SoL Sun Belt Cookery

Yummmmy! 10 of us were there for dinner& tried a good cross section of the menu shared 15 dishes lots of small, & large mains. Very flavor full, love the bin 941 fry bread

So disappointing! I had come here before and really enjoyed it so my family and I decided to take my mother here for her birthday. I called to make reservations, but they didn’t seem to answer their phone so I followed their website and made an online reservation. I even received a reminder a few days prior to my reservation, only to go there with my family (who drove quite a long ways to get there) and the restaurant was completely closed!!! No signs indicating why they weren’t open, the hours were even posted and we were there within operating hours. Pretty unbelievable for a business. To top it off, we had purchased some groupon type coupons so I’m not sure if we will ever be able to use them and will have to go through the hassle of getting a refund. This was such a disappointment for what was supposed to have been a delicious dinner and celebration.

Solid 3.5 stars, possibly a 4-​star til i try the food, but if you want a romantic setting with gorgeous water/​mountain views while being on the ground level, this is it.
Just outside of the Westin Bayshore, and right on the seawall track.
Good-​size restaurant, it’s cozy but with a high-​end flair to it.
Some metered street parking.

Went on a Wednesday evening, the place was empty except for 1 other table.
Service was decent, I think the guy was new. Nothing to write home about.
Starter: Moroccan chick-​pea soup. Tangy, real good.
Main: Duck leg confit. Salty, delicious.
Dessert: Crème Brulee. They made this WONDERFULLY. It wasn’t cold and jelly-​like.
The Moroccan tea is also DELICIOUS. Sweetened fresh mint tea. Yum!
They have a nice patio area, and you’re right by the water, so I think this place would look fantastic in the sunset or afternoon.

I cannot remember when was the last time I was at a mediterranean restaurant. My friend wanted to try something new for the Vancouver Dine-​out this year around. So I chose Sol Sun Belt Cookery, after two hours of restaurants shopping on
and cross referencing on Unilocal.
The research sort of paid off. I was pleasantly surprised by the food. We ordered some appetizers, tapas, Grilled Mackerel, and Confit of Duck Leg. They are all delicious. The quality of food is top notch, and I really appreciate their recommendation of wine pairing.
My one recommendation will be that the server could be more detail orientated. I think it was apparent we didn’t know much about mediterranean food and were scratching our heads for ideas. Our server just stood there and did nothing. It was a bit awkward to say the least.
All in all, we were happy about the food, service, and location. Too bad it was too dark to see any view.

We went for dinner using a groupon which was an amazing value after seeing the prices on the menu! We ordered what was on the prix fixe menu and the quality of food was fantastic. Definitely a must try if you haven’t been. We went in the midst of our winter, so I’m sure the summer would be wonderful to sit out on their patio and have dinner with a view of Stanley Park!

Nice location and decent décor and I’m going to make this a short review. We had the grilled squid steak and found a hair in the dish. The server was less than caring about it and just asked if he could get us another one. We weren’t looking for comps or anything but it was his lack of caring that gave the 1 star rating.
Yes, were «SoL» that day.

Always amazing food — you AHVE TO GO!

I tried to like this place — I really did. My first visit here was promising so I returned for their 3 course menu recently. Sadly we were served burnt sausages, burnt bread and under-​seasoned food. Has anyone had cold bread pudding? It was not impressive. The location is great, views are great but if you are having anything more than alcohol here, do so at your own peril.

We had a LivingSocial voucher for this place, and of course left it until the absolute last possible day to use it (turns out we weren’t the only last minute voucher-​users in the restaurant that night).
Honestly, if we hadn’t had the $ 40 meal-​for-​two voucher, I’m not sure we would have eaten here otherwise. The menu seemed rather pricey, and if the portions we received as part of our pre-​planned menu were the same as the portions on the regular menu, this place definitely wouldn’t be worth shelling out the $ 100+ you’d spend on a meal for two (and that’s not including their highly overpriced drinks).
We were a table of four, so opted to do the antipasto platter, the ceviche, and the squid steak, which the plan of sharing each dish amongst all of us so everyone could have a taste. I enjoyed the selection of meats and cheeses on the antipasto plate, but the portion sizes were tiny considering the dish was intended to share between two people. The squid steak was over cooked and was almost impossible to cut. The ceviche was so small we were literally giggling as we tried to split it between four people.
Two people opted for the lamb, another had the pork chop, and I had the beef. The lamb and pork came with a pile of what can only be described as unseasoned hickory sticks, which were left on the plate at the end of the meal as no one could sort out how to eat them (with your hands? a spoon? soaked in meat juice?). My beef came with some feta and olives on top, which would have been delicious if the beef itself wasn’t so heavily salted (maybe a ploy to entice us to buy more overpriced wine?)…
Desserts were quite good, my favorite was the booze-​soaked strawberries with vanilla bean whipped cream (soooooo good, but strawberries were in season, so you can’t really go wrong.)

Went here for a nice sunny dinner out on their patio. The backdrop of boats, Stanley Park, and people strolling by made for a good relaxed eating experience. Service was good with the host and waiter being friendly and helpful with questions I had.
I tried their squid steak appy which was pretty good — fairly tender and not too salty (some might find it a bit bland but I find many places over do it on the salt for my taste). Four stars for that dish.
For the main, I tried the duck confit. I had mixed views on that dish. The flavour was good and complex but the duck was cooked unevenly with the breast meat being slightly undercooked (a bit pink and chewy) and the leg being a bit overcooked (slightly dry and leathery). If the duck was cooked right, I’d say the dish would be a solid four stars. Unfortunately, because I would expect better from a place like this, I’d say that dish would be a two star they way it was served.
The dessert was deep fried «donuts» (really strips of batter deep fried) drizzled with honey with a chocolate ganache on them. Not bad but I was getting stuffed by then so I don’t think I enjoyed them as much as I could have.
Overall, I’d say three stars for their food and four and a half for the experience.

Great ambience ! Great food! Awesome belly dancing too. I only gave this a 4 because our reservations got messes up other then thAt everything was fabulous

Service was excellent. Our server was informed, courteous and very pleasant. Add in that the chef came out to say hello; a great bonus and a touch of class.
The food was fresh and the portions were perfect. We had the gruyère and wild mushroom omelette, the smoke bacon benny and the french toast. All were delicious.
The location is perfect. View of the harbour adds a touch of romance and elegant fun.
Bravo to the owner and staff. A great establishment. I wish u much success.

I was here on a Friday night. As it was our first time here, we had a LivingSocial coupon handy! Koodos to the staff for not wincing at the thought of someone coming in with a coupon!
The staff greeted us very promptly at the door. When we arrived, there were only two tables of four already dining, and two men sitting at the bar — it was 6:30 pm. We were seated by the window, where we would have had a lovely view if not for the rain!
Wines here are quite expensive, in my opinion. They were all $ 40 and up, for labels such as Blasted Church. We settled with two glasses of white wine for $ 9 each.
***NOTE: The menu on their website is outdated!
My hubby and I both started with the Morroccan Sausages. The presentation could have been better — the sausages were molded in a very unappetizing shape.
Taste: Excellent! Close your eyes and eat up!
Next, I had the Rump of Spring Lamb. It came with deep fried shoe string potatoes.
Taste: Excellent!
My hubby had the Pan Seared Duck. It came with risotto.
Taste: Excellent!
For dessert, we both had the Chocolate and Caramel Tart.
Taste: Excellent!
We also had a lovely waitress attending to us that evening. Service was prompt and polite. By 8:30 pm, we were happily fed and ready to leave.
Overall, we had a lovely time and the meal was delicious. If you’re wondering about this place, I say give it a go!

We made Easter brunch reservations here before we understood that Canada celebrates Easter on the Monday. We had the patio to ourselves for a while, which was fine by us. Starting with mimosas made with fresh squeezed orange juice was an excellent suggestion. My French Press coffee was also a fantastic pairing with my granola parfait. The husband had a very fancy stacked egg composition with ham on a risotto cake which was delicious. Great service, great price, great ambience for our final morning in town. Nothing like a sunny patio looking out onto the marina and fantastic food.

I want this restaurant to do well. When it first opened, it was amazing. The restaurant closed briefly to reopen again and I happened to be there that night. There was absolutely no reason to change the menu since the old one was so good but it is in a tricky location so I understand the logic behind changing things up. The reason I’m writing this update is because there was a minor issue (understandable the first night back) with a dish and it was dealt with in the most gracious manner. I strongly believe in supporting businesses that sincerely care about their customers.

Open 4 weeks now. We had dinner outside. Very pleasantly surprised by the food — our favourite was the grilled prawns, you could taste the sun (sort of)! We followed this with the Antipasto. For a change it wasn’t an antipasto swimming in oil, with nothing but marinated vegetables on it. Lots of different flavours and textures, including more prawns, great. The lobster on white bean purée drizzled with truffle oil could easily have been overpowered by the truffle oil or the lemon in the bean purée, but it was beautifully balanced. We prefer eating lots of small plates, but they equally do mains that looked very interesting.
The wine list is short, but I had 2 very enjoyable Spanish wines I’d never heard of. Add to this a great hostess and incredibly reasonable prices for the area (Lift less 30%), I hope this incarnation survives. Yes, I’m sure it wasn’t perfect, but we had a great experience. But please update your website Sol!

This little spot tucked into the cul de sac at the end of Denman has had many reincarnations. More lives than a cat I should say. The current is Sol, cuisine from the sun belt. I actually don’t know what that means, which belt?
Popped in for drinks and potentially some food around 5pm a few days after their opening. Interesting. Retro pop décor meets seaside shack with a Buddha Bar vibe. That’s one confused baby, but I’m willing to hang anywhere if the food is good. The little bar tables were… little. And, a little wobbly. Hard pressed to try and get drinks on there plus a plate if you wanted to nibble. The regular tables looked perfectly fine to eat on.
We ordered wine and the selection is OK, I have noted that most mid level restaurants in Vancouver’s wine lists these days seem to be predominantly BC wines which is (sorry BC) some of my least favourite wine. OK in a stretch for a light white but no thank you on the red.
We only ordered one dish and it was SUBLIME. A roasted chicken with truffles stuffed under the skin. I still dream about this chicken and am dying to go back to have another try.
The staff were there, neither good nor bad, some interesting make up, no comment on anything untoward or amazing.
Oh, outdoor patio, which I think is brilliant for the summertime. Good people watching off the sea wall. Wish it didn’t have the concrete barricades but beggars can’t be choosers when it comes to patios in Vancouver.
I will update this review more when I have had a full meal. I can only vouch for the chicken and odd décor at this time.

Definitely one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had in my life. And let me begin by saying the food is not horrible. Its not great, but I’ve had worse. Upon entering the restaurant, you are immediately assaulted by the WORST, and VERY loud, house music being played by some dj on some makeshift stage in the corner of the room. Also playing live is a saxophonist who I’m sure in another context was a decent player but whoever decided that her and the dj would sound good together, a conductor they were not. It sounded AWEFUL and it was super loud. So there’s that. We were quickly seated on the patio and ordered our drinks and food. I should note that we were OUTSIDE and the music was still so loud that we had to raise our voices to hear each other. Service was ok. It was obvious that some of the servers weren’t very experienced but they weren’t bad either. We ordered the Nicoise, the bruschetta and mussels to start. All were ok, but very over-​salted. And I like salty food. This was a little much. For our mains we ordered the cioppino and the pacific snapper. The fish was very dry and overcooked. The seafood in the cioppino was well cooked but the broth was bland and tasteless. It tasted like it was made from seafood stock that you buy in a tetrapak. Perhaps they should take some of the salt from the appetizers and put it in the mains. Lastly, the décor of the place is the very definition of gaudy. I mean, its really bad. It just feels cheap. I love going to inexpensive little hole in the wall places if they’re good. I dont need a restaurant to spend a lot of money on the décor when the food is good and inexpensive, but this place is trying to be a high end restaurant. It’s in Coal Harbour overlooking the water and the mains are $ 22. I expect more from somewhere like this. Owners if you’re reading this. Go to Cibo. That’s what a nice restaurant is supposed to look like. Your restaurant looks like a clown on acid did the décor, from the branding to that bizarre «The Last Supper» 3 foot high letters that come off of the railing with the T in the shape of a cross. I have no idea who they hired to do the branding and décor and but that person should immediately look for another profession. As an example, on the door to the men’s and woman’s washroom is crudely spray painted in white «he» and «she» on the bottom of the door. Whoever did that literally didn’t even take the time to even TRY to make it look good.
I’m gonna stop here. Needless to say, we wont be going back.

They were smoking busy on their first Friday night of service so I’m going to cut them some slack. The service was definitely friendlly and enthusiastic and we got inside info that one new staff couldn’t handle it and left them short-​handed.
Owner Gord Martin was moving about the tables keeping an eye on everything. I’m not sure who the maitre d’-type guy was who came over to welcome us and check on our table but he seemed quite pleased with business and was grinning with delight.
We ordered a bottle of Kris Pinot Grigio to have with olives, bruschetta and chorizo mussels. I’ve had mussels at Bin 941 before that were amazing and these could have been better. Again, cutting them some slack on their first week of service. The olives and bruschetta, which had pork/​beef meatballs and asiago cheese on it, were delicious!
The olives came out late and we’d ordered a bottle of Fontanafredda Briccotondo Barolo for our next wine. That too took a long time to arrive. When our server came back apologising for the delay I asked if she’d had to go to Italy for it. She definitely appreciated our humour and patience and then she hammed it up reading the Italian label for us.
We scored a table on the patio with a view of the marina and a cute little skunk who was wandering around the seawall. The heaters were cranked when we got there and we asked if they could be turned down — it was a lovely night out. They did and it was really comfortable. On a chillier night the heaters would be great.
It’s great to see this locale hopping right off the bat. We were told that the neighbourhood has been supportive and Gord does have his Bin941 followers. He thanked us for coming and admitted that the staff were just finding their groove. He’ll get them whipped into shape soon enough. If you’re patient though and want to check out this space go, get on the patio, and soak up what summer we have left in this lively, vibrant, new spot.