Feenie's, Parkside, or Cru

[maxmillan]

After much surfing of this site I've narrowed down to three choices of restaurants to take my discerning friend for his birthday next week. I've not been to any of them and would like some input from those who have eaten in these restaurants only.

Most importantly we want value. For one birthday we ate at Wild Rice and were disappointed. For the same price we should have ate at Bin. I think we paid for the furnishings and decor at Wild Rice rather than for the food.

Anyhow, thanks for any input.

[merlin]

We were visiting Vancouver a few weeks ago and much like you were deciding where to dine.

We opted for Cru. Invited good friends from North Van and we had a terrific evening.

If I was living in Vancouver, I would be a "regular".

We should have gone to Parkside on the Monday rather than the Beachouse at Dundarave Pier...can't beat the view but the food was disappointing.

[Johnathon]

Looks like you need to flip more than one coin here! I would say you really can't go wrong with any of your choices here. All will provide a great atmosphere for a party dinner.

Enjoy! Just don't forget to share the experience here!

[Mooshmouse]

As Johnathon so aptly put it, you can't really go wrong with any of these three. But, if I had to give a slight edge to one, I'd choose Cru. Rob Feenie is Rob Feenie. Fab, bar none. And all my visits to Parkside have been good; however, some visits have been decidedly better than others. I give Cru the nod for consistency over Parkside.

Can't wait to hear about your choice and how your dinner went. Good luck finding that three-sided coin to flip.

[maxmillan]

My friend helped me decide. We chose Parkside as he had eaten at Cru before and wanted to experience something different...and then we will have to try Feenies soon. But Cru is a must do as you people have said so much good stuff about it.

Will let you know how it went next week.

Thanks for your input.

[M'd]

You can rest easy, as your choices are all good ones.

If value is a concern I would lean towards Cru and Parkside. These little independents are offering amazing food quality and unique dining environments for a suprisingly reasonable price. How do they do it?

--I would give the service vote to Cru, but you are going to have a great B-day dinner at Parkside!!--one of my faves.

--Enjoy

Cheers,

M'd

[Andy Lynes]

I visited both Feenies and Parkside recently and whilst they are very different operations, I would agree that you would probably have a great time at either. Dining on the patio at Parkside, you could almost imagine yourself in the grounds of an English stately home. The dining room itself is very elegent, very European and different to most other venues visited in the city.

The menu is full of really tempting stuff, much of which you will not find elsewhere in Vancouver, and partly reflects chef Andrey Durbach's time in London: terrine of duck, potato and foie gras with toasted brioche and spiced apple compote; grilled asparagus, pan fried chanterelles, warm garlic and parsley vinaigrette, shaved Parmesan; fillet of halibut, wild mushroon jus, pearl onions and smoked bacon (a great dish).

I was less impressed with roast duck with spiced yam puree, onion tarte tatin and fresh berry eau de vie sauce, which I found to be a misconcieved and poorly executed dish.