El Patio

[Ling]

I'm going to a birthday dinner at El Patio on Tuesday. Is the food good there? I don't know much about this restaurant, other than it serves tapas or something.

[Jerry_A]

The only thing I know about El Patio is that I have walked by it about a million times (give or take). I am interested to here what it is all about as I love Spanish food.

[chrisy]

I too have always wanted to try El Patio.....just haven't gotten around to it yet. The menu looks similiar to La Bodega's. I've attached a link to the menu:

http://www.vancouverrestaurantguide.net/do...io/el_patio.htm

[Ling]

This is what I ate last night:

-Pate (described as being "coarse chopped" on the menu, but essentially looks and tastes exactly like one of those pate blocks you can get from Save-on-Foods)

-hommus and pita (really small portion for 5 bucks)

-Spanish meatballs (4 big, relatively juicy meatballs covered in tomato sauce, some grilled red peppers, and diced fried potatoes. This was the best dish of the evening...but that's not saying much. I would consider ordering it again though.)

-Grilled sardines (with lemon and olive oil. Ugh...never getting this again. It cost 8 bucks and there were 4, not-so-fresh sardines on the plate. Anyone could easily make this at home with fresher sardines. In fact, I bought 10 sardines that were triple the size this summer for 5 bucks.)

The server was super rude! There were maybe 20 guests yesterday and she kept muttering under her breath about how disorganized the party was. I didn't really know what she was complaining about, since it was just like any other birthday dinner I've attended. We weren't loud or obnoxious either--and we weren't bothering anyone since we had booked the upper level of the restaurant.

During the dinner, she asked me if I wanted another drink, and I said no thanks. Then she asked the guy sitting next to me if he wanted another drink, but he didn't hear her since he was talking to his friend. So the server turns to me and says, "He doesn't get one since he wasn't listening." WTF?! The guy sitting next to me hadn't even seen the server approaching since he was talking to his friend and she was standing behind him!

I wanted the tripe on the menu, but it wasn't available. I might go back for that. The fried artichokes that several people ordered looked good, but some ppl said the fried chicken dish tasted just like KFC extra crispy.

I looked at some of the entrees ppl ordered (pasta, meat dishes) but they looked pretty ordinary to me.

Bread was warm, toasty, and soft. Butter came in those little butter packages.

All in all, a mediocre restaurant with one very mean-spirited waitress!

Food was cheap though--our meal (for 2) cost just over 30 bucks with tax and tip and a diet coke.

Edited November 19, 2003 by Ling (log)

[Coop]

That's Brutal! How have they surrvived so long? I believe it's the only surviving restaurant from the Expo 86/BC Place boom. Who remebers Someplace Else and L'Orangerie?

[Jerry_A]

I can't believe you are considering going back. It sounds awful. Thanks for the report/warning.

[chrisy]

Yes, thanks for your report Ling. But based on the service I don't think I will be visiting there. The service can definately make or break a dining experience.

[Ling]

That's Brutal! How have they surrvived so long? I believe it's the only surviving restaurant from the Expo 86/BC Place boom. Who remebers Someplace Else and L'Orangerie?

I don't know how they've survived, but I think they won some honorable mentions for their tapas fairly recently from Vancouver magazine.

I'd consider going back if only for the tripe dish. I've only had tripe dim-sum style. Are there any other restaurants in Vancouver that serve tripe?

And maybe we were just unfortunately stuck with the bitchy waitress. I hope they're not ALL like that there!

[Coop]

All my tripe eating comes in Pho. BTW the mention of The Vancouver Magazine reminds me of a place called the Curry Hut, winner of best Indian 1998. This place is definetly not Indian. It does however make a great curry. It's located in a food court connected to the T and T on 152 in Surrey. The lamb curry is my favorite.

Also try the sesame and yellow bean paste donut thing from the Vietnamese place by the door. They have them fresh on the counter at lunch time. They are unbelievable.