The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant - Vancouver, BC

It's a beautiful day in the neighbourhood...  Sunny day in Vancouver???  We have to take advantage!  Mr. Piglet and I dust off our bikes and hurry it on over to Stanley Park to take a ride around.  After 2 hours (that seawall is so long!), hunger strikes and we gun it over to the nearest restaurant we can see with a great view of this beautiful city...


The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant is a part of the Sequoia Company of Restaurants which also includes other dining institutions such as Season's in the Park and Cardero's.  Sandbar is located on Granville Island and is devoted to fresh seafood and sustainability - they are a part of the Ocean Wise program, an initiative started by the Vancouver Aquarium aimed at education and preserving the marine ecosystem.

I'm surrounded by wood!  Ok, it's got that classic steakhouse feel to it but I don't think they even serve steak.  It's such a beautiful day that when they ask if we want to sit on the patio, I answer with an emphatic "YES!".  It comes with a 25 min wait but Mr. and I don't mind waiting at the bar.  After perhaps 15 min at the bar, we're called to our patio table.  Yay!

Check out our view!  Nothing short of A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.  Now, what food to go with that view...

Complimentary bread with soft butter...  ahhh....  No one serves complimentary bread anymore!

Wok Squid - $11

Chilies, garlic, cilantro, ginger

The flavors are great and the squid is just super tender but the batter on the outside is as soggy as can be.  It's as if there is no crispy exterior around the squid at all - just semi-cooked batter.  Tragic.  Definitely have had better versions of this elsewhere (here, here and here).

Homemade Clam Chowder - $4.50

I like the rough dice of the veggies and lots of pieces of clams but there's something missing...  a deep rich creamy chowder taste that isn't there...  it's good but I've certainly had better.

Salmon Burger - $15

Homemade tartar sauce and all the fixings

Salmon is nicely grilled and is very moist but it's just too bad it's swimming in all that sauce.  Purple onions gave this burger a nice bite and giant slice of tomato was good but also caused the burger to be too moist along with all that sauce.  Sans oversaucing, this burger would have been pretty darn close to perfect.  Salad was a nice side - crispy and housemade vinegarette was refreshing.

Fish and Chips - $17

2 pcs, coleslaw, fries and tartar sauce

Crispy batter on the outside, a tad overfried but still good, with moist fish on the inside.  Overall, good but we agree we've had better elsewhere and it was a little expensive for two small pieces of fish.  Fries were crispy but the coleslaw was disappointing - only carrots and cabbage, the pieces were too chunky and it was just vinegary with no balance of mayo/cream to it.  It came with a tiny side of tartar...  really?  It better be refillable for free...  We never found out as Mr. Piglet started to come down with some flu-like symptoms and we had to make a quick escape.  Damn windy seawalk...  how deceiving the sun can be...


Overall, everything here is VERY overpriced but you're not paying for food - you're paying for location, ambiance and most of all, view.  I'd say a good 85% of the price of food here is for the view and on this particularly beautiful day after a long stint of rain, the Mr. and I were willing to pay for it.  This food at this price at any other locale - fail.  So come to Sandbar for the scenery but expect to have food that you've had better elsewhere.  Let's take another look at what you're paying for...

Pros:

• Excellent views of the water and city
• Beautiful patio (they give you blankets!)
• Friendly service
• Free and pay parking available
• Reservations accepted
• Fresh and Ocean Wise seafood available

Cons:

• Pricey
• On a busy weekend, commuting and parking on Granville Island can be very challenging
• Expect a wait with no reservations - and expect a longer wait if you want a seat by the windows
• Average food, expensive for what you get