Yasma — Restaurant in Vancouver

We went on a Saturday night with no reservations but managed to snag some seats at the bar. While the bar space is crowded (due to the surroundings), I actually do recommend sitting there as the view of the restaurant and bar is good and watching the workers work is pretty cool. Despite it being busy, our waitress did try her best to accommodate us and ask us how our meal was tasting. Otherwise, service was a bit slow and we waited maybe half an hour for our food. No problem as the music and vibes kept us entertained.

Food: Delicious overall and every dish looked like a work of art. So many different flavors, ranging from savory and fatty to crisp, bright, and spicy! We ordered the fatteh of the day ($25), the babba ganouch ($19), and the Aleppo kabab ($33). The fatteh of the day was a lamb fatteh ($25) which was described as their fatteh with ground lamb on it. -Fatteh: Their menu description of the fatteh is accurate for the ingredients, but doesn't do it justice for how it's made. The main component is hot yogurt mixed with whole chickpeas. Sitting below the yogurt is a layer of cut up pita, which absorbs some of the yogurt (and becomes soggy as a result). On top of the yogurt were garnishes of pistachios, crispy fried pita strips (almost like fried wonton strips), pools of ghee, cashews, and pomegranate pulps. While tasty overall with various textures, it was a pretty heavy dish (on the palate) and definitely not low calorie. It reminded me of a Mediterranean seven layer dip. The yogurt wasn't as acidic as I think it would have needed to be to keep the dish refreshing. -Babba ganouch: probably my favorite dish of the night at its price point. The flavors were interesting, there were various textures and colors, and we were given more pita to be able to finish all of it with. The portion was generous for the price. However, nothing really stood out in the dish as the various components kind of made a cohesive whole. -Aleppo kabab: the most delicious dish of the night. There were several components to it and it was fun eating different parts of it to refresh and give the palate some variety. The raw onions were spiced with sumac and were bright and spicy. The grilled veggies were nothing special but good nonetheless. The cucumber salad was also refreshing and light to contrast the meat. The kabab was fantastic, though I think it could have been salted more. It was basically spiced, ground lamb(?) mixed with pistachios, which complemented the flavor profile overall. Since there was not a lot of the meat, being able to eat the other components of the dish really let us savor it. Finally, I think the dish came with a tahini yogurt sauce, which tasted good with pretty much anything you dipped in it.

Value: Not great. The fatteh of the day was $4 more than the classic fatteh, but I didn't think the amount of lamb (which may have been the only difference) justified the price difference. The kabab dish was a thoughtful work of art, but again, I'm not sure if anything in there justified the price given the portions (unless the kabab itself was labor and time intensive). The babba ganouch was probably fairly priced for what you might get at an upscale casual restaurant. On the other hand, we were given some more pita for free that we were allowed to take home as well, and we were offered a couple of servings of pita during the meal, some freshly baked and others obviously having been sitting out for a while.

Overall, with the service, food, price, and wait time taken into account, I give it a 4/5. I might go again if I were craving something, but otherwise, there are other restaurants and eateries I would be willing to try...

We decided to celebrate my birthday at Yasma! We had walked by earlier this summer, en route to Stanley Park and loved the location! We also love Lebanese/Syrian food, so why not? BIG MISTAKE! We were a party of 4 and we ordered the following dishes to share: Hummus, Muhammara, lamb sausages, fried kibbeh, Toshka & Fries, Shish tawouk, mint lemonade a 2 glasses of wine. Where do I begin? I will say, the location and the ambiance, decor etc was bright and beautiful. You can’t beat a restaurant by the water! That’s the only positive aspect of our experience! Firstly, The hostess had a chill about her, basically not very welcoming at all. We made reservations and she promptly showed us to our table. She actually looked miserable! The waitress came by shortly thereafter and handed us water. She came by several times(almost impatiently) to see if we were ready to order! We placed our order and food was served! The only 2 dishes we actually enjoyed was the warm bread(tiny helpings and we asked for more)! The staff seemed annoyed that we asked for more bread. We also enjoyed the muhammara as none of us had ever tried it before! The rest of our food was tasteless, tinnie winnie tiny portions, and underwhelming! The fries turned out to be potato wedges and they were under cooked! The expensive wine at $14 for 6oz was sub par at best and our waitress was less than attentive! We literally had to wave her down every time we needed something! What actually took the cake for us was this: My friend and family had informed the waitress that we were celebrating my birthday. She offered to bring us complimentary dessert to commemorate the occasion. We expected a little cupcake with a candle, perhaps a piece of baklava with a lit candle or something of that nature! What she brought out to us instead was 2 tiny half broken pieces of baklava, on a wet metal plate and she actually uttered the following words: Happy birthday, enjoy”!!!! We all looked at each other and burst into laughter! We couldn’t believe that she actually presented us with that “slop” with a straight face!! One of the broken pieces of baklava was basically crust! We thought she was joking. Unfortunately, the joke was on us! We were so embarrassed for her, but she seemed unbothered! Finally, she brought out the $160 bill and I felt terrible that my family and friend paid for this plain, tasteless, undercooked, underwhelming meal with service that was basic and frankly embarrassing! We will NEVER return! Please save your money and don’t bother with Yasma! A complete waste of...

The full experience of the mediterranean .

Authentic , modern, chic.

From the moment I entered I was greeted warmly in the foyer by a lovely hostess . We didn’t have a reservation but they happily gave us a walk in spot within 45 minutes. A very kind and generous offer considering it was mother days and we failed beforehand to make a reservation.

Once inside Yasma Restaurant, my eyes were doused in visual astonishment.The design aesthetic upon entry was breathtaking. Adorned with a beautiful colour palette one would expect when visiting the mediterranean. Blues , woodsy browns and a charming hue of warm amber enchanted my eyes as I was lead to my table.

Houda was our server for the evening. Impeccable , authentic hospitality. It was as if she welcomed us into her home and dining room. She presented us with our menus and indulged us on the evening specials. After, she gave us her personal recommendations of what is a must try ( quite frankly , everything on the menu is a must try in my opinion). Houda was extremely knowledgeable of the ingredients of each dish and this greatly helped in making our selections. Thank you Houda, you truly understand hospitality and how to do hosting the right way!

The cocktails were divine. Expert mixologist working at the bar. A great asset to the restaurant. The flavours were spot on, balanced and just the right proportions of sweet/acidity.

The dishes , upon first bite brought me to internal tears as it pierced my heart heart strings and reminded me of my Lebanese grandmothers cooking , (the cooking she made for family dinner parties). Every ounce of flavour one would hope for was present!

The evening was adorned with light music by a guitarist.

I felt transported to middle east. Wonderful Syrian hospitality memory and one that will very much keep me coming back for more.

Thank you for opening this culinary jewel for Vancouver. A customer for life!

Loving...