The Garden Strathcona — Restaurant in Vancouver

I love houseplants (YVR planty here!) so when I found out about The Garden Strathcona, I took the afternoon off work today to soak it all in. This is within DTES on Strathcona but on the very outskirts, close to Commercial street. There is ample free street parking and the coffee shop has two patio tables at the front. Even right at the entrance you’re greeted by several large houseplants so I was ecstatic to enter!

When you enter, you are greeted by more large plants at the front and a glass case with some interesting goodies like the s’mores bar (will need to come back to try this out!) and the whipped shortbread cookies. There is also front seating facing the windows and a fridge that sells cold drinks and chewy salted chocolate chip cookie dough, yum. I added a photo of their drinks menu and it appears there is only one size for the drinks but it was beautifully served and very tasty; I ordered the cappuccino and it was fantastic. They also have blume lattes which are non-caffeinated and while I need many jolts of caffeine throughout the day, if you don’t, these blume lattes sound pretty amazing (I saw lavender and tumeric flavours available).

On the milk side, there is a tray of milk and milk alternatives such as oat milk and soy. There is a self-serve water tap right by the milks. I ordered their most popular bowl, the mushroom bowl and added a ramen egg (+$2.50). The ramen egg was tasty and the mushroom bowl was also delicious with pieces of carrots, beets, chopped kale, and lots of seeds on a bed or orzo pasta. For +$4.50 you can add braised chicken and I may try that next time. There is a one hour seating limit at the table per the sign on the table. Overall the food and coffee was good and very high quality and the price is in line with artisanal and niche coffee shops; however, you’re paying for the ambiance and quality. Honestly I do love supporting small local businesses especially in the DTES, and especially if they’re also planties.

Lastly, if you’re looking to pick up some interesting home items such as candles or hand salves/creams or aromatherapy sprays or even mindfulness cards, you can do so here because the left backside has an area full of goodies for you to buy. Also YES the plants are for sale but as a planty that knows the price of plants, these plants are on the pricier side; however the plants all looked healthy, very large, robust and pest free. There were some paintings on the wall that were also for sale and really added a nice touch to the coffee shop. There is also a hidden nook larger table seating in the back and a stairway that leads to their kitchen. The part I loved most was their seating right by the front window plants; it was so picturesque and felt like a little oasis. I may have taken too many selfies here but I don’t think you can blame me - the coffee shop was just too gorgeous! I’ll be back...

This was in my list of 'Want to Go' places. We were pleasantly surprised by the peaceful and comfortable atmosphere at The Garden. Being used to Yaletown Coffee shops which are typically high-energy places, it is nice to know that a tranquil coffee place exists not that far from Yaletown. They have a sitting room area with lots of plants arranged around a couch, a coffee table and a couple of chairs. Even though we didn't get to sit there, it is within our view at table 3, and we felt as though we were part of that space. Another thing I appreciated is the fact that they assign tables when you order the drinks – rather than the usual mad scramble for a seat in other crowded coffee shops. We were there for lunch, and it appears that the option for no garlic was quite limited. After consultation with the kitchen, the host offered a couple of options, one of which was a kale salad with custom vinaigrette, plus chicken if I preferred. That's what I ordered. It was a very delicious salad, and I would certainly go all the way there again just to have that salad again. We also ordered the breakfast sandwich which comes with potato salad. The espresso drinks were very well made, made with Agro Espresso, and very enjoyable. We will visit again! In fact, we did go back again the next week. I ordered the same salad and was surprised to find the chicken missing, so I asked for a side of chicken, and since I seemed to have no reaction previously, I thought it might be OK. But apparently, the chicken had been brined in garlic. Yuk. And because I did not have an oat latte before the food arrived, the garlic hit was kind strong enough that I decided we better go home instead of ordering coffee drinks, just to be safe. My partner ordered the lentil soup which contains garlic strong enough that he will probably not order it again. I was disappointed with the chicken the second time around because it was chewy and dry, not like the first time. Well, the hosts are very caring and lovely people, and it looks like lots of patrons are regulars and really enjoy their food. So, we hope that this place...

Used their 2nd floor venue for my baby shower and really wish it would have gone better than it ended up being. Long story short: if only the staff cared to be helpful, that would have helped.

Pros: The space is lovely. Perfectly private and we're thankful they had ample tables, chairs and seating.

No issues with (free) street parking. (We had our event on a Sunday)

Cons: Disappointed with their service. Or as my friends said "What service?"

I had called in at least twice to confirm extra cutlery and napkins were available as we ordered catering through the venue, plus brough extra food on top of it. They tell me on the day of our event that they don't provide that and we were scrambling until they reluctantly gave us some disposable plates and forks.

I was also told the speaker system is enabled through Bluetooth but that wasn't the case. I didn't get any assistance on how to use their sound system (only a finger point to where it was). No matter how many of us tried to make it work, it never worked. Luckily, my sister brought a portable speaker that rescued the situation.

Lastly, we left behind baby onesies my guests painted as an activity for our party. I wish the staff would bother to communicate with each other or to myself directly about the missing items. By the time I received a call back, the saran wrap they placed on the wet paint had stuck together. This caused the designs to be smudged, peeled off or plastic bits stuck on.

Pretty disappointed by the indifference of the venue people. It's noticeable in their actions...