Kobe Japanese Steakhouse (Dine Out Vancouver 2026)

Now this is a Vancouver classic... Kobe Japanese Steakhouse has been around since 1968 and has been delighting customers with grilled-in-front-of-you eats complete with a show.  I've been here numerous times over the years, but believe it or not, the last time was in 2011.  Yes, there are far too many places to dine at and getting around to ol' favourites is difficult.  Well, I'm happy to report that things are still going strong here and they are offering a Dine Out Vancouver menu for 2026 that is only $60.00.  It is complete meal were Jackie and I previewed it prior to the start of DOV on January 21st.

The meal started off with a bowl of Shabu Shabu Soup which consisted of chicken & beef stock.  It was a clear and clean soup that was mildly seasoned.  It had some fried onions which added sweet aromatics.  There was also sliced mushrooms and green onion.  Of course we were here for the teppanyaki and our chef gave us a show that included many fireballs, an onion volcano, shrimp tail tossing and plenty of sound effects from the metal spatulas and seasoning shakers.

With our food being prepared in front of us, it did heighten our anticipation as the smells and aroma made us salivate.  The Teppan Shrimp was seasoned and tossed in a good amount of butter and lemon.  It seared up well and had a buttery snap to go with the brininess.  Prepared at the same time, we had a good amount of Vegetables including zucchini, onions and mushrooms.  It was cooked well so nothing was mushy and there was enough seasoning as well.  Two sauces were provided for dipping including a mild Ginger and a punchy Garlic & Mustard.  That garlic & mustard was my favourite and went really well with the steak and chicken (that you will see in the few pictures).

In addition to the shrimp, we also had Tiger Prawns that was cooked in a liberal amount of butter.  These were meaty with a sweet snap and went well with the ginger sauce.  For the base DOV menu, there is a 5oz Sirloin steak included, but for another $14.95, it can be upgraded to a 6oz Beef Tenderloin (which is in the picture).  These were seared on all sides with butter, seasoned and then cut into cubes.  More butter and seasoning followed an extra sear.  These little morsels were buttery tender and although there was good flavour already, I dipped it into the Garlic & Mustard sauce.

Our last course was the Teriyaki Chicken and that was probably my least favourite since it was chicken breast.  It wasn't overcooked per se, but wasn't juicy either.  At least it had lots of sauce to add moisture.  Went well with the provide bowl of rice.  Dessert was a choice of Mario's Gelato: Vanilla Tofulatti, Matcha or Mango.  We tried all three of them and believe it or not, the vegan Tofulatti was my favourite.  Flavour was mild and sweet enough while the texture was somewhere between ice cream and sorbet.  The Matcha and Mango were rather sweet, yet pretty creamy.  Overall, for $60.00, the DOV menu at Kobe is a good value with more than enough food for one person.  Sure, it isn't the most amazing meal in the world, but the food was good for what it was and you get a show to go with it too.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:
- It's a fun night out
- DOV menu has enough food
- Meat quality is good

The Bad:
- Will never be a "fine dining" experience, but it isn't trying to be

 

Sula (Dine Out Vancouver 2026)

Here we go with Sula again for this years Dine-Out Vancouver festival (from Jan 21st to Feb 8th).  You have heard me have differing opinions about DOV over the years, which has been both positive and negative.  I would say earlier on, around 15+ years ago, DOV was not exactly a draw for me.  The menus were mediocre and we weren't really get good value (since portion sizes were small and the dishes were not appealing).  I would say in more recent years, restaurants have taken it more seriously and the menus have been much better as well as the food.  Of course that has coincided with increasing prices across the board.  If we look at Sula's DOV $45.00 5-course menu, this would qualify as one of the better values.  It includes choice of appetizer, palate cleanser, main (includes rice & naan), dessert and chai.  

Choices for the appetizers include the Tandoori Pineapple Chaat, Chicken Tikka Bao and Sesame Garlic Fried Cauliflower.   Although the dish was essentially charred cubes of fresh pineapple, the Tandoori Pineapple Chaat was so refreshing and truly appetizing.  Sweet and juicy, the pineapple was beautifully charred giving caramelized with smoky vibes.  This was further enhanced by the wheat papdi.  It added a light crunch that was the perfect foil for the juicy pineapple.  With chaat spices and accompanying herbs, we got the usual earthiness combined with tangy, sweet and herbaceousness.

Probably the most filling appetizer was the Chicken Tikka Bao as it was a large steamed bun stuffed with shredded chicken tikka, cucumber, red onion, cilantro aioli and tandoori aioli.  Beyond the fluffy bun, the chicken tikka was tender and moist with a good amount of spice (not heat) and mild tomato tanginess.  Naturally, the cucumber and onion provided some fresh and vibrant crunch while the aiolis added creaminess.  In particular, the cilantro aioli did its herbaceous thing.  The Sesame Garlic Fried Cauliflower was solid with crispy florets that were cooked all the way through but not being soft.  The crispy batter remained as such despite the coating of sauce.  It was appealing being tangy and sweet.

In between the appetizer and entree courses, we were presented with a palate cleanser in the Wildberry Sorbet.  It isn't often we get this at an Indian restaurant and it was literally a refreshing change.  Light and sweet, this helped us get ready for the heavier dishes.  There are special cocktails ($14.00 each) available for the Dine Out menu and we had 2 of them including the Bombay Blue and the Lemongrass Lyric.  With a pronounced liquorice essence due to the star anise-infused Bombay Sapphire, this also had elements of red apple and lemon.  The sweetness of the lychee meshed well with the bright lemongrass with the Lemongrass Lyric.  Really nice cocktails that helped bring the heaviness down a notch.

For the mains, one can choose from Mango Chicken Korma, Kolkata Lamb, Mushroom Coconut Curry and Paneer & Green Beans Biryani.  Sweet and aromatic, the chicken in the mango korma was in big tender chunks.  They were juicy despite being white meat.  The nuttiness of cashews came through in both aromatic as well as texture (making the curry thick).

With large chunks of meat, the Kolkata Lamb was full of rich spices that were earthy, fall-tasting and spicy.  I asked for this one to be extra hot and it definitely was, yet at the same time, wasn't overwhelming.  The sweetness of the onions and bite for the ginger were evident. The lamb was tender with that unmistakable gelatinous texture.  It was definitely lamb-tasting with an appealing gaminess (for me at least).

For me, the best option for the mains happened to be vegetarian.  Creamy and rich, the Coconut Mushroom Curry was a flavour bomb that hit all the right notes.  The combination of coconutty aromatics and sweetness with the earthiness of the mushrooms gave out strong umami vibes.  Salt levels were just right as well as the sweetness. Combined with the choice of naan (this went well with the just the plain one), this was a fulfilling dish.

Another vegetarian option is the Paneer and Green Beans Biryani.  Naturally, without any meat, the rice was less robust and ate almost fluffier.  It wasn't devoid of spice though as it was earthy with some heat.  Loved the cubes of squishy paneer as it added body to the dish and the green beans were soft and almost juicy.  This came with some a spicy and creamy peanut salan to kick up the richness and aromatics of the Biyani while the raita on the side cooled things down.

All of the meals included a choice of Basmati Rice or Coconut Rice as well as a choice of Tandoori Naan, Garlic Naan or Onion & Cilantro Naan.  Naan was great as it was fluffy with elasticity while the outside was nicely charred and blistered.  In addition to dessert, a cup of Rose Chai was served as well.  It was fragrant and purposefully sweet.

Desserts include a choice of Macha Rasmalai Cake or Classic Coconut Payasam.  Although the sponge cake was on the firmer side, the Macha cake ate quite well.  It was not overly sweet and was rather aromatic.  Really enjoyed the payasam as the rice pudding was creamy with measured rich sweetness from the jaggery.  Definitely could taste the cardamom and also the sweetness of the fried raisins on top.  Nice textural contrast with that and the cashews.  Overall, the meal was delicious and well-priced considering how many items that were included.  I would do the Coconut Mushroom Curry all day, even if it didn't have meat.  Shockingly, the Tandoori Pineapple Chaat was my favourite appie.  So no meat to be seen in my meal.  If you do that combination and you have a heartier appetite, you might best stick with at least one meat dish.  Be aware that the Dine Out menu is different at all Sula locations.  This particular one is only for Commercial Drive.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Well-priced

- The menu includes enough food and sides

- Delicious

The Bad:

- Not that it wasn't any good, but unless you are vegetarian, best not to get the Biryani as it is mainly rice and then it includes more rice and naan

Dovetail

So I finally made it out to Dovetail...  It has only been 2 years since they have opened!  Replacing Nightshade (which was vegan), Dovetail's menu features a California-inspired West Coast menu with various influences.  Honestly, I didn't mind Nightshade, but the offerings at Dovetail look a whole lot more appealing to me.  With a chic, but casual atmosphere, Dovetail's menu is closer to chain restaurant pricing.  That makes it a bit more accessible than many other Yaletown restaurants.

Starting off light, we had the Tuna Tartare.  This was rather refreshing due to the use of yuzu ponzu.  Lots of tanginess and brightness, but I felt that the dish was far too saucy.  With that being said, I still enjoyed it due to the aforementioned refreshing flavour profile.  Clean-tasting, the cubes of tuna were soft while being contrasted by the crispy fried lotus root chips.  We found some edamame, avocado, sliced radish and tofu added to the mix as well.  I was not really feeling the tofu and that could've been omitted.

The most surprising dish for me was the Bang Bang Shrimp.  Normally, when I see that on the menu, I stay far away because it is usually a disappointment.  However, this one was fantastic!  Super plump and large, the shrimp were lightly coated being crispy while the inside was buttery and bouncy.  There was just enough spicy aioli for moisture and some creamy spice.  The pickled fresnos levelled up the spice with a balancing acidity.

Another delightful surprise was their Burger constructed with 2 beef patties, onion, pickles, American cheese and comeback sauce.  All of this was served on the softest of buns.  This gave us Big Mac vibes in the best way because it didn't have an extra bun nor the messy lettuce.  Beef patties were well-seared and properly salted.  Meat was still moist.  The side of fries didn't look like much but were crispy and plenty potatoey on the inside.

With a strong mushroom essence emanating from Mushroom Mafaldine, I could not wait to try it.  This did not disappoint as the salt levels were on point.  Lots of umami from the natural mushroom flavour as well as a light touch of truffle.  Sauce was super creamy, yet not overly heavy.  Pasta was al dente and held onto the balanced amount of sauce very well.

We went big with the 26oz Bone-in Ribeye prepared medium as suggested.  I agree with the steak being cooked to medium as ribeye can be chewy if too rare.  However, the cook on this was a bit uneven.  The middle was perfect but the end pieces were completely cooked through and looking very grey.  With that being said, it was still tender and properly salted.  Loved the creamy and mild horseradish cream on the side as well as the herbaceous chimichurri.

On the side, we got the Broccolini that was beautifully grilled.  Sporting some char, there was smokiness to the dish.  Although cooked through, the broccolini was still crunchy and vibrant.  It was tossed in a roasted shallot vinaigrette which added a background acidity.  To top it off, we found some crispy shallots as well.  Once again, on point use of salt here.

Of course we didn't skip dessert and in fact, we had two.  The first of which was the Lemon Tiramisu.  As expected, this was lighter than the traditional version.  Although, the lady fingers were soaked with limoncello, it wasn't that sweet.  The lemon curd immediately made this tangy and helped balance the heaviness of the mascarpone.  This was quite pleasant.

I wasn't going to order the Passionfruit Cheesecake at first (since we were quite full), but we got it anyways.  Good decision as it was NY-style being rich and thick.  The brûlée on top added sweetness (as the cheesecake itself was not that sweet) and a smoky caramel crunch.  Tangy and sweet, the passionfruit sauce made this eat a whole lot lighter than it was.  Overall, the food at Dovetail was really good and fairly-priced.  Definitely a good option in Yaletown and an alternative to the chain restaurants.

The Good:

- Delicious food

- Reasonably-priced, especially in Yaletown

- Nice vibes

The Bad:

- Ribeye could've been cooked more consistently

Jinmi

I guess it has come full-circle for Chef Jay of Jinmi.  Well-known for their South Korea Seosan Female Soy-Marinated Crab, Jinmi's original location was on Denman (Jinmi Juga).  Chef Jay actually started out at Black Rice and eventually went on to feature his marinated crabs, cumulating in that B&M store on Denman.  Now he takes over the former location of Ju, which which started out as Black Rice.  Back at the scene of the crime, he is now offering up his delicious marinated crabs and his spin on South Korean cuisine.

Naturally, a visit to Jinmi would not be complete without going for their Premium Soy Crab Bansang.   At $62.00 per person (this one is only one order), we got one female marinated crab, rice, seaweed soup, 4 side dishes, sesame oil and gamtae.  Compared to other places I've had raw marinated crab, this one was quite good.  There was lots of roe and crab butter, which was sweet and briny.  The meat was soft and mushy as expected.  Went well with the chewy rice and sesame oil.  I used the gamtae (seaweed) to wrap the rice and crab.  Delicious!  The sides included eggplant, zucchini, kimchi and pancake.  These were decent with the eggplant being my favourite.

Usually, a Korean seafood pancake has all of the seafood encased inside.  At Jinmi, they present the seafood on the outside.  We got the Seafood Chive Pancake and it was super thin with chives in the middle.  Being thin and containing much less moisture, it was super crispy.  We found marinated mini-octopus and grilled shrimp placed on the top with globs of tangy mayo.

The marinated raw crab didn't end with only one dish though.  We also got the Gae-Jang Gooksu (Cold Noodles with marinated crab).  Even though I personally prefer the crab with rice, it wasn't bad with the chewy buckwheat noodles either.  Properly cold with the sweetness of the crab roe, meat and butter, this was bright with the taste of the sea.

Our last dish was super delicious in the Prime Angus Beef Steak.  This was actually a 6oz beef short rib that was slow cooked before being grilled.  Hence, the meat was so tender, it required little chewing.  With that being said, it still had a meat texture and was flavourful in a meaty and sweet way.  On the side, we found some gamtae chimichurri, salt and spicy pepper sauce.  In general, the food at Jinmi was solid.  Seeing how they kept much of the old decor from Ju, the surroundings were pleasant as well.  Service was also quite good.

The Good:

- Solid eats

- Good service

- Nice surroundings

The Bad:

- If you drove, the parking situation is challenging

- Prices are on the higher end, but it is Downtown though

Gigi's

I used to live in Coquitlam during the 90's and let's just say it was a black hole when it came to great food.  Things began to improve in the early 2000's and things are heating up as we move into early 2026.  With the rapid development of the city and the addition of the Evergreen Line, there needs to be more services and restaurants to serve the population.  With that in mind, it was probably a good move by the Kitchen Table Group to open up Gigi's in the Tricity Pavilion on Christmas Way in Coquitlam.  The building is gorgeous and has its own parking lot.  It also houses a location of Nemesis.

We arrived shortly after happy hour and the place was hopping.  A few appies were in order including the Calamari Fritti.  I wanted to like this, but as you can see, it was pretty greasy.  Batter was crispy though and well-salted.  Maybe some of the pieces could've been bigger as well.  There was some fried herbs and fennel to compliment as well as a verde aioli, which was creamy and bright.

Moving into a lighter direction, we had the Albacore Tuna Crudo.  This was a competent dish with fresh slices of fish that was dressed in a chili vinaigrette.  I didn't think it was all that spicy, rather it was fruity and tangy due to the orange slices and caper berries.  We also found pickled onions, shaved fennel and fennel fronds.  Hence, there was added crunch, tartness and brightness.

Our favourite appetizer was the Wagyu Beef Tartare.  This featured Australian Wagyu, which I find less fatty (from past experiences).  That was a good thing though as unrendered fat can be rather chewy.  This tartare was not chewy, instead it was silky and buttery.  It was dressed with black garlic mayo and topped with parmigiano reggiano, grainy dijon and shaved black truffle.  This added earthiness, umami, nuttiness and tang.  Nice balance here as it wasn't heavy nor too tart.  Smartly, this was served with the popular cacio e pepe chips that inspired the Miss Vickie's version.

We had one item from the Burrata Bar being the Pistachio Pesto.  Since the burrata is served within 48 hours after being hand-crafted in Puglia, it is pretty much as fresh as it can get (unless you fly to Italy).  Beyond the firm, but thin exterior, the creamy and stringy goodness of the fresh cheese was evident.  No watery mess inside!  That pesto was on point with an herbaceous nuttiness complimented by saltiness of the parm.  We found some extra EVOO on the side and house-made foccacia.

When the Mortadella Pizza arrived, it sported extensive charring and leoparding.  Now there is a growing movement that is moving way from this as Neapolitan-style pizza should only have a few spots.  For me personally, I'm still all for the charring as it creates crispiness and nuttiness.  The dough was well-seasoned and appealingly chewy.  There was plenty of mortadella on top drizzled with pesto, crushed pistachios and pecorino.  Underneath, we had a sauce bianco (white sauce) which was nutty and lightly creamy.  Of course, there was some fior di latte as well.

Onto the pasta course, we had three of them including Alla Vodka.  This employed sedani rigati which held onto the vodka sauce well.  About that sauce, it was quite good with a tomatoey richness that was velvety and balanced.  The amount of vodka used was conservative and it was cooked down properly.  Hence, there was a hint of it, but it stayed in the background.

My favourite of the bunch was the Luigi's Bolognese with rigatoni.  To some, this may be a bit defaultish, but don't sleep on this as it was plenty delicious.  The bolognese was made with veal, beef and pork which made it plenty meaty.  It was creamy enough to take the bite off the tomato and there was natural sweetness.  Along with some parm and al dente pasta, this was a solid dish.

The most interesting pasta we had the Ragu Bianco sporting shredded braised beef cheek.  The ample amount of beef cheek was gelatinous and super tender.  It also had a nice beefiness to it.  Moreover, the creaminess of the sauce created a velvety texture.  With a bit of parm, there was some nutty cheesiness.  The most unfortunate thing was that the campanelle was rather soft.

We had the 16oz Ribeye Steak as our main.  We asked for it to be prepared medium-rare and as you can see, it was spot on.  It was also properly rested with no juices leaking all over the plate.  As such, each slice was tender and moist while mildly-seasoned (with porcini).  There was a decent sear on the outside and it was even on both sides of the steak.

To go with our ribeye, we had the Kale Caesar.  As much as the kale can be poofy in a pile, this was still a rather large portion of salad.  Properly trimmed without the spine, the kale was tender with some chewiness.  It was lightly dressed in an anchovy and caper dressing which was slightly briny with a balanced saltiness.  It was further enhanced by the parm and crunchy pangrattato as well as the focaccia croutons.

We ended up with two desserts including the light and refreshing Roasted Pistachio Panna Cotta with a tangy raspberry coulis and a biscotti crumble on top as well as dark chocolate shavings.  The pannacotta itself was creamy and not overly gelatinized.  It was mildly sweet with some nuttiness.  With a hit of tangy raspberry and crunchy biscotti, there was balance and texture.

The other dessert was the Classic Tiramisu.  Unlike other versions I've had lately (including in Italy), this one was on the heavier side.  Thick and cheesy, the mascarpone cream was nice by itself, but in a tiramisu, it was too dense.  That didn't make the tiramisu bad though as the lady fingers were soaked with just enough espresso.  The dessert wasn't overly sweet either.  However, due to the richness, this was thankfully shared among the 5 of us.  Overall, our experience at Gigi's was decent with a beautiful dining space with fairly good service.  Food was generally good with a few things that could use further refinement.  Pretty nice for Coquitlam, but probably not on the level of Downtown quality.

The Good:

- Beautiful space

- Good service

- Decent eats, especially for Coquitlam

The Bad:

- Some more refinements needed with some dishes