this large restaurant if you didn't know it was there. Yes, even with the wrap around windows and prime real estate! Understated is the world. Okay, I didn't, so perhaps that says more about my observational skills but I digress. Classically decorated with very large glass windows framed by dark tone pillars, you see all of gastown's cobblestoned beauty. It is like eating inside an Edward Hopper painting, and probably more delicious.

Their dineout menu is solid. Try the crab cakes.

The food here isn't that bad. I would go back for the food, but not for the dessert. I love the ambiance. Okay, back to the dessert. I love creme brulee, so I ordered one. Presentation was nice. The creme brulee wasn't to my satifaction. It was very runny. I'd come back for the food here, but wouldn't order dessert here at all.

We were in downtown and had left our Entertainment Book in my boyfriend's car so we decided to check out the Georgia Straight to find a place for dinner. We chose Water Street Cafe since we've heard good things about it.

Upon entering the restaurant, we were greeted right away and shown to a table. I loved the ambiance of the restaurant. It was very cosy and intimate and is the perfect place for people watching. Our service was pleasant and attentive without being annoying.

For dinner, I started with their mixed green salad which was tasty and fresh. For my entree, I went with the Prawn Linguini and my boyfriend tried their Potato Gnocchi. The food was so delicious! My prawn was succulent, the pasta was perfectly cooked and the mix of basil and roma tomatoes was a great blend of flavours! My boyfriend's gnocchi was delicious as well and their squash sauce could have been served by itself as an appetizer easily.

Overall, we enjoyed our dinner and can't wait to go back and try their other menu items

Went here for lunch wit my parents today. On a rainy Monday around 1pm, the restaurant was considered pretty busy. We were seated right away and got the window seat we requested. My parents were impressed with the view of gastown from where we sat and we enjoyed how bright the dining area was.

Right away we got water and bread. The bread was soft and pretty good.

That's where it ends. We ordered their panini, seafood chowder, and halibut and chips. The panini had a generous amount of deli meats but was way too salty and the focaccia was hard. My mom disliked the sauce alot- tastes like pizza as she puts it. The fish had too much batter and was not even comparable to the ones they have in Deep Cove (which is the best my parents have ever tasted - so they say, and I think I agree). The side salads had too much vinegrette on it. The fries were not bad, but very average. Seafood chowder was pretty good but not worth the $6 for its volume.

Overall, nice location, okay service, disappointing food.