It’s been a really long time since the boyfriend and I were this disappointed at a restaurant. After attending Ribfest in July and going to their BBQ stand, we were counting down the days until Smoke and Bones opened their first location in North Vancouver.
However, our experience here was a total 180 from Ribfest… so many things, if not all things went wrong.
After a 30 minute wait, we were finally seated. The restaurant had a warm and inviting feel to it, although it did feel a tiny bit cramped. This is where the ‘good’ ends, although there wasn’t much good to begin with.
When we ordered, we were told by the server that they were out of BBQ ribs and brisket… the two main menu items. Okay, fair enough… new restaurant, busy Saturday night. We were a bit disappointed as they should have told us at the beginning but whatever, we will survive. So we ordered other things which were not good.
Pulled pork burrito: This sounded good on the menu, but it was abysmal. First, it was really small and definitely not a burrito size… more of a snack wrap. Secondly, it was bland and flavourless.
Thirdly, it came with a bunch of grocery store chips. We really regretted ordering this because it was NOT worth the money… but not like we had much of a choice since most of their menu had BBQ ribs and brisket.
Chicken & sausage platter: So since they didn’t have BBQ ribs and brisket, we opted for our second choice. The sausage was the only decent thing because it’s quite hard to mess up sausage. The chicken was VERY dry.
Only the skin had flavour, while the meat was just bland and dry. It definitely needed more marinade.
Bread: Can we just take a moment to look at this sad piece of white bread? The platter came, and we were told that they were out of corn bread as well… ok. So, she said that she could bring us a ‘Southern style white bread’. Well, not like we had any other options if they were out of corn bread.
IT WAS LITERALLY A PIECE OF WHITE BREAD. Nothing special about it, no ‘Southern’ style. Straight up plain bread that I can buy from Safeway. Not toasted, no jam, butter… nothing. Just plain bread. I can’t even call it toast because it wasn’t toasted.
THEN, I noticed that they had given us the wrong side. We ordered fries, which I confirmed with the boyfriend incase I said the wrong thing. So we decided to try the mashed potatoes, and if they were good, we would just stick with it and not ask for our server.
Nope, the mashed potatoes were equally as bad as everything else. Super bland, no flavour. So we told her about the mistake, and the server was quite rude about it. She treated us as if we were stupid, and gave us attitude saying “well you ordered mashed potatoes”. No, we did not.
After everything, we were just ready to leave this place ASAP. I’m not a picky food blogger and usually have good experiences. I don’t like to complain and cause trouble, but looking back, we probably should have said something. But we were just so done with this place that we wanted to leave.
Will we be back? Nope, and I don’t recommend coming here. Mistake after mistake after mistake.
Nay x100000000.
The entrance to the restaurant is inside the hotel. As well, there is free parking for customers – just make sure you park in stalls that say reserved for Tivoli’s customers.
Mixed salad: The mixed salad was very fresh! I appreciated the decent amount of berries in the salad.
Caesar salad: Again, the salad leaves were fresh and crunchy. Not much to complain about either.
Sweet & spicy beef bites: We really enjoyed these! It tasted like Chinese sweet and sour sauce. The fried Alberta AAA beef cubes were also seasoned with Mediterranean spices. Talk about mix of cultures!
Sauteed garlic prawns: The prawns were fresh and had that nice snap to it. They were also slathered in butter which made it even tastier.
NY Steak: For $5, we could upgrade our Groupon to a NY steak. One of my dad’s favourite things at Western establishments is steak, so naturally we had to get this. It came a perfect medium rare and was nice and juicy.
Veal shank: The veal shank was also cooked excellently. It was tender and full of flavour. It came with a saffron-mushroom risotto, which was creamy and delicious.
Chicken parmigiana: Considering how tasty everything else was, this was everyone’s least favourite. The breaded chicken reminded me of those microwave dinners. It was also quite bland. I guess they’re better at their beef.
Smoked salmon linguine: There was a very generous portion of smoked salmon in this plate! With every forkful, we were met with smoked salmon in our mouth. It was a bit bland but easily fixed with a dash of salt. The boyfriend packed this for lunch the next day, and apparently it was even better since the flavours had soaked in more!
Cheesecake trio: I don’t remember the exact flavours of the cheesecake, but everyone quite enjoyed it. Unfortunately, everyone was too full from the appies and entrees so we couldn’t finish this.
Ice cream parfait: Whoa!! Take a look at this monster! It came with layers of ice cream and fruit. It would have been easier to eat as a sundae since we were all sharing (well, I couldn’t have it so excluding me haha). Normally, this costs $10 without the Groupon so I think the Groupon was pretty worth it.
We had plans to go to another nice restaurant but that didn’t go through, so it was a pretty spontaneous decision to come here (we decided to come here half a hour before). I was Yelping and this placed seemed like the perfect atmosphere that we were looking for.
I didn’t really want to sit on the patio because it seemed cold outside, but we were ensured that the patio was heated. We were seated next to a roaring fireplace which kept us warm and cozy the entire evening! Not all the seats have the fireplace, and the views are slightly better without the fireplace blocking.
Bread, free: Standard complimentary bread. The bread was nice and chewy instead, and served slightly warm with a side of butter.
Calamari, $13.50: We normally don’t get appetizers to save money and our appetite, but it was a special occasion. We were glad we ordered this because it was really good. It came with a very generous portion of calamari, with crisp and fresh batter. The calamari was seasoned with a variety of herbs which made it really good.
Alderwood grilled BC salmon, $29.50: The salmon was DELICIOUS. It flaked off nicely, and had a slightly grilled taste to it. So good. I just wanted to eat the whole thing.
New York Striploin, $42: My entree was the striploin, cooked medium rare! It was very juicy, tender, and flavourful. If I recall correctly, it usually comes with some sort of sauce or butter, but I asked for only salt and pepper with it. I’m a big believer in eating steak with good ol’ salt and pepper because I find it tastes so much better when made simply! Am I the only one who prefers steak this way?
Close up of my medium rare steak! WordPress needs to have an emoji keyboard so I can insert the drooling and heart eye ones here!
Mac and cheese, $7.00: Wow, I didn’t realize how much food we ordered until writing this post. For $7, this was a really good value and good size. The mac and cheese was baked with four types of cheese. The boyfriend said it was really comforting, with very stringy and delicious looking cheese.
I had made reservations on Open Table for an early dinner, at 6 pm. When we arrived, the parking lot was completely full! We ended up parking on the hotel side, which was still a really quick walk. The outside of the restaurant looked pretty modern and posh.
We were quickly seated, and the restaurant was pretty empty, save for a few other tables. Other parties ended up coming in as well, but it was nowhere as busy as The Keg would be. I guess this place isn’t really located in a residential neighbourhood or an entertainment district either, which explains the quieter venue!
It was an special occasion, so of course drinks were ordered!
Tuna tataki, $14.95: As an appetizer, we decided to order the tuna tataki because the boyfriend looooves tuna tataki. Unfortunately, this dish was really disappointing. The tuna was pretty hard on the outside and tasted as though it had been prepared awhile ago and left in the fridge.
Bread, complimentary: The bread was served nice and warm, with no complaints!
Filet mignon, $39.95: On to the main course! I had my heart set on the prime rib, but changed my mind last minute and ordered the filet mignon, cooked medium rare. The filet mignon came with a red wine reduction, and I chose fries as my side.
Rib eye, $37.95: Unlike how I was set with the prime rib before changing my mind last minute, the boyfriend stuck to his original decision and ordered the rib eye. When we were looking up the menu a few nights prior, he knew immediately that he wanted the rib eye!
Mini birthday dessert bite, complementary: I had called in requesting a birthday dessert for the boyfriend. After confirming with our server, they brought over the mini birthday surprise! She was nice enough to give us the option of a complementary full dessert due to her dairy mistake above, but the boyfriend was already too full at this point and I am unable to help him eat this =(
Complimentary bread: To start, we were given a nice loaf of warm bread to munch on. The bread was fluffy, soft and came out lightly toasted. No complaints here!
Wagyu beef french dip, $23: Originally, my mom and I were going to share this because it sounded amazing! However, after telling my server about my dairy restriction, she told me the wagyu beef is smothered in butter before getting cooked. Sigh.
Prime steak salad, $25: I wanted to try the steak, but I didn’t want to pay $50 for steak at lunch so I went with the prime steak salad. That way, I was still able to try their famous steak! The salad normally comes with blue and Parmesan cheese, and dressing. Obviously I wanted to have the dairy component, but due to my stupid and frustrating restriction, and risk of getting super sick I had to order without it.