The Crime Lab Restaurant
550 Denman Street
Vancouver, BC
Today’s post, I will have to admit it is quite interesting in its own ways. Why? Well, first of all, Happy Birthday to JF (despite my use of initials, she knows who she is! ^_^;;;). While she does not live anywhere Downtown Vancouver, once in a while she pops by around. Given it was close to her birthday, I asked if she would be up for dinner. And, yup, she was up for it! Now, here comes the biggest of the dilemmas… When you are a food blogger, everybody expects you to know the “good” restaurants. Truth is I know restaurants *I* like and I know my palette will not suit a lot of people. As a result, I usually leave the decision taking process to the other parties, specially considering I eat almost anything. But, in a way, I ended up being a bit selfish myself and suggested a restaurant near my workplace and, fortunately, close to where JF was by that time of the day. That restaurant ended up being The Crime Lab.
I am not sure if this restaurant is following any trend, that of TV shows, or wacky restaurant names. In any case, it is not the first iteration of the restaurant. I recall walking by a lot of times when it was located in Pender Street (if memory serves me right) and some claim to fame includes that of serving drinks in flasks or test tubes. From what I have “heard”, they ended up switching to regular glasses because customers thought it was an interesting souvenir and end up taking them home. For other reasons, the restaurant closed and it has now reopened in its new location near the Stanley Park seawall. But, as usual, for me, I don’t care what motif it is, I only care about what is served and if what is served is good.
After we made our orders we got these. I find it was quite a nice touch it was olive oil + balsamic; however, the bread looked generic. JF put it better: it looked similar to those take home and bake breads you can find in some major supermarket chains. The exterior was barely crispy and it was overall doughy. Won’t complain much since it was complimentary.
JF chose the flat bread of the day, in this case, the toppings were mostly vegetarian (peppers, cheese, mushroom). JF seemed to like it no problem but, from my perspective, I would say that pizza from some shops might be better than this. Now, it wasn’t because the dough wasn’t baked well – it was quite crispy. It wasn’t because of the toppings, which, by itself were good as well. The major problem was that the layer of toppings and “flat bread” didn’t really get along with each other and, if you are not careful, those can easily slide apart.
I thought we should share a salad but, rather than a greens type salad, I went ordered the “Grilled Beet and Asparagus” – baby beets, grilled asparagus, goat’s cheese and pancetta with a beet & balsamic reduction. From a looks perspective it was actually quite nice and, for the most part, it tasted good as well. But, then again, given the simplicity, how you can mess up here? Well, I thought the reduction didn’t really suit the dish. The major problem is that the beets being sweet already, you are adding more sweetness. I wish it was a bit acidic instead to balance things but, otherwise, I would say it was good.
As for me, well, since all dishes ordered so far are shareable, why not go with yet another shareable dish? In this case, “Steamed Clams & Mussels” – julienned vegetables, serrano peppers, white wine, coconut milk and cream. When it arrived at the table, I thought the presentation was somewhat elaborate; however, what the hell is that slaw on top? I mean, some vegetables are fine but, not to the extent shown in the picture above! Unfortunately, from there it went a bit downhill…
Part of the problem was the broth, as if the alcohol wasn’t cooked of. It was a tad bitter and masked all the sweetness of the coconut. The mussels and clams were not as plum as they could be. My wild guess is that they use PEI mussels rather than Ocean Wise Pacific mussels. As for the clams… Well…
In a way, I can’t help shake away that “shame” I took JF to a barely acceptable place. And, in another way, it is also a shame because the view is spectacular. But, as I often say, you can’t “eat” the view but the food. And for that part, indeed a crime was committed but by the restaurant. Again, JF, Happy Birthday!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
All I can think of are David Caruso one lines (CSI Miami). So I’ll leave it at that
Rachel Ray seemed to love this place when she was here. I think she said “YUM-O”. That probably means it’s no good… LOL…
i used to love this place! it was located right next to my dad’s place when it was still on pender so we went out for beer and mussels every time i came around. back then the mussels were really, really good. mmm… mussels. i haven’t been back since they moved but my dad has and he says it has gone downhill. what a shame.
I can’t agree with you more on the “When you are a food blogger, everybody expects you to know the “good” restaurants. ”
It seems like every time I dine out with friends, they ask me to pick the restaurant, and like you I only know restaurant that I like, and taste is certainly not universal :S
Raidar, I was trying to find a catch one but couldn’t, hehehehehe.
Sherman, except for one or two, basically any known person, take that opinion and flip it?
Trisha, well, a lot of places have gone downhill over the years. Consistency is key. Now, the mussels here (or at least this time) weren’t that good…
Jenny, talking about asking you to pick the restaurant, aren’t you forgetting something???
Hehe just read this post! Yes, I’ve been a bad friend. Been really busy. Thanks for a fun birthday dinner! We’ll have to do it more often now that I’m back in town
And please, don’t feel “shame”. I had a really fun time. The people count just as much as the food.
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