Vancouver Good

I had a lovely dinner at Bin 942 this past Sunday. I was at an event in Victoria, caught the 8pm ferry, and rolled into Vancouver around 10pm in need of some good food. Thankfully, I remembered the Bins.

Background details:

• Two locations, Bin 941 downtown on Davie Street, and Bin 942 on W Broadway. The owner is also behind the ever popular Go Fish near Granville Island.
• Both Bins have the same premise: tapas style menu, good wine list,  and open late, closing between midnight and 2am depending on the day.
• Both Bins also are busy and can have line-ups. On weekends I don’t bother – I’ve shown up at 10pm on a weekend before to a 45 minute wait.
• A cookbook sharing featuring recipes from Bin 941/942 was recently released by owner Gord Martin.

The food:

All my Bin experiences have been good, but my last visit was the first time in quite awhile, so I’ll just speak for the food at Bin 942. Overall…delicious and well prepared.

First up, chickpea/mushroom fries with a truffle mayo. Sounds a bit funny, but they tasted great. Golden on the outside, crispy crust…I could have had several, but the serving was about 10 fries, which was probably a good thing for my waistline. Next a warm spinach salad with a mascarpone dressing – spinach leaves ever so wilted, soaking up a rich dressing. And finally, Kobe meatballs with house made pasta…awesome. The Italian Kitchen (which I do enjoy) is famous for their Kobe meatballs, but I’ve never gotten why. They are fine, but nothing I would go crazy over. Bin 942 reinforces this opinion, as their Kobe meatballs were flavourful and tender…and way better. I would go back just for that dish.

Overall the portions are tapas style (aka – small), so don’t expect huge servings or the usual protein/starch/veg composition. Prices are pretty good for the quality of food you’re getting (the above three items cost about $30).

Late night eats do NOT need to be fast food. Go here instead.

Bin 941
941 Davie St (near Burrard)
604 683 1246

Bin 942
1521 Broadway West (near Granville)
604 734 9421