The Cove Restaurant — Restaurant in Vancouver

Browsing Facebook early on a Sunday morning, I saw that one of my friends liked "The Cove Restaurant". Hmmmm, a place I hadn't heard of before. I took a quick look and saw that it wa on the water had some great reviews just a few days after opening and had a tempting menu. I was going to make a reservation for the next week, but decided to see if there was anything open for tonight. There was! We had the option of before 430 or after 730 (all other reservations around dinner were taken). Decided on an early diinner.

You've got to turn down Columbia Way and go past all of the business complexes and water resource center. About 2 miles from the Highway 14 exit, you'll find the restaurant along the water and they do NOT disappoint! Lots of parking near the restaurant and we found a spot right up front. (One benefit of temporarily being in a wheelchair) We were taken to our seats by the General Manager Billy. We were immediately impressed by the view and the bright dining room setup. We sat inside but the patio looked great, especially the seats with wicher furniture and fire pit. We loved the 80s/90s music they had playing at a low, enjoyable volume. Definitely digging the ambience.

Now, onto the food. We probably ordered 1-2 dishes too many, but we were eager to try everything! Started with a mojito which was minty, tasty and refreshing. Some bars seem to not muddle the mint enough but the bartender did a fantastic job. We were told their "well" rum, vodka and (perhaps tequila or gin) were a little higher quality than a typical well and out of a distillery in Utah. My husband started with the ahi tower and seafood chowder. The ahi tower was excellent. We liked that it cane in a small size has so many restaurants offer a seafood tower designed for 3-4 people and can approach $100. I'm not a huge seafood fan, so my husband (like tonight) is left for seafood appetizers on his own if there are only two of us. Husband absolutely LOVED the chowder. He is notoriously picky about his chowders so if he says he loves it, I know it has to be good. I chose to start wit h the meatballs which were juicy and very flavorful.

For our entrees, I chose the hamburger (again, not big on seafood). Husband chose the seafood aglio e olio. I like my hamburgers pretty plain (just mayo or aioli and some cheese). I want the burger to taste good without all of the toppings to hide the hamburger flavor. This burger did noot have much flavor and was a bit disappointing after everything else so far. Next time, I'lll try the short rib sandwich =) Husband was in love with his pasta. He valiantly tried to finish his meal but was not successful. I swear I could almost see him shed a tear as he left behind a scallop and some shrimp. Haha. Only three desserts on the menu but they all sounded so good. We decided to share the gooey butter cake and it was one of the tastiest desserts I've ever had. I usually only fell this warm, comforting feeling after eating something chocolatey. But this lemon and raspberry dessert was perfection. All of the dishes looked so good (not just tasted excellent)!

All of the staff were so friendly and eager on their opening weekend. I hope they continue to keep up the energy. We enjoyed meeting the GM Billy, our server Elena, and the 5-10 other staff members we interacted with. We have been disappointed with the other new restaurants that opened along the water and were so happy to stumble upon The Cove. We will...

TL;DR: main course proportions are a bit small, order an appetizer to share. Whoa, heavy silverware!

Parking: large parking lot.

Atmosphere: classy, I wouldn't come here in jammies but you don't need a suit or dress either. I'd say to appear presentable. Definitely a nice place for any special occasion - best to make a reservation. The view isn't the most amazing super fantastic spectacular extravaganza view but the place does have large windows to view a grassy area that leads to the marina/dock area. Not a huge waterfront view but it's something to look at other than buildings. The side booths have these unique dock lights on the wall, which make for great yelp-worthy photo ops because the side lighting is nice, haha.

Menu: Large drink menu. Look out for specials. Main menu is pictureless but self explanatory with good descriptions. Dessert menu upon request. Prices are roughly $25 per person.

Service: wait to be seated, order at the table, water yourself with provided carafe, silverware is changed for you before your main course if you get an appetizer, check brought to you. Speaking of silverware, the forks and knives are very handle-heavy, watch out because if improperly placed on your plate, they will fall off because you failed to find the fulcrum before letting go (haha). Fresh cracked pepper is offered when your meals are brought to the table.

Cove Cooler: a light and refreshing seasonal drink with house made pomegranate grenadine in sparkling water and some juice (I can't remember if orange or cranberry or both). I enjoyed the sweet tanginess!

Calamari Arrabbiata Appetizer: the taste and texture of the squid was great but the breading on it was really flaky and didn't hold well to any handling whatsoever. The breading was brittle and kept breaking into the dipping sauces leaving only the ring of calamari left on my fork, same with trying to dip by hand. I really enjoyed the shishito tartar dipping sauce, it had a nice tang and small kick of spice to it.

Wood Grilled Oregon Farm Ham: the buttermilk biscuit was a nice touch as opposed to the typical english muffin, it was nice and buttery and had a nice toasted texture because it was grilled. I do wish the poached eggs were slightly larger. I felt that the majority of the egg white was lost from poaching so I mainly had the runny yolk encased in a small white sac of egg white. I wanna say it was the shape of a giant spider egg sac (sorry, haha). Egg was a great texture but I wish there was more egg white. The hollandaise sauce was pretty typical in my opinion. The roasted marble potatoes that came along side the meal were perfectly cooked and I enjoyed smearing them in the chimichurri sauce that they...

This review is for Brunch and was only from one experience.

Decent food. Not the greatest, but decent and worth a try considering the added atmosphere and views. Probably best for "Social hour" especially when the weather is nice.

Will be going back to try the Social hour menu. The GM, Jamie, is on the ball and he spent a few minutes talking with me about a couple little things that I noticed. We talked about the fact that they have hard water there and they use glass bottles for their water service, which they leave on the table. They are all visually unappealing due to the calcified minerals on the inside of the bottles, especially on the top near the neck. Not a safety issue, but just a bad look. Also, they seem to be big on their biscuits and include them in many menu items, including the Benedicts.

They do not offer an option for a traditional English muffin which seems like a mistake to me. Biscuits were good, but kind of greasy/fatty. Nice flavor, but not something I would want to eat very often and definitely not for a Benedict.

Service was good but, as is typical in the Portland/Vancouver area, it was only passable for a higher-end place. My standards are elevated for this aspect so many people will, likely, find the service more than acceptable.

Menu is okay for brunch, but could have a bit more on offer, and again, alternatives to biscuits would be good.

As for getting there, it is not too bad, although, it is a bit out of the way down a long industrial laden access road which dead ends just NorthEast of the restaurant. I would say it is worth the effort, but for me, only just.

All in all, worth a try and, as I said, I will be going back soon to try the "social hour" menu.

Just as a comparison, if they were operating in NYC or Newport CA, they would need to be doing much better. They are nearly on par with Stanfords and may not even live up to that standard for some things. That said, I have only been there once and will know more after my next visit.

One last note, the outside seating area is first come first served and depending on staffing concerns and weather, may be closed. If you wish to sit outside, you may want to phone ahead to verify that section will be open. I do not know if you can queue for a spot out there once you are on property, but perhaps that is an option. So, you may be able to wait at the bar until something opens up out there, but I do not...