Chickpea Restaurant — Restaurant in Vancouver

There are many reasons for chosen a vegan restaurants. Ours was one of health and allergies. We are trying to eat healthy, and the right vegan restaurant can deliver a satisfying meal while allowing us to walk away without digestion discomfort. The Chickpea menu was confusing to begin with, it took us a while to understand how to choose something. I saw pictures of the crispy breaded tofu online and really wanted to order that. But I found out this particular option incorporates garlic. I also saw a platter delivered that looked attractive, but then I came to my senses – we came here because we wanted to eat healthy – and the platter I saw looked piled high with deep fried food! So, at the last minute, I chose what I am supposed to eat, salad with some sort of protein (yes, boring, I know). To go with the salad, I had to choose a Main, but there were only four items of Main without garlic, since I didn't want butternut squash, or eggplant, and some other vegetable, I was left of Calamachick, which thankfully, has a gluten-free batter. My better half chose poached egg on home fries with avocado. My salad bowl was quite huge. The oyster mushrooms were not chewy. To my surprise, I was able to finish the bowl of salad and only left one calamachick – and I didn't feel the bloated fullness that I would normally feel when eating non-vegan food. So, we ordered their secret recipe carrot cake with whipped coconut cream to celebrate. The vegan poached egg was quite amazing. It looked and tasted like a real poached egg with runny yolk. Their menu is extremely creative and full of items I'd like to discover, and much more interesting that another vegan restaurant north of them. Needly to say, WVE WVILL BE BACK and we came back for Sunday brunch, I thought I'd order the salad again, but with roasted cauliflower. They must have a different chef, this time the salad bowl was packed full of tomatoes (and I'm supposed to avoid tomates). Also, the cauliflower must be cooked with garlic as I had to go for coffee afterwards. But I did get to try the vegan poached egg which was very interesting. As much as this is my favourite restaurant at the moment, there are so many menu items that are deep fried. If we are really serious about eating healthy, we wouldn't be able to come very often because all of the items that attract me...

I never thought I would write a bad review for such an interesting and unique restaurant, but here we are.

On June 5th, my party of nine visited the restaurant. The decor was welcoming, and I was greeted by a nice hostess who seated us in a cozy corner surrounded by an abundance of plush pillows, which I loved. It created an inviting and comfortable atmosphere. Unfortunately, our experience quickly went downhill from there.

Our waiter was borderline rude and very short with all of us, especially my sister. He began by asking who wanted to order drinks and then, oddly, counted the party at the table out loud. One of my friends ordered a drink and was asked for two pieces of photo ID, which is highly unusual as restaurants typically require just one. It felt like the waiter was intentionally trying to give everyone a bad vibe. Only two of us ordered drinks, and the waiter responded by giving us the dirtiest look I have ever seen, perhaps because not enough people at the table ordered drinks.

When the food arrived, the waiter's finger was touching the side of the dishes as he set them on the table. This was unhygienic and off-putting. He also left without providing us with any utensils. My sister, trying to be helpful, grabbed some napkins and utensils from a nearby station. The waiter saw this and sternly told her, "DON'T touch ANYTHING HERE, you ARE SPREADING GERMS!!!" This harsh reprimand really dampened our spirits.

Throughout our meal, the waiter never returned to check on us or see if we needed anything. Perhaps the automatic 18% gratuity on the bill made him feel he didn’t need to provide any further service, despite the restaurant not being busy. This lack of attention and care was disappointing.

By the end of the meal, we were all feeling deflated. We had entered the restaurant with high spirits, eager for a pleasant dining experience, but we left feeling unhappy and disappointed. The combination of rude service, unsanitary handling of food, and the overall negative vibe overshadowed the restaurant's unique charm.

If you’re looking for good food with a "Karen’s Vibe," this is the place for you. However, based on our experience, I cannot recommend it. A restaurant with such potential should ensure that its service matches its ambiance, but sadly, this was...

Chickpea came in highly recommended from colleagues and we as a group of 4 were very excited to try it.

The workings of the service staff here are quite deceitful however since they’re trying to extract as much of a tip as possible while feigning ignorance about any additional charges and doing the absolute least to be of any service.

After paying and realising that we might have overpaid, we checked the bill properly and noticed there was an auto gratuity of 18% (usually for groups of 6 and more). In addition to not informing us about the gratuity, we were also presented with the tipping options from 15% onwards (which we paid). After reviewing the bill we asked them to revert the additional 18% but they refused and said that they wouldn’t return tips.

This whole underhand scheme they’re running ruined our night and left a real bad taste in our mouth. Besides this they absolutely refused to accommodate any replacements or substitutions for our friend who has a nut allergy leaving him with just 1 option - a dry mushroom burger.

For all of their portrayal as variety friendly and an “inclusive” establishment they couldn’t even make one exception. (its clearly all about the perceived image than the actual one). The chich’n shawarma was brunt and also dry. The food was overpriced (the bill below is split in half for 4) and was very underwhelming.

Meanwhile we’ve written to the chick pea manager regarding the double tip charge but haven’t still heard back. Service or food being below average is one thing but straight up swindling the customers is just 😢

p.s : the restaurant responded saying this is “uncharacteristic” of them but we actually got the idea to check the bill as we overheard the table of 4 next to us also arguing over this very exact issue that evening. Same issue back-to-back? Seems more like regular...