Argan Bistro

This place is actually closed. They closed on October 11^th. I have been contracting Unilocal with picture proof and this is still up, therefore, resorted to having to write a review to list this place as closed. To further grab their attention I rated this low so that other’s reading this will be immediately drawn to this posting that this place is closed. Unilocal please change this to closed.

This is a late post for a birthday Brunch we had at Argan. Little did we know they were transitioning their summer menu to their fall menu so half of their brunch items were unavailable.
Nonetheless, the dishes we ordered were beautifully presented and tasted good. We had the Hickory Smoked Bison Bannock Bread, Meat Lover’s Hash and their Benny-​less Benny.
The Hickory Smoked Bison Bannock Bread (⁴⁄₅) had roasted peppers, caramelized onions, arugula, herbed cream cheese, sous-​vide egg, hollandaise and of course the hickory smoked bison. The Bannock bread was chewy in texture and reminded me gnocchi’s.
The Meat Lover’s Hash (⁴⁄₅) consists of Canadian bacon, chorizo, charred corn, roasted peppers, fingerling hash, salsa verde, sous-​vide egg and some hollandaise dressed on the side. This dishes wasn’t too special but that sauce was yum and it’s a pretty big portion.
The Benny-​less Benny (⁴⁄₅) had sweet corn polenta as a base then a pumpkin seed pesto spread topped with gruyère cheese and a poached eggs with hollandaise. Supplementary to the bennies were organic greens, fresh local tomatoes and some fingerling potatoes with lemon saffron yogurt. A pretty tasty vegetarian and gluten-​free dish.
Sadly, there were no drink menus and there was only one staff and one chef. The restaurant wasn’t too busy so it didn’t take extremely long for our orders to come.
Shocking news: I read on instagram that they are permanently closed (?).

Food is great and artistic and customer service is awesome. I love that it’s small and intimate because it’s great for a date or a small family dinner.

I can’t give them 5 stars. When they were Moroccan West, no problem. But on Saturday morning when I visited them, they were not by any stretch of the imagination bust, yet it took nearly an hour to receive food. Our server was pleasant and attentive to our needs and when the food finally arrived it was absolutely delicious. My group of five each tried a different think and we were all impressed with the flavour and plating.
I would recommend the Croque Madame or the Meat Lover’s hash. I’m not much for seafood in the morning but the Frittata was also highly recommended.
I would return but have a small snack before if I was hungry as the wait was a little unreasonable.

Food was good. Bison dish was delicious. Seafood chowder was good but greasy and maybe not hearty enough to be a meal in itself. My main complaints deal with the menu items. Menu is limited and there are no appetizers or salad to have before your meal. I like to start with a small salad… no luck. There are about 8 or 10 things on the menu… they were out of 2 of them and server said they won’t be available for a few weeks. 3 things on the dessert menu and didn’t have one of them. Very poor planning in my opinion at the very least they should tell you what they don’t have when they give you the menu not after you order it. Server was nice but she needed help. She was the server and the hostess for the whole restaurant. Owner should have been there on a Friday night or hire more staff.

Argan Bistro is owned by one of the kindest owners we’ve ever met! Kevin really tries to get to know his repeat patrons and always makes it a priority to say hi, which we love :)
Argan Bistro has a lot of dishes meant to be shared; some of our favourites is the pork belly dish (soooo yummy, my ultimate favourite here and the most substantial dish on their menu), their calamari, and their Spanish beer called the Alhambra (this is the only place we’ve seen this beer at, and we love it! It’s the perfect beer for a meal on the patio. I’ve tried their lava cake, which is made fresh to order and arrives super warm and SO delicious. I’m really excited for their fall menu! I hope you guys offer some delicious comfort food for fall; a fancy twist on classic comfort food is what you guys do best! Super excited to see that their menu rotates with the season, perfect for patrons that love the farm-​to-​table concept.
The ambience is trendy, and I love sitting on their patio that opens up to the street to people watch in the summer. My only recommendation for any change is that the music of the restaurant needs to be reconsidered. The restuarant is an intimate restaurant and the music should match that; perhaps review the «Dinner Music» category on Spotify («Dinner with Friends», «Mellow Dinner», and «Dinner Chill» are music choices I think would put dining patrons in a mood fitting for your lovely cozy restaurant) and if needed, change the music after 9pm if the clientele changes. Noticing the diners here, it would be more fitting to choose a mellow dinner soundtrack (in my humble opinion!) :)
In short, if you’re on Robson, pop in and have a drink and some yummy food. It’s the perfect place to talk/​catch up with friends because of its intimate setting. Love it!

Had brunch with my son. He had the meat lover’s hash and I had the bison with soft poached egg. Both meals were very good — good value, great food, and fantastic service. We looked over the dinner menu on our way out (some intriguing dishes) and definitely will return.

Was able to try out the majority of Argan’s new fall menu and it was nothing short of amazing. I would highly recommend the garlic prawns bruschetta and the forager’s toast, it’s SO damn good! Omg! Although I’m a huge meat lover, I was surprised at how delicious the vegetarian autumn squash fettuccini was! And similar to other reviews, the pork belly in the pork belly rice bowl does in fact MELT in your mouth!!!
Argan bistro is definitely a hidden gem and I will definitely be returning for more!
Gosh…the garlic prawns bruschetta and forager’s toast… :D

I signed up for Unilocal just to write this review.
One day I walked in planning to order a quick take out. As the chef personally went through the menu with me I realized that this is an experienced that must be savoured. And I am so happy that I stayed. The calamari salad was out of this world. The presentation and flavours were so surprising, but familiar and comforting at the same time. I couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day, so grateful for having this culinary experience. I found the use of sweet pea shoots especially inspired! They add such a lovely whimsical visual, textual and flavourful twist.
I’ve since been back three times more. Once for lunch with soba noodles (ah… smoked mussels. hello! they were an amazing discovery) and lavender panna cotta with chai spiced nuts, which was divine!
The next two times I brought people with me. It was too selfish to keep this place to myself only. I’ve tried pretty much everything on the menu by now. Dishes are truly an exploration into flavours, textures, colours. It is food that’s truly crafted, made with love, thought and care.
The wine list is also very carefully curated, and the server was able to recommend a nice Pinot to go with our dinner.
For me the best way to describe this food is through emotions that it elicits. The chef talks to you through the dishes. Sometimes it’s a nostalgic comforting reminiscence of the old world (pork belly and kimchi rolls or the meat lover’s hash), sometimes it’s something cheeky and funny (the calamari), or something romantic and timeless (the match crème brûlée). But all of it also has an element of surprise and discovery.
I can’t wait for the fall menu and for many more wonderful experiences. Simply can’t recommend this place enough for anyone who considers him/​herself a foodie and a connoisseur.

Found this place via Unilocal on a recent visit to Vancouver and past reviews convinced us to give it a try. I am a true fan of tapas and the dishes described thru the reviews sounded amazing. We ordered the duck which arrived a good 30 minutes after ordering with five tiny pieces of ordinary duck breast on a bed of Brussel sprout leaves. Certainly not a culinary wonder by any means. Still hungry we immediately ask for an order of the pork belly, also another fan favorite. No go, pork belly is not available. Back to the menu, which for a tapas restaurant seems extremely limited. Only other item of interest to us is the lobster. Again another 30 min and the dish arrives. One bite into the lobster reveals that it is raw and I mean chewy raw! Nothing on this mess of a plate is worth eating.
Bottom line, Argan Bistro is not tapas and the food is terrible. This chef is clueless if he thinks he can smear some sauce on a plate, artistically place tiny pieces of fruit and add minuscule portions of protein and expect his restaurant to be a success. No surprise to us now that 80% of the restaurant was empty. Worst part is we ended up paying $ 65 for five scrawny pieces of duck and two glasses of wine. Thankfully, they removed the additional $ 30 for the lobster dish we simply could not eat.
With so many fantastic places to eat in this vibrant city, this place is a definite miss. Not worth your time or money.

Stumbled upon this little gem of a place on a Sunday afternoon. With interesting brunch items, I opted for the smoked bison with soft poached egg. It was delicious, with a little hint of chilli, complimenting the sweetness of the caramelised onions in the dish.
The service is friendly and personable, but not over the top. I’ll be back

Pork belly melted in your mouth like other reviewers said. Snapper with Miso was outstanding. Clam chowder was unlike anything I have had before. Enthusiastic endorsement.

Owner Kevin Lin & Chef Jeff Miller have collaborated to form this AMAZING Bistro that specializes in West coast cuisine. All the dishes are made with local, fresh & organic ingredients. The presentation of the food is spectacular and all the dishes hit the right spot. Kevin Lin is great with customers and you can see his passion for food when he is describing the dishes to you. Also the prices are very reasonable for the quality they offer. Talking about the food… Every dish we ordered was orgasmically delicious. No doubt Argan is my newest hot favorite place in Vancouver. I’ll definitely be back to try their brunch menu which sounds amazing too.
Food: Awesome
Service: Very Friendly
Ambiance: Casual/​Hipster
Worth the price: F*ck YEAH

We stopped by for lunch today and had pork belly kimchi dish and the watermelon ceviche. Both very flavorful and delicious! The braised pork belly just melted in my mouth. The presentation was tasteful and the ingredients were fresh! I am definitely coming back for more and would highly recommend this resto to friends/​family!

Really exciting and innovative food with fantastic service. The snapper ceviche on watermelon planks was excellent as were all the other dishes we tried. It’s great to have a place like this just off of Robson Street that serves a really fresh and unique menu amongst all the chains and banal food spots downtown.

I ate here today with my wife and the food was fantastic. The highlight was the smoked oyster po’boys, but all four dishes that we shared, tapas-​style, were well cooked and beautifully presented. Given the high quality, we were at a loss to understand why it wasn’t busier than it was.

The flavours of the tapas were amazing! Try the smoked oysters and ceviche! Nice beer selection. They also have happy hour from 2 – 5!