VanFoodies.com

To wrap up this year’s Dine Out series, I went to the Bacchus Restaurant at Wedgewood Hotel. I’ve been wanting to check out this restaurant since I went to the Edible BC’s Best Market Dinner that featured Chef Lee Parsons. I was intrigued by Chef Parsons’ food so I paid his restaurant a visit.

Bacchus Restaurant Interior

The menu was $38 per person, with the option to add $14 for wine pairing. The wine pairing was only for the first two courses, with a 3oz glass each. That was a pretty good deal considering I thought about ordering a 6oz glass of one of the wine pairing options and that alone would’ve cost me $15.

Food

I ordered Chicken Liver and Cognac Parfait as appetizer. I like that it was creamy but not over-seasoned. The apple jelly was not too sweet and it balanced the richness of the liver parfait combining with the fruit chutney. The Duck Confit was done in the classic, French way. The meat was tender but it’s too salty for my liking. I had to mix it with the potato cake to dilute the saltiness. I remember years ago I went to the Hermitage on Robson and I too didn’t like its duck confit – simply because it’s too salty. Lastly, Mocha Crème Brûlée to finish. I enjoyed the strong coffee flavour and the accompanying cookies were great.

Crisp Confit of Fraser Valley Duck

As for other dishes, I was surprised that they only cooked the Beef Striploin one way, somewhere between medium and medium rare. No choice. My dad’s beef was a bit over medium, I think. It was a bit chewy. They offered the same cut of meat as La Terrazza so I could compare – I think La Terrazza had a better control of cooking the meat.

Food quality aside, I was a bit disappointed by the plating/presentation. There’s no fancy decorations, which is fine. Sometimes less is more. But it seems like there’s not much thought being put into arranging the various components of each dish.

Service

I was not impressed by the service at the restaurant. A couple of examples. One, they didn’t give us the drink menu. Isn’t it standard to offer the drink menu and take drink orders first? Nope, didn’t happen. Dropped off the Dine Out menu and that was it. The wine flight was printed on that menu, which I opted for, but we didn’t all have to order the wine flight. If anything, they should encourage us to order from the regular menu. I had to ask for one so my mom could order a drink. Two, we were really rushed through the dining service. They took our order, dropped off the bread, 5 seconds later appetizers were served. Plates were cleared as soon as we put down our utensils, and the next course would be served moments later. You could call it efficient service, but I think the service was too quick that I couldn’t really enjoy myself at dinner.

Final Thoughts

There are two sections in the restaurant, a dining hall and a lounge area. It’s quieter in the dining hall, classier and more of a fine-dining feel. The lounge is upbeat and it has TV screens at the bar showing some sports games. Although the dinner was not as impressive as I expected it to be, it would be a lot better if the quality of service was higher. I was told that there was complimentary valet service but we didn’t need it.

Bacchus Restaurant and Lounge at Wedgewood Hotel
845 Hornby Street, Vancouver
604- 608-5319
www.wedgewoodhotel.com/files_2/dining.php