Beach Bay Café & Patio
1193 Denman | 604-685-7337 | BeachBayCafe.com
Open Tuesday-Sunday, 2pm-5pm for happy hour, 5pm-11pm for dinner. Brunch Sundays, 11am-2pm.
When the old Raincity Grill used to still be open at Denman off Davie, it was considered one of the best views and locations in the city, advantageously sitting right across from English Bay, with vistas of water, wood and mountain. In the end, the view was all that was left of this once mighty dining institution, which is why I heaved a sigh of relief when the room was taken over by the same group behind Cibo/Uva and completely gutted and redone.
Gone is the carpet and dark walls, and in its place is a bright room more in keeping with its seaside location. White walls and chairs set off the light wood table tops, and create a perfect backdrop for the depiction of the English Bay of a century ago that covers the entire back wall. The bar is just past the kitchen as you enter, so you’re greeted by two groups on your way to your seat.
The names on the stationary make for an impressive group. Andrea Vescovi (formerly of Blue Water Café) is GM (Vescovi will also be running the soon-to-open Ancora on False Creek), Luc Trottier is restaurant director, and the kitchen is run by executive chef Scott Korzack (L’Abattoir, Bambudda). Add in Adrian Lindner behind the bar (he’s also a sommelier), and it seems like an all-star line-up.
Initial impressions were positive. Service is excellent, and the cocktail and wine lists are smart and good value. A lot of BC labels, but some impressive Italian and French selections round things out, as does one sake from Granville Island and a couple decent sherries.
The menu is divided into snacks, starters, salads, mains, desserts and sides. The $8 snacks were approachable items like fried, salty pork ribs, nicely dry on the outside, and falling off the bone. These were served with a honey and grainy mustard mayo that was a bit bland on its own, but set off the saltiness of the ribs perfectly. Salmon tartare was another excellent choice, topped with crispy kale. The housemade bread ($2), a pain au lait served with housemade butter that’s topped with elderflower syrup and salt, seemed at first like a typical brioche, but the crumb is excellent and the thick triangles hold up well to the butter.
The prices belie the casual feel of the room, but they’re not excessive. Starters hover around $14 and mains range from $22 to $32. My ling cod one night ($26) was excellent, grilled and served with perfectly fried cauliflower florets, smoky eggplant, local mushrooms, and roasted grape vinaigrette that I almost licked off the plate. Gnocchi ($22) was disappointing. The gnocchi themselves were too soft and mushy, and completely tasteless. The yellow squash and zucchini it was topped with were nicely cooked, and the poached egg on top was perfectly runny, but the shavings of black truffle did nothing for the dish, and the whole effect was too boring to bother finishing.
Desserts were also hit-and-miss. Yogurt panna cotta ($9) with basil-apple compote, dulce de leche cream, and bits of financier cake was a solid choice, with a nice balance between tart and sweet. The flourless chocolate cake ($10), however, was inedible. The cake didn’t have enough chocolate flavour, the lemon-rosemary ice cream tasted of neither, and the cherries that dotted the coffee cream were surprisingly tasteless.
There are some great ideas and innovations on the menu here, like the unique striploin ($32) stuffed with plum, mushroom and barleytreviso, or the “gin and tonic” dessert ($10) with lime-almond cake and cucumber sorbet, but a little more focus and polish would do wonders to balance out the occasional dips.
All ratings out of five stars.
Food: **1/2
Service: ****
Ambiance: ***
Value: **1/2
Overall: ***
Anya Levykh is a freelance food and travel writer who covers all things ingestible. She has a regular segment every Monday on CBC Radio One’s On the Coast and is a judge for the Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards. Find her on Twitter @foodgirlfriday and Facebook.com/FoodGirlFriday.
Contributed photos
