TWB The Wine Bar

I guess it’s technically Yaletown, but a more palatable Yaletown right by the seawall.
I’ve been many times now after Simon K first took me here. I’ve never had to wait for a table. Staff are always awesome. Usually John is the man.
Happy hour is one of the best in town. For $ 5 they have a bunch of red and white wines to choose from and 4 – 5 craft beers as well as a bunch of tapas. They share the kitchen of Provence Marinaside so the food is consistently good.
If you enjoy people watching, this is your place. I’ve seen some news anchors so far, and I’m sure some Canucks come here too. But don’t be the type to bother them. That’s lame.
They usually have different deals every night. Plenty of wine of tap and endless bottles. Very reasonable bottles as low as $ 30 or so.
Super chill place. Very limited organisms from the typical Yaletown gene pool (thank god).
Come once. Come often.

This is a great place to go late at night to get their specials after 10pm for the 10 $ tapas for three dishes. it is really a great deal! I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to go out, enjoy a glass of wine and have small eats if you haven’t had a normal dinner or you like nibbles. This is affordable and great, nice décor, great ambient lighting and good atmosphere. It is right by the seawall in Yaletown w plenty of street metered parking. I think if you are coming after 10pm don’t worry about parking, there’s plenty of it to go around in the area.
I came here twice already. Sometimes the waiters who are new don’t know the menus too well so give them some time to check but they are great w service– always personable, helpful, kind and funny. They try to make your stay the best. John was great– singing Happy Birthday to me w my friends and bringing out my dessert w a candle on the side. Great experience here.
I highly recommend the raspberry vinegar imitation drink, the El Petit Bonhomme (from the old world selection) and the Sarzak (not sure of spelling), really yummy.
As for the nibbles– I would say my top picks include the:
— Grilled Squid
— Pork Belly
— Baby Shrimp and avocado
_​Bocconcinni and tomato
— Baked eggplant
— Pomme frites w truffle oil
Enjoy!

You know, I have been so disappointed by Provence Marinaside/​The Wine Bar place in recent months. It used to be one of our favourite places to go, and since we live around the corner, were so happy that we had such a nice, classy place to hang out in the evenings for quality fine and excellent wine.
However, our recent visits this past summer have been so disappointing. I don’t know if they have become complacent with the «reputation» of Provence or what, but management really needs to get their act together if they want to live up to their image. Food and wine are fine, but for what you pay for, you’d think that they could provide 5 star service. Please. When your servers are clearly under a great deal of pressure, please consider hiring more servers, especially on Friday and Saturday evenings! Who enjoys being served by people who are clearly over-​worked and under strain? — and therefore in terrible mood! It compromises the whole experience.
On top of it all, I am completely unimpressed by the two ladies who seem to be the ‘managers’ of this establishment. When it is clear that your staff are over-​worked, the last thing you need to be doing is pulling out one of your wait staff to admire the sunset. Not when you have customers waiting to order their food. On previous occasions too, you might do better by helping your staff out, rather than flirting with the middle-​aged men at the bar.
Sorry, Provence/​Wine Bar — you’ve lost our business, and we were one of your most loyal customers.

3.5 stars
This is based on happy hour.
Everything is $ 5. They have a $ 6 menu too.
I think a selling point is that you can enjoy happy hour on the patio and people watch and be watched by people.
Server that we had was useful.
Food was tasty. Small — esque portions but good flavours and not too salty.
Lamb sausage
Risotto balls (so so)
Grilled avocado and shrimp
Bocconici was thick and layered ^.^
Good experience. Nice to try new places. came here for the location.

TWB is the perfect place where I can comfortably sit, talk, nibble, and drink some more after an intense full-​on fun Unilocal party.
Monday night deal: 3 plates of food = $ 10. What a steal. I chose olives, bocconcini & tomatoes, and gnocchi du jour. Gnocchi du jour happened to be a creamed saffron sauce with sautéed brussel sprouts. The magic word was «saffron» and I was sold. The Unilocal heavy weight ordered half a litre of Syrah. I didn’t bother finding out the year and country of origin. I was a little too preoccupied by my hungry-​angriness. When the wine arrived, our ever-​so-​sweet server skillfully poured the burgundy liquid into our respective wine glasses. Such gesture was not out of the ordinary, but the fact she re-​poured our almost-​depleted glasses throughout the night whenever she came by to check on us, wow… now that’s top notch service considering she’s the only server of the night and there were a few patrons at the bar and at tables she had to attend to.
I had a few sips and I enjoyed the wine. It went well with all the food we ordered. Sips turned into mouthful of swallows. I had a great time. The olives were assorted with various sizes and shapes. The bocconcini & tomatoes was good. The Gnocchi was creamy and all the ingredients came together. Seasoning was very good. The music wasn’t too loud. The ambiance was comfortable and intimate. I particularly like the dim lights because by the end of the night my makeup had smudged and I probably looked like a starved Gollum. The dim light helped or at least it made me feel less self aware of my deteriorating look.
Like Herman E. said, no douchebags. Awesome!

If Herman’s is a belated review. than mine is truly belated by all instances.
This has somehow become almost a weekly hangout, almost… time permitting as the unfortunate thing of finding a place to sit in downtown is the fact that this place does close at 12AM on a Saturday. Other than the closing of time, there is a lot to like about this place. I’ll always remember the first time I was here, the waitress created some conversation with me, and asked me why did we choose this place to come wet our throats… ‘No Douchebags’, clearly anything North of Pacific Blvd is fair game for the DB’s but somehow they do not end up here… well not yet, here is crossing my fingers!
I will not go further into discussion about the definition of the DB, you can refer to Herman’s review on that, what I will say is that if you are looking for a place to relax, have a glass of wine, have some small plates of food and not break the bank, come here. You can actually have a conversation as the music is not turned to the upper dial. Aside from the crowd that is in here, or sometimes if you are lucky, no crowd at all, the staff here is great, and the one who helps me out (Stacey) always is attentive and knows her drink and food in this place.
Just looking at the wine menu, on the left side are ‘old world’ wines, and the right… new world. I haven’t ventured into the white’s, but I have hopped back and forth from old and new world red’s. If you are not into wines, don’t worry too much, it’s practically a full on bar, as when you are looking for the washroom you have to go through Provence restaurant next door. If you are looking for a place with some daily deals, this place has it as well… just remember, the food is coming from Provence as well, and it’s very affordable.
I wish there were more places like this, at the same time there are not. In the warmer months, the patio and glass doors are open wide, and the view of the boats parked along False Creek are a calming sight. Always a good, calming time here with a well dressed crowd. Have a drink, have some food, have a good time… and no DB’s… phew!

A very belated review.
There is a subtle dress code, but unenforced, in place, at midnight Saturdays at least.
For men, based on my observation:
— No sports jerseys
— No Flat bill ball caps
— No visually obnoxious bling
— No henley tees of any sort
— No running shoes
— Actual leather shoes.
All of the above equates to *no douchebags*
Hallelujah!
So this has been my hangout for, ummmmm, never mind… I’ve enjoyed it so far. There’s a good wine list that I’m slowly working my way through. So far so good. Haven’t tried any of the food yet, but I hear it’s good.
The ambience is excellent at night. Serene water just off the patio. Dimly lit, with candles. Great for intimate conversation and it’s not too noisy at 11PM. You can have an actual conversation.
Wine by glass, ¼ litre, or bottle. Old and New World varietals etc.
Shares a kitchen and washrooms with Provence Marinaside.

Great spot nice appies. Will return for that and a great view. Service was good. Sat outside and people watching great spot.

My husband and I decided to go to TWB for drinks and tapas. We were acknowledged upon coming in and were told to sit wherever we wanted. We like that about them since it makes the experience a bit more relaxed. However, it started to go down after that. The server took our order then after a minute another server brought our first order. But no cutlery and no drinks yet? We had to ask him to bring cutlery as if he couldn’t see himself! The drinks finally came when we were almost done with our first dish. We feel that the food is never warm enough which is truly disappointing. They also use the same tomato sauce on the merguez sausage and the meatballs (and the risotto balls too, I think?). Pomme frites were more like regular fries (too thick to be pomme frites) that you get at a crappy restaurant and they seemed like they were the end bits from Provence next door. No Parmesan cheese or anything exciting on them. The calamari though was good. We love the sommelier as she is genuinely friendly and knowledgable. Unfortunately we weren’t helped by her tonight. When we got the bill we noticed that our champagne cocktails were not 25% off (Friday special) even though they should have been discounted like they were the last time we had them on a Friday night. We asked the server but she argued that it was correct. I don’t think it’s worth arguing with your customers over $ 5 especially when they have a point. We wanted to ask since they were discounted on the bill the last time we ordered them on a Friday night. Tonight we were left with a bad feeling about TWB. We live very close to it and were quite disappointed about the whole experience. There are lots of great restaurants in Yaletown. It would be in their favour to keep their regulars. We’re not sure if we’re going to rush back there anytime soon if at all.

I had never heard of TWB until a friend recommended that we go there for drinks. From beginning to end it was a great experience. Our server was excellent. She was able to describe the different wines we were considering, our glasses were always subtlety filled. The bite-​size tapas were very good came out quite promptly. Overall, very good experience.

Great value. Tasty euro tapas. Overlooking the marina in trendy Yaletown. Great tapas starting at $ 5 then $ 6 then $ 13 and $ 18. We had 4 $ 5 tapas and were totally satisfied. Risotto balls, Bocconcini salad, merguesz sausage? And toasted eggplant. Say hi to Marit our great server. Ask her about her travels ghhhhgggg

We ate here last summer with our baby and the staff was very friendly. We walked there tonite and were informed by the manager they have decided to ban babies and children. Seriously? We felt very insulted and discriminated against. We will no longer support TWB or its sister restaurant Provence.

We have eaten here before with our kids. Staff was great with our sons. Today we were told to leave since they no longer accept kids. This is a shame since Yaletown is a family-​friendly neighbourhood. We will no longer be supporting TWB or their other restaurant Provence.
Hard to believe this is not a violation of our rights.

Went here last night for the first time and really enjoyed it! There was a small group of us so we made ourselves comfortable on the couches outside underneath the patio heaters. They had some cozy fleece blankets to keep us warm, which was a great touch. The service was excellent, very friendly and down to earth. It is located on Marinaside which, like it’s name says, looks out over the marina — lovely, quiet neighbourhood — great find. Oh, they also have a full bar too. It was an awesome place to hang out for a few hours, we’ll be back again!

I have been to The Wine Bar twice now, and had a good experience both times. Tasty tapas, decent wine menu, casual atmosphere, and specials. After 10 pm, you can get 3 tapas for $ 10, which is an excellent deal. They also have 25% off bottles of wine on Wednesdays. Similar deals other nights of the week.
Really enjoyed the merguez sausages, risotto balls, and the baked eggplants. You have to pay for bread if you order it, and it takes a while, but it comes fresh out of the oven.

this belongs to the same owner as Provence. have been many times, though not my choice, a guest at an event such as birthdays. tries to be fine dining but failed in many areas. pricy and portion very small, mediocre food like most restaurants in yaletown. tourist trap. what a waste of space.

I was introduced to this little gem by a friend who lives in Yaletown and frequents it. And so with him, we visited 3 times over 4 days while I was visiting Vancouver. The weather was warm so we sat on the patio each time. A beautiful location and the people/​dog watching is too much fun.
Almost immediately you notice how friendly and helpful the staff are. The wine list is extensive and varied. The bites selection mouth watering and curious. Loved the grilled artichokes and olives. Friends had the grilled squid and quinoa salad which they found satisfying.
The entire experience was extraordinary, which I guess in hindsight is why we visited three times over the weekend. High on the list for the next visit to Vancouver.

I needed to find a quiet but nice place to meet on a Thursday evening and TWB was recommended to me by a friend who knows her wine and food. I had heard that Provence Marinaside had opened something but it had slipped my mind. From the experiences I’ve had in their restaurants both in Yaletown and Pt. Grey, I knew I couldn’t go wrong…
The entrance is a little ways down from the main entrance to the restaurant and you walk in to face the bar. The table seating is to your right and it’s an intimate room that is decorated tastefully – a great balance of elegance without an ounce of pretension.
The draw for me was the selection of 50 wines available by the glass. Amazing. In addition, there are «bites» that are well-​priced small plates of food, perfect for two to share. If you are looking for a more substantial meal, they offer full plates as well.
On this occasion, I stuck with an old favourite and had a ½ litre of Joie Noble Blend. I also tried the risotto balls and chicken skewers. Both bites were excellent!
On top of all this, service was warm and professional – we never really had to wait if we needed anything… I’d go so far as to say that needs were anticipated yet we were never interrupted at an inopportune moment. Flawless.
I returned a few Thursdays later to experience the Perfect Pairings event which includes a flight of three wines paired with three snacks. Rachelle Goudreau, who is the sommelier for TWB as well as Provence Marinaside, is a wonderful host with a great depth of knowledge. She was approachable and funny. During her talk, she told us that she started out as a chef and moved into the wine side of things and her passion for both things shines through. The pairings truly were perfect and I believe they change for every session. Our pairings (for interest’s sake) were Joie Noble Blend w/​cold pea soup, Château Gaudrelle Vouvray w/​salmon poached in a cucumber and tomato broth and Alvear Amontillado Sherry w/​almonds and proscuitto (I believe?) sprinkles.
TWB cultivates a friendly atmosphere with unpretentious diners. Most of us at the long table introduced ourselves to each other and a few stayed around after the event to talk and laugh. The staff again were extraordinary.
And this review is getting really lengthy but I tasted more from the bites menu. All spectacular: pommes frites, grilled prawns and the gnocchi du jour (which had peas and tomato).
One last thing that I noticed and appreciated is that I noticed a crow’s nest in the tree just outside the patio. When we were listening to Rachelle’s talk, I was distracted at times by the mother coming back to feed her young. Cute!
I highly recommend TWB – great food and wine, good value, lovely room, wonderful service. This is by far the best thing I have discovered in Vancouver experiences all year. I have gone on and on and could go on further. Just go.