Chambar

[Keith Talent]

I would have had the pork & beans, but wanted to accompany it with the Yellow Tail Shiraz vertical, and they were sold out of the '02, so didn't want to taint the experience with an incomplete tasting.

[DameD]

The tuna salad an odd combination indeed Mr. Talent, but it was a great one, very tasty, the little sweetness of the grilled peached with the balsamic reduction dressing.. made it all good

[Coop]

Seriously Keith they have a Pork dish on a puree of white beans. His Feenieness calls it Pork and Beans. It's one of the best things I've ever eaten. Did you notice the cheapest Italian Red wine was like $143.00.

Edited September 15, 2004 by Coop (log)

[Keith Talent]

One would hope I'd be slightly more adept at reading your intended level of sarcasm. No Pork & Beans on the menu that night. Our post modern ironic menu choices were the forementioned (bad) beef dip and Mac & Cheese. In retrospect we should have had the Macaroni rather then the beef.

The good things we ate were the Sable fish on potatoes and squash ravioli with truffles. The average was the carpacchio (sp?), which was good, only that carpacchio can only be so good, you know what I mean, it's difficult to do more to it than everywhere else on earth already does. The Capon with mashed potatoes, saurkraut and dijon sauce was very blah too. Too much dijon, capon was stringy.

The beef dip was horrid. Okay, horrid is a slight overstatement. I was hoping for a reconstructed take on a childhood favourite, Feenie proved some things are better left alone. Short rib meat on a way to large in volume sourdough roll, covered in cheese. Sourdough didn't work at all in my opnion. The "tang" combines with the slow roasted meat to make an off flavour, kinda the same sensation leftovers that are a day past being good gives you. Cheese doesn't belong on a beef dip, period. As mentioned earlier, fries were excellent.

Cocktails were competently made. Service excellent, wine exhorbitant.

Two cocktails, bottle of wine, 5 dishes (@$12 ea.), 2 espressos, tax and tip - $175. Seems slightly too much for what we got, I'd prefer to go to Bin 941 or Cru for less money, food as good or better. Although next time I go to Bin 941 I'm bring my own chair from home. Worst chairs in the universe.

[M'd]

Pork and Beans:

- a very natural flavour combination.-imo

I enjoyed one of the most memorable dining experiences of my life when my partner and I were at Cafe' Brio in Victoria. The Chef at the time was Jeff Keenliside and the dish was white beans and pork belly.--We framed the masterpeice with a bottle of Sanford Pinot Noir.--------BRILLIANT!!

The "Pork and Beans" at Feenie' sounds like something I could really appreciate.

--the wine prices DO NOT. I am attracted to unpretentious wine lists with more humble mark ups.

-my 2 cents,

M'd

[Keith Talent]

Went to Chambar last night. Few complaints, but overall it seems like it will mature into a great spot.

The room is beautiful.

Ate the confit to start, then had the steak frites. The confit was fine, the accompanying salad fine, the sauce the confit sat in one of the most bizzarre things I've ever encountered and the only real low point of the meal. It was decribed as "Canard Confit au cidre Cider duck confit with apple and summer beet salad. $12". The au cidre was a thick, cold white duck fat and cider emulsion, acrid in flavour, quite grim. It resembled a cross between a foam, mayo and a cream sauce. It needs to be changed before anyone else unwittingly consumes it.

Steak frites was excellent. Nice piece of meat. Abso-freakin'-lutely fantastic fries. Only complaint is they used pickled peppercorns for the sauce, I prefer my steak au poivre to be made with fresh pepper.

Wife had moules et frites. Good mussels, not as good as at La Regelade a couple weeks earlier, but very good none-the-less.

Wine list needs attention. I'm not certain Vancouver is a beer town. I know I'm not much a beer drinker, with the exception of at the golf course etc. And I got screwed for my pint of Hooegarten, which I just realised while thinking about the meal right now.

Ordered a Gentleman Jack to start, they didn't have it, Makers Mark? Nope. Fine, I'll take a pint of the Hooegarten, eight bucks on the beer list. They bring me a glass, yet charged for the pint. I really need to pay attention to this stuff more.

At this early stage, the place kinda seems to be looking for its' identity, which seems natural. Is it going to be a casual beer and moules joint, or aspire to higher levels? The back room seems slightly refined for the current menu. I can see the front keeping the current format, and the back room going slightly more upmarket. My wife and I both thought a prix fixe menu in the back with four maybe five courses would be great.

Rush down to this place, it really is a welcome addition, prices very reasonable, portions generous, and service excellent.

One last complaint. Washroom doors painted cream. Gender designations painted white. Lighting level low. Doh!

[paul mitchell]

WEnt to Chambar last thursday and was most impressed. Had the same duck confit that Keith had as an appy. I am a confit slut so I never really found the same disdain in the au cidre. I do find it funny that when the bartender asked where I had heard about the restaurant and I mentioned this site he started telling me about some nit picking guy that wrote about his disatisfaction of the au cidre.

I sure hope that you go incognito to these places Keith.

I also had quail in a juniper berry orange water infusion with grapes, pistachios, rapini and baby bok choy. It was something like 14 measly dollars. We tried to book again for saturday night but they had a function. If I lived in Vancouver I'd be there weekly. Excellent value, warm service and a beautiful space.

[Daddy-A]

WEnt to Chambar last thursday and was most impressed.

←

Okay Paul ... West, then Chambar?? I see where this is all going Just promise us you'll give us a running commentary as you eat your way through Vancouver.

Extremely jealous,

A.

[eatrustic]

A friend and I popped into Chambar for lunch (first timers) and had a good but not great experience. I arrived early, sat in the front and decided to have a coffee to warm up while I waited. It was a wet and cold day and the place was chilly and drafty from front to back (still getting used to the systems I assume). The bartender asked if I wanted a regular coffee or... I said yes regular and he made me an Americano which often happens when they don't want to make a pot.

We moved to the back where we waited a good 5 minutes before the server brought us settings and menus. (Perhaps seeing my coffee she thought that we were already taken care of.)

I ordered the Moulles- Frites and a Leffe (I think that's the name) belgian beer on tap. My friend ordered the Pomengranate glazed Salmon.

The beer was great, nice spice and fruity taste without being cloying. The Moulles -frites - great mussels, good portion with a ton of tasty liquid in the bottom (bacon and juliennes of vegetable in a cream broth). The frites were very basic, not crisp at all and obviously dissappointing with the rep that preceeded them. The frites at Go Fish were lightyears better. As my friend and I were in a serious discussion I didn't point this out to the server until well into the meal and did not ask for a retrial. She offered that the chef was not in the kitchen at lunch and that the quality might not be quite up to the usual standard. hmmmm.

I had to ask for a spoon for the broth and I also requested some bread to soak up the liquid. The bread was forgotten for ten minutes or so and then when I reminded her she went to "put the order in". It arrived grilled and drizzled with balsamic which hid the fact that it wasn't quite fresh- but still tasty.

The salmon was good and perfectly cooked.

We passed on dessert as it was getting late and when the cheque arrived as I'd figured.. "coperto" $3.00 charge for the bread although it was listed as something like "supplementary bread" as if I had asked for a second helping. As a rule I don't have a problem with being charged for really good bread but would like to be told before hand (maybe I missed it on the menu). Also the coffee was charged $3.00 as an Americano which when I told the server I had requested a regular coffee and been asked by the bartender what I wanted she replied "oh no that's the only way we do it here" end of story and I didn't feel like pushing it. Small things but they can piss you off.

The food being served around us looked great, well presented and seemed to have good comments from the customers. I'll go back for dinner when the chef is in.

[Daddy-A]

The Opening Soon episode featuring Chambar will be airing Monday, November 22 @ 6pm & 9pm.

Set your VCR's!

A.

[dodger]

Based on my experience there ...I'll save tape for a good episode of Thunderbirds or maybe that episode of Upstairs/Downstairs I missed when I was 5 years old.....really...you want to play in a town like Vancouver....compete...don't fool around with..."Well when the chef is here...." BUNK! 2nd time back......not impressed!!!

Get it together...you have a great thing there...but????

[Coop]

Mrs Coop and I went today for lunch and it was basically a disaster. We ordered a bottle of the A Mano Primitivo and a bottle of fizzy water. About 15 minutes later the waiter came and told us it was all gone, must be a big problem getting such a rare bottle. Went instead for the Deakin Shiraz. A few minutes later our food arrives. No wine. second wave of food arrives, no wine. as my steak sandwich cools, still no wine. We wait, we inquire, still no wine. finally there it is.

I suppose they were waiting for us to give up and order beer. The funny thing is most people were drinking wine with thier lunches. The food was actually quite good Mrs Coop's mussels were excellent, my Steak Minute was quite good as welll as the beet salad that accompanyed it.

The place has recaptured a real 80's moment by not having salt and pepper on the tables. I was scared to ask for it but everything was seasoned well except for the frites which were over seasoned. I just would like to have a choice.

We poured our own wine, thank god I hate waiting for some one to come and do it for me. In the best rooms it is never an issue, still I have a bad memory of getting into a fight with Baz from The Chef and Carpenter back in the early 80's when I poured my own and was severly reprimanded.

BTW we didn't realize until we were home, we never got our bottle of water. They didn't charge us though.

I agree the place needs some work. Could be worse though.

Edited November 13, 2004 by Coop (log)

[Explorer]

Ditto to Coop.

We went there for lunch last week, and there were more downs than ups. They definitely need to work some things out, including service.

The room at the back is nice, although I would never want to be seated in the front or along the corridor.

We ordered 1 glass of wine; 2 arrived.

The Mussels Congolaise was excellent- I recommend it highly especially that it was in generous portions and sauce. The tomato sauce had the right balance of spice and sweetness.

The Mussels a l'escargot left a lot to be desired. First, they arrived barely warm as they couldn't co-ordinate the 2 orders. I sent it back asking for a new one to be done, not the old one to be re-heated. In an overzealous move, it came back overly done, almost nuked and piping hot- with the taste of mussels pretty much gone.

We asked for bread (which isn't offered)- How else could you enjoy mussels if you can't dip the bread in the sauce? We waited and waited until we were more than half-way done with the mussels- After asking for it 3 times, 4 nice grilled slices of bread arrived with 2 dips (a tapenade and a basil-base of some sort). I have 2 problems with this: 1) why give us a dip when the best dip is the mussels sauce instead? 2) when we got the bill, they charged $5 for the bread, but nowhere on the menu did it say they charge for the bread, and our waiter didn't even tell us they charge for bread when we ordered it. So, they took it off.

[Explorer]

Oh I forgot to comment on the Frites...they would be a disgrace in Belgium, or in any other respectable French place.

They were slightly better than frozen ones; they were not crispy, not tasty, shapped too square...a great disapointment.

[eatrustic]

It looks we've all had a pretty similar lunchtime experience which will pretty much kill any chances of us going for dinner.

Interestingly none of us (myself included) has thought to contact the owner/chef to give our feedback. (Correct?) According to Jamie he's seems like a nice enough fellow (although when you're talking to the restaurant critic for Van Mag I guess he damn well better be a nice guy!).

My point is: why don't we as modern restaurant patrons go to the effort of giving what would be hopefully very valuable feedback to someone who has been portrayed in this forum as being a nice enough guy (and with the preopening hype had everyone creamin'). Perhaps he shouldn't have opened for lunch so quickly and is over his head and would appreciate our feedback? (as most professional business owners would).

Or are we all working on the one strike and you're out principal so why bother...theres always new restaurants on the horizon so too bad so sad -next! Vancouver dining patrons have had a rep for a long time as being very "follow the crowd". (Present company excepted of course!)

... or has this forum become the place for us to vent our unhappiness with these issues and assume that any modern owner/management of a new and or "trendy" establishment is monitoring us?

Personally I'm a little bit of all the above. Indifferent service makes me indifferent not proactive ..unless I have been taken to the cleaners.

Just curious what others think.

[Coop]

The truth is I will go back, for dinner when they are slower, like 5:30 on a Saturday. I think they were unusually busy on Friday, and I also believe that the kitchen was contributing to the problem because I saw a couple of plates sent back. The ladies next to us sent back one order of mussels because they were the wrong preperation and they had to wait for quite a while. So they had one person's meal, and she finished before the mussels were returned. I believe an owner would be silly to not read this board because it is for the most part totally without influence from advertisers, hidden agendas etc.

[2roost]

Can this be true ?

Chambar the great being slagged ?

Jamie Maw will have your memberships revoked for this.

In truth Chambar is simply going through the normal pains of:

A) adding a second service (lunch) which means adding, training and ultimately diluting the talent pool of kitchen and service staff.

B) being WAY overhyped on opening, particularly in this forum

I have been there twice and both were pleasant, interesting, better than average experiences which augers well for the future. I think Chambar will settle in nicely as a solid "must visit" restaurant and wish them well.

[montrachet]

Thank you 2roost.

I will definitely wait for the "settled in" Chambar" before going.

But will they be slammed right through Christmas with the Opening Soon episode I wonder...

[Chocoholic]

Being a Dutch expat (who used to live close to the Belgium border) I had high hopes for Chambar. I remember sitting in small restaurants in Holland or Belgium, eating pan fried sole and beef roulade accompanied by baskets of fries with thick, luciously globby mayonaise. These meals would be simple but delicious and enjoyed with copious amounts of very good beer.

Chambar's menu surely looked promising so when I finally got some time to go with a good friend I was excited. I went on a Tuesday evening at 8pm, expecting it to be reasonably busy which it was. I spent some time at the bar waiting for my ever late friend which gave me a good opportunity to scrutinise the beer menu and try a few. I have to say they got the beers right. A nice mixture of generic Belgium beers, some classic like Duvel, some a bit more adventurous like the Rochefort. The thing about these highly fermented beers is they are much higher in alcohol content than the average North American beer so they get you nice and mellow, just in the right mood for some good food.

The service was friendly and timely. I had the duck confit which came with some greens and a bit of apple sauce. It is hard to screw up duck confit so it was fine. My friend had the mussels escargot. I don't like mussels (which is strange since Dutch waters are brimming with the things) so I can't comment on them other than that my friend liked them.

I ordered the most classic thing on the menu, steak frites with peppercorn sauce. I thought if they get this right, things should be OK. Well the steak was fine, nothing spectacular but fine. The fries however were a bit of a disappointment. Golden and crunchy on the outside, white and fluffy on the inside, at least that is how I remember them from home! The ones I got were sub-par. A bit overcooked (too dark, they get bitter) and a bit anemic when it came to substance and flavor. Too bad, a place that bills itself as Belgium must get the fries right.

My friend's lamb tajine looked and smelled very good. He adored it and he can be pretty picky. It is their signature dish and I saw a lot of them go to the different tables.

Dessert wise I ordered the double chocolate shots. It was a nice idea and they sure looked good at the other table. Eating them was another matter, the shot glasses were filled with what looked like chocolate mousse but turned out to be some intensely alcoholic cream like substance. The alcohol killed whatever other flavor was present in the dessert. Too bad, I like my chocolate with booze, but not when it has been drowned in the stuff. Being the chocolate fiend I am I also ordered the actual mousse dessert which was tasty enough.

I guess this restaurant has the disadvantage of dealing with high expectations. There is a lot of buzz about it, the place seems to be consistently full (good for them) and depending on how high your expectations really are, you may or may not like it. It didn't transport me back to my days back in Belgium but the food was decent enough, the space is unassuming and functional, the staff friendly and helpful. I will probably go back in a couple of months to give it another try. If not for the fries then for the beer.

[jamiemaw]

2roost

In truth Chambar is simply going through the normal pains of:

A) adding a second service (lunch) which means adding, training and ultimately diluting the talent pool of kitchen and service staff.

B) being WAY overhyped on opening, particularly in this forum

I have been there twice and both were pleasant, interesting, better than average experiences which augers well for the future. I think Chambar will settle in nicely as a solid "must visit" restaurant and wish them well.

For the most part I agree, 2roost, especially with your first point and your conclusion. Additionally I think that Chambar has suffered (while profiting) from a relatively recent phenomenon for new, purpose-built BC restaurants. That stems from the relaxation of the liquor laws almost two years ago. Now that 'food primary licensees' (i.e. restaurants) can serve alcohol without the old 'intention to eat', anyone building a new space would be foolish not to indulge the citizens, right?

Well, only to a point, as several of you have recently reported here. I've heard from a number of folks who, unwilling to run the gauntlet in the front room, have turned on their heels. Others have found it overly noisy and claustrophobic: they came to eat. Bottom line: Chambar hasn't quite figured out how to process all those citizens yet, as 2roost points out, or if it's a bar or a restaurant, especially Thursday through Saturday.

Others have suffered a kitchen/service disconnect, partly due to the (a.)continuous slam, and others such as Coop have experienced where their wine list/inventory was innacurate [see (a.), above]. This weekend, in Kelowna, I saw something similar but well managed at a new restaurant called Bouchons. It has a similar buzz, with a talented young chef but an experienced front end. They've handled end of week traffic with aplomb though: on Fridays and Saturdays they do two seatings, with no 7 o'clock reservations. Our 8pm, late seating wait (10 minutes) was handled with a complimentary gargle of Lillet at the bar. The dishes rolled out promptly once we were seated. (Nice work, and by the way, there's a nifty little wine bar next door called Waterfront, even if it's not.)

Since Chambar opened, I've received roughly two dozen calls and e-mails. For the most part, they reflect the discussion on this board: largely positve overall experiences, some disconnects, and a couple of downright uglies. My own firsthand experiences were much like 2roost's "pleasant, interesting, better than average." We enjoyed ourselves. But there's clearly ample room to tighten the lines, and the 'Opening Soon' docu-drama may prove more a curse than a blessing.

Of course, we live in a microscopic dining market, in both senses of the word (i.e. both small and under one), and when more than a few people talk at once about a new joint with promise, it'll likely get slammed. For a while. But success, as 2roost also alludes, comes in learning how to say no, and settling in confidentally for the long run. The owners are intelligent and hard-working, and, in fairness, are barely 60 days in; it'll be the dark days between New Year's and April that will flesh out their story.

I'm not at all sure if what we do on these boards can be construed as hype though. In retracing these threads, virtually everyone who has reported in has given a pretty thorough evaluation of their experiences, which is, when it's all said and done, why we show up here.

Thanks for the interesting commentary, 2roost--you obviously know the business.

Looking forward to much more,

Jamie

PS-> If you're interested in a discussion of media convergence and opinion-making, you might want to take a peek here

Edited November 15, 2004 by jamiemaw (log)

[Daddy-A]

The Opening Soon episode featuring Chambar will be airing Monday, November 22 @ 6pm & 9pm.

Anbody see it? Seemed kinda ant-climatic since most of the goings-on had already been reported here.

That Kerri sure is a babe though .... Nico's a lucky man.

A.

Edited November 24, 2004 by Daddy-A (log)

[Coop]

Have to agree about Kerri.

[merlin]

The "electrician" [?] took the proverbial cake....I thought good trades were hard to come by on this side of the Rockies...was that guy getting paid in "B.C. bud"?

Those bugged out eyes, goofy grin....cannot figure out what switch works what light...no dimmers to be found in Vancouver...then Kerri hands him the phone from the supplier and a goofy,"...that's a good one, getting him to give me a call directly"....yikes, hope their fire insurance is fully paid up....

[Daddy-A]

The "electrician" [?] took the proverbial cake....I thought good trades were hard to come by on this side of the Rockies...was that guy getting paid in "B.C. bud"?

←

Thanks for reminding me about him merlin! He was a un-frikkin-believable! Reminded me of an electrician I once had.

Me: Is that circuit live?

Numnutts: (sticks screwdriver into socket) ZAP Nope

A.

[nwyles]

I saw this episode last night. That electrician sure takes the cake. Good for them to take on the "general contractor" role in their own restaurant. Joan and I did the same thing and there is no experience like it. I know where every curcuit is, every shut off valve for plumbing etc. It does not leave you at the mercy of retarded electricians like their's. A $400,000 budget. Wow, I could only dream of that sort of budget. We opened the HSG on a budget of $125,000. That included rent and rental deposit, opening inventory and payroll, everything. No bent nail went unstraightened, lots of recycled material etc, but what an education.

I also saw the Gord Ramsay Kitchen Nightmares - I hesitate to post on that but it was a good laugh.