Fable Kitchen — Restaurant in Vancouver

We were extremely disappointed with the overall quality of food at Fable Kitchen. We tried two dishes: the Traditional Eggs Benny and the Smash Burger. While the hollandaise sauce on the Benny was good, the potatoes served with it were dry, over-salted, and not enjoyable. The Smash Burger, unfortunately, was a letdown as well. It was served pink, and the ground beef lacked any seasoning, making it extremely bland and tasteless.

The timing of our visit also contributed to a less-than-pleasant experience. Our reservation was at 1:45pm, but we arrived a few minutes late, and I received a call from the restaurant asking where we were. To make matters worse, the kitchen closed at 2pm, which made the entire experience feel rushed and less enjoyable.

On top of that, we were seated next to a frame that fell off the wall and almost hit me, which honestly felt like a sign that we maybe shouldn’t have eaten there in the first place. Overall, I expected more in terms of both food quality and service. Based on this visit, we won’t be returning for lunch or brunch anytime soon.

The owner responded partially to my concerns on Open Table, but I never received a follow-up after indicating that they would look into the incident. The individual did apologize for the food not meeting standards and for the rushed lunch service. However, the other questions I raised, particularly about the frame falling off the wall and causing a loud crash that startled other diners, seemed to go unanswered.

Fable Kitchen’s response about the frame incident: “How did the frame fall off the wall? Things on the wall don't just fall! I'll find out where you were sitting. I'm sorry for this bizarre experience.”

My response to their question: I told the owner that maybe they should ask the server that day or the person who hung the frame to begin with. I never heard back from them after saying they would look into the incident. Personally, I don’t believe the entire situation was handled appropriately from the get-go. Why did the server not tell the owner the frame fell to begin with and it just came to his/her attention only after I complained? Our server even mentioned I was lucky that I wasn’t struck by it when it fell.

I’m not certain that the owner fully understood the impact it had on our actual visit by their response, which kind of added insult to injury. The one thing we agreed on was that our entire lunch experience was indeed “bizarre.”

I attempted to follow up with Fable Kitchen on multiple occasions and provided the restaurant with plenty of opportunities to respond to this matter, but I have yet to receive an...

I booked Fable Kitchen for my partner's birthday and was really excited to try a new place as we usually frequent our favourites over and over. I was really hopeful that we'd end up with a new gem after eating here, and at the very least have a great birthday dinner experience, however, this was not the case. I will start by saying that the atmosphere was fantastic. We went during a regular week night and it was pretty quiet and empty. The lights were low and there were lots of candles lit on all the tables- a great start. The food was okay, but the service was not.

When I booked online, the restaurant's website asked if we were celebrating anything special, so I indicated that it was the other guest's birthday which the host and server both acknowledged when we arrived. We ordered the house made bread to start and got the duck breast, chicken cutlet and patatas bravas as our mains. They were a bit too salty, but we enjoyed them nonetheless.

Our waiter was generally friendly towards us until about halfway through our meal when he seemed to sour. We both noticed this, but did not discuss until we left the restaurant. He stopped checking on us and was very brief and short with us when he did. In comparison, he was very gracious and friendly towards the other tables sitting right near us which made us feel like he did not like us for some reason. We were too full to finish our meals, so he brought out a to go container for us to take the rest home. When we passed on dessert because we were too full, our waiter was extremely curt and borderline rude to us. It seemed that we had personally offended him by not ordering more. In addition, there was no effort made to celebrate the birthday other than to acknowledge it when we first walked in. I was disappointed by this especially since they made a point of asking about it when I made the reservation, and I had seen reviews people had posted with a birthday treat from the restaurant. We honestly didn't need or want more food, but it's nice when restaurants want to celebrate with you, which has always been our experience at other places. This left me wondering if our waiter just chose not to do anything because he didn't seem to like us (honestly not sure?). The first thing my partner said when we left the restaurant was that he thought the waiter hated us- not ideal for what was his birthday dinner. We honestly have no idea what happened, but were definitely disappointed and needless to say, Fable Kitchen was not added to our list of gems...

Overall, we had a lovely meal at Fable Kitchen to celebrate our anniversary. On a Tuesday evening, it was not too busy, but still a fair number of people dining. We found parking directly in front of the restaurant. There was a choice of a tasting menu in addition to the full menu. Two in our party chose the tasting menu, with wine pairing. Two ordered a la carte. Food comments: the cod was moist and the skin was perfectly crispy. The caviar garnish could have been saltier. The tomato sauce, while smooth and creamy could have used a touch more acid. The sauce for the mussels was excellent, but better quality mussels have been had elsewhere. The tuna ceviche starter was exceptional; excellent balance between sweet and sour, although the pieces could have been cut more uniformly. The contrasting texture of tortilla bowl really made the tender albacore stand out. The main dish, beef cheeks, was a generous serving. It was melt in your mouth tender, but could have had a touch more flavour. It was served at almost room temperature, and should been hotter. The beef was served on a bed of 3 corn tortillas, which broke into pieces, and was not easy to eat with the beef. The deconstructed taco concept was not super successful. The tres leche parfait was well done; not too sweet, and the hint of ime was fresh. It seemed as though the pineapple was from a can, not fresh, although one person in our party suggested they might have been poached in-house. Service: the staff were pleasant and friendly, but there were a few too many slip ups for a Michelin star restaurant: forgot to replace cutlery for the main course, and we had to ask for the cutlery after the main course was served. We also had to ask for the wine pairing for the main course, as they forgot to bring it. The server tried to remove a main course plate that was not finished… the cutlery was not placed across the plate indicating the diner was finished, and the server did not ask if the customer had finished; he had to state twice that he was not finished and to please leave the plate. The first menu item listed was bread and butter (for $7), which is in poor taste for a restaurant of this caliber. Overall, some polishing needed. Finally, I would have expected some acknowledgment of our anniversary by the staff or the kitchen in any way, so I feel home. But this would have been extra step and extra mile for...