Cafe Pacifica

Our group of about 20 dined here on the first night of TED week. The food, the service and atmosphere were all incredible — and my grilled steak was absolutely superb. Really superb. I will highly recommend the Pacifica Café for a delectable meal, above average service, and a setting in a beautiful location on Vancouver’s waterfront beside the Convention Center.

Came here for dine out on Thursday at 8:00pm. We waited to be seated and took a while as there was no one at the front counter. It wasn’t a busy night and service was still slow. It took us a while to get water, our orders taken and then our food.
For appetizer I had the duck consommé, you can really taste the duck in it. It reminded me of phở soup kind of actually.
For entrée I had the short ribs with Chinese vegetables. Very small portions. You get one asparagus, one carrot, and one buk choy. Kind of disappointing.
For desserts it was a Matcha Tiramisu with red bean jelly, Mango and Lime Meringue tart, Cherry chocolate petit fours. Matcha tiramisu and the mango tart were the best. Chocolate petit wasn’t good and could finish it.
Overall service was the disappointment during this dine out. Food wasn’t bad. But felt like we were treated differently compared to other tables with most guests of the dominat culture. Maybe cause we were two young asain girls. I don’t know, but there was a treatment difference during our visit for sure.

Came here for the dine-​out. Not gonna say it was as horrible as some of the reviews I’ve read but not exactly deviating far off the mark. I will say the service is fairly good so there are some merits. Anyways, came here in a group of 4, so we got to try both appetizers. The duck consommé wasn’t exactly anything super special. Again, that doesn’t mean it’s bad, just I mean not anything to write home about. The tuna tataki was a bit better, but there is better in the city. For the main course the ravioli was particularly tasty as was the braised beef, but both came in those small amounts normally associated w/​dine-​out so not exactly filling. The beef was actually a little fatty, so on top of being small, there wasn’t any actual meat. Finally the dessert just sucked. Would I go back? probably not. Am I glad I checked it out? slightly.

We had the 4-​course Groupon meal for two people at $ 95. It consisted of soup, salad, an entrée, and dessert.
The first course was a soup — the Thai Curry Infused Nova Scotia Lobster Chowder. It had a really unique flavour for a chowder. I was expecting something creamy but it actually tasted like a mix between curry and tom yum soup. The flavours were very exotic and rich with strong ginger flavours. This made my throat feel really warm after haha. The chunks of lobster were good and I loved the vegetable confetti. They were very crunchy: D This was a very good dish. It was also very hot when it came out, which is a plus.
Our second course was a salad — Seasonal Mixed Greens and Marinated Hearts of Palm. The greens were fresh and had a bit of bitterness. It was dressed with an herb vinaigrette but I wish it had more of that. The veggies were a bit too dry. My favourite part of the dish was the lychee gel. It was very sweet and refreshing. There were also bamboo shoots, which I thought had a very unique flavour.
For my entrée, I chose the Duo of Beef. On the left side of the plate is the 48-​hour Braised Horseradish Dusted Short Ribs, and on the right is the Butler Steak. The short ribs were pretty tender but I didn’t taste any horseradish flavour at all. The butler steak had better flavour but it wasn’t super tender. It was actually cooked medium well which was a bit overdone for me (but they didn’t ask me how I wanted it cooked). For the sides, there was a smoked potato purée, asparagus, carrots, pearl onions, and spaghetti squash. At first bite, I liked the smoked potato purée because of its nice, smoky flavour. However, the texture made it not very appetizing anymore. It wasn’t really a purée… it was more like a mash and the consistency was way too thick. The spaghetti squash was pretty interesting though. It was surprisingly sweet and I’ve never had anything like it.
The other entrée was a Seared Arctic Char, which is what DC got. Underneath was BC rock crab risotto with braised fennel and vegetables. The Arctic char was cooked decently. It wasn’t super flaky and we thought the fish was a bit bland but it actually went well the risotto, which was really cheesy. Unfortunately, the risotto was too heavy for us and much too cheesy… it’s definitely not something you can eat a lot of.
For my dessert, I got the Warm Sticky Toffee Pudding. It came with vanilla ice cream, scotch infused crème anglaise, and candied ginger. I’ve never had sticky toffee pudding so this was a first for me but I really liked it! It wasn’t too sweet and it was moist. The candied ginger was kind of out of place though.
DC’s dessert was a Pina Colada Cheesecake with a blueberry compote and fresh strawberries. I thought the cheesecake was too creamy and I didn’t really like it but then again, I’m not a fan of cheesecake in the first place. It had a slight coconut taste. Tbh, I really only liked the fruits in this dish.
By the end of our dinner, DC and I were completely stuffed! The food wasn’t amazing and it doesn’t really compare to other upscale restaurants but for a $ 95 4-​course meal for two, I can’t complain! The portion sizes were good too. At first, I thought they were small but their components are actually quite filling. Anyways, I probably wouldn’t go back but it was a great experience nonetheless and a nice way to celebrate my birthday! XD

Went there Saturday for dinner. They had their opera performance, had the three course groupon meal, not the buffet.
Pros: Good atmosphere. Listening to opera was fun. Most of the food was good.
Cons: Service. Everything took way to long. We first sat down, did not get recognized for a while. Drinks took forever, we got water after our bar drinks. Water was never refilled. I would of had another drink from the bar, if asked. Getting food also took too long. Speaking of food:
Kids chicken soup, fish and chips were pretty good.
My Currie soup, beef tips and cheese cake was good.
Wife’s curie soup was also good, fish was dry and her pudding-​thing-​dessert was horrible.
Other con: During the opera performance, the maintenance crew started moving the tables on the floor next to us. They were using 4-​wheel carts that were very noisy. The table next to us complained to the waitress who said she would talk to the manager. Several minutes later, the manager came over and apologized for the noise, to the wrong table.
Also, we asked a different waiter for our bill, he went to tell our waitress, who brought the table next to us their bill.
A lot of potential here, especially for the price (buffet is over $ 50/​person).
–The location and view are great
–Opera singing is cool
–Wait staff needs to get their stuff together.

This beats all the worst reviews I have written. Lamb was like cardboard, mixed with chef boy ar Dee sauce and kale chips that did nothing to the plate. My friend had salmon and it was cooked so dry she had a bite and left it. I barely ate my meal too. It also came out Luke warm. If this was my restaurant I would fire the manager and the chef. It’s ridiculously awful in every way. Who puts kale chips with lamb?
The service, probably one of the worst too. After getting our appetizer, we waited for 30minutes for main. prior to that it took us 25min to order because the waiter is oblivious and has no sense of time. If it wasn’t for the gorgeous view we would of walked out. he never think to ask for water. We had to ask waitress for bread, though it came with the meal. Zero character as waiter and not attentive at all to basic stuff such as water and bread.
I remember my prom being here and we always made fun of the food. Thinking that it has changed but nope. Even worse than I had remembered it.

The service is so bad, we had to wait 20 minutes for water and there were only 5 tables occupied on a Friday night (That should have told us something). The food was mediocre at best. The avocado on the salad was black and soggy. A chef should never have let it leave the kitchen like that. The veal was so salty we had to take it home for the dog. The salmon was on top of the hash like substance which was tasteless. We could not complain because the server was never around. We felt like we were invisible. When our desert came after a half hour wait, the server did not even ask if we wanted coffee or tea. The meal cost over $ 200 and that was with 2 half off groupons (so it was a $ 375 meal that was so boring a nice hotel like the Pan Pacific should be ashamed) .We used to come here a lot, so much that we knew the servers. The place has really gone downhill. There are so many nicer restaurants nearby do yourself a favor and try one of them.

I go here for Brunch with Santa with my kid every year and love it. It’s worth the money I’m paying for the foods and the face painting/​ballon art. Dimsum and sushi are great as well. I love the variety of dessert and chocolate fondue fountain.

Had the brunch buffet here this morning. It was fantastic! Yes, at $ 50 a head, its pretty pricey, but I honestly felt like I got a $ 50 meal. Lots of fresh fruit, a wide variety of salads, bread, sushi, shrimp, crab legs, bacon, excellent sausage, perfect eggs benedict, fish, beef, egg rolls, pork shumai, shrimp dumplings, lamb carving station, salmon wellington, omelette station, pastries, tons of deserts and juice… I’m sure I’ve left something out but I think you get the picture.
A few of the salads were a bit bland but that’s usually by design to please the regular brunch crowd. The Benedict was perfect! The Asian offerings were not what I’m used to for brunch but they were spot-​on! They had some of the best breakfast sausage I’ve ever had, extra plump with just the right amount of maple flavor. Everything else at least very good if not excellent.
We ordered mimosa and coffee at the table and both were great. The coffee was good enough to drink black and they used real champaign in the mimosa, not the standard cheap stuff. Service was very prompt, friendly and welcoming. The views from the dining room are beautiful and the live piano player was a nice touch.
I really have nothing bad to say about this place. I’d recommend the brunch buffet to anyone that has $ 50 to spend on a meal that’s worth every penny.
Side note: find this place by going into the Pan Pacific hotel and take the elevator to the L lobby level.

Opera buffet … fantastic!
Love the food… all of it! and of course the entertainment.
This is not a place though for a group who are loud or a family who talks loud in their language! have some respect to the performers!

Came here just before the Canada Day fireworks at Canada Place.
The menu is shortened up, and the prices were on the high side ($ 27 for two pieces of fish and 2 tiger prawns?!?)
The cobb salad that I had was good, with plenty of bacon and eggs, and was of a good portion size that I could just finish the whole thing.
The batter on the fish and chips was greasy and a little much, but the fries were light and crunchy.
Service was really good, with the servers wanting to go the extra mile for you and making sure that you felt taken care of.
It is a great spot for views of the Burrard Inlet, but the quality of the food and their respective prices definitely dampened the experience.

Food was pretty decent and the views are great. I do have to complain about the service we received. I cannot generalize for the entire staff but we had to ask our server multiple times (2+ times) for coffee, tea, and the bill.

I was there for the opera buffet they offer on Saturday nights. I was with someone and we were staying at the hotel.
When we went to the host stand, no one was there. The opera singers were performing, and we didn’t know if it was OK to just walk in and seat ourselves or what. The air in the room was massively stuffy and the clientele was a mix of casually dressed with the over dressed. We were dressed casually and not seeing any clue about where to go or what to do, we started to walk into the restaurant to find an open table.
Not finding anything that wasn’t already taken, we stopped to listen to the music for a bit. This seemed to clue in the staff as a waiter rushed towards us and told us in a very English way to go away. He said that we would «probably be more comfortable eating outside on the deck.» The person I was with thought that meant we could actually eat outside, but that made zero sense to me since the entire point of this situation was to dine while hearing the music.
We went outside where a few people were enjoying drinks. There was a bartender working and no one else. We asked him if we seated ourselves or what for the buffet, and he was genuinely confused. We explained what happened, and he told us to go back inside and apologized for the confusion. He said that there wasn’t any food being served out there.
We walked back in to the buffet and headed towards an empty table. It had nothing on it but a tablecloth. We sat down and listened to the tenor and the soprano for three songs before a different server showed up in a rush with silverware, plates, etc. Then he ran away, either out of shame or embarrassment, with no explanation of whether we just went over to start serving ourselves or what and not taking drink orders.
I suggested that we walk over to check out the food, but we were waiting for a break in the music so we wouldn’t interrupt the performers as we were seated near them and didn’t want to be rude. A waitress appeared and asked if we were going to eat or what because people were waiting for a table. I told her we were leaving because of the rudeness and ineptness of the staff. She was surprised. I am not sure how.
We looked at the food out of curiosity as we were leaving and none of it even looked appetizing, but that was probably because I was mad as hell.
You must pay for parking then trek through the very large lobby, go up escalators, then walk some more to finally reach this deplorable place.
Service: Zero
Ambiance: 3
Parking: 1
Food: NA

Was here for a big surprise birthday for an uncle. There were 30 – 40 of us in total but the service was excellent. It was the Operatic buffet experience on a Saturday night.
The buffet was delicious. My favourites were the cannelloni and the beef tenderloin medallion dishes. Everything was quite tasty but maybe the selection could have been greater since I ended up having nearly the same things in both of my helpings.
But the desserts! Now this was lovely. From fresh fruits to cake pops to pies to cheesecakes to tiramisu in a martini glass to panna cottas and dark dark chocolate mousses in pretty glasses. The buffet may have been worth it just for the dessert selection.
The opera performers were fantastic as well. They even performed an operatic birthday song for said uncle.

Great breakfast buffet! Tons of selections to choose from and the food presentation was very nice. I do think it’s overpriced, but it is at a hotel so I’m not surprised.
I will list what I remember:
* Eggs benedict
* Mango smoothie
* Strawberry smoothie
* Lots of fruits
* Yogurt
* Waffles
* Smoked salmon
* Hash potatoes
* Orange juice
* Grapefruit juice
There might be more, I just don’t remember.
I ordered the their breakfast french toast (it’s not part of the buffet) and it was really good. Raisin bread french toast with a side of berries, whipped cream and maple syrup. YUM!
This restaurant is conveniently located at the Pan Pacific Hotel. Not a bad place to grab breakfast if you stay at the hotel.

The Easter brunch was insane. So many choices. As you’d expect, there were many, many people here, but the buffet was so large that it didn’t matter much. There was live music, and it drowned out (most of the) screaming kids.
The brunch buffet had… ummmm…everything? Higher end things included crab legs, oysters, etc.
I wish the buffet were a bit less expensive. I paid something like $ 350 for four people. We did feel like it was a truly great meal though.

This is for a dinner review.
I was in the area and myself and the SO were craving some food. Didn’t know where to go. I can’t remember how the conversation went, but somehow we decided to come here. I’ve done the brunch thing here too many times to remember, so I guess we decided to try dinner.
I have to say that this place is nicer when it is dark for dinner. The tall windows lets in too much light for a nice atmosphere at dinner time. We came before DST ended so it was still quite bright out.
It was kinda dead when we got there — not too many people.
Treasures of the sea — not bad, quite tasty.
Chicken & prawn linguine — not bad either.
Food wise, this is OK, but for atmosphere, meh. I didn’t like the openness of the restaurant. It didn’t have that intimate surrounding that I like. Would I come again? Unlikely. It’s too out of the way for a meh experience.

I’ve lived in Vancouver for over 20 years now and never have I’ve never felt so relaxed and taken cared of. I literally felt like I was on vacation when I was sitting at this restaurant. From our table and through the ceiling to floor windows of the restaurant, I saw the beautiful pastel pink and purple sky hovering around the last bit of sunshine peaking through the silhouette of Stanley Park. This place in the early summer evening is a must go! The restaurant and hotel was decorated with beautiful flowers too.
Our server was such a gentleman. Prompt, polite and friendly (I had to tip him extra!). Not only did he delivered our cups and condiments for our tea, but he also poured the tea for us.
Now, not everything was perfect. Yes, I did manage to find something to critique on! The bread they served to us prior to the appetizers. Yes, this bread needs to go. Its dry… so dry that they butter and tea did not help it much. If there was a suggestion box, I would tell them to go to Seasons in the Park and try their bread because for a high end hotel like Pan Pacific, this bread won’t do.
On to the food! If you go there, you have to try their marinated tuna as the appetizer. Note though, the tuna is raw. As for the main course/​entrée, I believe the technique they used to prepare and cook the food is great. The texture and tenderness of the meat is perfect, however, they need to work on the seasoning part. Don’t get me wrong, it was flavorful, but i just like my meal a tad more flavorful. I got the steak and grilled salmon. Both dishes were cooked perfectly, but I felt like I needed to add a dash of salt. Lastly, the best part of all, the dessert! We ordered the Mixed Berry Cheese Cake and their Chocolate Cake with fruit infusions and compliments. The desserts were delicious beyond compare. Some restaurants serve desserts that are way too sweet or desserts that have over powering flavors or even desserts that are put together in such a way that the textures are wrong. But not here. These two desserts that I had was the perfect blend of flavors, sweetness and textures, decorated eloquently on their dish.
Last of all, the perfect end to a perfect meal, was the location of this restaurant. My friend and I walked around the area by the Vancouver Conventional Center. The sun was finally setting and it was just gorgeous! To all you guys out there, this place is perfect for a date! Super romantic and I have to say, with the exceptional service and delicious food, it would make anyone happy.
Extra Notes:
Parking: depends on the time of day. During the evening there were parking available on the street. I believe they have a parking lot but I’m not sure who can use it… I used transit because parking is always expensive downtown.
Price: Alright, I have to say, it is a bit pricey for this place. Majority of the price charged is due to the location of the place. I got lucky because I bought a coupon online for this place. I only paid $ 45 + Taxes and tip. The original price of this meal is about $ 110 for 2 people. So expect it to be pricey unless you have a coupon.
Pictures: I posted some pictures of the food and scenery up.
Enjoy!

My boyfriend and I came here for a 3 course meal the night of our 2 year anniversary. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t permit outdoor seating so we were stuck inside :(. The décor is a little dated though the open airy lounge-​like atmosphere trumped the décor and I believe later at night in the dark may have been nicer yet, and service, though pretty attentive, was a touch slow to start.
We ordered the thai beef carpaccio… which, as a pseudo-​vegetarian, I wasn’t too keen on trying, but my options were limited; after all, it was a 3 course meal. It was FANTASTIC. I loved it. I’d have licked the plate if it was socially acceptable to do so.
Boyfriend next had the flat iron steak and I had the fresh ricotta, pea, and mint ravioli, which again, was wonderful. So fresh, just one bite made me sigh. The desserts were pretty good I had a strawberry-​rhubarb-​something-​or-​other and bf had the goat cheese cheesecake. Pretty darned tasty.

Le brunch de dimanche est très populaire à l’hôtel. Café Pacifica est un restaurant souple offrant diner élégant, avec la cuisine locale pour le déjeuner, le déjeuner et, pendant l’été, le dîner. Café Pacifica change en restaurant italien le vendredi soirs, comportant un buffet italien d’opéra. L’endroit parfait à rendezvous avec des amis et des associés d’affaires.
This is a great place to meet friends, particularly for Sunday brunch. The place is elegant. You can have munchies, you can sit and have some cocktails, walk around outside, eat at Five Sails Restaurant or just walk around Pan Pacific Hotel. As usual it was hang around Cascades Lounge overlooking Vancouver’s Stanley Park for me, with some dry martini – I was happy to watch the world go by!
Even though I grew up in Vancouver/​Burnaby, I can only say one thing:
«Go Sharks!!».

While killing time around Canada Place before an IMAX movie, I decided to grab a quick bite at Café Pacifica, in the lobby of the Pan Pacific Hotel. It feels very open, with good views of the indoor atrium and plenty of windows bringing in light from outside. Canada Place’s distinctive «sails» unfortunately hamper the view of the harbour somewhat, though.
I was in search of little more than a snack, so this review is based mainly on a single scallop I ordered off their tapas menu. Nevertheless, if the rest of the menu is as well-​executed, you might consider a visit next time you’re down by the waterfront.
The scallop was served topped with a tasty mango sauce, on a small bed of greens. It was perfectly cooked and quite delicious. Service was prompt and courteous. I felt almost guilty ordering just the one small dish, considering that they even brought me a nice basket of bread to snack on before my … snack.
It’s too bad this restaurant is hidden within the hotel; most people will never even see it unless they happen to be staying there.