Burdock & Co — Restaurant in Vancouver

June 24, 2024. We decided to try our luck as walk ins for my wife’s birthday dinner. We had put our name on the waitlist but no email came back. To our surprise they had room at the bar and half way through service the restaurant was fairly empty. We ordered the Berry Moon tasting menu with classic wine pairing each. We added sourdough bread and caviar to the cabbage and halibut plate. The food was delicious and the wines paired well. It was awesome to see the chefs at work from the bar. My one complaint is that the barstools were uncomfortable. One would expect more comfortable seats at this premium restaurant.

Next time I would go back to the table seats.

The service and atmosphere was great.

My previous review below.

The Mrs and I decided to celebrate my birthday at Burdock and Co.. Today was the last day of the Citrus menu as they apparently prepared a 10th Anniversary menu. The restaurant received a Michelin star. Our server told us with a menu that changes regularly and different Michelin reviewers they couldn’t say what dish earned them that rating. I have to say the service was excellent and everyone seemed friendly and attentive. The food was very good overall. The chef was creative. Each dish was well plated and the flavours from each ingredient had a purpose and paired well with each other. My wife was full but I have to say I can imagine a lot of people would require larger portions. The atmosphere was great. The restaurant is small but we could hold a conversation easily. My one complaint is that the pace of service felt a little rushed. My wife and I barely finished the wine pairings before the next course. Tonight was not a busy night yet they felt the food had to come out sooner. Would we come back again? Yes Would we recommend here? 100% Is it affordable? No. Is it worth it? It is worth a try. You could just order the tasting menu and share a bottle of wine or avoid the alcohol all together and enjoy the food! I love the concept here and look forward to seeing what the next tasting...

It's taken me a really long time to write this review, as I've never had such a horrible dining experience. A friend brought here as a surprise not long after they received their Michelin star, so we obviously expected to be wowed. It was a Monday night 7:30 seating, the place was about 1/3 full. We were seated at the bar overlooking the kitchen which is usually our favourite spot. Unfortunately the stools there are TINY and not conducive to dining, not to mention the cold draft coming from the back hallway. But that aside....we were invited to order a cocktail beforehand, and since we were going to do the tasting menu with wine pairings, I asked for a vodka martini. Nope, they don't have vodka. They only carry booze for the 5 cocktails on the menu, two of which they were sold out of (already, on a Monday at 7:30pm) which left very little to choose from. Whatever! I let it go. Our first of 5 courses was a bread basket, which was a little surprising, but not uncommon from what I'm seeing in high end restaurants these days, though easier to accept if you have 7 or 10 course, vs the 5 we were having.

The second, third and fourth courses - in the theme “Under A Drying Rice Moon" were highly disappointing. A puree of cauliflower (meh) over an unsavoury congee (terribly sour), a sliver of shaved scallop (paper thin) atop a tasteless radish cake, followed by a dry, tough piece of duck breast. Our server (also the hostess) was lovely, and talked up the wine pairings well, with backstories for most of the wines. She never once asked about the food. When the dessert came - an apple tart - I thought for sure we'd end on a sweet note, but alas, no. Not an ounce of flavour. The entire experience was shockingly bad. I'm a seasoned patron, having dined in and worked at high end restaurants. This was beyond the pale. I'd like to think it was an off night, but I will most likely never find out as I do not plan to return. Over $500 for this dining experience is...

Came here for my moms birthday to celebrate and try their tasting menu, which is $79 pp.

The ambiance has an underground New York vibe and although the price isn’t cheap, the vibe is relatively casual. It was a relaxing vibe that I really liked. I also talked with the host and m the chef who creates the menu has a strong Japanese and Nordic influence, which may give some insight to their menu.

The portions were small, but everything was generally good. The bread was a strong start, habing cornbread, sour dough and milk buns - all of which paired perfectly with the aged saku kasu butter. Other things worth noting was the Rollins cod, which was cooked perfection. I also thought the tart was a great way to end the tasting as it was less rich, good level of sweet and left you content. I will say all the dishes were very flavourful, having ingredients I’ve never heard of, which is always nice to have. They made a good call with the portion size of the dish because it was such a rich flavoured tasting menu. With that being said, it’s not a place to come when starving because you’ll probably have to snack at home after!

The servers did a great job of explaining the food, however, my big complaint was the pacing of the food. There would be times where we were waiting for 15-20 minutes for the next dish to arrive and I feel that takes away from the tasting experience when you just feel like the momentum has stopped. What could’ve been a 1.5 hr eating experience turned into an at least 2 hour experience because we were waiting for the next dish. That ruined it a bit for me, but I may just be picky as well.

After we left, I wouldn’t say I’d return. However, if pacing of food was better, I think it’d be more worth the...