the union

absolutely loved the eggs benny on the soft bao bun - what an interesting combo! i got the salmon dill combo and it was good - very flavorful and got me feelin so full after! an affordable and hipplaceto hit up with yo franz at lunch :)

tried thisplacefor the first time and it was about what i expected. it's a trendy fusion restaurant on the outskirts of chinatown. for a weekday it was fairly busy but we were seated right away without a reservation.

i ordered a noodle dish and was looking forward to it. i received what i thought was my order but actually got a bibimbap instead. nonetheless it was flavorful and delicious. not the same as at an actual korean restaurant but that's not why you come to aplacelike this. when my actual order arrived and the server and i realized the mistake, i was already halfway done the bibimbap. despite the mistake i enjoyed the dish. the dish i actually ordered looked great as well. i would definitely consider coming back to thisplacein the future.

i get why thisplaceis always busy now. the hype is real. they have incredible interesting and yummy cocktails and a really tasty and fresh vietnamese fusion menu. i could easily try everything on this menu and couldnt stop looking at their different items as they came out. the service here is also complexly non pretentious and attentive. i love the atmosphere as well. the communal tables give thisplacea vibe that vancouverite's crave so much but so rarely actually embrace... communally having fun. the atmosphere forces you to enjoy others company regardless of who is in your clique. oh! did i mention everything is prices very reasonable.

we ended up here after the restaurant we wanted to go to couldn't handle seating 5 people. it was our poor man's substitution but in the end was a decent place.

we ended up having some glitches with our meals and had to send stuff back but the staff were only to happy to make it right and it didn't ruin the experience.

to start we got spring rolls, wings, gyoza and a viet sub with lemon grass chicken. i loved the wings and sub best. the mains were decent i had sweet beef in egg noodle...the beef cuts were a bit chewy but the flavor of the dish was good all around. i loved the pho bo best but to bad all 3 pho bo's were lukewarm when they arrived. at least the food was cheap.

thank god for the cocktails ...this is something thisplacedoes well and i am suffering for it today. i turned a guava and ginger mock tail into a gintail and it was amazing. i tried some others and all pretty yummy. 80% of my bill was cocktails and it was worth it . the food i could go either way. i love the communal tables you get to meet new and crazy people.

i had really wanted to like thisplacebut the food is bland and not well executed. the poached eggs were overcooked, mushrooms werr flavourless, the bao was oversized any way too fluffy which was the wrong texture for the benny. i had a dirty tea cup with coffee stains on the in and outside of the cup. when i asked for a clean cup the waitress gave looked over at the cup and did not appear to be impressed to have to get me another one. thisplacewas not busy. the waitress was nonchalant and did not appear to be happy to be at work. overall the experience was better left in the past. i would not return.

my senses perked up the minute i walk into the union - the dim lighting, the vibrant trendiness of this semi-hidden joint boasting in their creative flare on southeast asian cuisine. i must admit, coming from a family who runs an authentic chinese restaurant business, i was a little skeptical of any restaurant that tries to replicate asian cuisine.
long picnic table style reclaimed wood benches filled the restaurant and created a cozy friendly atmosphere, as strangers shared a bench with each other, separated by an the expected awkward gap. it reminded me of those high school cafeteria days minus the awful stark white florescent lighting of sterile uniformity of our school system. the use of polished wood as the primary structural design of theplacefits right in to the definition of a typical casual hip main st. vancouver food joint.

we ordered from the standard menu. i noticed the “$10 banh mi & a pint” special and decided to give it a try.
first off was the channa dahl with pappadams. the presentation was nothing special but looking at the thin sheets of crispy pappadams lying there next to the dish of chunky thick dahl, i was quite a little fearful the fragile crackers cannot hold up the weight. hungry like little monsters, we all reached over for a piece of the thin sheets and attempted to scoop up the flavor booster. “snap…. snap!” like we predicted, the cracker failed to hold its form and disastrously broke into pieces, sinking itself inside the dahl. the more we played with it in attempt to fish it out, the more it broke apart. well, at least the taste was good. i had no complaints. the pappadam was seasoned quite nicely highlighting the flavors of chickpea, while the dahl adds a good punch of spiciness and saltiness to stimulate appetite.

finally, the mains arrived - my lemongrass chicken banh mi.
toasty bread – check. wrapped in parchment to mimic traditional vietnamese street food – check.
excited for the unique addition of sriracha aioli, i carefully grabbed the crunched up parchment enclosing the sandwich in my hand, and took a generous bite piercing my teeth through the subtle sweet toasty bread. welcomed by the crackling sound of paper and crispy crust, the flavors of tanginess and saltiness melted in harmony. the refreshing crunchy crisp of marinated radish, carrots and cucumbers gave a slightly tangy sour taste. warm tender barbeque chicken strips caramelized with faint lemongrass spices. finally, the underwhelming sriracha aioli coats the roof of my mouth in a disappointing resemblance of tasteless mayonnaise. i would say this dish is lacking a punch of flavor. every ingredient could have been turned up a notch, and the only strong flavor that stands out was the infamous cilantro - the only ingredient that was not prepared by the chef. what an embarrassment.
as for dessert, i’d like to comment on the coconut milk mango panna cotta. i would rename this as “coconut milk jello” as it was too watery and missing the thick and creamy mouthfeel of a real panna cotta.

to conclude, i think this restaurant has a decent menu with fairly low pricing, with entrees ranging from $10-15. it’s a good choice for a casual spot to relax with friends on a weeknight after a long day of work.

the menu resembles a newsprint 1 pager – simple and to the point, with the main ingredients listed for each menu item. 

ambience: lively and trendy for young cultured professionals and non-cultured individuals alike. 
 recommend: overall, i have the impression that the menu lacks a balance in flavor and technique. it has a good value for money, and is on the right track with creativity, but the chef could do with a little fine-tuning with flavor boldness in the right places. ***

appalling food in a niceplacewith nice people.
absolutely shocked to get a noodle bowl advertised as containing eggplant, spinach, etc, to find approx. 1/8 cup chopped eggplant bits hiding in the noodles, a few shreds of spinach and nothing much else but a few bean sprouts. topped with a heavy peanut sauce. my companion h ad a vermicelli and cod bowl, which again may have had 1/4 cup or less of actual fish bits scattered about in a huge swimming bowl of noodles with some kind of thai ish sauce. not exaggerating. at 15 bucks a shot, when you can get real versions of asian dishes with real portions  for about half that anywhere in town, we will not be back. how can people get away with this sort of thing?

thisplacehas awesome food, great selection, prices, service and atmosphere! also it's right on the bike path and very central. nothing bad to say about this place.

unfortunately this is of one those return visit posts that had me changing my original “yay” to a now a “nay”. i haven’t been in a while, but had fond memories of the place, so when we were looking for aplaceto eat, i suggested “the union”. though i would later regret my decision, even if my guests didn’t. i choose this more unique pick, hoping that my guests have never been and that the setting would impress them. but the food was definitely not worth the wait. we waited what felt like forever for a table. and as we waited, we felt like we were constantly being by-passed. first it was a verbal 25 minute wait, then an updated 30 minute, but in reality we were kept waiting for over an hour. however we saw plenty of tables get seated before us, even after we took a lengthy stroll around chinatown to kill some time. it was because they were tables for two that could only seat parties of two that freed up, and they needed specific seating to seat our three. yet we waited patiently for our turn. though the final frustrating straw was having them seat a group of three that came after us, before us. they only waited five minutes before getting a great corner table seat in the centre of the room. it was considered top notch as most of the tables were large family share style. picnic style tables and benches that you didn’t want to get straddled sitting in the centre of. i suspect they knew the hostess the way they were chatting it up with her. connections are important. we did get the next available table, it was a high top in a dark corner. it was a tight fit that had me jabbing our waitress in the back as she helped the table behind me, this embarrassingly happened a few time. though at this point, being able to sit was enough for us.

i ventured here twice in the span of a week: brunch, then for drinks. brunch won, it was busy but easy to get a table. the service was great and food & drinks great. my cousin and i won order-wise. we split the pandesal french toast (acted as our dessert) and bao bun bennie, and to drink a thai ceasar (great twist on an original) and lychee mimosa. 
also a goodplaceto come for drinks, their cocktails are properly done. we tried a wide range, which were good, but their beer list is a bit lacking. the fried tofu with naan was pretty good, but the indo peanut noodle bowl was pretty bland.

missed the mark completely. dropped in on a late saturday afternoon for a few drinks and dinner. staff managed to get our beer to us but the rest was a mess. appies we ordered were brought on dirty plates. dipping sauces were running over the sides of the bowls and the spring roll was dripping old oil. and, we got no utensils - had to retrieve those ourselves from the serving area. i had hopeful expectations for thisplacegiven it's location, cool space and apparently imaginative menu ... but the food, service and sanitation were all sub par.

what a great spot!. my wife and i love everything about thisplace- the warm and soothing atmosphere, the bar and communal tables, the great beer and bangas selection, the friendly service that is always right on the mark, and, of course... the delicious southeast asian / indian influenced food. last night we shared the beef satays, the arugula and asian pear salad (wow!), and the delicious singapore laksa. other "don't miss" items include the hawker thai chicken wings (the city's best) and the sambal green beans.
i've done a lot of work in malaysia, singapore, and india over the past decade, which i love because of the food, especially from hawker stands, the union transports me right back.

can't support or recommend them anymore. i was a regular customer because i like the ambiance & the food is tasty. i actually had organized & brought 5 guests that had never been here for dinner last night.

unfortunately, our server kylie was aweful last night! i can't support them anymore & am embarrassed that i brought my friends. theplaceis popular and after patiently waiting 2+ hours at the bar for our table she was slow, barely friendly... but kindly let us know 5 times at time of billing that there was no gratutity on our $300 bill... we left her $40 cash (13% to ensure we covered anything she tipped out... but should have asked her what she thought she earned in a tip with all her rude reminders about bill not including grat! brutal!

sadly, many other disappointing aspects... but will simply move on to the other great options we have in the city.


-----27 mar, 2012-----

had fantastic service from kylie and delicious eats. especially loved the tofu appy and the pad thai. highly recommend this place.

not badplacebut you'll end up stinking like their kitchen. and it's a greasy smell i've only smelled once before years ago at the cambie. food is good though so i don't know why exactly it makes your clothing smell so gross...

easy going atmosphere. had a group booking at the union bar on a saturday night. the service is really great-easy going and pretty efficient. with the food you get decent sizes and everyone at the table was pretty happy with there food. the menu are just paper and mine was a bit worn out with drink stains on it which i thought wasn't really good.

the restaurant interior is very cool and has a really nice relaxed vibe. the music is great and not too loud-although it got pretty noises when theplacewas full of people. there is a nice bar and kitchen that is semi open and pretty close to the tables. its cool to see where you food is made but the negative of this is that the smell of the fried food drifted into the restaurant a lot. a couple times throughout the evening i noticed that there was a haze of smoke and that they opened the door to let it out. because it was really cold outside we instantly felt a draft of cold air when they did this. when i came home my partner said that i smelled of fried food. so they might need to check out whether there fans are working probably or if they need to look into getting some more. despite this i would recommend thisplaceand come back again-maybe for cocktails next time on a sunday.