Last night we dined at Chambar, a new Belgian restaurant in a growing less scuzzy neighbourhood of vancouver. It was an interesting experience. The food was approximately what I was hoping for: the Elk and steak were very tasty, though the boar sausage was a little bland. We got about 3 times as much venison carpaccio as we expected, a great value. We were disappointed that we couldn't order just regular bread or baguettes for dipping in the Moules et Frites, unlike our favourite french restaurant Salade de Fruits. The Belgian chocolate and waffles were verrrrah nice.
They do a good job of covering the Belgian beers, Hoegaarden, Abbaye, Saison, Trappist, Lambic and Kriekenbier. We all really liked the Leffe, the Hoegaarden on tap was better than the bottled stuff, and the Binchoise Noel was very rich and Christmassy. However, the Saison Dupont was not very good and the Echt Kreikenbier had far too much cherry to be enjoyable. The Abbaye des Rocs was ok. The also had Chimay - most popular Trappist - which we didn't get to. I had hoped they had the Rochefort Trappist which I have really liked but it's no suprise that they don't.
We found the service and ambience decidely mixed. The decor was very neat, with cool interior designs and a great layout. But our server seemed frankly a little put-out with serving us. We were with another couple, one of whom was drinking only non-alcohol drinks, and Rob didn't seem that happy with this situation. We also postulate that our "southern european" style of dining, start at 6:30 and finish at 10, didn't fit well their desire for a 6pm and an 8pm setting. It seemed like they were operating on the "we can give average service because we have a popular restaurant and so we can get away with it" kind of service. Unlike say Aurora, Five Point or Apres that we've also recently been too. Finally, if you are really into yaletown trendy places, this is the place to be. Reservations probably required.
Overall, we gave it a 3/4. Food was good, we liked a number of the beers, but the service held it back.
