Posted by Stephen on
January 31, 2007
This past Saturday, Kelly and I headed down to “C” Restaurant in Vancouver for an evening fo Fine Dining. What we got wasn’t quite to standard. Kelly had some very strong opinions so I let her write this one…
After experiencing the culinary delights of WEST and the unmatched service of Lumiere, I had high expectations for my first visit to “C” Restaurant in Vancouver. “C” has been known as that “third place” restaurant for a few years now despite their Chef winning Chef of the Year in 2006. I was really hoping that because of that, this restaurant would start to rise above my two benchmarks:
WEST for their food and
Lumiere for their service.Making the reservation online, I encountered my first surprise. “C” made you sign a waiver agreeing that in respect for the other guests, during Dine Out Vancouver, you will limit your stay to 1.5 hours. They also made you authorize payment on your credit card in case of a no show. Realizing how busy a high end restaurant can get, I didn’t think too much of it and happily signed the waiver. I was looking forward to my feast.
We went to “C” this past Saturday evening. I even got all dressed up and was filled with very high expectations. When we arrived at the restaurant, Steve drove the car up to the Valet area. A sign reading $7.00 to park was there for “C” patrons. At WEST and Lumiere, parking is free. Last time, when we used the valet at Lumiere, the guy couldn’t even drive Steve’s car and even worse, couldn’t even figure out how to turn it back on to drive it back to us. Steve and I had to walk down to the parkade with the valet. For $7.00, this guy better know how to drive his car!
As we entered the elegant restaurant, I got my second surprise. The seating area was filled with stools that I was too short for. The stand-up stools in the waiting area were just too tall for my 5’3”. I think they’d be better off sticking to couches rather than offend us little people.
As the staff checked on our table, we were provided with a drink menu to look at while we waited. I must say it was more of a drink book than a menu: 20+pages of martinis, cocktails, sakes and wines to choose from. You know when a drink menu includes a table of contents at the beginning that they are not short on selection. Steve ordered a Ginger Sake Martini and I got the Wall Martini: both Martinis ranked among the best I have tasted.
After placing our drink orders, it was time to sit down. We were quickly whisked up to our table and were provided with the Dine-Out Vancouver Tasting Menus. Although the Dine-Out Vancouver Menus were $35 for a three course meal, they gave you two options for the Appetizer, Entrée and Desert within the $35. There was even an alternate lobster feast for $45.
The Appetizer and the Entrée had yet another two options at additional cost. For example, while Foie Gras and scallops were included as an appetizer on West’s Dine-Out Vancouver Menu, Steve had to pay an additional $14.95 to have Foie Gras as his appetizer at “C”. The Scallops were an additional $8.95, but we didn’t order those. We then paid an additional $4.95 to have the Short Ribs option with our Main Course. I think that if “C” is going to participate in Dine-Out Vancouver, they should do it whole heartedly and offer 3-4 choices for each course within the $35 set price. I really felt that the additional costs for alternate choices was really quite cheesy and “low end”.
My mood improved after they served us our water. “C” clearly has the best water! They served VOSS and they even brought lime wedges on a stone slab. A nice touch I must admit.The bread girl wasn’t as impressive as the bread boy at Lumiere. At Lumiere, the bread boy carried a remarkably large selection of breads and kept it coming. The bread lady at “C” came around maybe twice in the hour we were there and had a substantially smaller basket. To their credit, the sourdough bread was amazing, but it was a shame that it ran out after the first round. You were left with a choice of seaweed scone and a whole wheat bread tasted like normal sandwich bread. I can get that at home thanks.
Our appetizers arrived quickly and while Steve instantly fell in love with his Foie Gras, my Shaved Wild Skeena River Smoked Sockeye Salmon with the crème fraiche, fennel and crab salad with maple herbed breadcrumbs was merely alright. It left me wanting a little more flavour despite all the ingredients. It really wasn’t that impressive when you tasted it. Steve also ordered the wine pairing with his meal. At $18, it wasn’t the most expensive wine pairing, but it was severely cheapened when the pairing for the main course was served with cork floating in it. Yum…They did replace my glass quickly, and even topped it up a bit more, but still. A high end restaurant should have more pride in their wine. Cork in wine is never a good sign.
This was all quickly followed by our main courses. Steve got the Grilled AAA Beef Striploin with parmesan gold potato gratin, butter braised Swiss chard, and merlot jus. His striploin was grilled to perfection and a true medium rare: just a little blood and not overdone.
I got the Side Stripe Shrimp Risotto with preserved stoney paradise tomatoes, spinach, and double smoked bacon sauce. It was cold and a little too pasty for my liking, as if someone didn’t quite cook it long enough or tried to save time by “Pre-Cooking” it. The extra we paid to have the short ribs with Steve’s meal was also a disappointment. They came cold like the risotto.
Shortly after we finished the main courses, our desserts arrived. Steve had the custard tart while I had the macaroons. My macaroons tasted more like icing sugar than anything else. We didn’t end up finishing it. Even Steve couldn’t stomach it. His custard tart was pretty darn tasty, but not the best dessert by any stretch.So despite the efficient service, amazing martinis and added touches such as world class VOSS water with Lime Wedges served on a stone slab, the food was not all that impressive. It was not even close to West or even Lumiere quality. The servers did not go above and beyond either causing my “C” dining experience to fall far short of expectations. The service wasn’t bad, but was fairly ordinary. For a high end restaurant, ordinary is a killer.
We recently hit the Boathouse restaurant at the Westminster Quay, and even that was a cut above “C”. The service was excellent, and the food was really good. They aren’t even supposed to be up in the the high end dining category! I guess that makes Boathouse a “C” grade compared to WEST and Lumiere, giving a “D” grade to “C” in my books. Considering the price you pay to dine at “C”, it does not rate high on my value scale and I don’t think I will be giving it another chance for quite some time. The only redeeming quality at the very end of the evening was the fact that valet did manage to start Steve’s car and drive it over to us while the valet at Lumiere struggled and Steve had to drive his own car out of the parkade during that visit.
So in the end WEST is still best, Lumiere is a close second, and “C” is a very distant “C” Grade at best…
Stay tuned for more dining adventures as we hit the Irish Heather Gastro Pub in Vancouver tomorrow night.
You even said you…
That’s surprising, given how great everyone says C is. I went there last year (I think) for Dine Out and had a very good meal.
We were quite disappointed. We thought “C” would at least be top of the pack, a close third. It wasn’t anywhere close.
I do have to agree that it’s not “top of the pack”, though. It was nice, but not exceptional. I still like the Cannery better.
I love risotto but tha one looks quite bad…
I liked this sentence:
“For a high end restaurant, ordinary is a killer.”
That was one of my edits
Cool to hear someone else experiences other than Stephen’s
Definately a good review though, it sounds like it wasn’t really worth going, like the experience wasn’t up to par with the other resturants.
One day I’ll figure out how I can goto these posh resturaunts and have real food. One day..
I wouldn’t say that C is exactly “posh”. It’s more upscale than, say, a Milestone’s, but it’s not super classy either. It’s pretty casual there with its huge windows by the water and so on.
I’ve never been to “C” but I must say I’ve never heard anyone who has been there really rave about it. I wonder if they bought their way into the top restaurants list? Of course, the other note is that I’ve seen in the past that dine out vancouver isn’t always the best time to eat at the top tier places. The volume of the same two or three meals made during DineOut could concievably cause a diminishing of the quality.
Dine Out is probably the *worst* time to try out a restaurant. They’re busy, and due to time limitations, they pick dishes that are probably somewhat convenient to prepare en masse.
The wait staff is stressed and can barely keep up, and they know their tips will be sucky those nights. It’s hard work!
Having said that, I still go to Dine Out, but only to the restaurants with menus that look tempting. If I want to try the nice restaurants for the real experience, I’ll just go when it’s not Dine Out.
Next time you Dine Out take me with ya!!
Well, then let’s go with that and consider this…
Dine Out Vancouver is a Restaurant’s opportunity to capture larger business for the rest of the year like special occasions and anniversaries. For many, this will be their very first impression of a Restaurant and they will decide then and there whether or not to come back again. Can you really risk not putting your best foot forward despite the extra business?
Also, the mistakes that were made were very LOW END. Food was cold. Risotto was cold AND starchy. One of the desserts was inedible. Those are all mistakes that are inexcusable in a high end restaurant and are quite amateurish to be perfectly honest. These mistakes aren’t even forgivable in a casual dining environment. This is a restaurant with a Somelier that puts her name on the front of the drink menu. Cork in the wine? Come on!
Despite tha mass produced nature of the dishes, this wasn’t the beginning of the event. They should have had their dishes perfected by now and even more doubly so because they’ve already had experience doing so many covers of the same dish.
The experience was definitely not “High End”. If you’re going to be a high end restaurant, you should be high end all the time, not sometimes when it suits you and you’re not as busy. Sorry.
While the food may not be as high quality as it is during the rest of year, I think that the service should be no different than when you’re paying regular price. DOV is, after all, their chance to “sell” their experience to the uninitiated.
I kind of agree with all of you; if I’m really interested in a restaurant I go outside the dine out parameters…if I do go during dine out I still expect the service to be good and the food to be edible, but I don’t expect it to get the same choice or quality as outside the DOV time frame.
I found my experience at Gotham, for example, to be akin to comparing apples to oranges when it came to comparing DOV vs. non-DOV. First time I went was regular menu and I had the porterhouse…. way better than the little piece of not-as-good meat I got during DOV last year.
I have never eaten at any restauaunt quite like this one so I liked to read about your experience. Too bad it wasn’t up to par. I look forward to making enough in the near future so I can eat at places like this (moving out of the rents house is first on my list though). The water/lime thing was pretty cool though.
I’m not making a lot of money either, but it doesn’t take much to splurge at one of these places every so often. If you give up getting that new pair of jeans, you’ll have enough for dinner at a place like this (especially during a promotion like Dine Out Vancouver).
Cork in the wine would pretty well do it, my wife would not be even a bit happy with that, even if they did replace it right away.
What is Dine out Vancouver, a chance to sample restauraunts for a discount? I think the might be something like this near me but I am not exactly sure what exactly it is.
It’s a celebration of the local dining experiencs. Restaurants around Vancouver put up set menus at special prices that represent a sampling of the experience they will receive at these establishments. As you can see, some places take advantage of this time better than others.
Sorry to hear your experience wasn’t up to par. I just recently found out that an old friend, and ex-manager of the Five Sails Restaurant (AAA, 5 Diamond rating) in the Pan Pacific Hotel, is now the restaurant manager at “C”. I have contacted him and the GF and I look forward to having a nice dining experience. I’ll post my own review on my blog. With my friend ocerseeing things, and us dining on a regular menu, I hope our experience will be much better.
You shoulda just dropped in! Now you won’t get the extra special bonuses like Cork in Your Wine or Cold Food!
Coming in unannounced yields the best surprises!
I sent him a link to your review. Maybe he’ll invite you back for another try
Or he’ll just send some people to pay you a visit
In house fine dining experience! Eeexcellent!
But I’ll release the hounds just in case
I’m hungry again, wanna go eat?
If I’m still standing, I’ll give you a shout after my work out.
What is this “work out” you speak of . . . and who is this “gym” person?
*overseeing. I hate typing!
Anyone know where I can buy the VOSS brand water in Vancouver outside of the fancy restaurants??
I’ve never seen it sold on a shelf at any store. The only place I’ve ever had it in Vancouver is at C. I’ve only had it in Las Vegas till now.
I’ve had it at Zin’s on Robson as well. May be only available to upscale restaurants.
For a true comparison I think you should visit C, West and Lumiere for “Dine Out Vancouver” next year. Now that would be interested in that review to read. Without that comparison I feel like your points might be moot while verging on irresponsible. That said I don’t agree with the up sells.
Thanks for the comment. Although I didn’t write the review, I was there, and that’s what happened, and it was a bit disappointing. Since the writing of this review 2007), C Restaurant fell to 4th place in Vancouver Magazine’s Restaurant Awards this year, with West on top, Lumiere second, and Blue Water third.
At the Big Night Vancouver Event, C Restaurant, West, and Lumiere were there and Kelly and myself had the opportunity to try all three restaurants all at the same time. The conclusion? West is still best, Lumiere is catching up again with their new kitchen leadership, and C, well, C minus was the grade. There were other restaurants there that had better food like Araxi from Whistler (great Ravioli).
In light of the evidence, and unless something changes drastically at C, I stand by my opinion. Maybe we’ll give them a try again this Summer and find out if a year makes a difference.
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