Bon's Off Broadway

Sometimes it's foolishness to try something new. Sometimes it's just smarter to stick with what you know. Such was the case with breakfast one morning. We should have gone to our weekly favourite, Paul's Omelettry, but since it wasn't Sunday yet, Hubbs thought perhaps we should try something different.

Using Urbanspoon on his iPhone, we located Bon's, which seemed to have a number of good reviews. There was also a line up that went out the door. Both, we felt, were positive first signs. How wrong we turned out to be!

We waited a long time for a table, then to get our order taken, then to get food. The whole ordeal lasted well over an hour from line-up to departure. Not only that, but the line-up wasn't exactly a nice collection of elderly folks. There were some pretty rough lookin' individuals there waiting to get in on the $2.95 breakfast, and these are the type of people who've seen a lot of life on the other side of the tracks, if you get my drift.

Bon's was also pretty dirty and run down, and had the looks of a place that doesn't care much about upkeep. My coffee cup saucer had a big chip on it. The whole feel was...dingy. The food wasn't much better. Hubbs' pancakes were huge but I far prefer IHOP's. His bacon tasted like some cheap no-name bacon, rather than something organic or locally-produced or Maple Leaf, even. My perogy breakfast was icky too. They pan grilled the dumplings and stuck them on top of a mound of half-grilled onions. The sour cream was stiff like cream cheese. My Ukrainian sausage slices (they were round and flat) tasted stale and slightly freezer-burnt.

The service was slow, but only because the poor girl serving was one of only two servers covering the entire place. Now this restaurant is probably nearly twice the size of Paul's, and Paul's usually has 3-4 servers working the floor; that gives you an idea as to how understaffed they were at Bon's.

The price was right, of course...cheap cheap cheap. No wonder there were so many rave reviews; I should really keep in mind that for a lot of people, quantity, when inversely correlated with price, is directly correlated with favourability. That is, if you get lots and lots of food for the dollar, you'll give a rave review even if the food is crap.

We originally thought the place would be funky, sort of like Sophie's or Joe's Grill, but whereas those other places had some alternative-culture funk to them, this place just seemed grimey and cheap. Maybe in its heyday Bon's was a hip place to go, but times, they are a-changin'. So maybe I'm missing it, but I don't see the appeal.

Conclusion: don't go. Stick with what you know. If you do go, be warned; it's not for the clean or the sheltered.

Service: 2.5 out of 5

Food: 2 out of 5

Quattro on Fourth

I'm getting lazy. Nowadays, I find myself more inclined to blog only if the food somewhere is horrendously bad or amazingly good. Consider this the latter. Upon our return from E-town, Hubbs took me to dinner at Quattro on Fourth. I'm not sure where he heard about the place from (I think it was Vancouver magazine) but he really wanted good Italian, so we made a reso and off we went.

Secluded behind shrubbery, the corner location of Quattro on 4th makes it very cozy and intimate. We were one of only 5-6 tables there (late Sun. night) and so the service was attentive, though I found the dishes did take a bit of waiting.

Hubbs & I both did appies and pasta; he had the crab & sablefish cakes to start, followed by the famous Spaghetti Quattro. I had the grilled radicchio bocconcini followed by their house-made gnocchi with bbq duck confit. Both of our appies were delicious, though I think I liked mine a bit more than Hubbs' given that I found his cakes a bit salty for my tastes; my radicchio was well-grilled and the cheese inside was just a bit gooey, making it a great texture contrast to the slightly crisped lettuce.

I also loved my gnocchi (a seasonal dish); it was tender, and a perfect flavouring complement to the duck and the bacon and the peas. It also wasn't too heavy, but was seasoned and spiced in such a way that upon reheating leftovers, I had my colleagues drooling ;) Hubbs can't stop thinking about his spaghetti, which is made with minced chicken breast, black beans, and a garlicky tomato coating. I hesitate to say sauce because it wasn't saucy so much as it was a flavoured olive oil, though it did have chunks of tomato in it. Hubbs loved it. I believe it's the best spaghetti he has ever had (that's what he says, anyway).

So far, this has been our favourite Van Italian eatery. It was romantic, upscale (but not ridiculous - think about $20 for pasta entrees), and the food was tasty. Service was professional and friendly without the server pretending to be our friend (I hate when they do that). Quattro on 4th is a great "special occasion" or romantic date restaurant, and we'll definitely be back soon. :)

Service: 4.5 out of 5

Food: 4.5 out of 5