Cardero's Restaurant — Restaurant in Vancouver

Judging by their booking system, getting into Cardero's is harder than Fort Knox. It's often fully booked in peak season. Anyway, we miraculously managed to make a reservation, and here we are now.

The restaurant is a pseudo-pier, appearing to hover over the harbour with the yachts all around. It's a wonderful location. The restaurant itself is very large, with a high number of tables both inside and outside. The kitchen is open to view and full of action. My only issue was being seated so close to the doors through which there was a continuous stream of people all night long. I suppose this is more our fault for not raising this with the waiter though.

But actually it isn't though is it. No restaurant should contemplate putting customers in such a quandary. This is symptomatic of a restaurant trying to ram in customers for money. This is the only symptom of this money-grabbing trammel though, so I'll let it slide.

Now the waiter - he was a lovely Canadian man. Well-aged and wise, he knew how to get the job done as smoothly as possible, with no superfluous, pretentious nonsense which I have become accustomed to in North American service. This style is sadly very much that of a bygone era.

I could say the same about the aesthetic of the menu actually, but not in a good way. The menu's style is antiquated, and lacks any energy. The integrated wine-list, though I am a man of efficiency, isn't the play here. This is unusual, and diverts interest away from the food itself. I also don't like seeing $1000 bottles of wine on the menu. This is ridiculous. Imagine you mix up your Châteaus and order the Château Margaux by accident. Oops. This would be a costly error. Perhaps they could put a red warning sign above this apparent delicacy. I was also delighted to see the apparent Canadian delicacy of charred vegetables on the menu. I personally don't have an interest in burnt food, but I won't hold it against them. 'Cast Iron Mushrooms' also made an appearance. Thankfully these haven't crossed the Atlantic yet either.

I only had one issue with the service actually. This came at the very end (they were doing so well). A silly waiter dropped a tray of cutlery. This is not good enough. This breaks any illusion of professionalism instantly. Don't drop cutlery.

This occured while I was trying to peacefully digest my sablefish. This sablefish was my first, and I am very grateful to Cardero's to introducing me to them. It was great. Full of omega-3 fatty acids and mono-unsaturated fat, this was a wise choice by the chef. The focaccia we had to start was superb. Olives were de-stoned and juicy as well - top marks for the food quality. It's a real gutting that the same can't be said for the quantity. I felt like a sablefish the amount of food I consumed that evening. The average weight of a sablefish is around 20kg (that's 44 lbs for you backward folk), so I consumed no more than I would expect of a very small child. I was only granted two anaemic carrots as well. There was also broccoli, but there's little to be said here about such a unidimensional vegetable. I then ordered the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake. Tragically, this was far more peanut butter than chocolate though. The slice was also massive. There was enough peanut butter on that plate to send everyone at Cardero's with a peanut allergy into anaphylactic shock. Thankfully this didn't happen.

I suppose this means that Cardero's is my second favourite restaurant in Canada then. This seems like an overachievement to me, but it was still a strong restaurant in nearly all areas. The waiter played a big role. Good food at reasonable prices (on the most part, that said if you order the wrong wine you're finished), is what this restaurant works with. Super service is what makes...

We were in Vancouver for a couple of days. Wanted to get to a couple of restaurants that focused on seafood. We had walked by Cardero's on the way to Stanley Park and thought it looked promising. It's right on the water. It has an authentic and casual feel to it. The concierge at the hotel also recommended it.

We were late in getting a reservation (for 5) in, but they were able to squeeze us into to their busy dining room. It's larger inside than it looks. There are several dining areas. With a heated patio space outside. They have a large bar, and this evening there was a guitar/vocalist who was doing a nice job with songs from 70s/80s. The place was full and VERY loud.

Got to our table, and the server set us up with waters, menus and a description of the specials. Couple of the group wanted to taste some of the beers, so that was no problem. While we were waited they brought a couple bowls of hummus with some fresh pita. That was a nice touch and took the edge off of our hunger.

We ordered Brussel Sprouts for the table, and several different entrees including the Crab Crusted Cod, and Red Curry Prawns. We eat a lot of Brussel Sprouts, and this was NOT a good order. It was way too salty (all 6 of us agreed), and we mentioned that to the server. After a few minutes they brought another order, and that to was better, but had so lemon that it made your lips pucker! Very disappointing.

The rest of the entrees were very good. The Crusted Cod was hot, flavorful, and was a good portion. The vegetable side of broccoli and carrots were tender, but not over-cooked. The Prawns were good as well, and the curry broth not overpowering. Some of the other entrees including salmon, chicken. Everyone seemed to enjoy their selections.

The evening was a mixed bag. The restaurant is nicely designed, but too noisy for a normal (volume) conversation. The server the entire evening was very good. The food was good with the exception of the...

We were lucky to get a seat with a panoramic view of the bay- an appetite booster. The BBQ ribs were tenderized to perfection. 🫶🏻 The 16 oz Bone-in Steak was a good portion to share and they split it right ahead for us.

Ali, our server and Nick attended to us with warmth. There was just a slight and hilarious mistake. I ordered a Prosecco. When it arrived, I was surprised it was clear as water. But had this inner conversation that it might be a “ new “ type of wine and eager to try it. My palette was ready to take that punch of Sparkling wine, only to taste a carbonated water. I had to sip 3x just to make sure it’s soda 😂 I think hailed a server which she approached me saying “ THAT IS NOT A PROSECCO AT ALL “ My friend and I just laughed. I mean. I mean, how can a Bartender make that mistake? Probably isn’t sober enough for his/her shift or might perhaps, had his moment. I get that they are both “ Sparkling “ but in a flute? 🤣 That took me out. I said, i’m ok without it. The server came back and said it’s on the house. I’m grateful. That was a hilarious encounter.

As for the host, the first impression of the restaurant. He greeted us “ Hi, How are you? “ with his face glued in the iPad, didn’t even bother to look at us. Thought it was only with us, we waited at the entrance for 10 minutes. And he was welcoming the guest with a flat tone, and looking at the floor/iPad. Not a single smile or enthusiasm. He might be good at hosting, but his attitude is definitely not for HOSPITALITY industry. Perhaps, he might be having an overwhelming day. But when he is at work, it’s a different story. He is the first one the guest can see. It left an impression with us. If not only for the food that we wanted to try, we would’ve walked away in restaurant that’ll make us feel welcome. I hope you will address this as I see that I’m not the only person, concerned about it.

It’s understandable how the place and workload can be overwhelming given the traffic of...