131 Water Kitchen & Bar

Like literally terrible food. And then when they ask you how everything is you have to lie through your uncooked-​chicken-​coated teeth.

I don’t know that I’ve ever eaten more mediocre food in Vancouver. Such a shame — cool location, good space and an abundance of board games but literally the lamest food in the entire area. Not worth it.

Pleasantly surprised by this pub that I had walked passed whenever walking downtown with visiting friends and family when showing them around Gastown.
What originally attracted me was the stack of board games in the windowfront. I figured it would be good to find an alternative to Pizzeria Ludica for a board game restaurant.
I went during afternoon happy hour on a Sunday, which really made it worth it (if it weren’t…I might have different thoughts). The fish taco appetizer was surprisingly good, for me as a Mexican food snob from California. The fried fish is just as I’d like it. Even though spring salad mix was used instead of cabbage, it was still crunchy and and a little bitter the way cabbage might be, so that was good. The cream sauce was also spot on (at least, the way I like it). The little twist of a mango salsa was certainly welcomed — gave it a different dynamic. Despite being a flour tortilla (not corn), it was lightly toasted well.
Our hostess was incredibly patient and kind. No complaints there.
The board game selection seems more extensive from the outside than it actually is. While not every place is going to be able to compete with the sheer number of games at Pizzeria Ludica, most of 131 Waters’ games were duplicate copies of arguably older games (2 copies of backgammon, 2 copies of monopoly, at least 2 sets of Trivial Pursuit, chess sets, Jenga). There were a few copies of some good group games (Cranium, Taboo). Nothing super hip or contemporary popular (e.g., Settlers?). Overall, above average, but not fantastic.

If you’re visiting Gastown, this is a nice spot to duck in for a beer and people watching.

This place is great if your looking for a quick eat and reasonable prices on happy hour. Customer service was good.

Service was good. The wings were good but were the size of a Cornish game hen, very tiny. I’m glad it was happy hour because I would have been upset paying full price.

Its not often that I write reviews but this meal definitely drove me to write one. The food is awful here. We stopped in during the Make Music event yesterday and I was so disappointed in our meal despite the great music. I ordered the ribs, which came with ‘wasabi slaw’ and fries. The moment the food came out I tried the fries– I put one in my mouth and it instantly reminded me of a McDonalds fry that had been sitting out all night and reheated the next day. Flat, tasteless, and not fresh. The ribs were colorless and although they fell off the bone were not appetizing. The slaw did not taste like wasabi, which was fine, but rather it felt like limp cabbage absolutely drenched in a runny mayonnaise-​like dressing. Gross. My boyfriend got the fish & chips– he had the same complaint about the fries (I mean, not being able to serve a good/​fresh french fry is just lazy). The fish was almost purely batter, and nothing to write home about. THOROUGHLY hated the meal, and honestly, after I got home I felt like I could spew. This seems dramatic, sure, but I’ll not be going back to 131 Water. They have a great patio, board games, local beer and a good graphic designer but the buck stops there. If I wanted food that came straight out of the freezer, I would have gotten a TV dinner, stayed at home and saved my money. I probably would have enjoyed it more.

This is one of the only spots in gastown that I love! Great vibe, lots of fun board games and an awesome, eclectic menu. The fish n chips are excellent! Lots of tartar sauce served up right. The staff, especially the owner, are all really warm, friendly, good-​hearted people.

Great drink selection and fun bartenders. Awesome that they have tons of board games to play while you’re eating/​hanging with a crew. Best fish taco from the appetizer menu. Probably my favorite thing I ate in my entire foodie trip to Vancouver

4 years ago, this was my spot. The Canucks were finals-​bound and this is where I caught every game. They were doing renos to make this Gastown’s go-​to, too.
And i just had my last visit!
The service folks were personable and disinterested in service.
The men’s room was last cleaned 3 – 4 days ago judging by the pink rings on the sink.
I got a snack of chicken fingers and when I got them they had a smooth texture like McCain’s fish sticks. Bite after bite revealed a watery texture I wouldn’t expect with remotely fresh tenders so I asked the bartender if they’d been frozen. With her eyes firmly locked in the upper-​right position like the worst poker tell on the planet she said she believed they were fresh and could ask — told her not to bother.
Any other recommendations for the area, anyone?

Excellent happy hour! Even on weekends. Came here because the flying pig was full and I’m happy I did. Happy hour drinks are $ 3-​$ 4 and appies are 50% off. Even on Saturdays. Had the fried Pickles, ribs, fish tacos and panko prawns and chips. It was a ton of food and everything was good. They also have a ton of board games. Good for couples and small groups.

I came here after work with a few colleagues for happy hour and we were seated very quickly. It wasn’t very full at the time so service was quite quick and we had our beers and snacks in no time.
We ordered mostly from their happy hour menu, which was composed of typical bar food such as chicken strips and fries, nachos, etc. I had the fried pickles, which were extremely salty, while everybody agreed that their food was just okay. The prices are good but I would rather go to Flying Pig for happy hour.

Great customer service. The happy hour was amazing! The half priced appetizers was delicious! Sitting on the patio kicking back with a few friends catching up couldn’t have been any better while sitting in beautiful Vancouver British Columbia Canada. It was a great atmosphere and our server was very friendly and inviting. If in the area why not stop in for some great happy hour goodies!

I found a good sized piece of cardboard in my burger — literally!!! A white piece of cardboard. It must have dropped into my burger from a dirty kitchen. I found it in the last piece of burger I put in my mouth. YUCK!
What’s worse is the management offered me — — get this — - a 25% discount… wait for it… on the burger item!!!
When I told the manager that this was an absolute insult, she explained to me that I had eaten most of the meal! I couldn’t believe it! She tried to justify charging me for chewing on a foreign piece of cardboard that goodness knows where it had been. After much argument, she agreed to remove the entire item. Then she asked if I wanted something else! Needless to say, she should not be managing. I guess I should have asked her for a list of foreign objects you could find in your food here and what the discount was on each.
«Oh, look! A fingernail in my Fish & Chips! That’s at least a 40% discount!!»
On top of this the place is dirty (Picture of the food trapped between the outside window and the booth seat inside is now displayed in the pics section).
The rest of the food was bland and the ribs were as dry as sand. I’m pretty sure most of the food here has been frozen.
I cannot stress this enough — — STAY AWAY!!! This place takes the spot for worst food and management award for me so far. It will be tough to beat.

This was the first place we stopped to eat on our one week Vancouver dining extravaganza… thankfully it was not a sign of what was to come. We sat upstairs and it was uncomfortably hot. It was happy hour so we decided to order a bunch of their apps to share, along with a variety of beers. The food came before our beers which was weird, and the beer was so WARM. We are used to cold beer here in California so when our server told us that the beer in Canada is served warmer, we were nervous about the rest of the trip! Thankfully every single other bar, brewery, and restaurant we visited had delicious cold beer! The apps were borderline tasteless and we asked for our check and decided to try somewhere else for dinner.
Long story short: There are way too many amazing dining options in Vancouver to waste your time here.

My boyfriend ordered the almond parmesan chicken — they had run out. He got the fish and chips instead and said it was fine. I ordered the roast chicken, and again, it was fine. The fries were really good.
Service was a little slow considering we were literally the only people in there, but it was a lazy Saturday afternoon for us, so we weren’t too bothered. However it would be annoying if I had somewhere else to be afterwards.
Overall, it was fine. Not bad, not good. I might go back, I might not. It was a very average place.

It’s an old building…
My friend was having her birthday here in the back, upstairs. I’ve never been here before… I thought this place was tiny and just the front area. No, no… it’s huge. There’s another room underneath the loft area we were in. There was another birthday party underneath us judging from the singing…
We took a seat in a booth against the wall with a couple of friends. After ordering rounds of food, as we’re talking, a bug comes down from the exposed pipe ceiling down the wall. Eww… it keeps jumping around from our table to the wall, to behind the menu until one of our friends catch in a glass and her coaster. I’ve never seen a cockroach. My friends said it was a cockroach. I’m Asian. I know they probably exist in the restaurants I love the most (I’m looking at you, the now defunct Gourmet Castle), but I’ve never personally seen one. We flag the server over and give it to her to take away and the perhaps I dunno, to show someone… like a manager… exterminator… Our server’s only response was «What is that?» From there, I don’t know what happened to our little friend.
Besides that, I’ve never had a better fish taco anywhere. Like ridiculously good. My hubby had fish and chips… also good. We started out with the fried wings that taste like bacon and the deep fried pickles. Everything we ordered was deep fried. This place does that really well.
We left soon after eating. My friends didn’t want to stay. We didn’t tell everyone at the party about the bug. There were two servers that night. Service was a little slow, but there were only two servers for like fifty people so it was understandable that they were both running ragged.

Seriously underwhelming… I came close to giving my first 1-​star review.
After a long walk through Olympic Village and the Chinatown Night Market, we just wanted to find a place to have a quick drink to cap off the night. 131 is right on one of the best stretches of street to people watch and we just wanted to rest our feet.
The service is appalling, not rude but in every other way. It’s just the kind of place where the staff don’t care and don’t want to be there. We wanted to share their warm toffee cake and they accommodated our request even though at that point, they were only serving their late night snacks menu. When asked if any of the wines they had (a paltry selection of three whites, three reds) would go well with the dessert, the server asked, «do you want a red or a white?» repeatedly instead of possibly consulting someone else or trying to understand the question, although from what I observed, I’m sure no one knew. The music was loud and ridiculous.
So, the reason they have two stars to rub together is due to excellent people watching (we’re talking Walk of Shame but not the morning-​after type, more the what-​were-​you-​thinking-​when-​you-​got-​dressed type) and that they served dessert to us even though it was past time.
I really will never go back.

Here’s a proper look at this place. Most of the reviews here are simply out of date. So is the gallery. The actual food now (in 2013) look nothing like the ones in the photos.
A very casual, run-​of-​the-​mill pub setting. While nothing was spectacular, nothing was terribly disappointing either.
First off, everything looked clean. It’s located in a very nice spot. I would imagine a hot, sunny day on their back patio is quite lovely. As it was raining during my visit, we happily settled for a table indoors.
Take note that the drink specials are not fixed. Our waitress tells me that they used to have it. Now, is it sort of at the bar’s whim and fancy? On my Thursday visit this week, they were serving the Red Racer for $ 4.75. Who knows what they will serve next Thursday?
The food came in underwhelming portions. We were told that the fish and chips would come with a «nice, big piece» of fish. Wouldn’t want to see what they meant by «small, sad piece» of fish. I had to share half my Haddock burger with my poor hubby, who would have gone home hungry after their fish and chips.
You should know that everything was quite tasty. Truthfully. So far, their biggest problems are with portions and presentation.
The photos of the fish and chips you see in this gallery are probably from another restaurant. However, the fish was quite nice and the fries were piping hot and a seasoned, golden crisp. It’s not very often we see such nice fries.
The burger was poorly stacked. A small pinch of coleslaw sat at the edge of our plates. The Asian chicken salad across the table looked like something thrown together under pressure. Messy and unappetizing. The french onion soups looked sticky, old and a weird orange-​y colour. Although, I was told it tasted quite nice. There we go again — good taste, bad look.
Bottomline: please improve on food presentation!

What’s great about 131 Water Kitchen & Bar is that they have daily specials.
Monday — Red Racers $ 4.75
Tuesday — Martinis $ 7
Wednesday — Pitcher of domestic draft beer $ 13.95
Thursday — Any bottle of wine $ 25
Friday — Doubles $ 7
Saturday — Shooters $ 4.75
Sunday — Ceasars $ 4.75
Sit on the patio or the spacious booths inside and enjoy yourself.