Pretty bad actually. Definitely our worst meal in vancouver so far. Service was pretty much non existent. We came for the pollo a la brasa. It was 6:30pm but the had none. I got the aji de gallina and hubby got the mussels with chopped onions. Mussels were disappointing and worse they were warm. My aji was cold in spots and had zero salt. It was just plain bad. Don't bother with this place. read more

See all

Delicious flavors. Helpful recommendations. Friendly and attentive service. I tried the Chicha Morada, a refreshing spiced drink. Lomo Saltado was my sandwich choice, which had great flavors. I finished the meal with an Alfajores, a delicious shortbread cookie with a creamy caramel filling. I would definitely return to sample more from this restaurant's menu. read more

See all

We were in Peru and loved the food. This places the food as good. Super friendly service. We had chicken and beef, both well-flavoured; the chicken was falling off the bone. Chicken was moist and flavorful throughout, and so was the beef. Chicha Morada is the best drink ever. There are so many types of ice cream to die for, not just good-looking, but delicious. We really had an excellent time. I would give 10 stars, Steve read more

Silvestre Deli & Bistro - Appetizer - Peruvian Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Our server was pleasant but considering that we were one of two tables with customers, felt a little rushed. The restaurant is small and our table was tiny, so server compelled to get table cleared, but still. Food was good but not great-but pricey--not a good value, for what it was. (Rent in the area likely high?) The big screen tv with monotonous pop music videos did not enhance atmosphere of this tiny restaurant. read more

Loved the I think Cuban sandwich....was the best ever. Bread was great. The cilantro soup was so flavorful. I was visiting and wish I could have gone back but I left the next day. Very authentic ....loved it. read more

Excellent butifarra, one of the best I've ever had. The empanadas are great too. Definitely recommend.

I was in a big rush and very hungry and had to have some food that I knew would fill me up. I was on my way from Vancouver to Seattle and saw a sign outside of this place advertising 'Vancouver's Best Sandwiches' and it was true! To be fair, it was the only sandwich I had in Vancouver but I would be shocked if I found any other shop that sold near this quality. I put in an expedited to go order and the staff were very welcoming and helpful. I got the Hawaiian which was absolutely delicious and extremely flavorful. I never would've put pineapple and rotisserie chicken together but I may start since it's a great combo. The sauce tied the sandwich together and was overall wonderful. Recommend!! read more

See all

The best chicken soup I've ever had in my life! It's green because of the cilantro. The server was very kind in explaining everything to us as it was our first time trying Peruvian food. It is right next door to the famous steam clock so you can hear it as you eat. read more

Silvestre Deli & Bistro - Peruvian Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

See all

This place is super delicious and the portions are huge. Stop by you won't be disappointed with anything on the menu! read more

Silvestre Deli & Bistro - Peruvian Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

A small Peruvian sandwich shop/restaurant located in the center of Gastown. We ordered two appetizers which both tasted pretty good. The price was steep ($30 for two appetizers). The service wasn't exactly fast but we enjoyed our time there. read more

See all

A hidden small Peruvian restaurant that is authentic starting with the owners. Great friendly owners and staff - wore mask during this COVID pandemic which was appreciated. Not many true Peruvian restaurants with a menu of food that is authentic and not fusion. We did take out and took about 25 mins to pick up. Flavours were good and not salty. Anticucho was tender. The tripe in Cau Cau was not chewy and soft. Lomo Saltado was well seasoned and balanced. Ceviche was on point! Only challenge is parking being in Gastown with limited meter parking around. Recommended for Peruvian dishes to eat reminding of being in Peru read more

See all

Good food, but really cheap owners... have been in there several times to try to support local businesses and every time I order I spend about $25-$28 a meal and get one tiny sauce with it. I always ask for another one and they charge me $2 for every 1oz. extra... I even tipped them $2 for takeout food. How about you take that tip and give me an extra sauce?!?! I am all for supporting businesses and giving them their fair share but that is flat out cheap... Do better, especially for your repeat customers! read more

Silvestre Deli & Bistro - The sauce next to lip balm, so you can see the size. - Peruvian Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Delicious authentic Peruvian food in the heart of Gastown! You have to try it if you haven't already. I first tried Silvestre's food about 7 years ago in my very first week here in Vancouver. I made friends with a Peruvian fellow who had also just moved and was craving some of his home cuisine. He brought a few of us here and all I remember thinking was... "this is the best food I've ever tasted in my life". It was the best introduction to the the immigrant infused flavours of the Vancouver restaurant scene I could ask for. I never got the name of the restaurant and had been searching on and off for the place for years following. Little did I know I was passing it so frequently hidden in plain sight right in Gastown! Anyway, I finally messaged that old friend a few weeks ago and he suggested it might be Silvestre. Armed with only my memory of the best food ever and a vague memory of what it looked like, I went with my partner and we tried the food. It was definitely Silvestre! You don't forget those flavours and those delicious scents easily. We tried the Lomo saltado de pollo a la brasa and the Aji de gallina and immediately went to food heaven. It's just unlike any other food you can get here in Vancouver. Service was friendly and quick and as a transplant to Vancouver myself, there is just something homey and familiar about being at another immigrant family's restaurant. We ended with the Lucuma gelato, such a unique subtlety grainy texture and deep flavour - I'm not usually a dessert person but I loved this! I will definitely be going back now that I've found this long lost foodie love of mine and work my way through the menu. 7 years later and this place still has my heart and my stomach! Highly recommend you check it out if you're reading this. read more

See all

After a trip to Peru that introduced me to some of the most delicious food I've ever had, I've been really itching to try some of Vancouver's very few Peruvian restaurants, and today I finally got around to visiting Silvestre. I wanted something relatively light, so I went for the tiradito de pescado, which is basically a pile of slices of almost-raw fish very lightly cured in an acidic and spicy sauce (less cured than ceviche as I understand it). It was really delicious - the sauce was wonderfully tangy and spicy, and it was accompanied by some crunchy corn nuts, chewy giant white corn kernels, and sweet potato slices, but only just enough starches for a bite or two. They also served three separate sauces to go along with it - one wakatay, one aji amarillo, and one rocoto sauce, the latter two of which are fairly spicy, just how I like it. All of them were excellent topping the fish, though they wouldn't have been necessary either! I also got a nice glass of chicha morada, lightly spiced and sweet purple corn juice; and I grabbed a tiny alfajor to go, which turned out to be filled with properly creamy and gooey dulce de leche! Delicious all around. Staff were lovely too - I chatted a bit with them about the food and about Peru, and they were happy to ask how things were and offer drink refills and what have you. The only thing I missed is that they don't serve rocoto relleno - and I can't really blame them, since fresh rocotos essentially don't exist in Vancouver, as far as I'm aware. Pretty much every other Peruvian dish I remember from my trip was down here, though, so I can't wait to come back and try some of their other offerings! read more

See all

Came here because I had some free credits to a dining app. Overall experience was good but had I not had free credits, it's cheaper to order in person at the cafe Got their Porchetta sandwich. They use a ciabatta bun, so their portions is similar to Meat and Bread but i would say their fillings are less generous. It was filling but at $9.5 in person/$12 in app, I expected a bit more filling Also tried their Beef Empanada. Flavours were good, but they used some icing sugar to top the empanada. I'm not sure if that's their flair or if that's standard practice in Peru, but I didn't like it personally (but no stars deducted as it might be a local practice I am not familiar with) Overall, if you're in the area, it's not a bad cafe/sandwich shop read more

Silvestre Deli & Bistro - Porchetta sandwich - Peruvian Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Our first time visiting Vancouver BC , the city is spectacular. This restaurant is located in Gastown . We enjoyed eating out. But THE NUMBER ONE for us was SILVESTRE Deli & Bistro. Not only we ate once but twice. The flavors, their cuisine is amazing. It is like visiting another country. Very charming. My husband ordered Pan Chícharon & Inka Kola. I ate a Aguadito de Pollo and Empanadas de Pollo. It was a delicious. We ordered their suggestion Helado de Lucina yummy . I mentioned to my husband that I would love to come back to eat at this Peruvian restaurant again, it was even better. The owners were friendly ; Laura & Lalo and all their employees, it was like eating at home very relax. Thank you all Silvestre Deli & Bistro !!!! Blessings, Kenneth & Jacqueline Fritz read more

I've never been to Peru but my friend went on a trip there, loved the food, and came back determined to try all the Peruvian restaurants in Vancouver. I don't know if he's really tried them all but so far, he said this one is the best and the one that is the most similar to the food he had there. I wouldn't know but I can say that the food is delicious! The restaurant itself is really uniquely set up. As their name states, it is a deli and a bistro; it's a sit-down restaurant where you can order off an extensive menu, or you can order food at the counter. There's also a gelato counter at the front of the restaurant. I think when I've walked by before, I thought it was a gelato shop. We got a ceviche mixto as an appetizer and yes, $21 is expensive, but seafood and Gastown are expensive also. The marinade was light and tart and I thought the pieces of seafood were well sized and delicious. My favourite were the little scallops but I believe there was fish, squid, octopus, and clams/mussels. There were also slices of cooked yam, red onion, jalapeno and red chilie peppers, and corn. The corn is very different from what we'd usually see here. For the main I ordered the pollo en salsa de mani which is described as a spicy, creamy peanut sauce on chicken, with rice and potato on the side. The sauce wasn't spicy but it was very delicious. Think peanut butter, but savoury. The chicken itself was well cooked and well seasoned, even with the sauce on top. My friend ordered the lomo saltado de pollo a la brasa, which is a chicken stir fry over fries, with rice on the side. I liked the seasoning/marinade, especially over the fries, but I don't think I would get it myself. For dessert we had lucuma gelato, which is hard to describe, and I don't think I've ever seen the fruit here. I would describe the flavour from the gelato as almost candy like with a touch of powderyness. It also tasted familiar to me but I couldn't figure out why. The suspiro limeno was also delicious and hard to describe. It was topped with meringue and covered with syrup, but the base (which looked pudding/flan like), was actually chewy and sweet. We also drank the chicha morada, a deep purple spiced corn-based drink. I've had it before and have liked it every time. I would definitely come back because there are too many things to try! read more

See all

On our first day in Vancouver, we walked down Gastown, close to the clock we found this hidden gem. Silvestre Deli and Bistro. The people are friendly and the food was very good. The Lomo saltado was perfect and their chicha on point! We also ordered yuca frita and it came out the way it should be, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. read more

We have had Peruvian foods a few times and we have always enjoyed it. We specially love Peruvian style chicken which was our go to when we were living in USA. When we moved to Vancouver we really missed Peruvian chicken. When we spotted this Peruvian place we were excited to try it out and we were actually happy that it lived up to our expectations. The menu is extensive and they offer very traditional Peruvian food. It was really difficult to choose as everything looked so good but we ended up getting ceviche, chicken lomo saltado(Lomo saltado de pollo a la brasa), the Peruvian chicken (Pollo a la brasa), pescado sudado and chicha morada. First they gave us 3 different aji sauces to go with our food. All the three are very traditional sauces and all of them were so good. The owners told us that they import the fresh Peruvian aji for the sauces. We especially liked one more than the other 2, (they said it was amarillo aji + herbs) , but all 3 were really good. The ceviche was as good as the one we had on our visit to a popular Peruvian restaurant in Miami. It had a nice spice and tanginess. It was just so good. For lomo saltado we liked the fact that they offer options between beef/chicken and tofu. We got ours with chicken which was good. The pescado sudado was fish with a tangy tomato based sauce, it had that little bit amarillo aji taste as well, which went really good. The Peruvian chicken was some of the best Peruvian style chicken that we have ever had. It was beautifully marinated and the spices were just perfect, it also had amazing smoky flavour, it went perfect with all the different sauces. The chicha morada drink which is made with purple corn is light, refreshing and delicious, and it was not too sweet, just how we like it. They also gave us a taste of the lucuma ice-cream which is a native Peruvian fruit. It's tasted like a dark caramel custard. Overall we loved all the dishes and had a very satisfying meal. We will definitely come back. . read more

See all

My partner and I just celebrated our anniversary here and it was such an awesome time. If you are looking for authentic, delicious, home cooked Peruvian food, search no further! Thank you to Eduardo and the team for making our night. Nos vemos prontissimo :) read more

See all

I quite enjoyed my food! I stumbled upon this place on a total whim. My friends had wanted to grab an ice cream cone so we spotted the word "gelato" on a sign they had on the street. We figured why not just check it out. I was definitely not expecting to order a meal or dessert but ended up doing just that. The sandwiches were phenomenal! Probably the best sandwich I've had in a long time. The bread was toasted and there was just so much flavour to it. I found it to be just the right size if you're hungry but not starving. The sandwich was just under $10 which is standard these days. I also ordered a fruit croissant but it wasn't that good. For $6 it could've been much better. I wouldn't order that one again but they had a ton of other desserts that looked delicious. The service was great and the girls working behind the counter were lovely. I would absolutely love to visit this spot again if I'm ever in the area. read more

With my wife being from Peru we are brave enough to try Peruvian food in another country and I will tell you what it is better than any Peruvian food we have had in all of Texas even better than some places in Miami! The Chicha Morada is definitely the best I've had! All of their food is great portions and definitely homemade you can taste the love!!! Please come try Peruvian food and experience the great flavors of Peru! The sandwiches are mouth watering and the soups are so fulfilling. Now the deserts are indescribable come see for yourself read more

See all

Dead quiet on a Wednesday night, even as late as 7pm. So -- good for groups! Probably easy to get a large group in to eat. Even though we were the only two there, water never got refilled. Hmm... Many of the desserts in the counter are not made in-house -- only the Peruvian ones. After we ordered, a small bowl of roasted and salted corn kernals was brought to the table, followed by 4 dips, three of which were pretty spicy. Ceviche Mixto ($17) -Smallish portion for $17 but you do get a lot of shrimp and quite a bit of mussels. Simple and tasty. Pollo a la Brassa ($16 for breast portion of a quarter chicken) -Reasonably tender and moist meat for breast. Otherwise, nothing special here and on the pricey side. Empanada Camarones ($5.75) Deep fried empanada with shrimp in spicy, creamy sauce -You can isolate the shrimp and there's apparently quite a few of the rather tiny shrimp. -Filling tasted like the tomato-paste like sauce. Waste of time unless you like Pizza Pockets where you can't taste any filling except sauce. -Price for portion pretty steep considering it wasn't that tasty. -Not spicy at all. Empanada Pollo ($5.75) Baked pastry dough filled with chicken, onion, and raisins -There are raisins here? -Filling tasted like the tomato-paste like sauce. Waste of time, as above. -Price for portion pretty steep considering it wasn't that tasty. Crema Volteada ($5.75) -Price for portion felt pretty steep. -Taste and texture like a flan that is too firm. Otherwise pretty tasty, especially with the crunchy coconut on top. -Sweet but not throat-burning over-sweet. Of the items tried overall I felt they were overpriced and taste was mediocre. On a previous visit (long ago) I tried the Causa Rellena De Pollo and it was quite interesting. Definitely recommended over anything I tried today. read more

See all

My first time eating Peruvian food and I enjoyed it. Silvestre is like a casual diner - very simple decor with decent food. The appetizer I had was delicious; it was called Palta Rellena. It was a salad with avocado & tuna, and a very typical dish (from what I've been told). The flavours were bright and fresh - something I would definitely order again. I especially enjoyed the trio of sauces brought to the table. I could eat them on anything, they were all so good! For my main, I chose the Seco de Res y Frijoles, which is beef with pepper, beans, salsa criolla (onion, aji and lemon) and served with white rice. I thought the meat was overcooked as it was quite dry, despite all the sauce on the plate. I liked the flavours, but I wouldn't have this again. I think that the type of food served at Silvestre can be accurately described as "comfort food" in every sense of the word. It was something that reminded me of eating in my mom's kitchen, even though she's not from Peru. The style of food is unpretentious, flavourful and comforting. i would like to try some of their other dishes on a future visit, as everything smelled amazing. read more

This place would deserve a better review if the price for the quality of the food was more fair. The food is just OK. It is just regular food with no special flavors. But I have to say they charge pretty high for that dishes. With that amount I can easily go to a better place. I had a baked beef empanada and another interesting dish that is actually avocado filled up with some vegetables and shrimp. Empanada was good although i tried much better ones in other places. And i was expecting more taste from the avocado. My husband had lomo saltado and again he had better ones in other places. Just ok. Location is nice but it is hard to park since it is located in downtown. It was very sunny but the restaurant is too dark inside and I wanted to be in open patios in sunny days. :) read more

See all

I found this place while walking around with my girlfriend on December 28th and book marked it for future reference. From the outside the place is very unassuming. The inside has no desired ambiance, however, where it does win points is that their is a large menu selection. So large that I felt a little overwhelmed at first and it took me 10 minutes to decide. They were very patient with me which was appreciated. After all...I only have one stomach. The prices are at level with most eateries. I had the single meat pocket which was nicely prepared. The wait was a little long but worth it. Service was neutral. I think that they were slightly bothered that I wasn't a large spender for a slow night. read more

Silvestre Deli & Bistro - It's a savoury meat pie with icing sugar dusted on top which threw me off. - Peruvian Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Worst customer service & mediocre ice cream! Made us pay for another serving of ice cream after my 5 year old sister's scoop fell off the cone before she took the first bite. read more

Saw, came and conquered. We were walking by and I noticed their non-descript cafe signage on the floor. "Peruvian cafe", the sign says, in small print. It piqued my curiosity, but the sign had me at empanada. Of course I had to walk in and get some at this point. $3.95 for a decent sized chicken empanada if I remember correctly. The soft flour crust was light and buttery, though the chicken filling more mildly spiced than what I'd have preferred. They maybe adapting it to a more Western palate with its location in Gastown. Also not sure if they make these in-house. All I can say is, they need to come up with more varieties (chicken or beef at this point...yawn). I expected more House-of-Empanadas style joint but they threw in a whole bunch of standard cafe pastries in the front counter there...empanada/Peruvian cuisine counter positioned more out of sight in the back. If we can just have a "very" Peruvian cafe in the heart of Gastown, that would be super marvelous. Served with a great cup of coffee, this place could be the next afternoon delight spot in Gastown with their selection of Peruvian small entrees. I'm simply having identity issues with them right now. read more

Silvestre Deli & Bistro - Brown bag chicken empanada from Silvestre! - Peruvian Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Ever since visiting Peru last summer I've had a soft spot in my heart for Peruvian cuisine. While there aren't too many options for this in Vancouver, what I love is that the ones we do have are quite good. 'Authentic' is a word that many Yelpers have used to describe Silvestre, and it's a pretty good word! Everything from the taste to the presentation reminds me of Peru! Between two of us, we shared the Lomo Saltado, Cebiche cocktail, and 2 empanadas. It was more than enough, and only three of the endless menu items we had to choose from. If there is a downside, it's the price. Average price of entrees is about $18...which would not be outrageous if this were a more upscale establishment, but it's a small deli and cafe. But it is located in the heart of Gastown so likely this could be particularly to offset the cost is rent! :) All in all, I am so happy I finally got to check it out, and will definitely go back again! read more

Silvestre Deli & Bistro - Lomo Saltado and Cebiche cocktail for 2 - Peruvian Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

I'm Peruvian , so sometimes finding a good place that could take you back home ( Peru ) is difficult , but omg it took me to go from Seattle to Canada to find the most amazing causa I have tried in USA/ Canada . Thank you. Staff was very friendly and even the chef was so nice. Thank you! I can't wait to go back and eat again. Forgot to mention the lucuma gelato ON POINT!!! Thanks !! read more

Silvestre Deli & Bistro - Lucuma gelato - Peruvian Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

See all

Cute lil place, not the fanciest but do not let that stop you from going in and saying hello. The staff, Peruvian, are hard working and very friendly. Even with so many choices in the area for everything we stopped here twice - one in the early afternoon for a coffee - was very good, made from espresso drip, the best way.. and then we went back with a friend for gelato in the evening! They have about 15 flavors and OH what amazing flavors they are (said to be made on site). Our friend put away 3 scoops before our eyes! She had maple, pistachio and tiramisu as she just could not decide! We had one scoop of salted caramel and let me tell you, if you love dulche de leche, get this! Creamy, rich, in your face CARAMEL! So delicious! GO HERE! You can sample before you buy! read more

I feel robbed after paying more than 20 dollars for two empanadas and a soup. Hey you got me this time but I won't be back again. Keep preying on your clueless tourists read more

Silvestre Deli & Bistro - Two empanadas and a pumpkin soup! $20+ meal? - Peruvian Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

I'm not going to pretend I know anything about Peruvian cuisine, so I can't vouch for the authenticity of this place. However, this restaurant is worth a visit. If you don't, you will be commiting a human rights offense - the victim; yourself. Food - presentation leaves something to be desired but once you taste it, all is forgiven. Everything tastes like it was home cooked. I tried 2 enpanadas - 1 baked chicken, 1 fried shrimp - both with hot flakey crusts complimented by the silky texture of the warm, flavorful stew-like meat inside. Fried or baked, done to perfection. Then I had the number 32 - stewed beef and potato, beans, and rice. Beef was done to perfection like it was slow cooked, just falls apart in your mouth. The potato was so well cooked, it had soaked up the flavor of the beef and your fork just cuts through it like warm butter. There were a number of menu items that were Asian inspired, not what I expected from a Peruvian joint but I can't comment cause I didn't try any of them. Service - I made a take-out order and even still, the wait staff was kind enough to provide water and a snack of roasted (I think) and salted Peruvian corn. The food took a little longer than anticipated to arrive - roughly 15-20 minutes, which is why I think they make it as fresh as possible. Definitely call ahead with your order if you can't spare the time to wait. Price - decent. Spend 10-15 to get rid of your hunger, 20 to feel full. Ambience - It's like a cafe that serves food, very casual. Customers seat themselves and they are tended to within 2 minutes. You're greeted with display cases of gelato and pastries upon entering, and a full menu when you sit down. Has a very small business, homely feel to it. Verdict - delicious meals, decently priced, casual and homely but with great customer service. Waiting can be long, so I recommend calling ahead for take-out vs. the sit-down experience. read more

So. I came here for the first time wanting to dar me mi gustito peruano. I ordered a green tamale as an appetizer as they had run out of ceviche. Very tasty but they clearly had not defrosted it properly. Ahem... And the centre was very cold. For the main dishes we ordered the carapulcra which is made with dried potato and my wife ordered the olluquito which is the Andean Water potato. It was made with pork rather than than charkey or beef. Both dishes were very yummy juicy spicy and beautifully presented. Return? Yes for sure but why 3 stars? 1- price. A tamale for 10$? Thats over the top. And the other dishes too. 19$ per plate. But its gastown so they are excused 2- cold tamale. I get the feeling many things on the menu are all just defrosted. They just have too many items. Suggestion? Get out of gastown, get a bigger place and slightly reduce your prices. You will be the hottest Peruvian place in town. read more

I had a veggie sandwich and it was really good. The bread was nice and crispy and the filing tasted amazing. Though it took a bit of time for the order to be processed but the wait was worth it. I ordered one more after having the first one. read more

I've enjoyed their ice cream selection a couple of times because of their convenient location, but WOW the customer service is terrible. The Latin American lady who was working as the server the most recent visit I made had an attitude, and the Asian man who is either the owner or the manager embarrassed and almost berated us. I advise going to any other option near the area. Walk a few more blocks and you have cafes and restaurants that actually can treat you with some respect. read more

Very good gelato. We had espresso, choco-hazelnut and ferrero. Delicious! And you can hear the steam clock ;)

BEST CHURROS EVER! an amazing caramel oozing out of every bite...much different from the canucks games lol....no comparison...

Came to this restaurant based on a recommendation of my Peruvian friend. It's a bit pricy for a meal, but it's still good nonetheless. Tried the grilled chicken there and the sauces that they have made all te difference. It's sweet, tangy and sour. All blended in a perfect mix of delicious spices. Give this restaurant a try if you want to 'spice' up your chicken. read more

I haven't had Peruvian food before so this was new and enjoyable. Food was delicious however they gave me less food as shown in their photos on their website. I had the Pollo en salsa de Mani which is chicken in a spicy peanut sauce served with potoatos and rice. I also tried the Chupe de Pescado which is a fish soup that was very tasty. I enjoyed both. I had no idea what to order so I had to ask the server whom was very nice and directed me to these selections. I find the portion did not match up to the price. read more