fable kitchen

i’ve been following this season’s top chef canada pretty closely, so when i found out that trevor and curtis were opening a restaurant in vancouver, i knew i had to pay fable a visit. i can go on and on about how much i adore both chefs. kay, my top chef buddy, and i stalked their twitter account daily, counting down the days until their opening. so when the day finally came, i reserved a table for 6 via twitter. word got around and our party grew. i felt kind of bad for being a party of 8 in a 60-seater restaurant. as i wasn’t planning on blogging about this visit at the time, i did not take any pictures. all pictures in this post were taken by laura , who is a way better photographer than i am anyway. thanks to their open kitchen by the window, i spotted curtis before even walking into the restaurant and believe me, i was squealing so hard inside. the restaurant had a rustic decor which i loved. again, i wish i had a picture to add. we were led to a table in thebackand once i sat d

fabulous fable kitchen!. best-food-ever! this place is hard to get a seat but we came right at 5pm and got seated right away. service was friendly, atmosphere casual and menu was short...but everything on it is amazing! we got three appetizers...kept ordering more as each one was so good and we couldn't decide...chickpea fritters with curry mayo, smoked salmon on cornbread pancake and the house-made cornbread with miso butter...freshest food i have ever tasted...the flavours were incredible....mmmmm! for dinner i decided to be bold and try duck for the first time in my life...it was served smoked, with applesauce and rhubarb, presented on top of quinoa laden with hazelnuts and dried fruit...it was the most delectable thing i have ever tasted! my mouth exploded with all the fresh flavours and textures. my husband got the butcher's cut steak served with house fries and black pepper jam...he loved it and would not share with me, it was so good! the only bad thing is we were so full by the end of this delicious meal that we had no room for their mouth-watering dessert list. we will definitely bebackto try that next time. can't wait!!

lives up to the hype. five friends had a fantastic dinner there. the food was exceptional. both imaginative and unpretentious. not to mention great cocktails and wonderful service. it's a little spendy but the portions are generous. the one drawback was our entrees took a while to come out (more than 30 mins after the appetizer) so if it's really busy i recommend getting an appy and a stiff drink or two to tide you over. reservations a must. i was ready to gobacka week later

their special for the night was some type of pasta...it was great, you could taste the difference that fresh hand made pasta makes. also, ordered their duck which was exceptional. going to comebackfor sure!

i was wandering why i was having difficulties describing how i felt about this place and then i realized that i simply didnt have a lot of feelings for it. i visited 3 or 4 times and every time i felt the same. the food was good, a little flat on taste and flavor, but still good. for some reason i didnt feel that i would want to comebackfor it soon. the service was friendly but friendly is probably the only word i can find to describe it.

one thing i noticed on my every visit was that communication between the floor and the kitchen staff was a bit indescreet and loud. we had to listen to them throwing personal remarks at each other which, i thought, was somewhat disrespectful to the people they are serving.

every time i try a different wine but never had an urge to find out more about it to, may be, pick up a bottle later at a local wine store. good sommelier cares about quality of a glass his selection is served in... these glasses are definitely not the finest.

the place was not disappointing but i never heard from my party "let's do fable kitchen again!"

unfortunately a fairly large group (10-12?) was seated at the same time with us. 3 small children, sometimes running around and screaming. so not quite what i was expecting for a friday night dinner on 4th ave.

our server was quite honest and apologized for the delay of our service due to the large group. he comp'd an appetizer dish which was very generous. i think it took almost 35 mins to get our apps, and maybe almost an hour for our mains. by the time the mains finally came out i had already lost my appetite from the waiting. also, my duck breast was on the rare side, i'm guessing because the kitchen was rushed to catch up on our order.

honestly i would have preferred eating somewhere else if the hostess that accepted my reso told me there wasn't any availability for my time slot because there was a large group. our server did however offer a $50 gift certificate to comebackwhich was again very generous but i'm not sure if i would go back. alot of hype for this restaurant but weak execution.

1st visit during dine-out vancouver and it was a positive experience. staff were friendly and welcoming and the ambiance is cozy and laid back. food was delicious and love the fact that they use fresh local ingredients. prices are great too considering the quality of the food. love their ginger soda!! will definitely bebackfor their regular menu.

guess what guys? i got a new phone!! you know what that means...right?! (besides the fact that i'm going to take a gazillion selfies...jk i wouldn't do that...selfies are gross.).   but what you can expect from me is: an obscene amount of instagram stories and ironically captioned photos (actually no, i'm terrible at captions.)

  if you're the nosey person that i presume you to be (which you probably are...that would explain why you're reading my blog) then you can follow me on instagram, where i'll be posting about all da juicy details regarding my life (yup...just call me kim kardashian. or kylie...i'm most definitely kylie. actually ew, don't call me kylie.)

  @vancitynoms
  (i have an instagram widget linked on the side of my blog now! pretty snazzy, eh?)

  anyways, jeremy and i went to fable for brunch on saturdate (ha, see what i did there? nvm, that pun's been overplayed.)

  after pouring over the menu for what seemed like ages (okay, it was actually because we were hopelessly distracted...so much so that the waitress camebackto inquire on us 3 times.)

  after a decidedly delightful brunch, we meandered over to o5 tea bar for some much warranted relaxation...in the form of korean tea flights! (recreational tea drinking is my pastime of choice.)

i loved everything about this restaurant.

the staff were really friendly, very informative and great with suggestions and recommendations.

the food was absolutely delicious. everything was so good. we ordered everything they suggested and then some.

chickpea fritters: yummy. the crispy deep fried goodness paired nicely with the creamy curry mayo and pickled red onion.

best canned tuna: i didn't know what to expect but this was surprisingly good.

spaghetti and meatball: so good. duck meatball with the juices bursting out tasted great with the tagliatelle and creamy sauce.

gnocchi with braised beef: i didn't get it with the pulled pork. i got it with the special of the day i forgot what it was... some sort of braised beef. this was my favourite dish. i could eat it all day. i often find gnocchi are small, doughy and chewy. their gnocchi is like no other. it's big pillowy soft, sticky and delicious. everything about this dish was perfect. braised beef and the sauce was on point!!

my friends ordered the salmon dish, butcher's cut, and the duck breast. they all enjoyed their dishes too!

desserts: smores was our favourite! perfect combo chocolate, marshmallows and ice cream. lemon meringue parfait was good but a little too sweet for me.

i tried their cocktail "a kiss from a rose" because you know. seal. and that was a great song. the drink was really good. almost too good. like a fruitier and juicier version of a vodka mojito/pink lemonade. very refreshing! probably my new summer drink! summer hasn't started but you get my point. the drink was a bit small but i still loved it. i would have ordered more if it was a tad bigger.

what i also liked about this restaurant is who supplies some of their meat. my friend is muslim and is familiar with fable's beef supplier and knows they are halal. so he got to order their beef dishes which was so awesome! he always has to order seafood or vegetarian dishes when we go out. it was a nice change that's for sure.

i emailed to make a reservation, they were fast with responses and very accommodating. they also asked if we were celebrating an occasion and i told them we're celebrating a birthday and promotion. i thought they were going to do something special but they didn't. what was the point of asking?

besides that small confusion. i throughly enjoyed my experience at fable. i will definitely bebacksoon! brunch?

house made tomato soup: for the appetizers, this is the one we had to comebackfor. there was a scare when we thought it would not return for this year, but thankfully it did.

it’s a generously sized portion, and comes topped with two pieces of their grilled cheese. rich and thick, creamy, velvety smooth, and delicious.

duck carpaccio: this was a feature that night, and we were sold the minute we were introduced to it.

a few years ago i overheard my supervisor mention to another coworker that she always lets her kids stay home from school on their birthday. my ears perked up, and i immediately shot out of my seat and asked whether that meant that she was cool with me not showing up on my birthday as well. i’d caught her in a trap, and she had no way of backing out. mua ha ha! food wench for the win! ever since then, i’ve always made a point of not showing up to the lab on my birthday (because there’s nothing like a failed western blot to give you the birthday blues). instead i usually book myself a massage, and find some friends who also have the day off to help me consume copious amounts of food and wine. and so a couple of days before this year’s birthday, i scrolled through my contacts to find a friend that would have the friday off of work. and kept scrolling, and scrolling, and scrolling. dammit! i realised that all my friends now work weekday jobs. damn careers. even my teacher friends were alreadybackat work, since it was the last week of august. food wench fail. but then inspiration struck. drunken master “works” from home multiple days a week. also he’s a monster that can’t say no to food. perfect!

brunch is one of vancouver's national past times. just scroll through your weekend ig feeds and you'll see. therefore, a post about brunch is a must. there are quite a few places: catch 122, cafe medina, sophie's cosmic cafe. however, my favorite has got to be fable, a farm to table restaurant at the heart of kits. 

i first went here with k for a dinner service last summer, and we both loved it. so, we decided to comebackfor brunch to see if it was as good. and it was. i have since been there a couple more times and it's such a solid, consistent place. 

food/drink: dinner: i would recommend the spaghetti and meatballs, just because it's interesting. it's served as a small serving of tagliatelle on a bed of cream sauce with a duck meat ball at the center of the dish. when you break it open, sauce oozes out and infuses the whole dish. mix it with the cream sauce and boom: taste buds come alive. (plus, it's fun.) the canned tuna, which is one of fable's more popular dishes for is not too bad, but a bit too fishy for me. (it's fun though. they ask you to mix it up in its tiny mason jar) 

for brunch, we had the french toast, which had the perfect consistency. it was not too soggy so you can still feel the crunch of the toast. it's topped with candied walnuts and the mascarpone adds a nice savoury taste to compliment the sweetness. #sogood. 

ambience: the walls are laid with interesting quotes and photos. there's some chalkboard action too. it's a great casual dining place. chill enough to not be intimidating, fancy enough to impress. 

bonus: a 3 minute walk from rain or shine, if you want a post-dinner treat. 

service: very personable servers. they take the time to explain what the specials and the regular menu items are. no rush as you order. they top your drink off regularly. 

transport: from ubc, take the 84 vcc-clark bus and get down on burrard. walk about 4-5 minutes and you'll hit it.

came to fable for lunch today with my husband. i had the feature open faced breakfast sandwich which had their house made bacon, sunny egg, sourdough with greens and hash browns. hubby had the grilled cheese with pulled pork. portion sizes, while not huge, were sizeable enough. taste was wonderful and service was quick. price was just over $20 per person, but we both had a glass of wine too. i would definitely recommend fable, looking forward to comingbackfor dinner!

went to dine out here for dinner last year, and overall it was a great experience, however i went to my exploration side, and ordered the rabbit pasta, i'll say it's too gamey for me, not sure if that's the way how it should be done, but definitely too gamey for me. but other than that the pasta is great, and the seasoning is more on the milder side, definitely can taste the gameyness of the rabbit.

but my friend's main dish, i tried a couple of them and it was actually quite great, definitely good. but nothing jumps out of the expectation as well. like everything went well according to how i've already a high expectation of this restaurant. maybe slightly too high, therefore the food overall is good, but nothing came out wow in my opinion.

would i recommend the place? hmmm no.
would i comebackto the restaurant? hmmm well the food is definitely not bad, minisculy above average, but at the same time nothing really boggles me to come back.

ok, there were four of us who came in for brunch. i had the breakfast stew which was good but wouldn't have it again, but...service was amazing! and the other three of our group had just amazing dishes! french toast, eggs benny, and the special of the day. i had a bite of each and my mind was blown with each taste. the hash brown was very impressive and so was the sausage party! we'll bebackagain for sure, next time, dinner.