Provence Marinaside — Restaurant in Vancouver

Had a dinner here last weekend and issues with service problems were there from the start. I can only describe it as absolute chaos where it seemed the staff have not had training. We had dined here previously, so we assumed the food would be at a good standard. Unfortunately, I’m really sad to say that both service and food were a very big disappointment and we will not be coming back here again.

Our waiter asked us what we’d like to drink - we asked about the white wines and we were deciding on which wine we’d like - it was about 10 seconds in and she went sarcastically ‘Anyone? Anyone at all?’. So as we left one person to decide the wine, the rest of us gave our orders - where we started with the bites. I asked for the bites to be brought out alongside the mains. She wrote down these bites and we gave our wine order, we then continued to order our mains and she said ‘no I’m afraid I don’t have time, I’ll put these appetisers through and I’ll come back for mains later’. I asked that these were not appetisers, but were from the bites/sides part of the menu and would like it brought alongside the mains.

After quite some time, she came back to get our mains order. We gave our mains and I confirmed again that the bites should come out with the mains. She said she had already put it through, then 5 seconds later they’re bringing the bites out. She laughed it off, so we treated the bites as starters. After we finished the bites, they came out with the mains but they did not clear the dishes from the bites. We actually cleared the tables for them as the staff seemed stunned at what to do.

Now onto the food, the seafood linguine - the clams were full of grit, salmon was cold and completely raw. We notified the waiter who was completely shocked and confirmed it was far too raw and took it back for us. They came back and said the chefs said it was meant to be that way.

In this visit, the worst part of the experience was with the front of house manager, who came to us and said the food was cooked the way it was meant to. She said that clams were meant to have grit. We said we can understand some due to nature, but there was so much we had mouthfuls and were crunching on a lot of grit. She said it was this way, and that it was the standard it’s meant to be served. She did eventually apologise but she was incredibly defensive throughout this whole encounter.

I think the service has gone downhill in time, in previous visits the service was not very attentive and we waited over half an hour to get our bill after asking. In those occasions, there were minor issues but it did not affect our overall experience of the night. However, on this occasion there were clear fundamental problems which means it’s not somewhere I’d return to. It’s a real shame as we’ve always recommended Provence to other people and said the food was good, but the recent months have proved that both the service and food have been on...

We chose Provence for our 2023 Dine Out experience, and enjoyed our meal and the selections available for Dine Out. The paté serving was quite sizeable and tasty. My entree, the Bouillabaisse, was deliciously creamy. I had the crème caramel for dessert and was pleased by its decadence and the varying textures. My only complaint in terms of food was that some of the fish in my Bouillabaisse was slightly overcooked. There was also a decent selection of non-alcoholic cocktails that did not water down the experience as other establishments do for booze-free options.

In terms of ambiance, the restaurant was not too dimly lit. The tables were well-spaced, the décor was sublime, but unfortunately the music was a touch on the loud side. For the 4 of us, I struggled at times to hear my friend seated diagonally across the table from me. Otherwise I thought the music selection to be appropriate and the interior to be tasteful. Provence is s deceptively large, and I'm sure the outdoor seating is where you want to be when it's daytime and a little warmer. The marina views are amazing.

The waitstaff were kind and attentive. Our server even suggested we take a photo together, offering his help taking it. Food was quite speedy coming out of the kitchen despite it being a Saturday evening at prime dinner hour. There was a bit of confusion with staff around the paper bag my friend's baguette (for her escargot) came in, and to our disappointment we were asked to move to the bar or an outdoor table not long after finishing our desserts so our table could be used. Though understandable, it did make us feel somewhat rushed.

Overall, we had a great time and felt we got good value for our money given the food quality,...

I really enjoyed my time here this morning for brunch. Here is how it went down.

So, at first we wanted to try the breakfast place next door, which had a wait time of 2.5-3 hours....Yes! Hours!...ridiculous. If you have such business why aren't you taking reservations?!....maybe they like to have people wait on the sidewalk? I don't know. I wouldn't even wait 3 hours to get into a Gordon Ramsay spot...but anyway, I digress.

We went next door to Provence.

As we walked into Provence, it had a very welcoming, cozy and bustling vibe and even though it was busy, we were sat right away by the window. The menu has a wonderful selection of sweet and savoury items for breakfast and lunch with an interesting drink menu. For me, 11 am is a little too early, but hey....whatever rocks your boat.

I ordered the Crab Cake Benny and asked if the crab was fresh and it certainly was! I also asked for my eggs to be done medium and it was served just right. Loved the crab benny! If you like crab meat...try this item there. It was so fresh and tender and the seasoning was so on point that it didn't overpower the crab taste. Crab meat is one of those few items that demands to be the taste highlight. What I mean is it has to be prepared in such a way as to keep its taste as the "show" of the dish. The rosemary potatoes were also fresh and beautifully seasoned.

The smoked salmon we also enjoyed. Crab and smoked salmon have very different tastes, and I tend not to mix them up, but depending on your crave that day..I'd recommend it also.

I was also impressed with the service. It was very busy and people were just flooding in as we were leaving also, but we never felt that we had to ask for...