Watermark at Kits

Went to Watermark for my birthday dinner. Located at the edge of the Kitsilano Beach, this restaurant sure has the best view of the water. Unfortunately my birthday had to be in December so I wasn't able to see much of the view in the dark.

Overall the food was pretty good. I was surprised that their appetizers have some Chinese fusion. Even the plating/presentation has some Chinese elements! Six people shared the three appetizers, along with 2 orders of bread, we were half full by the time entrees were served. My friends said the veal chops (which was the daily special) were good. I had the Bouillabaisse and it was not bad, allowing me to taste all kinds of seafood at once.

Our server seemed to be new to the restaurant as she was reading off her notes when she told us about the daily specials. She also sounded inexperienced when we asked her questions about the food. But we brought our own birthday cake so they were very accommodating in terms of getting that set up for us.

Appy - Chili Tossed Calamari

Appy - Artichoke and Crab Dip

Appy - Island Mussels and Frites (kinda reminds me of Chambar)

Entree - Veal chops (one of the specials)

Entree - Seared B.C. Sablefish

Entree - Seared B.C. Salmon on Lobster Risotto

Entree - Pacific Northwest Bouillabaisse

Watermark at Kits

Food: 8.5
Presentation: 8
Environment: 8
View: 9 (The view would be gorgeous in the summer)
Service: 7.5
Overall: 8.2

Boathouse Restaurant Port Moody

Been wanting to try the Boathouse at English Bay but never wanted to go all the way downtown for that. Fortunately, they just opened another chain in Port Moody in November. For a business dinner, I had the opportunity to try it out.

The evening started with a cocktail drink. I ordered a Mango Tango which had
Finlandia Mango Vodka, Cointreau, white cranberry juice, lime and mango puree. I love mango flavoured drinks (alcohol or non-alcohol) and this one didn't disappoint me. That was followed by some appetizers to share. We ordered calamari, tuna spring rolls and a shrimp dish. Entree I ordered a Westcoast Hot Pot which is one of their Boathouse favourites. I also ordered dessert, Mocha Ice Cream Pie.

There's a hiccup with the services. Another person at the table ordered a Fresh Steamer Pot, which was fairly close to what I ordered. Hence when the food arrived, the servers accidentally switched our two orders. The other person had started eating my Westcoast Hot Pot by the time they found out about the mistake. Then they quickly put in another order to get me a new one and gave her back the Fresh Steamer Pot. So here I was, awkwardly twiddling my fingers for a good 15 minutes before I got to eat my entree. Overall, I think they handled the situation pretty well.

Food was good. Size of dishes was fairly big, too. The Westcoast Hot Pot was nice but the rice noodles were quite filling. The dessert was gigantic but it was so awesome I finished the whole thing!

Boathouse Restaurant Port Moody
Food: 8.5
Presentation: 7.5
Environment: 8
View: 8 (You can actually see the Burrard Inlet)
Service: 8 (The follow-up service made up for the mistakes they made)
Overall: 8