Blue Water Cafe

Nous sommes allés à ce Resto hier soir. Soirée sublime .The best restaurant in Town. Le sashimi de saumon excellent et notre serveuse Julie a été d’une très grande gentillesse, polie, disponible .Une soirée inoubliable, nous conseillons ce Resto à tout le monde qui veut savoir ce que le mot fraîcheur veut dire excellent excellent excellent

#1 Favorite restaurant in Vancouver. Food is amazing!!! Service was great! Can’t say enough!

Yes, prices are quite steep, however the seafood is excellent.
Delicious cocktails, incredible oysters and really good seafood platters. Every time I visit Blue Water Café, I leave extremely satisfied. Probably one of the best seafood spots in Vancouver.
There is wonderful service too.

The food and service was excellent. Just make sure you book ahead for the time you want. We booked a week ahead and still only managed to secure a 5:45pm dinner reservation on a Monday night.
The oyster platter was very good. The server explained where all the oysters were from. We each sampled 4 different types and I thought that was a very good appetizer to start with. The sablefish dish is a must try. The fish melts in your mouth with every bite. We also had their tuna tataki, which was great, and some sort of tower with 4 different appetizers. The dessert was my favourite bit: the chestnut panna cotta was very different from other panna cottas I have tried before.
Great restaurant to bring friends and family.

We had such an excellent dining experience here! The service was fantastic and the food was even better.
We started off with a platter of oysters, they were all fresh, clean and absolutely delicious. They really know how to do oysters here! This was nice start to our meal. After the oysters, we tried some nigiri. All of which was excellent, but especially the spot prawn nigiri which really stood out as the star!
We paired our meal with an inexpensive nigiri, which tasted just as good as some of the more expensive bottles.
Then, we moved on and tried the recommendation by the great waitress was the sablefish in a miso broth. This blew us away! It was the highlight of the evening. If this is available, do not hesitate to try it.
This restaurant is so good with every dish, that a shy diner could be adventurous here without having to worry. Very enjoyable!

Made a reservation days in advance because this place is busy during regular meal times (as in 6 – 8:30pm). So don’t expect to just walk in and get a table even on a monday! Got a courtesy call around 1pm to remind me of my reservation which is nice (but I’m sure they do it so people don’t actually forget and they miss the chance to seat others).
My one complaint is just how cold and snotty the front desk staff were. I literally walked in so excited to show off this restaurant to my guests and when I gave them my info, she literally gave me the up down stare. Seriously!!! This didn’t happen last time and I was taken aback. I thought it was just me but my partner mentioned it later, so I knew it wasn’t something that maybe I was being sensitive about. I’ve had a nicer greeting at McDonald’s and that’s from spending $ 14. I get that it’s a fancy seafood restaurant, but that was such an off putting way to start our meal.
Our server was very attentive but not friendly or engaging. He was going through the motions and answering the questions, refilling our water etc, but just wasn’t interested in chatting at all. I get that they’re busy but it wasn’t warm and welcoming. Can’t knock him for doing his actual job as a server, but more his personality didn’t jive with the mood of our table.
Now onto the food:
— We got the seafood tower. I have a few thoughts on this (perhaps too many thoughts)
a) I think they should do away with the mussels and clams. They were cooked and chilled and had no flavor. They didn’t enhance the tower by any means. I’d prefer they dress them up somehow and put them in a little glass bowl/​dish like some others on the tower. Au natural simply didn’t have a wow factor as the other items.
b) Give people the option to upgrade their oysters that come with the tower. For example if the ones that come on the tower are cheaper, offer to switch them out for ones we want and tack on the price difference between the two. I’d rather eat oysters I love than just get oysters that fill a seafood tower that aren’t what I’d want to order. The oysters weren’t all shucked well either. I had shell in about 3 – 4 oysters. The nectar from some of them were also gone because I assume it spilled either while being shucked or on the way to the table.
c) The jellyfish, jumbo prawns, seared ahi tuna and scallop ceviche were my favorites on that tower. Those were done perfectly.
— the sablefish broth was too salty this time around. I always thought it’d be great to accompany the already beautifully marinated sablefish, but it was a little overpowering. Great cut of fish though — they didn’t skimp on size! I rarely say this but I’d like to see a little more vegetables in that dish. Maybe add more bok choy?
— the char was amazing. That beauty was cooked perfectly. The skin on was a good call. It worked so well with the other items on the dish. I wish I got that instead not because the sablefish wasn’t delicious, but because the char was so phenomenal.
— the lemon meringue macaron was AMAZING. OMG. I don’t even like lemon meringue but this one was so good with that delicious raspberry macaron or whatever fluffy pillow of love it was. Everything on that dish worked so well together and was executed beautifully. The look of the dish was stunning. The sliced strawberries torched with sugar on it was great. The strawberry compote was good. The sorbet wasn’t necessary but was a great treat with it. The meringue dollops baked were amazing. Everything about this dish was amazing. I’d come here just to eat that dessert.
Would I come here again? Absolutely. Just couldn’t give it 5 stars this visit because of how unwelcomed I felt right when I walked in. No one should be walking into a $ 300+ meal and be sized up upon entry.

Good seafood. Everything was fresh, fish was cooked perfectly and the ambiance is great. They also had a wonderful wine selection. We ordered some oysters to start, a baked scallop appetizer, the sable fish, halibut special, and a bottle of rose.

We had an excellent meal at Blue Water Café! Amazing food, excellent service, and great ambiance.
To start, our cocktails were very good (both my husband’s Manhattan and my Sunset Mule).
My husband and I shared the following wonderful dishes:
1) 4 different British Columbia oysters (Beach Angels, Little Wings, Chefs Creek and Royal Miyagis) — delicious! Our favorite was the Chefs.
2) Tsunami — torched hamachi — tasty
3) King Crab special roll — absolutely delicious
4) Dragon Roll — very good
5) Nigiri — sockeye salmon — local, fresh, and flavorful
6) Sablefish entrée — a melt-​in-​your-​mouth delicious, buttery miso black cod dish (I loved this dish, but it was a little too sweet for my husband)
The complimentary pecan financiers that were served at the end of the meal were also incredible.
The service was top notch. Our waitress Nastasja was knowledgable, friendly, attentive, and generally on top of her game. We were very pleased with the service.
The setting was lovely. The restaurant is elegant, classy, modern, and inviting. Also, it isn’t too loud a space.
Overall, we had a wonderful seafood filled dinner! Blue Water Café lived up to the hype.

One of my husband and my favourite restaurants in Vancouver. Whenever we are in town we always make sure one night is spent for dinner at Blue Water Café. We usually order the same items:
Edamame $ 5, Seasonal Mixed Greens $ 14.50, Sablefish $ 40.50, Abalone Mushrooms with Cipollini Onions 11.50 (side), Garden Sushi Roll $ 8.50, Shellfish Plateau (single tier with oysters, prawns, mussels, clams, jellyfish and scallop ceviche $ 28.00).
I am a vegetarian but my husband LOVES seafood. He has said this is the best seafood in Vancouver. The sablefish is always perfect, and he loves the oysters here. Sometimes he will order a dozen (or two!) oysters but the last two times he ordered the Shellfish Plateau which is a single tier of seafood on ice (3 pieces of each item). Great option if only one member of the group wants seafood. Great options for vegetarians too, I also ask for a seaweed salad (no seafood in it; they charge a bit too much but I love seaweed salad, I believe it is around $ 9 – 10 for a really small bowl). This last weekend we also had the Dolce de Leche Crème Brûlée valrhona chocolate mousse, spiced orange marmelade $ 11.50. It was delicious! The wine list is wonderful and my husband really enjoyed the Sunset Mule (Twist on the Moscow mule topped with citrus sorbet… citrus infused Pinnacle vodka, ginger beer, and lime finished with cassis-​blood orange sorbet crushed ice $ 13). Overall, amazing meal once again!
If you are in Vancouver, Yaletown you MUST go to Blue Water Café. Looking forward to return on our next trip :)

Had dinner with my son today. Ordered Wagyu beef for my son and sable fish for myself. The fish was great but the beef is very disappointing. For the price I paid (did I mention it’s $ 35 per oz), it’s definitely a ripoff! I explained my dissatisfaction to the manger and he managed to offer us a few new pieces, but they were even worse the the old ones. When I asked for a discount, only for the beef instead of the whole bill, the manager said the new pieces were consumed and there’s no way to offer my discount.(really? How my son gonna figure out its good or not if he did NOT eat them?)
But don’t get me wrong, it’s a good restaurant, but pls DO avoid Wagyu, which is absolutely a bad idea to try it here!!! You’ve been warned!

Definitely one of my best dining experiences! Blue Water is one you don’t want to miss.
First off, Unilocal has all of those $$$$ signs for a reason, this place is definitely high class and high price. However the service, attention to detail, creativity and quality are next level.
One of our highlights was the seafood appetizer platter for two. The best part was the tuna tartar on deep fried, super crispy seaweed. I will definitely ask to have an appetizer of just that next time. I could eat a hundred of those.
For my main I got the seared scallops with basmati rice cakes. The scallops were amazing, but I wasn’t too into the rice cakes. I’m not usually too into large scallops, but I had to risk it here because I knew the quality would be top notch. I was pleasantly surprised, and I will definitely have to come try it again.
They have sushi here too, so I’ve got a good reason to come back!

What a great restaurant it is. Came here for dinner last night, I was blown away by the food. When I’m in Yaletown and going to one of these fancy smancy restaurants, I have it in my mind that I will go home still hungry. I was WRONG. The food portion was well worth the price tag attached to it. Quality to me is more important than the portion itself, but tonight, this restaurant hit both very well.
We started off with their small seafood platter. There were hits and misses. I wasn’t too impressed with the small clams and mussels. But, the scallop ceviche was fantastic. Oysters were really fresh, can’t go wrong with Kushi oysters in my books. And the jellyfish was seasoned with a nice balance of soy, sesame & sweet… a Chinese restaurant couldn’t have done it better.
We also got the special sea urchin sashimi. Let me tell you, it was one of the best I’ve ever had… creamy, sweet with an «ocean» flavour.
I had the Kobe short rib served with an espresso sauce for my main. And what can I say? It was melt in your mouth goodness and a large portion too. You can cut the meat with a fork. The sauce had a deep, rich coffee flavour… lots of umami and not bitter in the least. My wife had their special whole fish. It was a stuffed trout wrapped in prosciutto with a beurre blanc sauce. She loved it and said the sauce complimented the fish perfectly.
We ended the dinner with their warm chocolate cake (lava cake) served with vanilla bean ice cream. We shared because we were both too full to have our own dessert. I found it only ok. Not overly sweet, but on the dry side. My wife makes it better.
The only reason I didn’t rate it 5* was because service was a bit off tonight. We had to prompt our waiter for the specials. When he saw that we had no more bread, he took away our bread basket, but left the spreads and never asked if we wanted more. It took a while to get his attention again for more bread. Our water glasses took a long time to be refilled — 10 minutes. I even moved my glass closer to the edge of the table, none of the many servers walking by took the hint. Our table was covered in bread crumbs by the end of the meal, but our waiter didn’t tidy up when he dropped off our dessert menus. I had to give him a hint by wiping away the crumbs with my hands until he saw me. Maybe we had a new waiter or maybe they were short staffed? I know I griped A LOT, but really service wasn’t bad. But when I’m paying premium prices, I expect premium food AND service. Just wanted to give my two cents.
We will be back, as the food and atmosphere was wonderful.

My first time here despite living a block away.
I came with a friend from out of town. It wasn’t planned so we didn’t have a reservation. They were able to get us in, but the only place was sitting up at the Sushi bar.
It was quite busy but not packed, which was nice.
We were given complimentary bread with garlic butter and some sort of pumpkin spread.
Drinks were a sparking peach Bellini for me and a martini for him. Both tasty (although I prefer the frozen style Bellini)
Our server had great timing. We never had to wait around for him for anything. We ordered scallop ceviche which was excellent. It had a nice delicate watermelon in it and it came with a side of roasted chickpeas.
For the main course, my friend had fish (I don’t recall what it was but he liked it) I had one of the daily specials. Wagu skirt streak with veggies and Parmesan truffle fries. It was good but the steak could of used a bit more flavour.
Second round of drinks was a Singapore sling and a Pinot Gris. Desert was offered but we skipped it. The bill came with 2 petite fours. A nice touch but not overly flavourful.
All in all it was good. Not blow your mind great.
I might go back, but lots of other choices in Vancouver. A solid 3.5 /​5

Blue Water Café is a haven for any seafood afficionado. Prepare to go on a culinary adventure, with a menu that has a section just for oysters, and another dedicated to a diverse array of caviar. The cocktail and wine list were equally impressive — I fell in love with a springy cocktail that was all vanilla, lavender, frothy egg white deliciousness (look out for this one).
We started with the seafood appetizer for 2, a generous selection of 4 appetizers served on a stacked tower, similar to the ones used in high tea. Following the chef’s recommendation, we started at the bottom with the scallop ceviche, up through the crab salad served on jicama crisp, to the incredible (!) ginger ahi tuna tartare on a nori-​lined tempura cracker, and finally to the salmon terrine — think smoked salmon and crème fraîche heaven.
For our entrees, we shared the sablefish and the scallops. The sablefish was marinated in a miso glaze, served atop edamame, bok choy, and black quinoa in a salty soy broth. The sablefish was so tender, it practically melted. A must.
The scallops were also delicious, seared in a beurre blanc sauce, with basmati rice cakes. The scallops themselves were delectable, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the crunchy basmati rice cakes. I think fingering potatoes or even mashed potatoes would pair better.
Utterly full and content, we still could not refuse desert, we were too intruiged. Following our server’s recommendation, we ordered the caramel ‘bar’ — a chocolatey caramelly nibble served with house-​made espresso gelato.
Overall, a ¹⁰⁄₁₀ experience. Main takeaway: you MUST try the ahi tuna tartare, and I would recommend the sablefish if you love asian inspired flavours.
We will be back to try their sushi!

Great dinner! Very impressed!
My girl recommended this place because she had previously had dinner here and had a good experience, so we made a reservation a couple of weeks in advance, and I have to say this restaurant is so popular that even several weeks ahead, there were very few options available, we got lucky.
On the day of, we arrived and was lucky enough to find street parking nearby. The restaurant is in the heart of yaletown next to a whole bunch of restaurants and bars. We were greeted at the door, and asked to take our coats. Then seated right away. The service was nice and attentive. We ordered a bunch of seafood to share. The prices are high but the quality is well worth it.
The seafood platter for 2 was an awesome option $ 38. There was 4 items that came in a tower, and you start at the bottom and work your way up. The ingredients were superb and the flavors explosive. Really can’t go wrong with this. Of course the fresh oysters were amazing, lots of different varieties to choose from.
Overall a wonderful experience.

I have loved this restaurant for many years, and I never leave dissapointed! From the food to the service, it’s always top notch.
Everytime I go, I have the seafood tower to start, mixture of beautifully prepared seafood on ice. This time I also had the wagyu meatballs that came with different sauces, and they were all great.
For dessert, I had the rasberry yogurt cheesecake. We were contemplating on going out after for our first gelato of the year, but I’m so happy we stuck here for the dessert too, because it was soooooo good!
I dont think there’s that much that I can say about this that hasn’t already been said by others.. . Looking forward to returning!

Every time I come to Vancouver, Blue Water is a must for me. One of my favorite restaurants in the city. The seafood here is amazing. You wouldn’t think they would have high quality sushi here, but they do. The sushi chef here makes his own soy sauce. Has a unique flavor to it. Definitely compliments the selection of fresh fish they have.
If you’re adventurous, try the lobster sashimi. I have had it a couple times here and it’s great. Though this time I was a little disappointed because they didn’t do a nice presentation for it. Usually they’ll bring out the lobster sashimi while it’s still moving. Yes, I know, some people think it’s inhumane. But, the lobster is already dead, not dying on the table while you eat it. After, you’re done with the sashimi, they take the claws, head, and shells to make a lobster miso soup with.
In addition, we also ordered the Blue Water Seafood Tower. That in itself is a feast. It’s a 3 tiered tower filled with various chilled seafood, Including a whole lobster. It also has ceviche, mussels, clams, oysters, shrimp, sushi rolls, and jellyfish.
Service here is always on point. The staff is very knowledgeable and the drinks are handcrafted by great bartenders. Definitely check this restaurant out if you have the opportunity. You won’t be disappointed.

We had a celebratory dinner for 20 last week and took over the back room. I will say the best service I’ve seen in a long time! The staff was accommodating and personable and very attentive.
With the help of my server I ordered a fantastic dinner — and of course I have no idea the names of anything but hopefully the pictures will make up for that!
The restaurant was hopping when I left — definitely a place I will come back to — even the bar area was packed and everyone was smiling!

On our day trip to Vancouver in Oct 2015, the wife and I decided to give Blue Water Café a try. We made reservations via OpenTable for 5pm, which is the earliest reservation you can make (hey, we did have to drive back to Seattle after this…)
Valet parking is available here, but wasn’t setup when we arrived. Street parking is available too, but was completely filled. We ended up parking in a private lot a couple blocks away.
Despite the casual name of the restaurant, inside is very nice and the service is top notch! We were clearly underdressed with jeans and casual clothing, but they accepted us just fine and provided the same level of service as anyone else. In fact, service was top-​notch throughout! Attentive without being hovering, even when busy, and our actual server was the one that always checked up on us. Of course good service means nothing if the food doesn’t hold up as well… and it does.
To start, the wife and I went ahead and ordered some mocktails… I would have gotten one of their great sounding cocktails, but didn’t think drinking was such a good idea with a 3-​ish hour drive back to the hotel! The wife ordered a Pablo Honey (guava purée, fresh lemon honey syrup, soda, crushed ice), while I got a Belgian Orange (almond syrup, grapefruit, lemon, soda, crushed ice). Both were good, though the wife’s was better than mine! Medicinals would have been even better though… And with that, we were served some wonderful bread with addictive hummus and seaweed butter.
Next up, the wife wanted to try some fresh, PNW uni. It looked really good and se said it was one of the best she’s ever had. I can’t remember the price, but I think it was $ 4-​$ 5/​each.
Next up we had some Kushi Oysters from British Columbia ($ 3.75/each). They were served with a red wine mignonette, some grated horseradish and lemon. I’ve never been a fan of oysters before, but all I’ve ever had were large, rubbery ones in Hawaii. But these were amazing! Firm texture, nice briny taste on the front, and a nutty/​smokey/​sweet finish. The wife had never had oysters before and wanted to try these… and now she’s hooked!
Next up we ordered the Seafood Tasting for Two ($ 19/​person), which is presented as a MASSIVE tower of seafood! Chef recommends you work your way from the bottom up, with each subsequent dish getting more rich. First up was the Bay Scallop Ceviche, followed by the Dungeness Crab + Shrimp Salad, then the Albacore Tuna Tartare, and finally the Smoked Sockeye Salmon Terrine. All were really flavorful, balanced and fresh. My only complaint? They wasn’t much crab in the crab + shrimp salad.
For our entrees, we both decided to go with fish of course! I chose the Char ($ 30.50) on a bed of braised leeks and wakame seaweed with Dungeness Crab, trout caviar, and pearl couscous over a nice beurre blanc. This dish was finely prepared and tasty. The fish was cooked to perfection, but I don’t think the restaurant can claim there’s Dungeness Crab in the dish, as the tiny flakes of crab meat were nearly non-​existent.
For her entrée, the wife naturally ordered the night’s special: Trout Wrapped in Prosciutto with Pilaf. It was comprised of layers of trout filet were wrapped in prosciutto and cooked until crispy perfection on the outside, and moist on the inside. Served with a herbs, beurre blanc and those AMAZING PNW mussels… This one is a must eat if available.
And of course to end our meal, dessert. For her dessert, the wife couldn’t resist ordering the Grand Marnier Crème Brûlée, which was as served with toasted banana bread, an orange caramel compote and some caramel ice cream. Delicious.
Being quite full, I decided to order something on the lighter side and went for the Lemon Curd, which was served with a strawberry salad, poached rhubarb, meringue, and vanilla ice cream. Very nice and refreshing.
To close out the night we were then served some pralines, which were delicious Maple Pecan Petite Fours.
In all we spent a little over $ 200CA, which at the time translated to around $ 175US. Not bad considering the amount of food and quality of food we received. Yes I wish the crab dishes had more, you know, crab in them, but overall it was a good meal with outstanding service. Id’ definitely return again.

I was checking out the Blue Water Café for the first time, and now I don’t even know where to start. The food was great, décor was pleasant, and the staff friendly.
I was here on a family dinner, and it seemed everyone had a good time. Because I read that this place made great sushi, I started off with the dynamite roll. While the prawns were perfectly crunchy, they probably weren’t the smartest choice when it comes to ordering sushi here as I’m fairly certain there were other choices that could really blow me away. The sashimi and the oysters here are also superb, you could be absolutely certain that the fish was fresh as can be! It was all so flavourful and succulent.
This place also serves sturgeon. I used to think that people didn’t usually serve adult sturgeon because they probably weren’t all that palatable, considering the similarity they bore with sharks, but this place proved me wrong. The sturgeon was quite flaky and everything they put alongside the sturgeon just went together so nicely. I also tried out the sablefish served in a miso broth base, and it blew my mind. I had no idea that it was even possible to make fish seem juicy, but somehow they made it happen.
If you aren’t quite satisfied, you can also try the desserts. I had the coffee mascarpone macaroon and it was very light, yet satisfying.

Another staple restaurant in Topable Group. I’ve been to West, CinCin, and Thierry. Given how much I enjoyed those restaurants I knew I had to try Blue Water. I was hoping to have scallops, but their lunch menu was slightly different and they only offered scallops as an appetizer. Ergo, I had jumbo shrimp with risotto instead, as did my mom.
We also had THE best drinks ever! I ordered Rosita’s Garden — lavender grey goose, vanilla liqueur, rosewater, and egg white. Oh my god. Heaven in a glass! Mom ordered the Sunset Mule — it had ginger in it, and pomegranate sorbet, I don’t remember what else was in it but it was very tasty and a staple drink there.
Jumbo shrimp were excellent. The barley risotto was wonderful too. We ordered the brioche anjou pear cake (for me) and the coffee macaron (for mom) for dessert. They were decent. However, more and more I’m finding I’m not a dessert person. I used to have such a big sweet tooth, and to an extent I still do. But more and more dessert just makes me feel sick and beyond full.
This place is excellent in every aspect; from the food, to drinks to service. Price is expensive but it’s an upscale restaurant. The quality is worth the price. 100%