Archer

Dinner was excellent coupled with the warm and attentive service, this set the ambiance wonderfully. Highly recommend the tuna crudo followed with the sablefish. Great presentation that matched the delicious flavours.

Love the food is amazing, always keeping up to standard, the service is always going above and beyond! Highly recommend!

Archer is a fine dinning restaurant in downtown Vancouver. Their space is not super big but is very elegant! They have brunch cocktails, wine, and non-alcoholic drink options. We tried their peach mimosa
which was really good! Also a big fan of their lose isle and Jasmine Typhoon mocktails. Very refreshing! Here's our take on their food:
:: Farmers Breakfast - the basic brunch with 2 eggs, bacon, sausage, and hash browns. We asked the eggs to be scarmbled and I'm glad we did because they did a really good job with it. It was super fluffy
and well seasoned. The bacon was pretty crispy and juicy too.
:: Pork Belly Benny - I would say 4/5 for this, the pork was a bit undercooked and the was hard to eat. The hollandaise sauce was really good though!
:: Tiramisu French Toast - this was my absolute favourite!! Brioche. espresso cream, mascarpone custard, chocolate pearls, berries, cocoa. It looked and tasted delicious!! Would highly recommend.
:: Cavatelli - my second favourite! foraged mushroom, sous-vide eggs, cream butter sauce. So creamy, comforting, and flavourful. Also presented very well. :)

Took my friend here for his birthday last night!

Foie gras tart - creative and beautiful. Given how rich it was, it was the perfect amount for the two of us.

Truffle pasta - this was my favorite dish of the night! The dish looks deeper than it is and is filling

Duck breast - my friend said this was the best duck he's had. In my opinion, it would be even better if the skin was crispy.

Ian was so sweet and chatty. I would go back just for him!

This lovely bistro is light and airy, and has traditional green banquettes that evoke Paris. The lunch menu isn't overly elaborate, but offers a variety.

I had the Caesar salad, a large serving topped by a veritable school of white anchovies. I'm old-fashioned, and still prefer my anchovies chopped into the dressing and my lettuce chopped by the chef, but it was very good, particularly the rosemary croutons.

My table mate had the seafood chowder, a large bowl literally brimming with mussels, clams, salmon, and lardons. The seafood was fresh and not overcooked.

We also shared a sourdough boule, which was fresh from the oven, and nice and crusty.

Service was friendly and responsive.

Had a late lunch here. Ordered the smoked meat sandwich, the mushroom toast, and the Caesar salad as well as a few drinks. The salad was nice with fresh white anchovies on it. The smoked meat was closer to toast beef and a bit tough but the flavor was very nice. The cocktails were well made. I'd come back again if staying in the area.

I've been to Archer once prior last year and had the tasting menu which I quite enjoyed (Particularly the scallops!! I think those were the best seared scallops I have ever had). What I find charming about this restaurant is the dark, moody, but warm ambience. They also have a beautiful bar area and brighter loft seating upstairs. The duality in ambiance makes this place perfect for date nights and special occasions. I decided to come back for their Dineout menu with one of my girlfriends as I liked the choices that I saw. The menu goes for $65 per person before tax and gratuities. My gf and I each picked something different and shared everything family style.

Appetizers:

Venison Tartare - Yummy! I liked the smoked flavours and the umami taste of the black garlic aioli. The parmesan was also a great touch. I did notice on the menu that there was cured duck yolk mixed in already but I do wish they put the small yolk on top for additional creaminess. (also it's just satisfying for me personally when I get to pop the yolk and mix it in haha)

Hamachi Crudo - I felt that the fish may not have been the most fresh and had a slightly fishier flavour. It is fish I am aware, but I have had very delicious hamachi crudo at other restaurants so I was a bit disappointed with this one.

Furikake Focaccia (add-on for $14) - We were hungry upon arrival so we added this delicious focaccia loaf paired with truffled butter. The texture of the bread was AMAZING - so soft and moist with a crunchy crust. It was a bit on the saltier side for me but I was glad we ordered it. Side note: My gf suggested putting the tartare on it and it was EXTRA amazing.

Mains:

Fraser Valley Duck Breast - I love me a thick piece of duck and the sauce au fois gras was a good touch. I felt the sauce was perfectly balanced, not too overwhelming, and complemented the duck well. The greens were also really good (had complex flavours considering it was just...kale) and I can't explain why, the kitchen must've cooked it in either the duck fat or the sauce.

Miso Caramel Sablefish - This was the dish that sent me to heaven. I am a sucker for when sweet and savoury flavours collide. The fish was caramelized to perfection and I loved the sweetness of it balanced with the fregola sarda (I was today years old when I learned about this sphere-shaped pasta) in a salty umami broth. *chefs kiss*

Dessert:

Chocolate Mousse - Delicious! The mousse texture was insanely light and fluffy and not too sweet (the ultimate Asian compliment) and I generally don't gravitate to chocolate desserts but this one had me hooked. Paired with the light and refreshing champagne sorbet, I felt like this was a very well-done dessert. I was not big on the crumble plated beneath but that was easy to avoid.

Salted Caramel Pot de Creme - This one paled in comparison to the chocolate mousse but I think it still deserves a shoutout especially if you like salted caramel and enjoyed the consistency of those store-bought pudding cups as a kid. The espresso biscotti though...that one was hard to forget and very delicious.

Portions were great and we were stuffed after the meal. Although not every dish was a hit, I did find the ones that stood out were 10/10 and a full train ride to flavour town! The perfect finish with dessert was just the cherry on top. Service was prompt and smooth and I love that food is always described at the table and plate changes/water refills were never missed. I do wish that there were some bag hooks under the table as I had to sandwich my bag between the chair and the wall but otherwise, amazing experience. I will be back Archer, you were very charming indeed.

Amazing dinner with friends complete with delicious cocktails

As soon as we entered, the experience was fabulous. Greeted by the maître d' we joked a little before he seated us. Even after we ordered and got our cocktails, he was so kind to come over and make sure we had everything we needed.

Started the DOV menu with hamachi crudo and beef tartare. Found the cheese on the tartare over powering and the roe on the crudo a bit too fishy for my liking. However the Mains were the best miso glazed sablefish I've had in ages and juicy duck. Finished with chocolate mouse and salt caramel yummies. Great cocktail list to top it all off.

Last day of dine out vancouver 2024, we decided to come here for a date night. It's pretty central downtown, but parking wasn't an issue at the time when we arrived.

The place is modern with good lighting, high ceiling with a big open bar. The kitchen was on the second floor, which is a unique setup.

We ordered the dine out menu. For the appetizer we ordered venison tartare and hamachi crudo. The venison tartare had a very special mix of flavor which contains cumin and vinegar . I'm not a fan of these two flavor, but I understand that the cumin was there to kill the gamey flavor of the venison. It would be better to pair with some kind of bread. The hamachi crudo was a better experience. I enjoyed shaved radish, which had a hint of sweetness, and crunchy. Very refreshing.

For the main course, my partner ordered an add-on dish Brant-lake Wagyu, with seared foie gras, and I order the Fraser Valley Duck Breast with seared foie gras. I'm not sure if it was because of dine out's mass production, or they are having a busy night, the wagyu came out to be overcooked. Even the server mentioned that it would be medium rare, but it came out to be medium well. My partner was disappointed, but he didn't want to trouble the server and finished it. My duck breast was pretty well cooked, and I enjoyed the beet sauce very much. However, both of our foie gras were overcooked, and mine was even burnt on one side. When the server came to check on us, my partner had to mention to him about the burned part. He was very apologetic, even though it was not his fault. He came back to two complimentary foie gras, which were perfectly made.

The high light of the night aside from their outstanding service, was the desert. My partner's salted caramel pot de Creme was a little on the sweet side for my liking, but he enjoyed it. My dark chocolate mousse was the winner of the night! It was dark, creamy, with some blue berry, raspberry and strawberry topping. On the side it paired with champagne sorbet and chocolate crumble. The sorbet was super refreshing and light, which contrast really well with the dark chocolate. I can't believe this desert made my night.

Over overall experience was still pretty good, and maybe next time I'll try some of the dishes on their regular menu.

A relatively new restaurant that's been on my radar since I saw it on the dine-out list earlier last year. More reason to try it out after seeing that it's been added onto the Michelin guide for 2023! The restaurant itself is quite dark inside to mimic a fine-dining experience, I'm guessing. Our waiter was quite good with understanding the menu. Some table clean-up between appies and entrees.

For appetizers, my friend and I shared the seared duck breast ($48), uni and lardo ($37), and charred octopus ($24). The duck breast was thick and soft. Slightly crispy from the char on the outside. Duck itself was a bit dry without the beet purée/cherry jus. Beet purée was nice and thick, adding a hint of sweetness to each bite of duck but wasn't overpowering.

Uni quality was decent - no metallic/fishy taste. Lardo was basically guanciale and it had a strong, rich, and fatty taste. House-made brioche was sweet and soft. All the ingredients taste good on its own (with the brioche), but all the flavours in a single bite made it taste a little overwhelming, as they were all strong-tasting ingredients. It would have been great instead to have an ingredient that was lighter/more refreshing in flavour to balance out the deep taste of the uni/guanciale.

Charred octopus was cooked perfectly with a slight char on the outside accompanied by a sweet soy glaze. Octopus itself was super fresh and chewy.

We shared one entree - the pasta alla chitarra ($45). Their house-made pasta was cooked perfectly. The sauce tasted a little similar to what butter chicken tastes like - probably because it was mouclade. Sauce coated the noodles just enough to not make it feel heavy on the stomach. Came with 3 prawns and ~8 mussels. Didn't really taste any of the guanciele that was suppsed to be in it - probably just made the pasta a little creamier tasting. Overall a little pricy for a pasta dish and wouldn't get this again probably and opt for something else.

Taste is good but price is expensive since that is their target clientele. I wouldn't mind revisiting for a special event though, I quite enjoyed their food!