Anything nice open for lunch on Saturday's? Downtown preferably

[selena03]

I have tried Coast, Market, and Cin Cin-not open for lunch on Saturdays...I am sure I have overlooked some nice places. Can you rec anything based on the ones I tried? Thanks in advance-it's for a birthday lunch for 4 people.

[ck1234]

Joe Fortes is open for lunch on weekends.

[hrhsheba]

The lack of good Saturday lunch spots in this city has always been a bone of contention for me. What happened to the day of shopping and a nice "upmarket" lunch? My usual default is Il Nido on Thurlow. Otherwise you'll be likely looking at a hotel restaurant or something much more casual. Good luck.

[selena03]

I agree-until yesterday when I posted this question, I assumed that a lot of the places that are open for lunch on weekdays would be open on Saturdays too...we are going to go with either Cafe Il Nido, Joe Fortes, or Bacchus (I forgot about them yesterday)....I don't feel set on any of them because it has been ages since I ate at Bacchus, my last exp at Joe Fortes for dinner 2 years ago was a bit below average (not service just food), and I have never been to Cafe Il Nido....

[ck1234]

Joe's used to be my fave restaurant in Vancouver. We used to go 4 times a year - for years! I can still remember the first time I had their warm seafood salad and was amazed with the flavours - the fennel especially. I love the decor of the restaurant too. Over the years food started to become hit & miss, even service at times. My last straw was when my friend ordered the duo of fish and literally had two mouthful bites of fish served to him. The plate was put down and 1 minute later he was finished! However, when Joe's is good, it's great and I've had some truly delicious meals there...but like you, I am still reluctant to return...I want somebody else to and tell me! :-)

It looks like the Corner Bistro might be open now. Give them a call! http://thecornersuite.com/

[grayelf]

The Corner Suite menu looks great -- it'll be nice to have a good resto back in that location. Thanks for posting the link, ck.

[selena03]

I just called as I have been waiting for this place to open for ages! Steve De La Cruz? answered and said another 5 weeks!!! This place is taking forever-hopefully its worth the wait:).

[peter.v]

I know it's not exactly central downtown, but the Pourhouse in Gastown is open for lunch 7 days a week. I haven't eaten there, but Chris Irving (ex-West, ex-Petrus... yes, the Wareing/Ramsay spot) is the head there and I've heard nothing but excellent things about the food. Pretty reasonable prices on the menu too!

[ck1234]

Pourhouse finally has their menu online...looks so good! This is my next destination for sure. Want to try the Sloppy Joe & the Shortribs! My friend reported the lobster ragout was delicous too.
http://www.pourhousevancouver.com/pdf...

[selena03]

It does look really good-I looked at the Corner Suite menu from your link as well-really fair pricing and I love the drink list. I am pretty clueless as to what goes into classic cocktails (non classic too:) and I like the short but sweet descriptions....

[ck1234]

I just received an email from Corner Bistro too as I was planning our Xmas lunch here and they said they are still "weeks" away from opening but will email me back when they are open. So, I am changing to Pourhouse...

[selena03]

that is too bad as I heard it would be open in 2 weeks...we were planning to have a holiday dinner with our friends there and will have to look for another option. I would love to try Pourhouse but it seems impossible to get in and they don't take reservations for dinner:(.

[selena03]

Corner Suite sneak peek! I had such a great experience attending this event last night, that I wanted to share. Cookworks has cooking seminars, wine tasting events etc. that you can purchase through their website. They often have local chefs preparing a specific menu. Last night, the chef was Anthony Sedlak of Corner Suite Bistro. The menu was Christmas Dinner: cauliflower soup w/parm reggiano, white truffle oil and chives, broiled arctic char with olive oil pomme puree and lobster and caper beurre noisette, maple and apple cider brined organic roasted turkey breast w/bread pudding and butternut squash puree, and sticky toffee pudding with warm toffee sauce and vanilla bean gelato. The entire meal was scrumptious and the chef was highly entertaining and very funny. If the food at the new resto is like this-I will have to become a regular! He said it is going to open Dec.1 so maybe they are just saying weeks away to cover themselves?

[ck1234]

I sooooo hope you're right!!! Thanks for the info - much appreciated as I have already booked Pourhouse and wouldn't have looked for Corner Suite again!

[ck1234]

I just called them. He laughed when I asked if they were opening today. He said, "No, but HOPEFULLY, within the next couple of weeks or so"...

[selena03]

That's funny because I called yesterday and got the same laugh! Well now I am a bit stuck for my party of 7 holiday party as I was counting on the Dec 1 opening...we will either be going to Market but in the cafe area which is not even close to the fine dining area in terms of ambiance OR coast which is good but not the food quality we were looking for (although we like coast, we wanted something fancier)....you are lucky you made your pourhouse reservations as everything is booked solid...I wish they took rezos for dinner:(

[selena03]

I ended up at Bacchus-I love the space but the food was ok-I had the cobb and it the dressing was quite bland...I then wished I had gone to Joe's as there Cobb is nice and tangy...:) I feel the same way about Joe Fortes. It has been hit and miss and one of the girls I was out with reported having similar experiences with it.
On a completely unrelated note we decided to get Coast takeout that evening because I had a headache and didn't want to eat in the restaurant-whoah what a huge mistake-it was mucho terrible...I love that place yet now I would hesitate to return (but I will because I feel like its unfair to judge based on takeout) because of the experience-I know it was the food not being take-out taste friendly but the taste was sooo off....it was mostly sushi and I have never tasted so many fish eggs in my life-it was like a fizz wizz (the popping candy) of eggs in my mouth-maybe some people like that and I am totally off as I am not really an expert when it comes to these things:)

[grayelf]

Following you OT, selena -- I order all sushi sans "flying fish roe" as I am a hater too :-). A matter of texture more than taste for me...

[selena03]

I have never even thought of saying no thanks to the fish roe...it is texture for me too... I will have to do that next time....

[hrhsheba]

Next time you're in the area, do give Il Nido a try. I'm not totally overwhelmed by the room itself, but the service is impeccable (Franco is charming and the waitstaff know their stuff), and the food is fabulous! Franco does a butternut squash pasta that's to die for (it rotates, ravioli, agnellotti, tondi, etc). Give it a go sometime.

[selena03]

Thanks hrhsheba...I was a bit hesitant because I had never been but I def will give it a go next time:).

[hrhsheba]

As promised, I did catch up with Franco and he reports that he's not open on Saturdays for lunch anymore - only dinners.

[NoMoreSnuggles]

In addition to Joe Fortes, Nu, Italian Kitchen, Raincity Grill, Miku, Glowbal, Lift and Kirin are all open for lunch on weekends. In Gastown, you have So.Cial and Chill Winston also options.