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. 

Coast Restaurant : Cocktail Hour

Coast is my favourite Glowbal Collection restaurant and the reason as to why will sound pretty silly. It is my favourite restaurant out of the collection because the hostesses are very well trained! Every time I pass by Coast or before entering, the hostesses always smile and say hello every single time. Every. Singe. Time. Including whenever I am only passing by and have no intention of dining at the restaurant. Yet I can never say the same for Black + Blue or Italian Kitchen, including when I have plans to dine at those restaurants! Weird right? I honestly love the hostesses at Coast.

Another reason as to why I prefer Coast is because of the atmosphere, which has a lot of potential to be more extravagant. Coast has a private dining area, lounge, seafood bar at the centre of the restaurant, heated patio seats and two floors. The dark blue tiffany seats allure me the most and I feel like it adds a feminine touch making it a great restaurant choice for a girls night out. My sister and I dropped by after work to try Coast's Cocktail Hour however, which offers a selection of food at 50% off.

Chewies Steam & Oyster Bar : Coal Harbour Location

Chewies Steam & Oyster Bar is a New Orleans inspired restaurant serving Cajun and Creole dishes such as gumbo, jambalaya and fried chicken. The first Chewies opened in Kitsilano and the second location is located at Coal Harbour in Downtown Vancouver. At the Coal Harbour location, Chewie's happy hours run from 3:00pm to 6:00pm and I believe some appetizers are 50% off and oysters are $1.00 to $2.00.

We arrived around 2:30pm and were too hungry to wait thirty minutes for a cheaper deal, but a couple of tables waited and the staff had no problems with it. The atmosphere at Chewies is fun, casual and laid back, where none of the staff looked miserable. Our server was also professional, friendly and polite, but not very attentive. A few of our dishes sat at the counter for a while before they were delivered and we constantly kept hearing "service please" from the kitchen.

But meh, he was friendly. He did not have any problems when we asked to have three courses instead of having all the dishes arrive at once because of the small table issue. As for the interior, the restaurant is fairly spacious (excluding the area with half booth seats) and Chewies has a patio too.

The Fish Shack : Happy Hour

Man… I used to complain all the time whenever I have to eat around 4:00-5:00pm because it is not the "proper" dinner time and I never know which restaurants to go to. Then some friends would mention happy hours and I am like meh, I rarely drink and the food probably sucks. But lately I have been in the mood for happy hours because I think it is a great way to see if the restaurant is worth revisiting for dinner. Well, not really because the food is different, but it is a good way for me to think like that while cutting down on costs.

So when my friend from Toronto landed in Vancouver and settled down, I decided to take her to The Fish Shack for some snacks. I wish I could say that it is because The Fish Shack is a very popular and well known restaurant in Vancouver, but it is more because of my own curiosity to try out the place LOL. The Fish Shack is a part of the Glowbal Group of restaurants and is located on Granville Street. The atmosphere is very casual and there is an enormous chalkboard with information of a variety of fish.

The Boathouse Restaurant : English Bay Location

The Boathouse Restaurant is one of Vancouver's own chains and there are seven waterfront locations (English Bay, Horseshoe Bay, Kitsilano, White Rock, Richmond, New Westminster and Port Moody). I remember coming to The Boathouse quite often with my family when I was in elementary school, but it sort of stopped when I started attending high school. Our Family liked The Keg more and Cactcus Club or Joey were the preferred choices in my teen years. Then I guess after a few mediocre visits to The Boathouse in my university years, I started disliking the restaurant chain. But recently, a friend mentioned he went on a date to The Boathouse and the food was decent so I started questioning why I disliked the chain to begin with.

Arriving for a late lunch but before Happy Hours on a Friday, we waited at the front for around five minutes and none of the staff or hostess were on site. I further peaked into the bar area and did not see any of the staff, but there was one seated table. As we continued waiting, my guest sneezed twice and super loud which echoed. I was thinking FML how embarrassing, but the hostess was still no where to be seen! So after waiting, I was pretty pissed because The Boathouse is a chain restaurant and most restaurant chains take pride in providing well above average service. Restaurants in Downtown Vancouver usually provide better than usual service to cater to the business clientele too.

So the last straw was when the telephone started ringing, the hostess was still no where to be seen and I decided to leave the restaurant. We scanned the area and Cactus Club or Milestones across the street from The Boathouse would have been a better choice and both restaurants looked fairly busy. However, I decided to give The Boathouse another chance because I made reservations through OpenTable and already had my mind set on visiting (for a few days too lol). When we re-entered the restaurant, the hostess was on the phone and greeted us when she ended her telephone call.

The hostess led us up the staircase to the dining room, dropped off the menus and walked away. As I sat at the window seat, I could not help but think that Cactus Club across the street has a full house because their service is pretty top notch.

The large dining room has spacious seating arrangements, but the interior is outdated and not the cleanest. The table was not clean and the cutlery were literally filthy. Who is the dishwasher? When our server arrived after a while, I asked if she could change my cutlery and she did not seem to understand why. Well trained staff would also ask my guest if his cutlery needed to be changed as well, but he used his white napkin and the glass of water provided to clean them. On top of that, I wanted to order a drink but as soon as I touched the drink menu, there was literally a cloud of dust. What the hell?

View from our window seat.

From looking for the unenthusiastic hostess to the poor first impression from our server, the service did not start off good. But as we started ordering and asking a few questions, our server opened up a bit to us. It was a bit awkward because when we inquired about the ingredients in the Whiskey Crab Soup, our server responded "uhh... crab". Umm okay. Our server was not rude or unfriendly at all, she just seemed a bit  lazy. It is like she knew the answers, but it took her a while to provide more useful responses. I like how she warned us the Crispy Fish Tacos are already considered a meal and going for the Ahi Tuna Tacos would be a better choice as an appetizer though when we asked for a recommendation.

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.

Tacofino White Lightning

My friend's first food truck choice was Mogu but after waiting thirty minutes, the truck never showed! We found out a few days later that Mogu stopped their services around the middle of November which explains why. So, our second choice was based on convenience when we headed to Tacofino's White Lightning Truck. Actually Tacofino was our third choice because Mr.Shawarma's food truck did not open yet.

The both of us have tried the Albacore Tuna Taco before from Tacofino's Orange Cantina Food Truck and Tacofino Commissary which we really like, but had no idea the White Lightning Truck does not offer them!  As for the selection, the food truck offers a couple of tacos, a variety of burritos, and a chocolate diablo cookie. The prices range from $5.00-$11.00 with the higher items being burritos.

The Fish Counter

Located on Main Street in Vancouver is a business that focuses on sustainable seafood, The Fish Counter. The shop has a fish market along with a kitchen that offers fresh and made to order food, and C'est la vie a Maggi and I came for the food. When we walked up to the front doors, we did not know which door to go through and chose the one that leads to the restaurant side. As we entered, there were open cupboards blocking the entrance and a cashier staring at us without saying a word, so I felt guilty because I thought we walked through the wrong door.

Fortunately, Maggi confirmed if we could enter and the cashier responded with a "yes" before walking to close the cupboards, so I did not feel bad. After looking around, we noticed the menu posted on the wall and proceeded to the cashier.

The atmosphere was a bit awkward and not inviting because the cashier was not friendly, but we did not mind since The Fish Counter can be considered a fast food joint. As for the interior, it looks fairly nice and the shop is well ventilated. The fish market side of the shop does not have an overwhelming smell too.

The menu is posted on the unfinished wooden walls and looks very playful. There are cute ocean creatures and an easy to read but playful font. As for the selection of food, The Fish Counter offers fish n' chips, sandwiches, tacos, soup and one kind of salad. We arrived during a slow period so the seating arrangements were not an issue, but the seats are quite limited. There is only one table and a bar, along with a couple of benches.

Rodney's Oyster House Gastown : Low Tide

The last time I came to Rodney's Oyster House was most likely back in high school and a second location has opened since then, in Gastown. An out of town guest actually reminded me to revisit the restaurant after many years, but our schedules did not match so I went without him! BF and I arrived during happy hours, which Rodney's calls "Low Tide" and people can order off the dinner menu too.

When entering the restaurant, there is a set of stairs to walk up before arriving at the bar and dining room. We waited at the front for only a couple of minutes and there was no greeting while the manager and another waiter looked for a table to seat us. I like how the staff was actually looking for a table to seat us rather than asking if we had reservations and when hearing the answer no, acting like having no reservations troubles them (which has happened at restaurants that are not even busy!).

There are two levels of dining area in the restaurant and the lower level has a few tables along with bar seats, and an open kitchen. The atmosphere at Rodney's is very upbeat, non-rushed and casual. Although maybe a bit too casual… as the manager sits on the counter by the preparation area and bar seats. As for the upper level, there are more tables and the seating arrangements are not cramped.

After settling down and looking at the menu, we waited a while for someone to take our order. At the time, there were four waiters at the front and only two seated tables in the restaurant. The service was not an issue later on though because one of the waiters stayed upstairs. He also checked up on us a couple of times and was the friendliest waiter of them all. There are quite a few negative comments regarding the service at Rodney's especially during the Low Tide, but the none of the staff was rude (although we did visit the restaurant during a slow period).

So Crab So Good Restaurant & Bar 蝦拼蟹嗆海鮮餐廳

So Crab So Good has been on BFs list for a while ever since the restaurant opened a couple of years ago. We have actually been to the restaurant when they first opened but left because it did not seem "ready" yet and looked like a casual hang out place for the owners. So sometime between then and now, we have tried Crab King at Steveston which was very disappointing (pre-cooked and cold food) which made me put off So Crab So Good for even longer! Although the restaurants are not related, I just rather visit Crab Pot in Seattle because the restaurant is a childhood memory of mine.

But lucky for BF… I decided to visit So Crab So Good because the restaurant was offering a Social Shopper voucher for $29.00 which included one side dish, dungeness crab, shrimp, clams, mussels, squid and sausage. For $29.00 you cannot go wrong! The restaurant is located in North Burnaby on the second floor of a building and resembles an apartment of sorts. If entering from the street side, there is a set of carpet stairs that have a muggy green leafy pattern.

When we arrived, a large party of eight was waiting in the front and there was literally no place to stand. On top of that, the waiting area is crowded as well as tight and there was a lack of air circulation in the restaurant making it noticeably easier to breathe in the hallways. The restaurant was not understaffed and there were plenty of available tables, but the waitresses were not efficient in clearing them which lead to a longer line up in the narrow waiting area.

After settling down at our window seat, I could not help but notice the ten to twelve dead flies at the window sill. It was actually quite disgusting and so far the restaurant did not make a good first impression, from the narrow waiting area to the inefficient staff and now the dead bugs. In addition, there were bits of leftover seafood around the floor. As for the table setting, each person receives a wooden board, fork, seafood pick, seafood cracker, napkins and gloves. A wooden mallet is available if requested (I think).

Yew Seafood & Bar

Yew Seafood & Bar is located at the Four Seasons Downtown and the restaurant has a casual relaxing atmosphere. I have been meaning to try the restaurant for a few months now and a voucher for their seafood tower which was offered through Travelzoo gave me the push I finally needed to make time.

When we arrived, the three staff members at the front were welcoming and professional. There was a small line up and the staff made sure to help everyone within minutes. Since I had a voucher for the seafood tower, I was requested to send the restaurant a print screen and accidentally sent the e-mail from my blogging account. However, I believe my experience was the true representation of the restaurant.

After seating, our server asked if the kitchen could start on the seafood tower while we looked at the menu. The restaurant has an eclectic contemporary design with a high ceiling, skylights, and a glass-enclosed wine cellar that is a also a private room at the the centre of the dining area.

Austin Fish & Chips : Coquitlam location

Deciding to forgo on C-Lover's fish n' chips (which was quite risky because we like the restaurant), we decided to try another restaurant in Coquitlam. Austin Fish & Chips is a small franchise and there are two other locations, in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadow.

Walking in, there is an easy to read and well organized take out menu, along with a few tables at the front. As for the dining area, there is a nice underwater mural painted on the wall of deep sea creatures. In addition, the seating arrangements are not cramped and there is a good amount of tables.

Austin Fish & Chips offers all you can eat pollock on Tuesdays to Thursdays, as well as Sundays. However, unlike similar competitors (C-Lovers and Cockney Kings), bottomless pop is not included. Furthermore, asides from seafood, the restaurant offers fresh fried chicken and burgers.

AYCE ADULT $12.99 CHILDREN $8.99

Sockeye City Grill

Since we were heading to Richmond because there is only one optical store that sells a certain brand of sunglasses, we decided to head down to Steveston after for a late lunch (since Langley is too far). Oh yeah, on Canada Day? Crap. I do not even like going to Steveston on a weekend! When we arrived, we decided to pass on Pajo's because the restaurant tends to be inconsistent; either good or horrible as in soggy batter and dry fish. Having said that, another option for fish n' chips was Blue Canoe.

When walking towards Blue Canoe, there was no line up and a couple of hostesses were talking about how empty the dining room was; as we stood in front of their faces for a while with no acknowledgement. Of course if they were talking about something important or a training protocol, it is fine. But come on, say "one moment" or something. Shortly after a few minutes of complaining amongst eachother the patio is more busy than the dining room, one of the hostesses greeted us with "hi" and we asked how long it would be for a patio seat.

After hearing the wait is thirty minutes, we decided to try out Sockeye City Grill. Well... it was more like the lack of acknowledgement and basic customer service skills when there was no line up. So, walking up to Sockeye City, a friendly hostess mentioned there is a half hour wait for a patio seat. During the wait, we took the time to check out some fresh seafood at Fisherman's Wharf.

Sockeye City is located right on the boardwalk in Steveston, and the restaurant is fairly large. The seating arrangements do not seem cramped inside and the restaurant has two patios. After ordering, we waited half an hour for our food and everything arrived at once.

C-Lovers Fish & Chips : Burquitlam location

With only $50.00 cash in our pockets, we decided to be adventurous and find out how much $50.00 can get us. In the Burquitlam area, there is pretty much only Chinese, Korean, Japanese, a few Vietnamese and a couple of chain restaurants. Theoretically, $50.00 is more than enough for a two item combo at a Chinese restaurant, sushi rolls if having Japanese, and a hot pot at any Korean joint. But, without having to calculate right to the dot or worrying about being short on cash considering the amount of food BF and I eat, we settled on something simple. Fish n' Chips.

In addition, not just fish n' chips, but all you can eat as well! This way, there is no need to worry about being hungry after dinner. C-Lovers is a fast food chain restaurant that serves pretty much fish n' chips and burgers. Having visited C-Lovers once before at the location in Coquitlam, I was interested in trying the one in Burquitlam. When we walked in, our waitress Stephanie mentioned we could seat ourselves anywhere. After taking a look at the menu, we decided to pay it safe, go for the AYCE and if we enjoy the meal, come back for a la carte next time.

As for the interior, the restaurant is much cleaner than the location in Coquitlam. Furthermore, the waiting area is quite spacious which makes those who grab orders to go, more comfortable. Every table is preset with utensils along with a menu, and larger tables are labelled "reserved for six or more". As for the cosmetics, the walls are painted a muggy swamp green and there are brown painted pillars, pretty much similar to the location in Coquitlam.

TODDLER ($2.99), CHILD 4-10 ($5.99), ADULT ($11.99).

C-Lovers Fish & Chips : Coquitlam location

Post on C-Lovers in Burquitlam [HERE]

Wow, look how heavy the rain is! After finishing dinner with my parents, I was craving for some fish n' chips and met up with a friend at C-Lovers Fish & Chips. C-Lovers is a fast food chain restaurant that serves made to order fish n' chips and features an all you can eat menu as well! The restaurant was fairly empty when we walked in but quite a few people came for take out. The all you can eat menu comes with unlimited fish n' chips and bottomless pop, just like Cockney Kings.

TODDLER (3 & UNDER) $2.99, CHILD (4-9) $5.99, ADULT ($11.99).

Bridges Restaurant

The fears of Groupon, SocialShopper and in this case, Travelzoo. Will the portions be smaller or have less quality? Theoretically, like specials, deals are offered to lure in new clientele. Meaning, the food should be good, if not better. What about those who claim there may be bad service due to the use of a discount voucher? Well, we will see. In general, I am not a fan of vouchers because from my past experiences, usually the restaurants are not so great… hence the need to lure in new clientele. However, I have been wanting to try Bridge's upper dining room for a while, so why not? 

Walking in, we were greeted by one of the staff who works at the gelato bar and she directed us to the stairs. After walking up, the hostess was friendly as well as welcoming, and offered to grab our coats. By the way, Bridges states to be a casual restaurant, so, so far the restaurant has pretty much some basic fine dining characteristics (which were lacking last week at West Restaurant!). 

The restaurant's interior is surprisingly not too shabby and I sort of expected a rustic place… but the restaurant has an odd Titanic atmosphere, especially towards the hallway to the washroom. Also, I appreciate that the seating arrangements are quite spacious; however, during the summer there are probably a few extra tables squeezed in.

West Restaurant + Bar

Cin Cin? Bacchus? Yew Seafood? Bishop? Blue Water? I want to save Cin Cin for an emergency just in case late night dinner since the restaurant is open till pretty late, and Yew Seafood has 50% off wine bottles on Mondays. So, the choice was West Restaurant. Plus, it is near my sister's place and I want to save Bacchus and Blue Water for a nicer day, when it is not raining. 

Walking in, the server walked us to our seat and was a bit more silent rather than welcoming but meh, not a big deal. The restaurant was fairly slow on a weeknight and for the couple of tables that arrived later on in the evening, everyone was dressed pretty casual. West Restaurant has a relaxing as well as a casual comfortable atmosphere and although the seating arrangements may look a bit tight, it did not affect us since the restaurant was not busy.