Ancora Waterfront Dining and Patio — Restaurant in Vancouver

We had a friend who loves food come in from out of town craving seafood and it was a Monday night (so maybe not the A team for context). We had come here previously (pre-covid) and had found the food really creatively unique and good, if a bit expensive, but our last experience was still really good so we decided to come here.

The food was still good; the rolls were tidy and well balanced with sauces, nigiri super fresh, mains were really solid conceptually, and desserts were creative. The dining room is still the same beautiful place it was before.

However, the service really did ruin the whole experience (not something I usually complain about). We asked the waiter for some recommendations on both food and drink and it was clear he didn't know, choosing only the most expensive options the menu had. My friend and I were craving some sake and asked what would pair with the items we ordered, he pointed at the two most expensive options once again without explaining why. This prompted us to choose another option which turned out to be simply a $50 yuzu/sake cooler which we did not even get a chance to look at as he opened the bottle and poured it out before we had a chance to send it back. My friend who works in the alcohol industry did not finish her drink, and the next time he came by he just dumped the rest of the bottle into our glasses, nearly filling it up to the top.

Cutlery was one step above being thrown onto the table, and despite the dining room being nearly empty he pressured us to order at every turn, telling us multiple times to "pre-order" our mains as it would take the kitchen 30 mins for the mains to come out. After we ordered the mains, we decided to order a couple of nigiris to bridge the time gap but couldn't get the attention of the waiter and after we finally ordered the nigiris (from the bus boy) the mains came out right after (after

I didn't want to give a 4 so this is more a 3.5 review.

Originally we were excited to try their cocktail hour but for a lot of reasons we arrived later than expected and in the door at 5:25. As we walked in I immediately asked if we could squeeze an order in for happy hour. She said no it was too late. We then got seated and as I was looking at drinks I was looking for a drink that I saw on the menu on the website. Of course, it happened to be only available on the happy hour menu (I was used to other restaurants having all drinks available, just cheaper during happy hour but she explained that they were only on the menu so they can test them out and I understood). She asked the bartender anyway if I could still have it but the whole thing gave me a sour first impression because we could have ordered a drink during happy hour, she just didn't want us to. It's not a big deal...the $2.50 saved, but more the fact that they have a time set but it's actually more like 4:30-5:15.

The food though was excellent. We had the Mixto ceviche, lobster and shrimp risotto, Nori crusted tuna and the duck. All had very thought out flavours and I loved the Peruvian-Japanese spin on each dish. I had recently been to Peru so it was a nice culinary reminder and representation of my food experience there.

As for the service, it was ok. We were put at a table that unfortunately was at an odd spot for the sun so one of us was getting blinded and we couldn't rearrange ourselves easily to get out of it. It also got pretty loud because a large party was there. I think I would have appreciated being asked where we wanted to sit when we came in. We also felt rushed to order when we had just sat down.

All in all, the food absolutely lived up to the fine dining experience, but the service did not. Something as simple as acknowledging a birthday, asking if we had a preference of where we wanted to sit, allowing us to order during what was still definitely before their advertised happy hour ended, being aware that we were still looking through the menu before asking a few times if we were ready, would have been small things to elevate our...

Disappointed. We are from the area and heard great things about Ancora. Went for a BDay dinner with a plan for cocktail hour drink and oysters and then to move off the patio indoors for a wonderful Bday meal. Ordered drinks, we asked for a cucumber smash as it wasn't on their cocktail list. Described the ingredients but received a standard vodka and soda with cucumber in it. Had to ask for additional ingred. to spruce it up. The Caesar was uninspiring as well. At no point were we handed a cocktail hour menu nor told of the special even though it was that time of day. Ordered our oysters which were a good quality and a great ponzu type sauce to accompany. Our server was nice but completely out to lunch on service etiquette perhaps new to the industry. We had long waits between server visits as they were more interested in setting tables at 5:30pm. We saw plates delivered to the next table which had a wonderful presentation which we assumed to be appies but when we found it was the $45 main we started to question was this the right place for us? We informed the server we would not be staying for dinner. Our bill came to find the oysters at the regular price and a $18 vodka and soda with cucumber. The server had comped the drink but we thought wow $18 for a hi-ball. Luckily we caught the oyster mistake hence another $18 correction. I have no doubt the food is good here and portions may be standard for fine dining establishments and recognized chefs however the service and bar did not match the price tag. Additionally the cocktail hour isn't that aspiring if you are focused on a good happy hour. Three stars because we were disappointed but do believe some aspects of this establishment are good. Of course great location...