Monthly Archives: September 2024

Kosoo (on Cardero)

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We live in this block, and there are three excellent Korean restaurants. This is my favorite!

It would be hard to beat their “Lunch Course” which has a wonderful variety of flavors in ten courses, far more than we could possibly eat. Fortunately they do a huge takeout business, so containers are plentiful.

That said, it’s really a lovely place to dine in. It’s off Robson, on a quiet section of Cordero, with huge trees outside the picture windows. (Note that there is another Kosoo just a few blocks away on Robson, but the vibe there is completely different, more quick server, while this leans more to fine dining.)

It’s hard to pick a favorite dish, and since you can try them all, why bother?!

Service was pleasant and all the food came out course by course, with great pacing, piping hot or ice cold, and fresh.

Note that they don’t have tea, but they do have hot water, so bring your own teabag!

https://www.yelp.com/biz/kosoo-restaurant-vancouver

Coco Rico Cafe

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This cozy cafe/sports bar offers brunch from morning until afternoon and then switches to more of a sports bar menu.

The bacon and cheese omelet was tasting, and accompanied by nicely crisped home fries.

The cinnamon French toast included two poofy pieces of brioche, nicely grilled, and served with assorted fruit.

Service was friendly, and the background music audio quality was impressive enough that we noticed their excellent playlist.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/coco-rico-cafe-vancouver

Joe Fortes

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This bustling seafood house has been around almost forty years, and it’s easy to see why. Not only are they serving great seafood, they’re doing it with impeccable service. The entire staff is laser-focused on every diner’s experience, making sure your meal runs like clockwork, and everything is refilled, cleared, or delivered within moments.

Beef carpaccio was an excellent starter, and unlike many restaurants seemed to be made to order, not presliced from carpaccio central.

My fish duo was the lunch special–a nice piece of salmon and a wonderfully seasoned blackened tuna.

It’s worth noting that salads are available in half portions, which was plenty.

The wine list is extensive, and offers a particularly large and thoughtful selection of wines by the glass.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/joe-fortes-seafood-and-chop-house-vancouver

Teahouse in Stanley Park

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We went here in 1986 during Expo 86, and it’s still as lovely as we remember. Whether is time for a dramatic sunset, or a cozy day with rain pattering on the glass roof, this is a special place in a special park in a special city.

The menu harkens back to traditional time, with dishes like Steak Diane, but also a few modern dishes such as herb crusted ware albacore.

Service was extremely professional, and the entire staff was efficient and welcoming. You can’t beat this location for an especially memorable Vancouver meal.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/teahouse-in-stanley-park-vancouver-2

The Basic

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Aptly named, The Basic is basically a basic breakfast and lunch place with basic dishes that are based on breakfast and lunch basics.

Seriously, though, we really enjoyed our meal here. The menu has all the, er, basics of a satisfying breakfast, but we opted for sandwiches. The tuna melt is actually closer to a patty melt, but with tuna instead of a patty, since it normally comes on rye and has grilled onions. But they happily substituted sourdough, and could certainly leave off the onions to make it more conventional.

The cucumber and avocado sandwich was a nice lighter choice, served on toasted sourdough with tasty cole slaw and a nice fresh salad of mixed greens.

Service was pleasant and swift.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-basic-vancouver-3

Gringo

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Put this review through the “Mexcian food in Vancouver” filter, because it’s a different scale than, say, Mexican food in Los Angeles.

I like the fun ambiance here, with bright colors and neon. The chairs are more comfortable than they look. It’s nice that they have table service, not just counter service.

Tasty, but smaller than it looks!

The BTO (better than okay) margarita was quite good.

Nachos were also good, factoring in that the cheese is movie theater nacho squirt cheese, not actually melted cheese. But the pickled jalapenos were real, and the addition of pickled red onions was a tasty innovation.

Those pickled onions came on the Wilbur pork butt taco, too, although I would have liked more cilantro, too. That taco was probably the most authentic Mexican food I’ve had in Vancouver. It was served on two traditional small corn tortillas.

Service was friendly and prep was very quick, due to the fact that we were alone on a Friday at lunchtime.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/gringo-vancouver-4

Le Crocodile

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This is such a superb restaurant in every way. The decor is modern yet welcoming, with clever design decisions to keep noise levels reasonable.

From the moment you are greeted you can tell this is going to be a welcoming yet very professional experience.

The menu is modern French in all the best ways, with a focus on flavor and flavor combinations.

My hamachi starter was an exquisite combination of complex flavors in balance, from grapefruit ice to serrano pepper. My companion’s foie gras brulee was also wonderful, and provided us with both an appetizer and a dessert course.

My lamb entree was good, but was overshadowed by the flavorful simplicity of her chicken, incredibly moist and tender.

The small cocktail list belies just how great the mixology here is. The Vesper is one of the best cocktails I’ve ever had, and puts all other Vespers to shame as far as complexity and nuance–a great way to start the meal. The Dazed and Confused was a wonderful after-dinner choice.

The wine list is extensive (which rhymes with expensive) but will reward careful perusers with some great choices.

Service could not have been better. A wonderful experience.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/le-crocodile-restaurant-vancouver

Jingle Bao

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This charming and bright (yellow) place serves bao and other Chinese dishes. We had the Combo Platter, which included Taiwanese Salt and Pepper Chicken, Siu Mai, Har Gow, Crystal Mushroom and Veggie Dumplings, Edamame, Seaweed Salad, and Shrimp Crackers, Their 7 signature types of soup dumplings (Classic, Spinach/Cheese, Spicy, Curry, Truffle, Shrimp, Garlic), plus chocolate dessert dumplings.

My favorites were the spicy and curry soup dumplings, but chocolate lovers will go for those dessert dumplings.

We couldn’t finish everything, but the Salt and Pepper Chicken heated up great the next day.

Service was very friendly. Such a large platter took a while to fix, of course, because it was all made to order. That’s why it was great.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/jingle-bao-vancouver