Watermark on Kits Beach

1350 Arbutus Street (at Cornwall)

I often ask myself "Why did I move back to Vancouver???" The rain, the commute, the lack of culture...THE RAIN! Sure we really do have good food here (awesome selction, excellent quality and good prices) but is that enough to make you want to live here? To be honest, I was beginning to lose faith in the city. What does the UN know about quality of living? Ranking Vancouver as the most livable place on earth! Bah! But in one evening, I was re-introduced to all the beauty that was Vancouver. Okay, a bit melodramatic I know but Watermark at Kits Beach has that effect on you!
Watermark is located rite on Kits Beach at the end of Arbutus Street. Now when I say righ on Kits beach, i mean RIGH ON KITS BEACH! Spit off the patio and you will hit sand! It's a modern building, with concrete walls, huge dining area and floor to ceiling glass windows giving patrons a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean and the mountains. It's a modern/minimalist decore design, which is fitting for the Kits area crowd. Don't think you have to dress up for this place either. It's really cazh and I think it's because they're really just trying to draw on the beach crowd. I really don't know how that's working for them tho. One one hand, the whole casual thing is great cuz it's right on the beach and people can go to the restaurant after a hard day laying out in the sand. But the menu and the prices are all more in line with a high end restaurant and personally, I was a bit confused by it all.
The view offered by this place is just spectacular...breath-taking, gorgeous...just take any superlative and insert it here folks! You are completely surrounded by the beauty of this city and this alone is worth the visit to this restaurant. I don't think you can find a nicer view at any other restaurant in the city!
We had made reservations earlier that day and I think that was a smart idea. While the place wasn't full when we got there at 6:30 on a Sunday, it was quickly filling up and I heard the hostess tell some people there was going to be a wait. I though that was odd since there was a few empty tables and this place was pretty huge! We sat out on the patio since it was a beautiful day and we had a fantastic view of the sunset! But bring your sunglasses cuz it gets pretty bright out there! Our server was nice enough but I don't think she was too enthralled with us-just mains, no drinks :P The main complaint I have here tho...the food took a long time. Now I understand that this is a large restaurant but they had plenty of servers. I even saw a few of them hanging out. And their kitchen was not as big as some others I've seen. But there was at least 5 guys in there cooking! You'd think they'd be able to get your food out in time. I think we waited about 40 minutes from when we ordered to when we actually got our food. And no bread people. So if you're hungry, you may want to reconsider
But how does the food fair? Well, I had high expectations for this place given that the executive chef here is Lynda Larouche, the former chef at Seasons in the Park. Heck if she's good enough to cook for Bill Clinton, she good enough to cook for me. And while I wasn't blown away by the cooking, I have to say it was up to par with similar restaurants of this calaber. My mom and I had the sablefish while my stepdad Ron had the rack of lamb. the portions were really good and we all left with a full stomach. In general, no one had any complaints about their food, but no one was raving either.
To be fair, we didn't have any appies or desserts and both my mom and I had the same dish. I think we came on a bit of an off night. But truly folks, you are coming here for the setting! This place is second to none in terms of the view and if you have people visiting, be sure to take them here so they can enjoy that world-famous Vancouver scenery! I'm definatly willing to give this place a second chance. Maybe those UN ranking people really do know what they are talking about....