Location: 91 Lonsdale Ave, North Vancouver, BC V7M 2E7 (Near the Lonsdale Quay)
Phone: (778) 340-3449
Hours:
Lunch
Monday-Friday
11:30am-2:30pm
Dinner
Monday-Sunday
5pm-late
Hints:
- Contemporary and modern cuisine
- 2 hours reimbursed parking in Lot 03
- Street parking
- Large selections of wine
Web: http://www.fishworks.ca/ | Dine Out Menu | Dinner Menu
Fishworks
On the second night of Dine Out Vancouver, I took my family to Fishworks on Lonsdale in North Vancouver. It was definitely a neighbourhood that I’m unfamiliar with, because I don’t come down here often. We arrived on a Sunday night at 7pm and they more or less had a full house. We were seated almost instantly by the big glass. No view here, just the sidewalk.
Fishworks
The server had alerted us that the Dine out options are smaller portioned than their regular offerings. So we took his suggestion and ordered 3 from the Dine-out menu and 1 from their regular menu.
There were also no fresh bread & butter served as compliments, which was a disappointment.
$10 for Half Dozen
To start, we ordered half a dozen of their Fanny Bay oysters fresh from Vancouver Island. The size was moderate and quite fresh. My only complaint was the condiments could have been bigger.
Caesar Salad – $7
We also ordered a Caesar to start, dress with fresh Garlic and Parmesan.
Dungeness crab – in coconut soup with enoki mushrooms
The first appy from the Dine out menu is a coconut soup with enoki mushrooms and a piece of dungeness crab on a stick. The soup was hot and spicy. And I thought it was a bit too spicy for a soup. The hint of coconut was strongly present. We ordered two of these.
Qualicum Beach Scallops – vietnamese style salad roll with tamarind, cucumber ponzu
The second appy from the Dine out menu is a Vietnamese style salad roll mixed with scallops, cucumber and a ponzu sauce. This wasn’t bad.
Nova Scotia lobster – smoked bacon, chowder sauce
The first entree was a Nova Scotia lobster tail on a chowder sauce. We got two of these, but the one mom was having was a little undercook. You can tell because the meat was still clear. I wouldn’t say the lobster was very fresh because it didn’t have that seafood taste to it, but it was decent. The sauce made up for it.
Crispy duck breast – honey roasted carrots
The second entree was a crispy duck breast, which was tender and juicy. The duck was just done, it would have been undercooked if it was out a minute sooner.
Prawns linguine carbonara, pancetta, egg yolk
The portion for the prawns linguine carbonara that my brother ordered was significantly larger. The prawns were huge and flavourfully grilled. I don’t like how they use scallions as decorations on almost everything here. Not sure if the pasta was made in-house but it was fresh and chewy.
Callebaut Chocolate Mousse – fresh raspberries
For dessert #1, we had the Chocolate mousse. The mousse was unsweetened and dark chocolate. However, the sweeter raspberries sauce was a good mixture. Not sure what I think about this dessert.
Cheesecake – mascarpone, caramel apple
The cheesecake was one from favourite of the evening. It was semi-fluffy and the caramel apple on top was just good. I wished the piece was bigger.
Poached pear – toasted hazelnut vanilla ice cream
I liked this one as well. The hazelnut was literally and actually hazelnut with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. The warm poached pear was a perfect match to the ice-cream.
The Bill
Overall, the food was not too bad. Though not spectacular. However, the service was disappointing. And for those who are not subscribers will not know how much I weight customer service. My first complaint was how long I had to wait for my appetizers and entrees. Though they considered it full house with tables being empty, but waiting over 10 minutes for appetizers to come to the table and 15 minutes to get my entree after finishing appetizers was just plain unacceptable. I literally wanted to walk out. Even my parents had though it took way too long, though they don’t eat out often. Second, I got the bill despite I had not yet asked for it. It seemed like they were ready for me to leave. So I did. Third, the servers treat each table differently. I noticed another table was offered wine on-the-house but we weren’t even asked. But that’s just a whole different story. The ambiance was mediocre, not spectacular again. And definitely no view.
Where have you been to Dine Out this year? Let me know in the comments below.
#1 by Reggie Malebranche - Fishworks on January 29, 2013 - 4:30 pm
Quote
Re: Robin Leung Review Blog of Fishworks
Hello Robin,
Thank you for coming by our restaurant the other evening. I read your review of your dining experience on your blog. Thank you as well for posting the pictures of the dishes you had. I am not sure though, about some of the comments made on your blog. I didn’t think it was particularly necessary to mention that there was ‘no view, just the sidewalk’. The picture you took from the table you were sat at sufficed.
I do agree that you should have been given bread, no argument there. However, ‘…condiments could have been bigger ‘ was another unnecessary comment as in our experience, our customers have found that amount to be more than adequate and if they wanted more they could simply ask.
As far as the lobster tail dish is concerned, I’m not entirely sure what you meant there. Isn’t it true that if it had more of that ‘seafood’ taste to it then it means that it is NOT fresh?? Also, we don’t overcook the lobster. An overcooked lobster tail is simply not good on the palette and therefore we don’t do it that way unless you want it like that. Your comment that ‘the duck was just done’ sufficed. The other part of that was not necessary.
Well, I’m not sure what you thought about the mousse either. The mousse is unsweetened BECAUSE we use dark chocolate and the strawberry sauce is meant to balance that.
And then there were your last comments. Your appetizers could have come out sooner, yes but 15 minutes for your main course is actually pretty standard in a restaurant like ours. And regarding your bill delivery, had you wanted anything else prior to that? Did your server ask if you wanted anything else after dessert? If not, then there’s nothing else for him to do BUT to bring out the bill. For you to ask for it when it was clear that that was the end of the meal would have been inattentive on his part. No other details were mentioned in that part of the review. And again with the ‘no view’. Did we falsely advertise anywhere that there was one? Is our restaurant supposed to have one?? Do we really need to be penalized for not having one??
I do appreciate the fact that you gave feedback, but the problem I have with it is that it is a review that does not point out what the restaurant can do better as much as it is a review which seems to do nothing more than just air out what you did and didn’t like about it. I don’t know much about your history but I don’t get that you have a background in running or working at a restaurant. You seem to just simply have experience in eating at them. I’m not sure how much of a qualified reviewer you believe that makes you. All this seems to do is portray the latest of many tired examples demonstrating that when one can’t, he instead writes.
#2 by Robin on January 29, 2013 - 5:30 pm
Quote
Hi,
Thanks for dropping your views. I do understand that you may not agree with some of the comments that I’ve made. Please don’t take it personally because it’s nothing personal. I may have ranted a bit at the bottom but really it was just my review and my personal experience of Fishworks. I am certain you don’t understand the intention of blogs, I am just writing my views of what I think. And trust me, I am not a critique. I think everyone can have their own views and should have different views. And being a blogger, I choose to write about it.
Thank you again for your comment.