Provence Marinaside

Restaurants with a view are not my first choice of establishments to visit anymore when it comes to dining out because I am biased and believe the food may not be great, such as the Boathouse chain, Top of Vancouver, Fraiche, Seasons in the Park, Sandbar and Horizons. So when my friend wanted to try Provence Marinaside located in Yaletown and with a view of False Creek, my initial reaction was meh... Well, it was more like could we try Bella Gelateria next door instead? Okay fine, it was more like a beg instead of a suggestion!

Trying to be selfless however, Provence Marinaside was fine and we came here for lunch. When we entered the restaurant, we were a bit put off because the hostess kept her back facing towards us and seemed very indifferent. No worries though since all the servers we encountered including the manager was very personable and friendly. Given the option of patio or indoor, we chose the latter since it was chilly out. The atmosphere at Provence Marinaside is casual, laid back and inviting. 

Cafe Salade de Fruits

Tucked in the French Cultural Centre on West 7th is a casual French bistro serving good quality food with fine dining service, Cafe Salade de Fruits. For a few years now I have heard a lot of about the bistro such as the prices are reasonable, mussels are a must order and the place is small so make sure to make reservations. Fortunately arriving out of the blue on a weeknight reservations were not needed! I still recommend reservations however since there are not many seats.

Cafe Salade has a homey and inviting atmosphere from the friendly staff with authentic thick French accents to the dim lighting. When you walk in, you notice the high ceiling immediately along with the brick wall above the kitchen and the wooden tables along with chairs. After seating, our server took our order and when we asked if she could make sure not all the dishes are sent out at once, she responded, "why would anyone ever do that?". And I was like girl... every restaurant always does that to us! So I knew we were off to a great start for dinner already.

41 West Restaurant

West 41 is a small and quaint neighbourhood restaurant in Kerrisdale, serving West Coast cuisine with a bit of French influences. There are only around ten tables in the restaurant, but the seating arrangements are not too tight. The atmosphere is also fairly cozy, relaxing and non-rushed.

I purchased a Social Shopper voucher for 41 West and forgot about it until the last minute, as in a night before the expiry date. Fortunately though, I was lucky enough to score last minute reservations for the weekend by calling just the evening before. When I called to make the reservations however, the host was very rushed and impatient, despite that there was no background noise.

We arrived on a Friday evening and there was only one seated table, but the restaurant reached a half full occupancy throughout the duration of our stay. With regards to the service, there was only one server handling the front of the house. He was courteous and polite, but not quite attentive. Our appetizer plates sat at the table for longer than usual and my bread knife was never removed throughout all three courses, which I find odd.

Bernard Noir

Bernard Noir is a fairly new chocolate boutique, located in Downtown Vancouver. The boutique offers three of the ten most popular chocolates in Europe which include French brands Michel Cluizel and Richart, along with German brand Lauestein. Moreover, Bernard Noir carries their own chocolate made by a certified chocolatier. 

Asides from chocolate, Bernard Noir offers housemade pastries and dessert by Chef Yutta. The selection changes daily from a variety of croissants, scones and brownies, along with Belgian waffles to cakes and cupcakes. In addition, the boutique offers gourmet baguette sandwiches.

I was invited to sample some goodies and met the owners behind Bernard Noir. Bernard handles the business aspect while his wife Chef Yutta, does the baking. The owners are a strong believer in "fat makes you fat" and only use real ingredients for their pastries such as butter, cane or coconut palm sugar. Furthermore, the owners also believe in using less fat because "fat makes you fat".

Baguette & Co : Davie Street Location

A few weeks ago, Baguette & Co kept popping up on my Instagram feed so I figured I must have been missing out. There are currently four locations (Davie Street, Kitsilano, Main Street and Marine Drive) and the patisserie offers fresh pastries as well as dessert. The cafe also offers mini sized pastries ($1.25/each or 3/$2.95) and dessert ($1.50/each or 3/$4.00) which provide an opportunity to sample a bit of everything before deciding on a whole size purchase.

I came here on two separate occasions because my first visit was nothing special so I wanted to give Baguette & Co another try. There are around five tables in the cafe and the seating arrangements are not too tight. A self serve station is also set up where cocoa, honey, cutlery and water is available.

Lily Mae's Comfort Café

Lily Mae's Comfort Cafe is located in Gastown and the interior looks very cute, resembling a french bistro with a homestyle atmosphere. The comfort cafe has been on my list since the beginning of the year, but my interest to visit has been delayed since there are some negative comments regarding the service. However, Lily Mae's was still my first choice when looking for a cute breakfast date with a friend. My friend actually suggested going to Cafe Medina's new location for an Instagram worthy photo, but I gave her a dirty look because she agrees that the food is only average.

When I walked in to meet my friend, our server provided us with menus within minutes. I was a bit sad she did not say hello to me or one word in fact, considering the restaurant appears to be a family operated business. In addition, as she poured water in our drinking glasses, I could not help but notice the red pigment at the bottom of the jug inside. She also spilled some water on the table which was left alone, so my first thoughts were that the little things are overlooked here.

My friend mentioned she was greeted and offered any table in the restaurant upon arriving however, and the server was friendly throughout our breakfast.

Every table is set up with white cloth napkins, cutlery, water glasses and a mini vase. We seated near the window and of course me being OCD, took a look at the window sill and was very pleased to not see one speck of dust! Doing the "finger swipe" is actually more accurate… lol. Dining at "historic" or old places are not really my thing, but I certainly do not mind clean restaurants such as Lily Mae's. I could not help but think back to how the The Pie Shoppe looked too, which I visited the day before here. Both restaurants have a homey atmosphere but one looks clean.

Le Crocodile : Lunch

Dinner post on Le Crocodile [HERE]

After failing for two weeks trying to meet a friend who recently got engaged, we finally agreed to jungle some meetings around and set up a date for lunch on a Friday. She let me choose the restaurant after I rejected more than ten from her… and my choice was Franchesco's. But at the last minute, I really craved for Le Crocodile's pear tart! Plus, both of us have been here for dinner on separate occasions and agreed the food along with the service was great.

Walking in, we were asked if we had reservations despite the not very busy restaurant. Two of the staff spoke amongst each other "no reservations" and we were seated by the corner after a few minutes, but not turned down. In general, I never understand why some restaurants try to appear more busier than they are. Guests are spending a good amount of time and can clearly see how busy the restaurant will be. However, Le Crocodile is busier during dinner and I do recommend reservations for then.

Le Crocodile is a simple, classic, white linen tablecloth restaurant and the atmosphere is casual as well as relaxing. There are plenty of tables and the dining room is spacious, no tight seating arrangements here. I never realized how big the restaurant was until this visit too.

Le Crocodile

LUNCH POST ON LE CROCODILE [HERE]

Le Crocodile, a fine dining restaurant with professional service and a relaxing atmosphere. Walking in, the manager greeted and lead us to our seat. We were presented with the champaign as well as wine menu, and our server Kris came shortly with the dinner menu. I would hate to give the wrong guy credit and hope our server was indeed Kris, since that was the name written on the bill (I never mention names but meh, why not this time?).

The restaurant looks a bit small but is fairly large; not too cramped and has properly maximized seating arrangements. In addition, the lighting is not too dim and every table has a small lamp or a tea light candle. On a weeknight, the restaurant was quite loud and had a mixed clientele, from young couples dressed very formal celebrating a special occasion or on a romantic date, to those having dinner after work, and casuals wearing a polo and jeans.

Old Surrey Restaurant

I heard about Old Surrey Restaurant from my friend around a month ago. Apparently the restaurant used to be an actual house and they farm their own animals.

If BF and I came from Cambie just for this restaurant (fine, and for OpenTable points) and you live in Surrey, you should definitely try this place.

There are different rooms to be seated in,

we got the library.

Old Surrey has a Chateaubriand Special from July 2nd to August 31st, and I really recommend this. We did not get it and pretty much spent an extra $45.00 getting almost the same thing. The special comes with prawns provencale, caesar salad, chateaubriand bouqetiere (beef tenderloin) and cherries jubilee for $47.50/person.

THE COMPLIMENTARY BREAD, BUTTER, MEATBALLS, SHRIMP BISQUE, SCALLOPS, CAESAR SALAD, FILET MIGNON, SEASON FRUITS, AND ESPRESSO CREME BRULEE.

To start, COMPLIMENTARY MEATBALLS. The meatballs taste average and are a tiny bit dry. They look really saucy but the sauce is very light which I prefer.

Following the meatballs, the COMPLIMENTARY BREAD AND BUTTER. The bread is a soft baguette that is served warm, which I did not expect (since they do not serve warm bread in France). The butter is whipped which I love! I usually only finish bread if I get whipped butter and I was worried it would ruin my appetite.

The first appetizer is the SOUP OF THE DAY, SHRIMP BISQUE ($9.00). They forgot the prawn so it is given to us on a spoon. The bisque has a very strong shrimp taste and is flavourful. I did not really enjoy because it is too shrimpy for me.

The second appetizer is the FRESH VANCOUVER ISLAND QUALICUM BAY SCALLOPS, SAMBUCA AND SHALLOTS, FINISHED HOLLANDAISE AND PARMESAN CHEESE ($14.00). The scallops are fresh and moist with a very generous amount of parmesan cheese. The hollandaise is very light which I prefer.

The third appetizer is the CAESAR SALAD, ROMAINE LETTUCE, GRATED EMMENTAL AND PARMESAN, FRESHLY PREPARED AT YOUR TABLE FOR TWO OR MORE ($13.00). BF is uncomfortable when someone makes sauce in front of him and, I had to beg him to suck it up and get this. The dressing is made from scratch with garlic, egg, anchovy paste and olive oil. 

The portion of parmesan cheese is pretty generous too, about a whole cup. 

The caesar salad is really good and I recommend it. I usually do not get caesar salads and I only wanted it this time since they make it in front of you. This is one of the best caesars I ever had (I am most likely bias because I like homemade food more and I was able to see the actual ingredients used). The romaine is fresh, the dressing is fresh, and the parmesan is freshly grated (not the Kraft Tex Mex kind lol). The croutons are most likely healthier since they become soggy after a few minutes, so no preservatives are added.

The entree is the CHATEAUBRIAND BOUQUETIERE, FILET MIGNON WITH A BURGUNDY SAUCE, CARVED AND FLAMED AT YOUR TABLE FOR TWO OR MORE ($37.50). The filet mignon is sliced and heated up.

He sets it on fire by pouring remy vsop.

He then puts the slices of meat on our plates,

and pours gravy on the flame.

Then he heats our plates on the stove, and mixes the alcohol, meat juices and gravy for au jus.

The filet mignon comes with potato croquettes, half a tomato, mushrooms, red peppers and carrots. To be honest, if this was the tenderloin I could not tell. The filet mignon is really chewy and tough. When I tried BFs, his was less chewy. What? It is from the same piece! I guess somehow my pieces were overcooked? Anyways, I did not really like the potato croquette but the rest of the sides are good. I did not enjoy the filet mignon and honestly think the tenderloin would have been better since it is the special. Other then that, it does not taste like filet mignon since it is so chewy.

My dessert is the SEASONAL FRUIT WITH WHIPPED CREAM AND ICE CREAM ($7.00). The dessert comes with a liquor but I passed. I love the whipped cream because it tastes so fresh! The strawberries are ridiculously sour though.

His dessert is the ESPRESSO CREME BRULEE ($7.00). The creme brulee has a nice caramelized hard brittle top and the espresso taste is very strong. This is a must order for espresso fans.

I recommend at least coming here once for the chateaubriand and restaurant experience. I do think the experience itself is a lot better than the food. I definitely recommend the tenderloin over the filet mignon since I was a bit disappointed. I was expecting the filet mignon to be so tender that I could just use my fork, but it was so tough that I struggled to cut it. If you come, get the special, it is a lot more worth it than our dinner. We could have saved $45.00 and had a better meal with the special.

Other then the food, I really enjoy the restaurant experience. I like the different rooms and how the salad and chateaubriand is made in front of you. We came on a Friday evening around 8:30pm and left I think around 10:45pm? The food takes longer than usual, so you have time to relax and talk. I came here for something different, and I really recommend it too.

Food: 3.5

Service: 4/5