Henry's Kitchen

[maxmillan]

Located on 4025 MacDonald St in Vancouver, (25th and MacDonald.)

The worker in the antique store, next door, said that the owner was the chef at Il Giardino. I asked if I could make a reservation today and they were totally booked until next week!

They have take-out as well as lunches.

They serve salads from $4.50 to $7.95,

wraps, sandwiches, burgers, pasta, beef bourguignon, prime rib, lamb. Prices are $6.95 to 21.95,

and kids menu for $5.95

The quantity and price seems very reasonable. They are opened from Tuesday to Saturday 11-3 and 5-9. If anyone is interested you should book well ahead of time 604-738-9883

It would be interesting to get feedback if anyone goes. My eating partner is in Chicago and I plan to go sometimes in the next two weeks.

Edited April 13, 2005 by maxmillan (log)

[Keith Talent]

Cardinal rule broken. As part of your user agreement you are expected to memorize each and every word of Mr. Maw's pearls. Reviewed last month, (as in the month prior to this months issue.) Someone smarter than I will be along to link you shortly.

[BCinBC]

And here it is. (I'm not claiming to be smarter than KT, BTW, just happened to be grabbing the link at the same time as he was posting.)

Edited for clarity.

Edited April 13, 2005 by BCinBC (log)

[BCinBC]

I finally made it to Henry's Kitchen on Friday night. It was a spontaneous decision as I was driving around thinking of where I could eat. At 8 PM, pretty much all 30 seats were filled but I got lucky as a walk up single and was seated right beside the till / display cooler. The in-laws would love this place, it is so unpretentious. The crowd was a mix of Vancouver "business casual" (ie collared shirts and jeans) and Vancouver "really-casual" (ie bums like me). The phone was ringing off the hook, but no one had time to answer. No need either.

I started with a Caesar, which had a very smooth background anchovy flavour in the dressing (and fresh, crisp romaine). Then, despite the summer weather I had to get the beef bourguinon - and was rewarded with a rich broth soaked up by two "scoops" of rice. Too full for dessert (the heat!), but with a glass of wine, total was a very reasonable $24 + tip.

It is all very simply presented but the flavours are "classic" and full. Pastas looked great, I almost got the carbonara. Next time.

[Ducky]

As much as we like Henry's - particularly because it's just down the road from us - we find it is hit and miss.

I have had a very fine boeuf bourguinon there - but I have also had the worst bb of my life there: all thin watery broth and gristle.

I have had a brilliant seafood pasta there - but have also had one that smelled like the rubbish bin behind Go Fish on a very hot day.

The ceasar is usually good - but occasionally it is bitter and inedible.

When the boy is good he's good - but unfortunately he is not very consistent.

[kissmekate]

I ate at Henry's on Friday night. Now granted I did not pay the bill, in fact I didn't even see it, so I can't really speak to the value aside from guessing based on my menu items but I have a pretty good idea.

I must have been in on one of those hit or miss nights and it was a miss night. My hosts mentioned that they felt the food was going downhill and that the portions and food quality were below what it had been. They, as regulars, were generally becoming luke-warm about the restaurant. Having never been there I was unable to compare it, but having said that, I still don't see what all the fuss is about...

It's a family restaurant. Very casual diner, garage sale style décor. Wife up front in shorts and sneakers, hubby in the kitchen, the kids back there somewhere being babysat by the TV. You saw them as you walked through the kicten and dish pit to get to the washroom...The food was OK...my dish was actually quite terrible, only ate it because I didn't want to be rude to my host. They were satisfied but not overwhelmed with their meals.

Service was next to non-existent as they don't have ANY OTHER staff in a 30-40 seat restaurant other then this one woman. So you wait for menus, wait for approach, don't get offered drinks and have to wave her down for anything you need. If I am going to go cheap and cheerful give me the neighborhood Earls any day over this for value, and if I am going to go family, well there are a lot of family run restaurants in town that offer better food, better value and deserve my business by supporting industry and fundraising events, paying to have staff and offering consistent service and food quality.

I might try Henrys again on a quiet winter night just to see if all the fuss about them was deserved before they got so busy, but based on my first visit, I would give them about a 3 out of 10.

[tarteausucre]

I would agree with the last post regarding Henry's Kitchen. I always like to support neighbourhood, family-run establishments but my visit there left quite a bit to be desired. I would rather pay a wee bit more for better service, more consistent food, and last but not least, more pleasing decor.

[maxmillan]

The reports are disheartening. I was hoping to go soon, after anticipating it from the initial post date. I'd be too embarrassed to bring my friend there now after hearing these negative reviews.

A couple of months ago I tried ordering a take-out (for me to pick up) and they said they were too busy?! They do offer this service so what the?

[Ducky]

As I said, we were regulars there for a while as it is close to home.

Something started to go very wrong with the place right around the time the Vancouver Magazine article appeared.

Not sure what's going on.

[BCinBC]

Sounds like the last few posters had unfortunate experiences, which is too bad. Maybe I got lucky, because I most definitely did enjoy the food I was served. But lack of consistency is a real issue, and I could see how this would turn me off fairly quickly. If the man is not producing the goods, I agree that there isn't much else to attract diners to this place.

Shrinking portion sizes - I have no frame of reference, but I was okay after one app and one main.

The single hostess / waitress / runner (well Henry actually does half the running anyway) did make for inconsistent service, and she did not have a clue when I asked her a wine question (she brought the bottle over so I could read what grapes were in the blend). However, given the establishment I was also not surprised (well okay I would have expected an answer on the wine as they only have a short by-the-glass list and the place has been open awhile).

Decor - same thing: given the establishment, it's about all I'd expect.

How could he improve the experience, make his server wear something less casual? Perhaps. Clean up the decor? Sure. Hire one other person? Definitely. But again the place is not downtown or on South Granville, it's basically in the middle of nowhere - on Macdonald and 23rd across from the DMV.

Like I said before, I'm going back for the carbonara so we'll see how visit #2 goes.

PS: Cate, I'm curious what you had that was so bad.

[foie]

I went there once and had a decent seafood pasta. Every time I've tried to call for takeout they either never answer the phone or say they're to busy. Ok, if business is so good that you don't need to do takeout then fine, don't offer take out. I live in the neighborhood and a lot of people I know who have checked it out have not much good to say about it. I don't know what Jamie Maw was raving about in his article. There are far better family places to go in the area then there.

[kissmekate]

Sounds like the last few posters had unfortunate experiences, which is too bad. Maybe I got lucky, because I most definitely did enjoy the food I was served. But lack of consistency is a real issue, and I could see how this would turn me off fairly quickly. If the man is not producing the goods, I agree that there isn't much else to attract diners to this place.

Shrinking portion sizes - I have no frame of reference, but I was okay after one app and one main.

The single hostess / waitress / runner (well Henry actually does half the running anyway) did make for inconsistent service, and she did not have a clue when I asked her a wine question (she brought the bottle over so I could read what grapes were in the blend). However, given the establishment I was also not surprised (well okay I would have expected an answer on the wine as they only have a short by-the-glass list and the place has been open awhile).

Decor - same thing: given the establishment, it's about all I'd expect.

How could he improve the experience, make his server wear something less casual? Perhaps. Clean up the decor? Sure. Hire one other person? Definitely. But again the place is not downtown or on South Granville, it's basically in the middle of nowhere - on Macdonald and 23rd across from the DMV.

Like I said before, I'm going back for the carbonara so we'll see how visit #2 goes.

PS: Cate, I'm curious what you had that was so bad.

←

Hi BC in BC, I had the Chicken Cordon Bleu. Dry and tastless. I soldiered through as I can pretty well eat anything when I'm hungry and I didn't want to appear ungrateful in front of my hosts - Who I hope don't read e-gullet, gosh I only just thought of that...

[quattroporte]

I had dinner at Henry's Kitchen about 6 weeks ago - me, the kidlets, and Mr. Q. It was a horrible experience! My chicken parmigiana was mediocre and too salty, my husband seafood concoction was lackluster, but beyond that, a couple of things happened that really gave me indigestion: when we first arrived, the menu board clearly stated that the escargot were sold out, but a gentleman who arrived after us sat down and enjoyed a plateful. What's with that?

At the end of the meal, we were looking forward to enjoying the cheesecake - I had eaten it once before, and it was fabulous -very airy and light for a cheesecake. The waitress stated that there was only one piece left, and so we settled for that. When we had finished dessert, I noticed the same man digging into a large piece of cheesecake (remember, we supposedly had the last piece.) Who knows? maybe he was a relative. To top things off, we noticed a number of unusual charges on our bill. The bill is not itemized, but this time we decided to spend a few minutes looking it over. We were baffled, and when we questioned the waitress, she was at a loss as well, and took 3 miscellaneous small charges off our bill.

We won't be back.

[nwyles]

Wow !

This sounds like Mr. Maw's article has driven hoards of people to Henry's door and they were just not prepared to deal with that kind of volume.

The poor guy is probably just trying to hold his head above water on a nightly basis. I can tell you it has become very hard to get staff. It is a traditional thing in August. Summer staff have made enough ( or at least they think so ) and decide that working is clashing with their tan time. Cooks have had enough of the heat and decide to move on after a two to three week hiatus. ( too busy at the last job to get a vacation so just pack it in - lot's o' jobs out there for cooks!

Jamie, you had better check before you darken his doorway again ! There might be a Jamie Maw doll with bamboo skewers through it.

Too much of a good thing ? Is there a shortage of restaurants in that neighbourhood ?

I think I will wait until I go and try iy out. I was looking for it a few weeks ago but could not find it. I am glad now that I did not. Maybe in a couple of months.

[Foodie in Vancouver]

YES! there is an extreme shortage of restaurants in the neighbourhood. Having said that we do have a gazillion sushi restaurants of which Aji Sai is the clearcut winner. Other than that - Fish Cafe but how often do you want fish grilled or sauteed? So yes, Neil there is huge opportunity in this neck of the woods.

[Ducky]

Fish Cafe? Don't get me started .....