The Watermark Restaurant at Kits Beach has been the most popular topic on our site this summer, so it makes me sad to report that Alexandra Gill of the Globe & Mail hates it. I’ve had a couple great meals there but feel the need to point out this review to anybody considering making a reservation.
Chef Lynda Larouche, who hails from Seasons Restaurant in Queen Elizabeth Park and the Teahouse Restaurant in Stanley Park, is either way out of her league or being forced to keep costs down and cut corners. Whatever the problem, it has to be fixed. Watermark Restaurant should be a showcase for Vancouver. The way the food tastes now, it’s an embarrassment.
If you disagree, please let your voice be heard in the comments below and feel free to be anonymous and use a fake email address if you must – although I can’t imagine you being any more negative than Ms. Gill. Ouch.
Last modified: June 2, 2008
I thought the building and food was great = Alexandria, go back to Toronto or wherever you came from.
Was taken out to a birthday lunch at The Watermark last week. The chowder I ordered arrived as thin gruel, and bore no relation to the heartier fare one would have expected. My companion and I asked that the salad be “split” at the kitchen and served on separate plates — when the salad arrived it was on one plate only because, we were told by the server, the chef had insisted on presenting the salad on the special seashell plate.
My companion’s grilled chicken strips on skewers were both overpriced and microscopic in size (not to mention that there were only three tiny pieces for $9.95).
Later that night, we had the real birthday celebration at The Cannery http://www.canneryseafood.com … better view, much better food (and they were happy to split the salad in the kitchen), much better service, and much better priced overall.
These are early days for The Watermark. Either they get their act together, or they’re going to be hurting a year down the road.
Oh dear, another crappy Vancouver restuarant. I am vegetarian and was there was only one vegetarian main (and that was sold out). We cobbled together a meal from a variety of starters, but sadly the whole thing was mediocre to poor. The only thing that seemed like it had been prepared by someone with culinary talent and not by the indifferent boys you see slouching in the exposed kitchens of so many Vancouver restaurants was a delicious chocolate creme brule. A commercial enterprise on public land owes it to everyone to be very good, and for now at least The Watermark falls far short of that mark.