It seems like there is a nearly endless appetite for coffee and pastries on Robson, and Bisou is yet another entry in this competition. If it were the only place around, it would stand out, but there is substantial competition up the street from La Duree, Paul, Le Belisse Cafe (my favorite) and others.
I didn’t try the sweet croissants, but the plain croissant was perfectly good. The bread, however, was a disappointment. The barista claimed that “all our breads are sourdough.” But there’s more to sourdough than just the technique. There’s also the flavor. And what looked like a wonderful French boule turned out to basically just be a big hunk of white bread.
I didn’t have their coffee, so it might be great, but with so many choices around, I think I would probably go up the street.
Nightingale is from the owners of Hawksworth, which I thought was a very good but not necessarily great restaurant, but I really like Nightingale. It’s a two-story space off of Hastings with a bar downstairs that has table seating and a somewhat quieter upstairs dining area where the kitchen is. I prefer the upstairs area, but both are fine. Don’t be misled by the fact that reservations for the bar don’t mean that you have to sit at the bar. It could mean anywhere in the downstairs area.
The menu is a combination of surprisingly upscale food and straightforward dishes such as pizza, but the pizza is just not ordinary pizza, even though it’s reasonably priced. In fact, it’s one of the best pizzas in Vancouver.
The appetizers are varied and extraordinary. We had the hamachi, which let the fish shine through, and the kanpachi, which was a complex preparation that we particularly enjoyed.
Another surprise was the cauliflower hummus, which was much more layered and intricate than you might expect.
Service was excellent, and there is a thoughtful wine list plus an enormous selection of liquors such as whiskies and even Amaro. In fact, they have tasting flights of different whiskies and Amaro, which I always particularly appreciate.
If Dip N Drool is not the worst name for a restaurant in the world, I don’t know what is. That and the fact that the location has almost no visibility are not good harbingers, but the food is actually really good.
The menu is ambitious, with foods not only from India but also the rest of Asia and even Italy. However, the Indian food is the way to go. All of the sauces are sublime, and the papadums, which I don’t think are even on the menu, are perhaps the best I’ve ever had.
The lunch combos are a good deal, and the chicken tikka masala and lamb korma were both delicious. On our second visit, we explored the appetizer menu.
The Dahi Puri, crispy semolina shells filled with potatoes, chickpeas and yogurt, finished with sweet tamarind chutney and mint chutney, were the best I’ve had.
Vegetable Pakoda was also excellent. The nachos were a swing and a miss.
The chef is really doing everything he can to make this a great restaurant, and I encourage you to try it. I just hope that they can overcome the name and the location because they really deserve success.
TacoRiendo serves traditional Mexican food ranging from tacos and enchiladas to burritos and chile rellenos. The nachos and guacamole are quite incredible, and the red sauce is appropriately spicy on all of their main dishes. I particularly like the fish tacos with the green sauce. The margaritas are excellent, and the price for a pitcher is quite reasonable. You can get quite busy, especially on Friday nights, so don’t go when you’re in a hurry; enjoy it.
What a great little deli this is. Very friendly service and a wonderful menu of both cold and hot sandwiches. This was literally the best BLT that either I or my daughter ever had, and the split pea soup was also delicious. Such friendly service, too!
Dovetail styles itself as a California vibe restaurant. I’m from California, but I’m not quite sure what that is. However, the dishes on the menu all look familiar, so I guess it passes that criterion.
There’s an all-day happy hour that includes reduced prices on some of the appetizers and handhelds, plus lots of drink specials. The place definitely has an active vibe and was quite busy. Service was attentive, and the food was all very good. I think our favorite dish was the shishito peppers we set out originally because my wife was in search of a tuna melt the way that she makes them at home. They came pretty close, although I think hers are better. My salmon smash burger was particularly delicious. I would order that again.
This speakeasy has one of the best entrances I’ve seen, and the interior theming is great, too. Not only is the decor fantastic, but the menu is a work of art, featuring text and illustrations from Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories with a drink accompanying each story.
The cuisine is Indian small plates, including appetizers and curries, all of which were quite tasty.
Tuesdays, they have a special martini night with martinis made from gin that they age in amphorae soaking in salt water solutions. The result was a flight of four martinis that were all too salty for my taste but were certainly interesting. I think that their other cocktails that are more successful, though.
This is a beautiful restaurant with very precise service and a spectacular wine list. It’s well deserving of its one Michelin star. The specialty here is, of course, Beijing duck, which, for larger parties, is carved at table side (with a 60-minute preorder required). We went for Saturday lunch and were pleased to get the set lunch, which is not prominently displayed on the electronic menu, but we asked about it and we’re happy that they had it. It consisted of this:
全聚德双人迎珍筵88套餐 ¡Den & Quanjude Curated Experience for Two | $88
STARTER 精致前菜
香薷捞汁鹌鹑蛋
Slowly Infused Quail Eggs in Master Five-Spice Blend
SOUP 养元汤品
全聚德传统老火靓鸭汤（两位）
Quanjude Signature Duck Soup (Two Servings)
MAIN 厨师主菜
琥珀花雕醉基围虾
*Amber” Drunken King Prawns Perfumed with Aged Shaoxing Wine
百年全聚德招牌烤鸭（半只）
Quanjude Signature Beijing Duck (Half Duck)
豉香古法玉唐生
Flash-Poached Lettuce Hearts with House-Brewed Seasoned Soy Sauce
DESSERT 清润甜品
桂雪初凝酿玉丸（两位）
Sweet Rice Dumplings in Osmanthus and Fermented Rice Soup (Two Servings)
We also added two different types of dim sum:
shrimp, pork, and chicken buns
chive dumplings
The duck was delicious, as one would expect. My favorite courses ended up being the amazingly complex flavored quail eggs and the equally intriguing shrimp.
Service was precise and extremely scheduled, driven by the availability of the foods in the kitchen.
While the wine list is quite expensive, with many of the bottles running over $1,000, I found that the Joseph Drouhin Bourgogne at only a little over $100 was an excellent accompaniment to the meal. The set lunch, on the other hand, is a bargain at only $88 for two people.
This is a comfortable hotel, but I’m writing this review to call out an exceptional bartender. Ash is a master mixologist, the kind that I would expect to find in New York City or Chicago. She made perhaps the best cocktail I’ve ever had on the spot from a suggestion I gave her about combining Amaro from Okanagan Spirit with a custom gin concoction she makes using Tangeray, Florida Sevilla, orange-flavored gin infused with cinnamon sticks. Of course, there were many other ingredients, and the result was truly spectacular. Her hospitality and the fine night that we had at the bar with our companions made a special impression on our trip.
This is probably the most authentic Mexican restaurant we’ve yet tried in Vancouver. It’s in a somewhat seedy section of Gastown, but the interior is absolutely gorgeous, with lots of hanging lanterns that create a magical mood. The food is definitely authentic Mexican, not Tex-Mex, but the real thing. I particularly enjoyed my Enchiladas Sauza, which is a recipe I have not seen anywhere else except in Southern California. The chicken enchiladas were doused with a wonderfully piquant green sauce that was perfect.
We also enjoyed the assortment of guacamole, refried beans, and salsa that was served with chips as an appetizer.
The margaritas are interesting here because they are served as a cocktail, shaken, not stirred, and presented in a coupe glass, which I actually really liked a lot because you get much more margarita and a real purity of flavors.
