The Cove is one of the nicest restaurants in the Vancouver, WA area. My wife and I have frequently had dinner here and have brought friends and family. The interior is modern, clean and has great views of the Columbia River and Portland. That said, it seems that over time the food quality and service has declined. We used to thoroughly enjoy the Seafood Bucatini, but they have removed it from the menu. The service used to be spot on, but now comes off as rushed and indifferent. On a couple of occasions, the host/hostess was snooty. The only reason I didn't give lower stars is the view and the hope they will tune up their operation. Otherwise the destination location they have as a restaurant site, which is contrary to every business model for success, will no longer matter to customers, and they will fail. read more

The Cove is nestled along the shoreline of the Columbia river, a beautiful setting for dinner even on an overcast evening. We met up with family we rarely get to see with the hopes of a delicious meal and a great time catching up. The Cove delivered on all counts. Our server, Austin, was fantastic - personable and attentive. He paced service perfectly, we never felt rushed and had plenty of time to truly connect over cocktails, appetizers, entrees and dessert. The menu is full of delicious choices, and we were challenged with narrowing down our choices. We got kung pao calamari, seafood dumplings, the cove salad, and a seafood chowder to start. Entrees were scallops with risotto, rib eyes, and miso salmon with ponzu prawns. Everything popped with freshness and flavor. Dessert was butter cake and a flourless chocolate torte. The wine list is well curated, and cocktails were delicious. We will definitely be back, for the service, the view, and to work our way through the menu! read more

Food- we ordered fish & chips. The fish was pretty good. It was flaky and coated nicely and it didn't feel super greasy which was nice. The fries were similar to steak and they were seasoned nicely! Their ranch is pretty amazing too. The slaw was ok- not really a fan. Kiddo got spaghetti. The noodles were pretty big. Meatballs were decent. However I don't think I'd have ordered that again for my kiddo. Calamari- was pretty good. It was greasier then the fish. I wouldn't order them again. Focaccia Bread with olive oil is a MUST! Clam chowder- is amazing! I suggest ordering this as well. Ambiance- Service- was great. The wait staff wear nice uniforms. The dining set is nice and fits the ocean theme. I would recommend this place and I would return. Ambiance- it's along the water, the waiters have nice uniforms. read more

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A lovely place to enjoy a good seafood brunch. The view alone makes this place worthwhile even when it's dreary and foggy outside. The 5 Spice Tempura Prawns were the winner of this meal itself. The exterior was crunchy and the shrimp was juicy and bursting full of flavor that goes well with the sauces. The service itself was alright. I'm sure it was because this place was quite busy because the waitress rarely was around and seemed rather standoffish. read more

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Food is good. Service above average. Ambiance excellent. Love their biscuits- homemade and delicious! read more

Great food. Nice for a date Night or lady's lunch. I like getting the chef special! It has been the best & good to change things up. Add it to your list! They even take reservation's. Cheers read more

Nice spot for a special occasion on vancouver water front! Get nice views on a clear day. They have a nice interior with mood lighting. Their menu is on the smaller side but they do have something for everyone. If you go try their butter cake! read more

TL;DR: main course proportions are a bit small, order an appetizer to share. Whoa, heavy silverware! Parking: large parking lot. Atmosphere: classy, I wouldn't come here in jammies but you don't need a suit or dress either. I'd say to appear presentable. Definitely a nice place for any special occasion - best to make a reservation. The view isn't the most amazing super fantastic spectacular extravaganza view but the place does have large windows to view a grassy area that leads to the marina/dock area. Not a huge waterfront view but it's something to look at other than buildings. The side booths have these unique dock lights on the wall, which make for great yelp-worthy photo ops because the side lighting is nice, haha. Menu: Large drink menu. Look out for specials. Main menu is pictureless but self explanatory with good descriptions. Dessert menu upon request. Prices are roughly $25 per person. Service: wait to be seated, order at the table, water yourself with provided carafe, silverware is changed for you before your main course if you get an appetizer, check brought to you. Speaking of silverware, the forks and knives are very handle-heavy, watch out because if improperly placed on your plate, they will fall off because you failed to find the fulcrum before letting go (haha). Fresh cracked pepper is offered when your meals are brought to the table. Cove Cooler: a light and refreshing seasonal drink with house made pomegranate grenadine in sparkling water and some juice (I can't remember if orange or cranberry or both). I enjoyed the sweet tanginess! Calamari Arrabbiata Appetizer: the taste and texture of the squid was great but the breading on it was really flaky and didn't hold well to any handling whatsoever. The breading was brittle and kept breaking into the dipping sauces leaving only the ring of calamari left on my fork, same with trying to dip by hand. I really enjoyed the shishito tartar dipping sauce, it had a nice tang and small kick of spice to it. Wood Grilled Oregon Farm Ham: the buttermilk biscuit was a nice touch as opposed to the typical english muffin, it was nice and buttery and had a nice toasted texture because it was grilled. I do wish the poached eggs were slightly larger. I felt that the majority of the egg white was lost from poaching so I mainly had the runny yolk encased in a small white sac of egg white. I wanna say it was the shape of a giant spider egg sac (sorry, haha). Egg was a great texture but I wish there was more egg white. The hollandaise sauce was pretty typical in my opinion. The roasted marble potatoes that came along side the meal were perfectly cooked and I enjoyed smearing them in the chimichurri sauce that they rested on top of. read more

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The food was incredibly delicious. The ambiance is perfect. Our server Abigale was absolutely awesome.

Steak salad 5 light and tasty Braised shot rib sandwich 4 can't go wrong Fries 5. Yum Rib eye 5. No words Focaccia 3 soft and flavorful Meat loaf tasty Halibut 4 nice crust Large seating area Service o Was ok ... nothing to shout about Apple cobbler. 5 Flour less cake 5 Guey butter cake 5 read more

Food was amazing- I had the filet with garlic mashed potatoes and it was absolutely delicious and the perfect meal on a cold and wet day! the salmon was delicious as well! The service was also great and we enjoyed the beautiful view of the marinas and were able to see the Christmas ship parade! read more

The Cove - Salmon and filet- yum! - Seafood Near Me - Vancouver, Washington

Two menus for drinks. Lots of menus for drinks. Including the dessert menu which had more drinks than desserts. New Year's Eve lunch. The place wasnt busy and we were seated quickly. The food was fine, but nothing overly impressive. Ordered meatball appetizer, burger and fries, Parmesan halibut, and the lunch special pasta with shrimp and steak. Meatballs were good. Parmesan halibut was great. Burger came without fries, and instead of apologizing, she explained that there's fresh ones coming and offered soup instaed. and the fries didn't come out for another 20 minutes. Surf and turf lunch special was room temperature. That happens. They gladly took it back, and reheated only the pasta because the shrimp and beef was still room temp. No apologies for errors. Won't be back. Friendly service. read more

It's seldom you find a restaurant with great ambiance, good food & exceptional service. Usually if you get two out of three you're doing well. Tonight, we got all three. We sat on the patio overlooking the river. Everyone loved the food, and Carrie, our server, was excellent! She even brought a bowl of water for our dog. Highly recommend! read more

We went here for our anniversary in June and I am so glad we did. I got the seafood I was craving (scallops), and my husband was able to get a delicious steak. It is a bit pricey but perfect for a special splurge event. read more

I took my mom here for her birthday on a Saturday night and everything was amazing. Food overall: 9/10 1. Tempura prawns: 9/10, I loved these, they were fresh, had a good flavor and not very greasy even though it was fried! They were a hit at the table. 2. Seafood Bucatini: 10/10, this was the REAL STAR of the table!! I honestly came here just for this and I was not disappointed. I found the flavor of this dish to be just right, everything complimented each other on the plate. There were plenty of seafood and just the right amount of noodles! I HIGHLY recommend getting this dish. 3. Fish and Chips: 8/10, I did not get this dish but my partner said it was delicious, not too much breading, not too greasy and plenty of meat. 4. Old fashioned: 9/10, very solid!! The service was great, our waitress was very attentive and friendly and so was the front of the house staff as well. The restaurant has a nice view of the water if you get a seat on that side so I would recommend trying to come in around sunset. I will for be be going back! read more

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Finally decided to give this place a chance. Somewhat disappointed. Ordered a steak just to be told that it was not in today. How can a restaurant be out of stake at 11am? Tried to order pasta which is the most popular picture on this app but was informed that it's no longer on the menu. Finally just got a burger which was not bad but very average. The meat was not salted at all and it was difficult to add salt to an assembled burger. Also ordered an appetizer of fondue which was good but such a small portion about 2/3 of a cup compared to how much bread was given. Staff is very friendly and apologized for inconvenience. $72 for an average burger, fondue and 2 small drinks is way overpriced. read more

The Cove - 7 oz. Carman Ranch Grass Fed Burger. - Seafood Near Me - Vancouver, Washington

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First time visitor to the Cove. We made a reservation for our work group and asked for window seating. While they didn't have any available when we arrived, they graciously offered to let us wait for a table clearing soon. It took over 30 minutes, the sun set in the meantime. Advice is just get a table. The booths are interior anyway and it was dark out by the time we sat. The interior upper level seats still have partial pater views. Next time I wouldn't wait. Favorite dish by far was the seafood fondue. MUST come back for this gooey heavenly concoction. Mocktail was yummy with pomegranate and thyme. Scallops are perfectly cooked. A bit small and you only get 4. Friend really loved her salmon and the others enjoyed their burgers. I'd pass on the chowder. It was good but nothing beats that fondue cheesy goodness. Yum yum. Look forward to returning. Food was flavorful and cooked to perfection and waitress had an awesome personality and was attentive. Views of the Columbia River. read more

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Fantastic seafood salad with an excellent selection of assorted morsels! Juicy, flavor packed burger on a house made bun! Fish and chips, perfectly cooked ! One in our group has an allergy to nuts, the waitress went above and beyond to make sure his meals were safe, right down to the dessert selection! I would have provided a picture of that masterpiece, but we ate it on fast!! Don't miss this beautiful restaurant.. on the river but away from the usual waterfront. So relaxing, clean, with excellent customer service! We will be back!! read more

The Cove - Delicious fresh fish & chips! Lightly breaded, AND if you like, they'll add a third piece! Served with plenty of steak fries. - Seafood Near Me - Vancouver, Washington

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Back in town for a couple days, and I realized I never wrote a review of my past amazing visits here. How can that be?! The Cove is relaxed yet polished, with an airy dining room and a spacious bar area with plenty of seating. We booked the bar and like the atmosphere there. Abigail was an attentive server who had been there long enough to remember the beloved bucatini pasta. We went seafood focused this time, sharing oysters, the chilled seafood platter and the filling and flavorful poke nachos. Started with a cove salad to share, which is one of my very favorite restaurant salads. The gentleman at the host stand shook my husband's hand and thanked us for coming. I just like the vibe here as well as the food and drink. Inventive cocktails and an expansive wine list with many of my favorite Longshadows wines from Walla Walla. read more

This is a pretty nice on the inside. Small portions and high prices. They want like $24.00 here for a sushi roll. I was surprised they even have sushi here. We got the cheese with seafood fondue. There was not a lot of seafood in it. The portion is small as well and I think it costs like $23.00. My seafood salad was good tho. The service is top notch there too. Both of us had no drinks appetizer and two salads all for $85.00 Enjoy this place if you like high end small portions that tasted really good. read more

SHADY....The food is mediocre, I'm getting used to that here in the northwest. That's not the biggest problem. My partner and I went out for lunch Sunday. We had seafood dip and one cheeseburger each and a beer. The bill came, we paid with our debit card and left a cash tip. Unknown, to us if you do not hit the " no tip"on the handheld credit card taker they will charge you for a tip whether you paid in cash or not. When we called about this matter, the manager tried to make it sound legit...sorry it is not ,the waitress knew we already tipped in cash. read more

Never fails! The atmosphere is always great. The menu is simple, but the food is consistently delicious. The view is amazing, and the service is always kind and helpful. Plus, the prices are very affordable. Highly recommend! The Crab Cake Benedict is my go-to every time! read more

The food and service was excellent. I had an open faced crab artichoke sandwich with fries. So flavorful, and the fries were cooked just right! read more

I love this place. Easy to find; plenty of parking; great view and awesome food! Oh, and the servers are top notch.

Love the ambiance, food and service here. You can have your lovely dinner over looking waterfront. Every single thing we got there has been amazing. Some of my favorite are the clams, salmon, focaccia bread, and I'm obsessed with their chocolate mousse dessert with the pecan cookie crust. It's our favorite date night spot. read more

The Cove - Wood Grilled Ora King Salmon Sea Scallops Risotto Fries - Seafood Near Me - Vancouver, Washington

[ The Cove ] 12/27/2023 Auntie Rose's birthday lunch at the Cove here in Vancouver, WA by the Columbia River Happy Birthday!!!! Sea Scallops, Manila Steamer Clams, French Onion Meatballs, Wild Shrimp Dumplings, Halibut Fish and Chips, Jumbo Wild Shrimp + Scallop Gnocchi, and Cove Burger. read more

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Great food. Nice service. Chill atmosphere. The location is absolutely the reason for this 5 review.

The Cove is known for the view, but unfortunately it was raining when we went. That was alright though, because it meant that I could devote more attention to the food, and it did not disappoint! Cove Seafood Platter- The crab cakes were amazing, a lot of places just use pre-made crab cakes that are dense and packed with a lot of fillers, but this one was looser with huge chunks of crab. The shrimp dumplings were ok, I wasn't really sure what to make of it but it was good and bursting with flavor. I wasn't sure what to eat with the seafood fondue since there wasn't provided bread, but just by itself was delicious. In retrospect, there was triple seed crostini and focaccia served on a different plate with shrip cocktail (very small shrimp), and I think this was what the fondue was supposed to go with! Whoops. Parmesan crusted halibut filet- Very mild fish, so the flavor of the parmesan flavor really came through! The mash potatoes were done well, not gluey or any issues to comment on. Ora king salmon- Ok so this was a head scratcher. It's supposed to come with mashed potato and and asparagus, but it came with a portion of pasta that had some seafood on it (linguini in a light sauce and scallops). I only realized this when I was looking back at the menu to write this review. There wasn't creamed corn or asapargus. The salmon was cooked medium so it was perfectly moist and had a good flavor. I would get this again, although I'm not sure what happened with the dish. Gooey butter cake- More eggy custardy on top compared to a true St Louis butter cake, but had the perfectly dense bottom half. Came with lemon curd and blueberry sauce, as well as whipped cream. Pretty good but I would rather try a different dessert next time. I also got apple cider vinegar lemonade- Light cider flavor, mostly lemonade. Garnished with dried citrus slices and a stick of cinnamon. Delicious. read more

Last evening we went to the The Cove for a holiday dinner with friends. Food and service is always impeccable but I/we do have one complaint that is somewhat unusual in an upscale restaurant. That being, they only offered one kind of Chardonnay by the glass at $18 a pour, which appeared to be approximately 3oz. By not offering at least a few other Chardonnay choices by the glass, it appeared somewhat unethical for a wine that has garnered such popularity with the public. As a result, we didn't order a second glass. Honestly, we all left somewhat disappointed. It would be nice if management would reconsider this complaint and add a few more selections for its patrons. read more

The Cove - Wine offered by the glass without pricing! - Seafood Near Me - Vancouver, Washington

Hidden Gem would be the perfect two words to describe The Cove ! We live on the waterfront, so the charm of visiting a waterfront restaurant has gone down slightly owing to the fact but in spite of this I loved my experience here at The Cove . We came for our anniversary dinner and fellow YES member Kim G and Jason V `s great reviews had a big hand to play in this. Online reservations were a breeze and even though they did mention specifically that patio seats are first come first serve and cant be reserved , I still ended up getting a great table outside . It was a gorgeous day and we were able to see the sunset whilst having dinner and drinks and the whole experience overall was just amazing ! The main focus of the menu is Seafood and they do it really well . We started with the - Seafood Fondue which had prawns, crab, trumpet mushrooms, gruyere cheese and comes with focaccia and triple seed crostini. Now the Crostini felt a little soggy but the Focaccia more than made up for it . Macadamia Halibut Fillet - Covered with lemon butter sauce and accompanied by roasted potatoes, chimichurri, summer succotash this dish was a great entrée for my hubby who is not such a big fan of Sea food . Bucatini- I loved this Pasta dish. It had butter poached lobster, sea scallops, prawns, trumpet mushrooms and was flavored with garlic cream, tarragon, mustard, reggiano parmesan and oregano crumbs. The Scallops were out of this world and I really wanted to save them and eat them both at the same time somehow . Loved it ! I stuck to Wine and the hubby got Illegal in Utah . The drink is every bit as lovely as it looks . The dessert was a no -brainer because literally everybody else was having the same thing- We got the Butter cake and loved it . It was the perfect way to end our fabulous meal . I would say that just don't deliberate and get the Cake ! Service was impeccable and even though the prices kind of make it a High-end restaurant the vibe is still very relaxed. Definitely would recommend them for a special occasion meal. read more

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Consistently fabulous seafood brunch with a creative flair that would be the pride of any chef. Served in a dreamy and picturesque setting right in the Columbia River's beautiful Tidewater Cove. Caring thoughtful servers quickly meet our group's needs with grace and style. This is my second brunch of this caliber and the first was here at the Cove as well. Excellence delivered! read more

The Cove - Exterior entryway. - Seafood Near Me - Vancouver, Washington

Not bad! Atmosphere was great, food was good, service was great! Don't really recommend the Cesar salad though read more

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Lovely peaceful and serene setting for a delicious meal! Located on the waterfront next to Tidewater Marina, it feels like you are dining in a world far away from Portland and Vancouver. In a very good way! Since this was a celebratory birthday dinner, I made reservations for an outside table. However, they did not honor the reservation saying outside seating was on a first come basis even though the online reservation system gave patio seating as an option. It definitely felt like one of those Seinfeld moments where they confirmed "taking" the reservation but somehow that did not equate to "holding" the reservation, the most important part! After going back and forth, they sat us deep inside the restaurant at a booth for two. A table that had zero view and lacked any ambiance, certainly not worth the hour ride in traffic. Noting my obvious disappointment, they approached us a few minutes later offering us a table along the window with a beautiful view of the lucky people sitting on the patio, the marina, garden pathways and river. We watched as people who came just minutes after us were seated on the patio even though we were told none of the patio tables would be vacated any time soon. Seriously? This is why I deducted a star. Cocktails came promptly and service was warm and friendly. Lots of delicious sounding options for appetizers, salads and entrees. Of course many of them were seafood which is why we were here. Prices for entrees range between $27-39.00. For a starter, we chose the Baby Gem Salad which has a base of romaine with applewood smoked bacon, chopped pickled egg, tomato, cucumber, and a rogue valley buttermilk blue cheese dressing topped with croutons. For $13.50 we assumed the salad would be enough to share but it was small, so we each ordered our own. For my main I had the seafood pasta which arrived beautifully plated. The bucatini pasta was perfectly cooked and topped with crab, wild prawns, and sea scallops in a lobster brown butter and asparagus pesto. It was a very unique and tasty flavor combo, I just wish there was more of it because it was definitely on the dry side. They also top the pasta with roasted tomato, fresh herbs, and lots of garlic. As is the Italian tradition, seafood pasta dishes are topped with toasted breadcrumbs rather than Parmesan cheese as Italians feel that seafood and cheese do not pair well. I really enjoyed this dish but I have to admit, I enjoyed it even more the next night since I took half home. I reheated it in some marinara sauce and red chili flakes and it was fantastic! While I'm sure they would sub a marinara for the lobster brown butter sauce, it was the combo that took it over the top. I'm going to try fabricating this dish at home, it was that good! For dessert we shared the warm brown butter cake and it was divine! I've never had it before and thanks to the waitress's recommendation, we went for it. The shortbread like crust contained an ooey gooey vanilla cake with a few fresh berries. It was over the top delicious. Plus it came with two candles so we could each have a birthday wish! They have a great wine selection and even offered me a tasting of two to help me decide. This is a fine restaurant and I will definitely go back! To avoid the brutal traffic on I-5 coming from Portland, I'll go for lunch so I don't have to crawl my way there which is so frustrating. Note: once you Get off SR-14 you drive several miles past warehouses and businesses before reaching the end with two condominium complexes, the marina, and the Cove. The building is well marked and there is plenty of parking. read more

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I have heard about this place and seen it show up on a few blogs known for the view. I finally got the chance to try it out myself. Reservations were made, but we were a tad late. No big deal as they were very friendly and accommodating. We asked to be seated close to the window to enjoy the view. Bar seating it is! There were so many goodies to pick from the brunch menu. We settled with their braised pork sandwich $18 and the ham benedict. The food did not take long for it to come out even though it seemed like a full house. My initial thought was: cute presentation, but portion looked a bit small. But after we started devouring it, we were actually pretty full at the end. Food was good, but I think I enjoyed the view more. Not only that my two servers were very on point; they checked in often to see if we needed anything else and were super friendly. Since I was there to celebrate my birthday, they offered a complimentary dessert of my choosing. Of course I picked the warm salted caramel apple cobbler. Why you may ask. Because of the ICE CREAM of course! I do not have anything bad to say about this restaurant. They have ample amount of parking, great view and absolutely loved the service. Keep it up! I would definitely try to come back on a sunnier day for the view and possibly for dinner to try their other food items. I think this would be a good place for a small gathering with friends. read more

The Cove is disappointing. It definitely seems to be one of those restaurants where the view is the biggest incentive to visit. My employer was kind enough to take me here for my 25-year anniversary, and I'm happy that I didn't pay for it on my own. My group shared an appetizer platter, and none of it stood out. It all seemed right on par with what one would get at a casual chain restaurant or pre-made platter from a grocery store. I opted for the filet mignon with lobster macaroni and cheese. I ordered the steak medium, and the waiter repeated it back. The tiny filet I was served was well beyond well-done, extremely dry, and was extremely disappointing. The best part of the entire meal was the chewy butter cake. This was nothing exceptional, and is definitely a "repurpose a box of cake mix" sort of item, so I can't think of a better way to describe the (lack of) quality of the cuisine there. Pluses are the nice river view, ability to watch aircraft take off and land due to its close proximity to Portland International Airport, and more than adequate parking. read more

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Update: when I said we didn't get the food, I meant the picture. It was gone because it was that good. read more

The Cove - Seafood Near Me - Vancouver, Washington

Dang, so disappointed. I was hoping that this review would bear more positive notes, but there are maybe 2 positive to 8 negative. Let me start off by saying that this was my first time here, as well as my fiancés first time. We were super excited because of the location, and what we had heard about this place. We made a 5:30pm reservation, and were seated pretty promptly (1 positive). Once we were seated, our server came to our table, and the first thing she did was pay complete attention to my fiancé and hardly said a word to me, and cut me off in the middle of something I was saying to continue talking to my fiancé (1 negative). After this, we ordered 2 drinks and mine was whatever the wild roots vodka drink is on the menu and my fiancé got an old fashioned. The drinks came out and were pretty good (1 positive). Let's move onto the main items - 1 dozen oysters - calamari - bowl of seafood chowder - seafood sampler - scallops Oysters- Fresh and not bad, a few had shells in them, but scooped them out. Calamari- From the moment we ordered this, it came out within 5min or ordering (RED FLAG), it was semi warm and the breading, which seemed to be maybe a corn meal breading was cracking off and wouldn't stay together. The calamari itself was way way over cooked, which may be why the breading wasn't right. Seafood chowder- This came out at the same time the calamari did, which was concerning. Upon tasting the chowder I knew something was off. It was not very hot on top and extremely hot in the center and bottom. It tasted like it had been sitting and got tossed in the microwave. Seafood sampler (this needs a full breakdown)- There were 2 cooked giant shrimp, half a sushi roll, 2 oysters, 2 pieces of salmon sashimi and tuna on a couple chips. The giant shrimp were TERRIBLE. They were tough, tasteless and felt as if they had just gotten done defrosting. I also found a poop tract still left in one of the shrimp, which I immediately set aside. The half sushi roll didn't taste fresh either. I actually stopped eating it after one bite because I felt like the fish had been out for quite some time, and did not want to end up getting food poisoning. The rice around the roll tasted like 3 day old rice too. The 2 oysters were fine because they were the same as what were in the dozen we got to start. The salmon sashimi was ok, but on the verge of not cold enough for raw fish to be served. The tuna chip things were super sus too. Whatever they mixed the fish with made it look brown and not appealing at all. I was afraid that since I couldn't see the actual color that it had been left out too, visually not what you want to see when you are eating raw fish. Moving onto the scallops- The scallops on top of the bed of risotto were actually quite flavorful and good. The risotto on the other had was flavorless and not in any way the way a risotto should be. My fiancé couldn't finish the risotto because it was so off. At the end of our meal the bill came out to $188 without tip. I still tipped 20%, but felt like I shouldn't have after we left for all the reasons stated above. If you've ever regret spending your hard earned money on something you thought would be good and then it turned out super horrible, this was that time. We literally left like "at least now we know", "dang it, I want my money back", "I hope we don't get sick" etc. Not a good way to leave a dinner. Oh yeah, when we first got seated, the waitress started by saying "we want to be the best seafood by the water, so if you could leave us a good rating". They need to do a complete change if they want that to happen, and no I am not going to lie about the quality so other people will go and waste their money like we did. I guess I'll end by saying, buyers beware read more

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People have been buzzing about The Cove for a while now, and if *I'm* hearing about it, they're buzzing quite noisily. I'm usually ignorant to the Hot New Thing, even in my own neck of the woods. Situated at the far end of Columbia Drive, The Cove is very much a destination dining choice. One does not stumble onto it by accident: you seek it out, as if on a quest, yearning to discover whether the legends are true. Is this the finest restaurant in Vancouver, as the rumors proclaim? After our visit, I can confirm: they're certainly a competitor for the crown. We arrived during that strange lull between lunch and dinner, sometime just before 3:00pm on a weekday afternoon, and yet the place was still reasonably busy. Late lunchers? Early dinner diners? Happy hour hawks? Who knows? The lunch menu was still on deck, which was fine with us, since we'd been busy running errands and hadn't stopped yet to eat. Our server, Keegan, gave us ample time to pour over the menu, and made a few suggestions for some of the more celebrated dishes, including the Seafood Pasta, which my wife would end up ordering. I would end up being unable to choose between the Braised Short Rib Sandwich and the Chicken Grinder, but Keegan steered me towards the latter, as it was among his personal favorites. I can see why. The combination of chicken breast, capricola, salami, gruyere cheese and garlic aioli was a heavenly blend of sweet, savory, tangy and slightly sour, and altogether amazing. Great suggestion, Keegan! Adjacent to me, my wife rapturously devoured her Seafood Pasta, twisting and twirling her fork to ravel up all of her favorites in spools of bucatini: crab, prawns and scallops, drizzled in butter, pesto and mizithra. Even I, generally not a fan of seafood, enjoyed the bites she shared with me! As far as the restaurant itself, the building is gorgeous, both inside and out, with massive windows along the southern and eastern walls, gazing out upon the Columbia, with fantastic views regardless of whatever weather the PNW throws at us. The place was impeccably clean, and our server Keegan exemplifies all that a customer could ask for when dining out. The Cove somehow lived up to its hype and our lofty expectations, and we will return again, without a doubt, any time we are seeking an upscale, yet affordable, fine dining experience. There are few restaurants in Vancouver, if any, that could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with The Cove and compete on the same level of quality and excellence. The praise is well-deserved. read more

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Melt in your mouth deliciousness! The Cove only opened in August and they already have a following. Granted, it seems like it's mostly poshy folk from the neighborhood (definite yacht club vibes). The only reason for not giving 5 stars is they also have yacht club $$$$$ prices :( The food, the service and view is phenomenal. I've already gone multiple times and I absolutely cannot wait to go again!!!! Just make sure you've prepped your budget read more

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This place is fabulous! Great food, desserts and service! Beautiful ambience! I wish that you would go back to just a normal Caesar salad like I had before. Not loving the one I had yesterday at all! The chocolate mousse is to absolutely die for, please don't stop making it! Only other thing I would suggest is not enough shade out on the deck in this hot sun, so more umbrellas or even real tables with umbrellas would be great! It is awkward, eating around a skinny narrow fire pit with others in cushy chairs. read more