Blue Water Cafe in Yaletown

After a less than 3 hour flight from LA, we landed in Vancouver. That was nice! Our first night’s dinner was at Blue Water Cafe. I had made the reservation the previous week. I would definitely recommend reservations at this place as it was packed on the Monday night we dined there.

The table was not ready so we sat at the bar and got a drink, to wait. I asked if we could have a booth and the hostess said yes.

The bartender was a wee odd but made a good negroni with a local gin. They kept trying to get us to order our entire dinner at the bar, which I did not want to do as the bar was a bit loud and I wanted something more quiet. We had to go back to the hostess and asked to be seated, as it seemed that she was not coming to us.


Once we were seated a booth, next to Laura Dern and her mother (I think it was her mom - looked just like her,) I realized why they wanted us to order at the bar. The poor waitress was being run off her feet. She was very helpful, though, and got the cook to cook my fish to a medium, as I HATE overcooked, dry fish.
We started with some local oysters, which I didn’t get a picture of. They were out of most of them - think there were only two local varieties. The smaller ones were better.
Got one order of salmon sushi and this yellowtail dish. Yellowtail was awesome!!


My husband and I both got local fishes. Both fantastic! Cooked to perfection! Both dishes were completely different and each was superb.


What’s a vacation without dessert? I wouldn’t know since I’ve never had one. We got chocolate and it was yummy!!!

Definitely would come back to this place! Seafood done to perfection! Also, they have late night dining! I think until midnight (last call) every night with a limited menu.

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I also went to Blue Water Grill just last month (April).

While it’s heartening to read that you had a great meal there, I can’t recommend this place to our FTCers at this time based on my visit. While I agree this is a very busy restaurant (and I’ve made a point of eating here on each of my Vancouver trips over the last few years, precisely because I’ve thought highly of the place), the downhill slide on my latest visit to Blue Water Cafe was palpable and concerning.

First, I will give credit where credit is due. The servers at Blue Water Cafe are very professional, and the drinks are poured generously and expertly. AND the FOH seated me without a reservation (truth be told, I walked in at 9:30PM, past their busiest times).

But the rest of the experience, frankly, was just not the same caliber when compared to my prior visits. The sushi coming from the raw bar this time was frankly awful. The neta (seafood) showed poor knife technique, and their sushi rice (cold, with varied packing) was near inedible. The seafood on ice (usually a forte at Blue Water) showcased some poorly shucked oysters (shell bits everywhere and not much brine left in the shells), though the scallops and jellyfish were decent. The shrimp were near frozen, which made them quite difficult to enjoy.

This used to be in my top 3 places to dine in Vancouver (along with Vij’s and Japadog). I think there’s a lot more new upstarts afoot in BC anyways these days. Blue Water Cafe seem to be busy as heck regardless of my perceived slide downhill - Maybe they discovered they can cut corners and still emerge unscathed. If that’s the case, all the more power to them.

Just my $0.02.

Diane Ladd and her daughter Laura Dern

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Which day of the week was your bad experience?

Thursday night, if memory serves…

This would be a nice thread. We intend to get back periodically when we’re visiting Seattle.

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Wow, that was her - such a beautiful woman! Didn’t realize her mother was such a famous actress, also!

Went last night. Service was polished and friendly. We sat outside and enjoyed the fresh air and quiet.

A local Kusshi oyster was perfect. Tuna goma-ae was fun to try once. The appetizer sampler for two ($40 CDN, ~$30 USD with the current exchange rate) was very good and a great value: a Peruvian-ish ceviche with crisp chickpeas in place of choclo and a tuna tartare on crunchy, cracker-like battered and fried nori were standouts. Sablefish and ling cod entrees were fine.

Drank two Synchromesh 2015 Rieslings, the entry-level blend and the Storm Haven, both lovely.

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Glad you enjoyed the food and patio! If I go back, will try those appetizers!