Address:
663 E 15th Ave
Vancouver, BC
Tel: (604) 873-9733
July 14, 2012 – Dinner
Written by: Second Stomach
Although we just had a vacation in Paris in May, I wanted to visit a local French restaurant – one of my favorites – Les Faux Bourgeois. I’ve been here a number of times before as this restaurant is attractive for a number of reasons. The atmosphere is intimate and casual, the food is outstanding, and the prices are reasonable. It’s so popular that I remember a time when I had to call almost a month in advance to get a reservation. I was so surprised to actually get a reservation when I called a week in advance this time.
The daily specials are definitely worth considering. Here’s what was on the board tonight:
In case the daily specials don’t interest you, the menu is usually pretty solid. Here’s a look at the menu:
Our dinner tonight:
Salade Nicoise
8 oz NY Strip with Baja blue stripe prawn & tarragon mayo, pommes pont-neuf & asparagus
Ling Cod with mushrooms, savoy cabbage, clams, croquettes & pan jus
To start off, we were served our drinks and our bread:
- Snowman had Kronenbourg beer. I suppose he ordered this because he recalled enjoying this when we visited Paris. I jumped at the opportunity to order Pentage Gamay. I remember discovering Pentage wines at a function one time and a few years ago, I tried to find the winery and instead found that there was no public wine shop but the owner was kind enough to sell a few bottles out of her garage. At our last visit in the Okanagan a few weeks ago, I discovered that Pentage still doesn’t have a tasting room. So, these wines remain a bit elusive to me. Long story short, the gamay was fantastic. I don’t usually like gamay but this one was full bodied and fruity.
- The french baguettes served were a nice start – a must, for soaking up all the rich french sauces that were to come.
Salade Nicoise – $12
This salad came with mixed greens, potatos, olives, tomatos, green beans, capers, boiled egg, and ofcourse, seared albacore tuna.
Here’s another view:
- The dressing was a vinaigrette – and I found this salad to be light and refreshing. There were 5 pieces of albacore tuna – some pieces were cooked perfectly and I found a couple of them just slightly overcooked (but not terribly so). In some parts of the salad, I also encountered some really salty bites – likely the salt wasn’t distributed evenly.
Taste: 4/5
Presentation: 4.5/5
Value: 3.5/5
8 oz NY Strip with Baja blue stripe prawn & tarragon mayo, pommes pont-neuf & asparagus – $24
- The NY strip steak was cooked as medium – rare. I thought it was more like a medium so I probably didn’t enjoy this as much. The steak came topped with asparagus and blue stripe prawn in tarragon mayo. I was reminded of filet neptune – except this one was a lighter style served with a prawn mixture.
- The pommes pont-neuf were really interesting. I didn’t know what to expect, but basically the potatoes were sliced very thick and presented in a way that reminded me of jenga. They tasted like mini baked potatoes – they were very light and crispy on the outside and very hot and smooth on the inside.
- Overall, Snowman said he preferred this entree tonight. I think it’s because the fish came with mushrooms and he doesn’t like mushrooms.
Ling Cod with mushrooms, savoy cabbage, clams, croquettes & pan jus – $20
- This was the lighter dish of the two entrees that we ordered tonight. I felt there was a bit of an asian influence in this dish especially since there were enoki mushrooms and clams.
- I felt that the ling cod was cooked perfectly. Unfortunately, Snowman thought there wasn’t enough flavor in the pan jus. I didn’t mind it because I thought any more flavor would destroy the delicate nature of this dish.
- The croquettes were crispy on the outside and had smooth potato on the inside.
Taste: 4/5
Presentation: 4.5/5
Value: 4/5
Here’s our bill tonight:
Les Faux Bourgeois is definitely worth a visit. Make sure you can make a reservation in advance. If you have a smaller party and are willing to sit at the bar, the bar seats are always available for walk in. At the intersection of Kingsway/Fraser, the restaurant can be a bit difficult to find so keep you eye out for it. The good thing is parking is available nearby in the residential area. The atmosphere can get very noisy and the seating is a bit tight but the service and food are consistently solid.
The good…
- Good food and good value. Daily specials are always a good choice.
- Parking available nearby in the residential area
The bad…
- Reservations needed unless you want to sit at the bar
- Can get very noisy.
