Water St. Café — Restaurant in Vancouver

I’ve been at the Water St. Café a bunch of times, my wife and I always loved the food, place, atmosphere and live music. Unfortunately we didn’t have a great experience tonight.

My wife loves seafood and she was very excited about the Crab Festival. They didn’t have a few of the festival dishes. My wife ordered one of the Crab dishes and the waitress confirmed that the dish was sold out only after 15 minutes of wait.

First we ordered the Crab cakes and they arrived so fast. We were impresses because they are deep fried and it took less than 5 minutes. However they were cold in the middle. It wasn’t greasy, taste was okay, but they were really cold. Seemed like they were already done, maybe for another table.

We ordered the meatballs and garlic bread. They were the best thing we tasted tonight. Both delicious. We just have a comment about the bread, it seemed like it wasn’t baked properly. The bread was really dense and heavy. We have been there a bunch of times and we already loved how the breads were so light. Even heavy, the bread was really good.

For the main course, my wife ordered the Crab spaghetti and she didn’t like it. I tasted the dish as well and didn’t like either. It didn’t have much seasoning, even the pasta seemed to be cooked with no salt. It had a very crab smell, but it didn’t taste crab. It was a bit weird. She couldn’t finish her dish because she didn’t like it.

I ordered the mushrooms gnocchi, same dish that I’ve ordered before a bunch of times. I didn’t know that they have changed the menu and this dish recently. The new dish didn’t have much sauce, the mushrooms were in big chunks, so it was a bit dry and not very comfortable to eat. I guess it didn’t have much sauce because the gnocchi was seared, and it wasn’t like this previously. Anyway, I really liked how it was before.

As I mentioned, I really liked everything about this restaurant and unfortunately tonight I wasn’t amazed about the food. The menu has changed and I didn’t find as many options as before. Maybe it was because of the Crab festival.

Giving 3 starts because this was my first time that I didn’t have a good experience. Hope you guys can improve and I could visit you again in the...

Been an institution in Gastown, Vancouver for over 30 years, but wondering how is it. Food was just a miss across the board on all dishes we ordered with an exception of one side.

Appy 1 - The tuna crudo had way too many things going on (pickled jalapenos, raw cucumbers, cantaloupe and avocado slices and a watery vinaigrette. Yes, all of that was on the plate.

Appy 2 - Two puck of crab cakes that was over fried and missed the mark of a crab cake as there was too much dill that took over the plate. The cake has been completely shredded into the batter and is served with a corn slaw that had no flavour to it as though they used frozen corn that just had a fiber texture without any of the natural sweetness in corn you would want.

Main 1 - Vongole boasted a pound of Manila clams did deliver on the portion size, but the rest was abysmal. This is not your traditional vongole by any means, so do not look for that. There's tomatoes in a white wine sauce that hasn't been cooked enough as the alcohol of the wine was quite harsh. The pasta itself is decent, but quiet al dente.

Main 2 - Seafood gnocchi also delivered on volume with copious amount on seafood (shrimp, smoked salmon and clams). The smoked salmon was an odd addition to a pasta dish that whole dish quiet salty and there goes the cherry tomatoes again. I did not want to waste food so I added some more pasta on my take away and precooked the sauce to balance it out. There was so much seafood left that I couldn't bear to throw it out.

Side 1 - The best dishbofbthr night was a side of grilled seasonal greens of broccoli and asparagus that was just salted wa a nice change to the overly seasoned dishes drenched in sauces.

Saving grace of the night, the server was on point and the view was lovely. You're right across from the steam clock and large windows with unobstructed view of the streets to people watch. Had the kir royale cocktail and it was decent but very textbook made with no added twist.

Overall, would not be coming here again as a $180 bill is just not justified by the quality and execution...

Kinda shocked to be writing this but…

BEST SERVER EVER!!!

First off, you felt important when you arrived. Not over the top blah blah stuff, but like you are actually important (to them) and given undivided attention.

Second, we saw a small Jazz trio on the second floor and the ambiance was intimate, sound, excellent and although everyone was being served, at no point was the performance affected or background noise disruptive.

Third, the serving team (yes team is the only way to put it), they function like a smooth running machine and it was awesome. At no time did we ever feel alone. Nor like we were being constantly disrupted. When one server went for pickups, another would step right in.

Finally, our primary server was beyond amazing. Unbelievably polite, his attention to detail so in tune to the moments, it’s how I would imagine a King being treated. I made a joke with my wife that “this guy just up’d the game”. There was not a single crumb on the table that lived there for more than half a second.

He was professional and personable and really, he has ruined things for other servers we will encounter. His accent added a whole feeling of being somewhere other than in our home town.

The food was tasty, prices for food are completely reasonable, drinks prepared well and although not cheap, the prices were fair. The orange crème brûlée is incredible!!!!

Well… until you factor in the combined service. There is no way to put a price on leaving a restaurant feeling full, appreciated and the entire conversation home was about the experience. What we paid was truly a steal.

I’ve eaten in some super expensive places in my lifetime and they should all learn something from here.

I know this is solely based on our first experience and we may now be bias. It’s totally their fault!!! lol

If you want to feel like 100% royalty… give this...