Alouette Bistro — Restaurant in Vancouver

I really wanted to like Aloutte and given all the solid reviews during their soft launch I thought this could become a regular spot since I have an office nearby and I frequented the Copper Chimney that was the predecessor to Aloutte in this location.

TL;DR - Overly ambitious for a new restaurant, pricing out of line for quality of service, good dishes that needs a bit more practice. Can't recommend given other french bistro's very close by with better food and more seamless service.

Given the location downtown, I would be very cautious to have business meals here given the experience.

Service: On this occasion, wife and I were celebrating our 20th Anniversary. Restaurant was packed and lively which I thought was a great sign. We were seated promptly upstairs and again, the restaurant was FULL. Wife commented we haven't seen a dining room this full since the start of the pandemic, tables were pre-pandemic spaced apart and there were at least two large groups in private sections.

Drinks and orders were taken promptly after we were seated but then the wait begins. Starters arrived about an hour after we placed our order. Our mains arrived 45 mins after our starters were cleared of which we had to send back one dish leaving us to share our mains otherwise one of us would be watching the other eat.

This left us to chat with nearby dinners and observe what was going on. Pretty much every dish that was sent to the upstairs dining section made its rounds to each table before landing on the right table. The waitstaff wasn't just new, it was as though they weren't even properly trained. I feared for the couple who ordered the crepes for dessert which involved a brandy flambe sur la table. The server was nervous and visibly shaking as he unsuccessfully tried to light the brandy.

One table got served their Foie Gras add-on only after all their dishes were finished. Another table only had their starters before they ran out of time with their babysitter, so they left hungry without their mains.

We didn't finish our meal until nearly 10pm. In a restaurant that can pace dishes properly matched with calm or entertaining waitstaff, a 3hr+ meal would be fine but with chaotic experience at Aloutte, it bordered on exhausting and comedic. I really feel bad for the service staff given how packed the management booked the restaurant.

The Maitre D' ended up comp'ing one of our mains and a dessert, a gracious gesture but unfortunately still left us leaving our celebratory dinner with a bad impression in the end.

Food: Starters: Lyonnaise Salad - nice start, fresh and one of the better dishes for our meal. I liked the salted walnuts with the Roquefort as a pairing with pleasantly bitter endive and radicchio.

Halibut Brandad au Gratin - A bit heavy/dense and served as a lump on a piece of bread. Flavours were good but not a traditional brandade.

Mains- Duck Cassoulet - Decent, a bit dry and seemingly missing about a 1/3 of the duck leg. Cannellini beans were nicely and the sausage was a good compliment to the dish.

Lamb Rack - Served as chops and not as an actual rack. Ordered medium rare, delivered blue-rare and sent back. Under-seasoned, nothing outstanding and honestly not worth the $49.

Dessert- Chocolate Fondant - actually a chocolate souffle or lava cake served with a delicious vanilla ice cream and hazelnut crumble. Probably the highlight of our meal and we were glad we stuck it out til the end....

The FOOD was GREAT but the SERVICE overall was a NIGHTMARE (note: 3rd person who served us for the dessert course, I believe the manager was excellent). A couple of us were discussing that it was going to be a difficult decision whether or not to go back. Initially I was planning to take my parents for my mothers birthday in January but I did not want to have 2 negative experiences (Anniversary dinner with friends this night)

Here are the foods that I ordered and/or shared:

1. Beef Tartare (4.7/5, excellent show, presentation and taste)
2. Bone Marrow (3.6/5)
3. Bouillabaise (4.7/5, taste was superb and seafood was cooked to perfection)
4. Creme Brulee (4/5)
5. Crepe Suzette (4.5/5, excellent show, presentation and taste [note: there is strong alcohol flavours in this])
6. Tropical punch (okay, 3.3 /5)

Food that my friends ordered and their opinions:

1. Lamb Rack (excellent, cooked perfectly and not gamey)
2. Fettuccine Provencal (delicious)
3. Bouillabaise (excellent)
4. Empress Club (note: good but not consistent will be discussed in service experience and picture attached to review)

Bad service experience listed from start to finish (I did not disclose other minor mishaps because it was easily fixed):

-1st waiter, Luke (it was later informed to us by the 2nd waiter that he was actually the bartender and had to leave due to personal reasons) -My friend ordered the Empress Club and it was perfect the first time (a lot of egg white foam) and the flavours were to her liking. However, the next several times it was not like the first drink she ordered and informed the waiter what was wrong (lack of egg white foam). (2 pictures attached for comparison) -When Luke was delivering our drinks, he spilled some spilled liquids from his tray and in and on my water glass, I politely informed him about it right away but he did not replace my cup. -When we placed our orders with the 2nd waiter (Paul), Luke (1st waiter/bartender) shortly came back to us and informed us that the Beef Tartare was unavailable (initially we ordered 3 appetizers to share for a party of 5..Bone Marrow, Beef Tartare and Baked Brie) but when the appetizers arrived (2nd waiter served us and Luke had left) it was actually the Baked Brie that was unavailable.

-2nd waiter, Paul -When the second waiter was delivering the plates of bread with mustard for the Bouillabaise (3 orders), he dropped the bread and mustard on the floor (picture attached). Not only did he not clean the floor for close to 10 minutes but did not check in with us if any of the mustard stained our clothing. For one of my friends sitting beside me, the mustard landed on her serviette (picture attached). I also want to note that I discovered the mustard on my jeans as I entered the lobby of my home. (pictures attached) -After we paid the bill, Paul noticed that one of my friends did not tip (the person celebrating her anniversary) and asked us somewhere along the lines of “was there something wrong with our services?” We were all dumbfounded that he asked that but then we told him what was wrong, since these were major mistakes. The majority of us gave some tips because of the food and service from the manager who was serving the Crepe Suzette.

Updated January 9, 2023 Rating star decrease from 2 to 1 star because other reviews (within the same time period as my posting) we're acknowledged while my review was disregarded and did not even...

Tried it out after seeing some great reviews on TripAdvisor. The food was good, and the space was beautiful and the lighting warm, but it felt very cramped, our table was right at the door. The music was too loud to be able to hear anyone at the table. We wanted to share a bottle of wine but didn't know which one, though we wanted to keep it low cost (there are $6000 bottles on the menu, we wanted