Bellaggio Cafe - Vancouver, BC

Absolutely sunny and beautiful day in Vancouver - I love this city but on days like these, I LOVE this city.  Where better to go than downtown for a nice meal outdoors and good ole people watching while you wait.

Bellaggio Cafe is near Mrs. Teddy's workplace and has fantastic views of the water, Convention Centre and the large cruise ships in dock.  They speak of authentic Italian fare and classic gourmet meals with a refined Italian experience.  It's also the best place for people watching - tourists in droves, oddballs wearing Team Canada jerseys in 20 degree weather, children on scooters running into pedestrians, hipsters on bikes and much more.  The Teddies grabbed a table on the patio and have waited for me to arrive for quite some time.  We order immediately after I sit down and wait whilst watching the hordes of people wandering by in the beautiful weather...

Salmon Burger with Fries - $15.99

Grilled salmon, tomato, lettuce, onions and mayonnaise

DAYUM!  This is one expensive burger!  Did it measure up to its price?  Salmon was kinda dry and let's just face it, it's just a plain salmon burger with the regular works.  Nothing exciting, not offensive, but definitely nothing original or out of this world and definitely not anything to justify the price.  Fries were tasty and crunchy but not cut in-house and tasted like the regular frozen kind from the supermarket.

Rocket Chicken and Brie with Salad - $13.99

Chicken, arugula, artichokes, brie, mozzarella

Mrs. Teddy thought this would arrive as a sandwich but it arrives looking for like a wrap than anything.  The bread tastes like the pizza dough so we're thinking it's one and the same.  This "sandwich" was actually pretty good, with plenty of chicken, cheese, bacon and artichokes.  Where is the arugula?  I see lettuce but that's it.  Mrs. Teddy and I also think there's pancetta in the sandwich but that wouldn't make sense - why have both bacon and pancetta?  Not that we're complaining...  the more cured meats the better!  The side salad was just that - a salad with a house vinaigrette and looks like what you would get out of a box from the supermarket.


I don't know what "refined" Italian is but we definitely didn't have anything reminiscent of Italian or classic fare.  I think the overall impression we got was that this is a cafe with great views, meh food, but great views.  Come here for the view, come here for the people watching but don't come here specifically for the food or else you'll come away disappointed.  You're downtown folks!  There's plenty of other dining options available around you!  


Pros:

• Great views
• Excellent patio

Cons:

• Expensive prices for what you get
• Average food
• Slow, inefficient serving staff