Vault

What in the world am I doing in Cloverdale you might ask? Well, the rodeo was a few weeks ago, so I'm certainly not here for that. I'm not heading down to the states, so that's outta the question. Maybe I was lost? No, no, that's reserved for Miss Y. I was in Cloverdale with a few of my colleagues to have lunch. Lunch? But is there anything good to eat out in Cloverdale other than the requisite bar? You might not think so, ah... but many people are mistaken. Hidden amongst the many shops in Cloverdale on 176th is the Vault. It is named as such because there is an actual vault at the back of the restaurant. We can only surmise that this location used to be a financial institution of some sort. And yes, inside the vault is a very private table.

Unfortunately for me, I couldn't get a window seat again! There was a big group that took over half of the restaurant. I was tempted to take the plates over to the entrance... Anyways, Ma got the Dry Ribs to start and it was a generous portion of meaty ribs. It was not over fried and had a good dusting of pepper and kosher salt. She also had the Ale Braised Short Rib Sandwich and it certainly looked appetizing. On top of the tender meat were fried onions which apparently made the dish. There was a complaint that the glaze was a bit sweet; but I guess it's personal preference.

Blondie had the Prawn, Scallop and Goat Cheese Salad. The dish itself had a bevy of seafood, strawberries and goat's cheese. I tried some of it and it was every so lightly dressed, which is a good thing. This way, I could actually discern different flavours in the salad. Although the scallops were large and had good colour from the sear; they were a bit chewy and possibly overcooked. The prawns on the other hand were perfectly prepared. Continuing on the seafood theme, I went for the Mixed Seafood Grill with Asian BBQ Glaze. In addition to the same prawns and scallops as the salad, I also got a piece of salmon. Surprisingly, the rice that accompanied the seafood was quite flavourful and beautifully cooked. The reason I mention this is that most times the rice is an afterthought. The salmon was soft and not overcooked. The prawns were cooked correctly; yet I had the same problem with the scallops, they were slightly overcooked and had a slight fishy taste. In terms of the hoisin glaze, it was pretty standard being quite sweet and not really having any other complex flavours present. Unfortunately, that is the flavour profile of hoisin sauce.

Ma was the only one at our table who went for dessert. Mind you, she chose NY Cheesecake and it was fabulous. It was a really large piece of baked cheesecake with an ultra thin crust. I tried it and it was ever-so-smooth and full of cream cheese flavour. It's definitely nice to get a baked hard cheesecake rather than the whipped ones. The depth of flavour and texture are just not the same. For being out in Cloverdale, which is hardly the mecca for fine dining, The Vault was not bad. If it were located in Downtown Vancouver, it might face stiff competition. The food in general was pretty decent. It's location works in their favour because there is not another restaurant like this close by.

The Good:
- Reasonable prices
- Eclectic, funky atmosphere
- Great service

The Bad:
- A bit far for most people other than the locals

Business Hours:
11:00am - 2:00pm, 5:00pm - 9:30pm (Mon - Thu)
11:00am - 2:00pm, 5:00pm - 10:30pm (Fri)
5:00pm - 10:30pm (Sat)
5:00pm - 9:30pm (Sun)