Cru Restaurant

[IHateSpam]

My friend and I visited Cru on a Wednesday night before heading over to see Shirley Valentine. We were delighted that they were able to fit us in as the place was choc o block with reservations (WOW!). We were seated at a 4 top which proved to be a smart move in order to accommodate all of our "small" plates. The room has a great vibe - the light blue walls and dark wood hiply contrast each other and the smiles on the wait staff were genuine and welcoming.

After being seated, the waitress asked us if we had been to Cru before. She explained how the menu worked. Very interesting way of presenting wine pairings and a good and playful guide to the uninitiated into the world of vino. Then it was onto the food. We ordered five small plates to share: The duck confit, the bruschetta, the caesar salad, the mussels and a side of polenta. The caesar was grilled and very tasty - whole leaf with enormous garlicky croutons. The mussels were delish! and presented in a pistou sauce which I have not tried in any of the city's other venues. The polenta although not strongly flavoured in a like a bit of comfort food. The only dish that was not a hit was the bruschetta - the flavours were ok but the fig and walnut tapenade was a little dry and not to our liking.

For dessert we had a creme brulee and the white trash parfait. With a name like that, how could you not want to try it?! The creme brulee was presented in a flat dish which allows for a lot more of the brulee, which is how I like it. AND as for the trash, really yummy, like comfort food and who else thinks that the secret ingredient in it is Jello chocolate pudding mix???

Definitely try Cru - it is a welcome addition to the burgeoning food scene on South Granville. The price is quite good, flavours are varied and interesting, service sublime and a menu that keeps calling you back to try more.

[jayhay]

Did the eGullet gathering at Cru ever take place? Because of the reviews posted here, we're taking an out of town guest there for dinner tomorrow night. Looking forward to a good experience!

[Coop]

No the gathering fell apart. You should have a great time at what I think is the city's best new restaurant. I like it a bit better then Parkside and Marine Drive, the other new places I have been this year. Have a great time and now you owe us a post on your experience.

[jayhay]

Have a great time and now you owe us a post on your experience.

I just may post a generic review...but no pictures & notetaking for this group! ( Although it must get you better service...no?)

[winefellow]

Just a quickie to congratulate Mark and Dana...success in the big city couldn't happen to two nicer people.

Let it be known that Mark is a former Winnipegger..."...you can take the boy of out Winnipeg, but you can't take Winnipeg out of the boy..." (unknown)

Can't wait to get out there and experience your place during WineFest, guys. Keep on doin' it!

JJ

[jayhay]

Three of us went to Cru on the weekend & found it to be a great experience.

Right from the moment we walked in, we felt enveloped by the warm room & friendly staff. We all chose prix fixe menus....one had beef tenderloin with foie gras, and two of us had duck breast. Our dessert choices were creme brulle and hazelnut torte. All of it was excellent, & reasonably priced.

We highly recommend Cru!

[Ling]

Cru was pretty busy when I walked by Friday evening. (I had dinner at Memphis Blues.)

[chocomoo]

I went to Cru a couple weeks ago for the first time and really enjoyed it! I'd been hearing very good things about the place and decided to take my cousin (who was visiting from Hong Kong) and sister there. We opted for the small plates menu and shared:

1. Crispy duck leg confit, with bacon dressing, frisee & golden nugget potatoes

- this was quite good, but the skin was a little bit on the fatty side--is it supposed to be like this? I'm used to eating roast duck, Chinese style

- the duck leg wasn't too meaty, but again, I'm used to roast duck

- the bacon dressing went quite well with the duck

2. Syrah-braised beef short rib with macaroni & cheese

- one word: delicious!! the meat literally melted in my mouth, it was that good...i'm salivating right now thinking about it...

- the macaroni & cheese was pretty good, but not extra special--I liked how it came in a cute little container

3. Pan-seared scallops on risotto with chanterelles

- scallops were lightly seared, & not overcooked--I don't have much else to say about them, except that I really like scallops in general & these were no exception!

- I was surprised that the risotto had a curry-like sauce on it, not that that was a bad thing, though

4. The special of the day--some kind of foie gras (either our server didn't explain, or I wasn't paying attention) with brioche

- this was BY FAR the best dish of the night--I don't normally order foie gras because it's so expensive, but it sounded too good to pass up (besides, I don't remember it costing a fortune at Cru)

- the foie gras was velvety, & melted in my mouth...like butter....

- quite different from the foie gras I had at La Regalade, which I now realize was coarse chopped, & good in its own way

- there was a sizable block of this for the 3 of us to share, say, 2"x2"?

- there was some jelly stuff too, on the side, which I never figured out...anyone care to venture a guess?

- my only complaint is that there wasn't enough brioche, so we ordered a side of bread

AND, for dessert, we had

1. classic creme brulee

- this was like the creme brulees I've had before, which isn't a bad thing, because I have never had a creme brulee I didn't like (there was a creme brulee I especially liked before though, at Glowbal--THREE kinds of creme brulee, how can you go wrong with that? Original, chocolate, & coffee. Anyway, I digress...)

2. chocolate hazelnut torte

- pretty good, except that I was expecting it to be less cake-y, & more smooth & mousse-y, like the torta milano I had at Cardero's--it's just a matter of personal preference, really, because I generally like dessert to be less flour-y

- which brings me to the question--is "torte" supposed to be more like cake or more like pie?

And tonight's final thought? Oh I forgot to talk about the atmosphere! Very comfortable seating (like we were sitting on couches), well-lighted (I really don't like eating in the dark), & quiet. Not quiet to the point where you have to talk in whispers though. We were there for almost 3 hours, & not once did our server rush us through our dinner. Service was also quite good--didn't check on us every 5 minutes, yet was always close by when we needed something. All in all, I liked Cru very much--I'm glad I took my cousin there, & it was all quite reasonably priced!

[barolo]

I went last night with a friend and overall it was a good meal and very good value for the money.

Comments:

Reservations: Were handled well.

The food - we shared the organic greens salad with over dried pear and goat cheese in a gewurtraminer vinagrette which was excellent and well prepared. I had braised lamb on white beans and pancetta, very good. My friend had scallops on risotto with chanterelles that were declared excellent. We also had an order of Terra bread - good as usual but awkward to tear apart gracefully as it wasn't cut through quite enough. We shared an ice wine orange cake with creme fraiche which was good but not special enough for us.

Prices - Generally the servings are generous for the prices although bread at $4.00 wasn't exactly a bargain and there was much more than we (or most people, I would wager) wanted. Wine prices are reasonable.

Service - ok, friendly and low key, but we didn't get the wine list concept explained to us and it seemed that some tables were getting more attentive service than we were. We were talking a lot though and the server may not have wanted to intrude. They were busy for a Tuesday night but we didn't feel rushed.

Room - I found the entrance area awkward (hard in a long narrow room, I know), and the lighting in the foyer is not very appealing or flattering. The chairs are comfortable, white cloths on the table, simple glass candle holders and white plates, overall a minimalist look with light wood that is very appealing. Noise level is relatively low (yay!), lighting was too low to be able to easily discern the colour coded wine list (for my aged eyes anyway) but ok to read the menu. Women's washroom immediately by the bar - not a great location. Parking in the area is tough to find and expensive.

Wine: A well thought out and reasonably priced list. It is pretty short though and doesn't really add up to a wine bar by any stretch of the imagination. The colour coded concept seems aimed at wine newbies. No wine flights offered or taster sizes as you might expect. Probably half of the offerings are available by the glass. A minor grumble - only one wine list per table: we don't share the menus, why do we have to share the wine list.

This a reasonably priced grown-up restaurant, offering very good food - unfortunately all too rare in Vancouver. I would definitely go again and will recommend it to others. Make reservations unless you are coming early.

[boris]

This a reasonably priced grown-up restaurant, offering very good food - unfortunately all too rare in Vancouver. I would definitely go again and will recommend it to others. Make reservations unless you are coming early.

Re: unfortunately all too rare in Vancouver

Are you serious? I have to say, as a Seattleite who grew up in Vancouver, we travel to Vancouver for well priced (see exchange rate) and excellent quality food. Sure, not on par with Major US. cities such as San Francisco, NY, Chicago, etc...BUT on a per capita basis, more exciting to my palate than Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Kansas, Boston, D.C., etc...

Perhaps the grass is always greener... But for my money and palate, Vancouver and environs come pretty darn close to a world class food region.

In fact we'll be checking out your fine city this weekend - two new spots for us; Cru and Feenie's. Also gotta try Red Onion as I haven't been there for a couple of years

Now, talk about the over priced and restricted WINE LISTS in B.C, and we will have something to agree about. I'll reserve judgement about Feenies until after this weekend, but if it's anything like its bigger sibling, I'll get ready to bend over and grab my ankles!!

Mark

Edited November 27, 2003 by boris (log)

[Coop]

I'm with Boris, except for the part about grabbing my ankles. We just returned from Seattle which has very few places that compare with the best of Vancouver. Le Pichet and Cafe Campagne are great french bistros the likes of which Vancouver is missing. The Harvest Vine is unique with it's fabulous Basque food and Seattle's newest, soon to be famous Union is much like Parkside or to a lesser degree West.

For great food and ambiance at a good price try Parkside, Lucy Mae Brown, Cru, The Bins, and Wild Rice. As for being "Grown up" I'll leave that for others to decide.

[boris]

Coop,

...maybe a tad explicit , but I wholeheartedly resent the ridiculous wine markups I have encountered at Lumiere, as well as several other B.C. restos. Even when one takes into account the Government monopoly, it is truly shameful that mediocre wine should be priced as a luxury item: wines that sell at the local BC liquor store with markups of 250-300%?

The food at Lumiere is another matter - inventive, precise, technically superb, and many meals there still rank on my "all time meals" list.

I agree with your assessment of Seattle restos, and my recents favs have been

1) Harvest Vine

2) Saito (for sushi; incidently I honestly feel sushi, in general, is superior in Seattle. Is that because sushi in B.C. must be previously frozen by law??)

3) Bai Tong (food, not atmosphere)

4) Eva

Hopefully I'll be adding Cru and Feenies to my Vancouver list.

I always appreciate your dining reviews and assessments! What's the word on Union?

Mark E.

Edited November 27, 2003 by boris (log)

[Coop]

Boris it's unfortunate but alot of what we have here in BC infrastucture wise has been built on the backs of us boozers. As for the restaurant mark-ups, I agree. Last year we encountered a wine at Bacchus that was marked up 3.5 Xs. It's an outrage.

As for the word on Union, it's great. I will do a post this weekend about it and the other places we went to last week in Seattle. It will be on the NW board.

[boris]

Coop,

Although I wouldn't like the wine police to show up at my door, I've had a lot of success with BYO. Unfortunately a wink, wink, nudge, nudge "you know that's not allowed " formality ensues followed by a dinner with reasonable corkage. Unfortunately the Top Table group and La Regelade seem to be the only ones who are too rigid to bend with the times (unfortunate since West is one of the better restos in the Lower Mainland).

Lets lobby the government to follow Alberta's lead!!!!

Mark E.

[Coop]

It was quite refreshing to take a bottle (83 Quilceda Creek Cabernet) from my cellar along when we went to Union. I have done this in Vancouver but it was at places owned by people I have known for a while.