Calabash Bistro — Restaurant in Vancouver

Visiting BC for the week and check out the Calabash restaurant as I was feeling for some Caribbean food . Here is my adventure: Although the area seems sketchy upon arrival and I asked my Uber driver about it he says it was an ok area. While accessing the entrance there were 3 male staff at the door and I had to show an ID to enter. Perhaps the staff could have welcome me to their restaurant, instead of : “I need to see your ID and giving off a bouncer feel of a night club entrance. While inside a found the restaurant quite tacky, tables were so tight that I could hear the two men conversation next to my table on the right as well as I felt they were too close in my personal space. As another couple came in and sat at a table behind the one I was seated on I could hear their conversations. I sat there for 10 mins and the bar tender approach to enquire if I needed anything so I asked for a menu and was given a card with a QR link to the menu. I ordered a ginger beer and jerk chicken which had the number 1 choice most people ordered on the Uber app. 5 mins later I received my ginger beer . One sip and that was a no for me . It was water down drink which seems like brown sugar and water absolutely no ginger then I realized it was a different type. A waitress passed by attending to the couple seated behind me and I enquired what the drink was she advised it was home made ginger beer. I asked about the D&G or Grace bottled ginger beer and in 2 mins later, there was the brown bottled ginger beer which was very cold and refreshing with my ordered jerk chicken with rice and peas. The jerk chicken portion was a leg with thigh swimming in the Caribbean Sea and rice and peas more tasting like rice and bean slush drowning in the calabash bowl. Why on earth would a restaurant add so much gravy /sauce to a meal ? It was just horrible. Their vegetable was crunchy and freshly made as I saved the small potion of vegetable salad with 2 small pieces of plantain from drowning. The bill totalled $29.75 and I used a $50 note for payments . I remained puzzled when the waitress ask if I wanted change??? When anyone makes a payment they are entitled to their change and they decide what they wish to do with their change so that was quite rude. And yes I said please and thank you for my change from my bill .i received my $20 and paid her a tip of $10 for her time in getting my ginger beer and taking my food . Suggestion to the manager . Perhaps the men at the door could say welcome and state that an ID is required. Or wait until customer get inside to ask for the ID to purchase alcoholic beverage. But as I said I am just a tourist passing through maybe the id is for other purposes to screen persons and keep some persons out. Get some of your tables out which would allow personal space and customers to breathe. Train your workers and cooks and improve on the food, courtesy as in the Caribbean workers are more trained unlike some in the...

Went there on Saturday for dinner. Had a reservation through open table app for 7:45. First impression: The place was mostly empty, after a brief miscommunication with the hostess (she couldn’t read our name on the reservation so she brought the tablet to us to identify ourselves lol), we got taken down the steps and seated at our table. Cosy atmosphere, chill-vibes, we were really hungry so got to ordering right away. I asked for the iconic red stripe (Jamaican beer), was told that they didn’t have any in stock. I opted for the rum punch. And boy was it punching! I couldn’t finish mine, I found it too strong. Not a downfall on the barman, I’m just not really a rum person. We ordered spicy beef patties and jerk pork belly for starters, and curry goat meal and oxtail dinner for mains. First impressions experience: 8/10

Patties: you get two with a choice of dip. The pastry was crisp and flaky, very light and enjoyable, the filling was plenty full, but not spicy at all. In fact I think it could’ve done with more seasoning. Overall - 8/10.

Jerk pork belly: oh lord! Sooooo goood! Good size portion for a starter (2 pieces), drenched in tropical salsa type sauce and served with 4 fried dumplings. I thought the dumplings were a little hard (the outer layer was too fried and hard), but overall good. The pork belly was well seasoned and definitely a highlight of the starters. Overall 9/10.

Curry goat: comes in an old school lunchbox style containers, accompanied by rice and peas (peas were white though), and a green leaf salad mix. The goat was well cooked, falling off the bone, juicy, tender, but also, a little mild on the seasoning. Not much curry flavour coming through. Overall 7/10.

Oxtail: generally my absolute favorite Jamaican dish, unfortunately just like the curry goat, under seasoned. Very well cooked, comes off the bone completely as it should, no issues there, but lacks the authentic flavour that would be enhanced had the seasoning been portioned into the stew properly. Overall 6/10.

Service: attentive, friendly, smiling staff, no complaints at...

First Caribbean experience! Though it wasn't perfect, but it was still memorable, and warrants a return! For our first visit, we ordered Yelper favorites.

Drinks: Dark & Stormy and Horchata Spicy and refreshing. The D&S has a nice kick to it, and the Horchata is light and creamy. I was initially taken back by the horchata's description: Guinness with almond milk, rum and agave syrup. Say whaaaat? But it was delicious! This is basically how Bailey's should taste like. Not that overly sweet and creamy crap.

Jerk chicken poutine: Poutine with jerk spices, tons of cilantro and green onions. This is an ingenious combination. It's hearty, fresh, and appetizing. Absolutely recommend.

Soup du jour: Cream of coconut mushroom soup with veggies. It was a substantial soup without being starchy and thick. Adequately spiced and hearty. But do watch out for the peppercorn and pieces of dried bay leaves - they threw in whole peppercorn kernels and it's really spicy if you eat it by accident, and I almost choked on the bay leaf because it got stuck in my throat!

Coconut dumpling: These are listed under appetizers, but they should be dessert instead! Light and creamy, and even better with the mango butter.

Goat curry: The goat meat was gamy but they still managed to make it very tender. Curry sauce was nice, and quite distinct from Asian curries. The thing that impressed me the most, however, was the side salad that came with it. Lightly seasoned to let the sweetness of the vegetables pop, and I've never had greens that are so tender! What's their secret?!

Dessert: Well our dessert was a flight of rum. I don't know anything about rum, but they didn't burn as it traveled down my throat, which I think is a good sign of quality booze! It was very smooth, sweet, and spicy.

We will be back to...