Le Crocodile by Rob Feenie — Restaurant in Vancouver

Wow! Food was delicious and beautiful! I was excited to try it out during the restaurants soft opening (ready to forgive a bit if needed) and the entire experience did not disappoint. Thoroughly enjoyed an outstanding evening. I'll admit, fan of RF since being wow'd by his flavours in the 2000's but I think anyone should be able to clearly taste the deliciousness resulting from the care and attention that goes into them. So there'll be a set of longtime Le Croc regulars who will be loudly missing exactly the way it was, but please do not listen. This is a new era and it's fabulous (and still pays abundant homage to the previous). Especially with a soft opening, I'm going to include feedback and suggestions for areas in the spirit of being helpful to the restaurant. However, as a fellow diner, I have no hesitation in fully recommending this restaurant (provided you can afford it, but I think for me, it's good value for this level food and service. So many staff involved). My personal favourite was the saucing (so much flavour) but everything was beautifully cooked too and flavours made sense together. Possible tweaks: consider, even if it's not very traditional or very French, to include spoons in the cutlery left for dishes with a lot of that beautiful sauce. I've been to some high-end restaurants around the world, so I don't think it's tacky. I wound up having to ask for our table and then ask again (something a top-level server might anticipate for the next course). At this price point, felt possible coldness when I asked for a cup of ice for my water when I was looking for something that felt like "absolutely no problem" and when I asked about my checked purse, "you'll have to talk to the hostess." Maybe checked visually, but I didn't feel like our main server asked me how I enjoyed each dish, not as personable. I had to ask her to describe a dish after she put it down and started leaving. This is just one person and maybe she'll feel more relaxed in a couple of months. However, when I was greeted and was hoping for a spot at the bar, a few staff at the front were exceptional. Maybe best in Vancouver! Lots of staff around, so in the end, I still feel the service was accessible and very special, but brand new staff may need a little seasoning. I loved the sweatbreads/morel stuffed with shrimp paste?/truffle ? jus special (specials might change weekly). Veal medallions came with generous amount of amazing sauce, morels, and with a lovely mixed veg on the side including cute and yummy Tokyo turnips. I like a decent amount of veg with my main and enjoy the more unusual ones. Used to getting just a tiny bit, so the side bowl was unexpected and appreciated. And the white chocolate creme brûlée with black pepper, coriander biscuit was so creamy and delicious with a beautiful thin burnt sugar top and I loved the spicing on the biscuit. Proportions were perfect - it was wide/thin instead of deep/narrow, and garnished with nice berries. I tasted my dining companions dishes, no losers. But I loved mine most. Other possible tiny tweaks: bread and butter was $7 (Good. Tiny. Small Victory bread and PEI butter? Some in our table of 4 only had one slice) but I blame those low carb people for killing the complimentary bread basket in Van. Le Crocodile's influence is French, so what is more French than having baguette offered freely and refilled? You could always require that tables order it to get it in the first place, and then only charge for the refills. Or maybe for the comp basket, don't outsource and have simple puff pastry twists and charge for the other basket. Also, would love to see complimentary amuse bouche. Cost can be considered kitchen training/enrichment/reducing food waste/testing ground. The palate cleanser sorbet that we received was a delight (pear, Calvados). Thank you! Cocktails were nice. I loved the energy in the room - lots of excited, happy people, one you can feel comfortable in and not so formal that you find yourself whispering. Hoping they continue to feel free to explore new dishes!...

Food: I had been bragging to my family and friends about Le Crocodile since the first time I went there, so it was a bit sad to see some of them disappointed by their meals. My partner wasn't impressed by the large piece of cauliflower in a literal pool of olive oil for his appetizer, or the spinach drenched in oil with his salmon, to the point he had difficulties with eating it. My mother ordered a ribeye medium rare, and it came mostly well done to nearly overcooked in sections. There were a few misses for sure with some of the meals. But the others were just as rich and excellent as I remembered, and their specials were not to be missed! Here was the best of what we had: Appetizers: They had a white asperagus that v had been imported with a little seafood topping and sauce; my mother complained that the portion was small for the price, but the flavours were out of this world and I hadn't experienced anything quite like this sweet and savoury dish. My escargots were delicious as usual, and this is one of my favourite places for them (though there was a general concensus that there can never be enough garlic). The frogslegs were so delicious with a little sauce that really made then. The deep fried lobster was delicious; I'd never have thought to do that with such a delicacy and it was very good! Some must tries, all of them! Main dishes: I highly recommend that you get their special on the venison of you're going there soon! The sauce was rich and the meat was so tender! The veal was also an excellent choice from their main menu and had a thick and creamy sauce as well. I personally enjoyed the lamb shank and the truffle gnoochi, a strong rich flavour and very filling. Dessert: they started us with a small pear palate cleanser that was so delicious! And then finished with a chocolate crocodile that was very professional. I also had the meringue souffle with creme anglais. It was so nice, fluffy, and comparatively light after a rich meal, I highly recommend it! White Wine: I generally love a very sweet and smooth white wine, and their gerwurtztraminer hit the spot! I'm picky and this was so delicious, several others at the table also picked it up. Overall, if I wanted to save up and plan a special event here again, I would! Really delicious, still one of my favourite places I've eaten! Be prepared for the price, but I nearly had to be rolled out of there by the end of the meal. Very satisfying.

Service: We had a large group of people booked in advance, and the table was ready for us as soon as we walked up. Please note: the cost of the reservation funds will be returned directly to your credit card, not removed from the bill the table, so you can more easily book through one person and pay separately. They were excellent with their service, and meeting requests for a caraffe of water for the table and replacement small plates and removing an alcoholic dressing on one their pallette cleansers. One drink was missed later on in the night, but they were good to apologize and made sure not to include it on the bill. They managed odd pairs of people paying and a restaurant gift card without any issue. They did an excellent job overall, and were a real pleasure to deal with.

Parking: we parked at the lot across the street under the Scotiabank theater, about $8 for the evening after 6pm. Good for a carpool and a...

I'm writing this review because I hope it can be an open call to Le Crocodile to wake up and realise that they need to rethink who they are and what they need to do to get repeat customers.

Let's note what this restaurant has now become. It's an Asian fusion restaurant, not a French restaurant. So many Chinese flavours in the dishes, as a deliberate choice. If that's what you want to be, fine, do it, but don't call yourself a French restaurant. No traditional French restaurant in France would ever have many of these dishes.

The restaurant used to be 6 or 7 stars out of 5. Now it's just "okay". Not worth the money to return. The insanely decadent soups are gone. The food is "fine, I guess." The shoestring fries, which used to be amazing, are now replaced with drab, soft, embarrassing schlock which remind me of microwaved Harvey's fries. Seriously. What are you even thinking??

Our table was just mumbling disappointment throughout. Each of the dishes were uninspired.

The decor is so drab, now. All of the personality of the restaurant is gone. That can't be re-done, but the food could still be brought back to its once stellar glory, and no one would even care or speak about the decor.

I miss the steak the way it used to be under Michel. Each dish before the change-over had an exceptional magic flair. Rob used to have a reason for his pride and personality... now I think he needs a firm grab of the shoulders. The laurels are no longer there to be rested on. Too much wandering around the restaurant doing not very much. I had no desire to speak to him, whereas even a glimpse of Michel was like meeting a class-act celebrity after what we'd tasted.

I know it's a true effort of the soul to run a high-end restaurant. It's a game of passion and pride. But if you want the glory of what once was, that's what you have to return to.

The service was still excellent, I will note.

One more point... Stop charging for bread, and I won't feel insulted to the point that I decide not to spend an extra $80 on a great quality bottle of wine. Gain $3.50 in profit on the bread, lose $200 in wine sales and repeat visits. It's just so... kitschy. Feels like you're trying to squeeze some scam dollars out of ignorant guests.

Bring back traditional French-style haute cuisine with a dynamic flair and you'll get back your appreciative clientele who will be happy to drop the real cash on wine where the dishes merit the pairings. These new dishes... don't.

I'm not the only one who has this perspective. I had been at least fifteen times before the cross-over and loved every moment and every bite.

I'm just one of dozens who feel this way, but I'm actually taking the time to write instead of just saying "Well, that's sad. I guess this place is done, and we're never coming back again" like the multitudes of people are quietly saying as they leave.

I only write this because I think there's still a hope that the high-tier spark can be re-ignited.

Thank you, and when I get word that the flame is returning, we too...