We have lived a block from Le Gavroche on Alberni (almost at Cardero) for just about 5 years but had not been to check it out. We have heard many good reviews but it took a Groupon to give us that extra incentive to give it a try. We made a reservation for 1pm on a Friday thinking that it would be busy but we were the only table in the restaurant. Le Gavroche is located in a Victorian House built in the 19010’s. The main dining room is on the second floor with a reception/banquet room on the main level that can hold about 30 guests. The restaurant opened in 1978 and has many times been voted “Vancouver’s most romantic”. It is open for lunch Monday to Friday and for dinner seven days a week.
Menu and Service
The menu is classic French but incorporates West Coast ingredients. Having been around for more than 30 years Le Gavroche also has one of the deepest wine lists in Vancouver. With a cellar that contains over 35,000 bottles, most of the choices were well beyond our knowledge, palate and price range but there are some good whites and reds by the glass from both BC and France. All that can be said about the service was that it was impeccable. This could have been because we were the only table in the restaurant but I don’t think so. I would bet it is the same every day no matter how busy the restaurant is.
Food
To start I ordered the classic French Onion soup and it was classically delicious – just like I used to make at home (before we moved to the restaurant mecca and I got lazy). The soup had just the right amount of onions, was salty but not too much, a crostini in the bottom and gooey emmenthal browned and bubbly on top. We had read about the Lobster Bisque on the internet but we did not see it on the lunch menu. Jeff asked if they had any available, which they did, and was happy with his choice. For the main courses Jeff chose the fresh dungeness crab cakes and I had the lobster cavatappi in wine cream sauce. Both were delicious! A glass of Côtes-du-Rhône, Ogier ‘Heritage’ 2008 and we were set. The service, food and atmosphere were very good.
There is a small outdoor patio that intrigued us and we would love to try some dinner items so Le Gavroche has been added to our summer 2012 list.
Classic French Onion Soup
Lobster Bisque
Cavatappi in cream sauce with lobster and peas
Dungeness crab cakes with frites
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