Le Crocodile

Occasion: Celebratory dinner with the family, for my upcoming birthday and my brother's stellar LSAT score (congrats, kid!)
Location: Le Crocodile on Burrard at Smithe (lecrocodilerestaurant.com)
Edibles: I had three apps for my meal - foie gras terrine with toast points, a crabcake, and salmon three ways ("west coast" style, smoked, tartare), with tiramisu and a latte to finish; my sister had the halibut with beurre blanc sauce and linguine (no app); my brother started with the steak tartare and had the same halibut main; my mom started with the salmon trio, followed by escargots, followed by a prawn and scallop dish with angelhair pasta; my dad had half a dozen raw Kusshi oysters and a duck main course

Musings: The best French restaurant I know in Vancouver. The interior is small and intimate, with rich but understated colors. The waitstaff tends to be comprised of the career type; they are uniformly calm and capable. The food is high quality and incredibly consistent. And yet... it's rare that I have a completely satisfying experience here (which I demand at this price point).

For example, my dad still hasn't forgiven them the time they charged him twice the corkage fee quoted over the phone. That night, he gritted his teeth and shelled out $80 for the two bottles we brought, prevented from arguing with the manager by the presence of guests. I think my dad needs to get over it, but I also think that if a restaurant employee tell a customer something by mistake over the phone, the restaurant should honor the original statement, if only as a one-time exception.

For tonight, I e-mailed for a reservation at 7:00. They returned with a confirmation for 6:30. When we walked into the restaurant, it was more than half empty. If so, why not just give people the reservation they want? Le Crocodile does good business, but I doubt they turn every single table on a weeknight.

I ordered a cocktail, and my martini filled half the glass, no exaggeration. For looks alone, either mix a more generous drink or use a smaller glass. It also tasted terrible.

My mood definitely improved when the food started arriving. The foie terrine and crabcake are two old favorites, and they tasted as good as the first time I had them years ago. (The terrine really should be shared; it's a huge slab too rich for one person to finish, even by my greedy standards.) I also enjoyed my salmon trio, though I found the west coast one to be too sweet. I had a nibble of my brother's boldly seasoned tartare and one of my mom's buttery, garlicky escargots - both yummy.

The food at Le Crocodile is plated old-school; it's all very precise, ornate, sauced and garnished up the wazoo. The culmination was my dessert - a tiramisu painstakingly built in a chocolate demitasse cup, complete with tuile spoon.

It's nice for a special occasion but, for me, Le Crocodile just misses the mark for being a true top-flight restaurant.