Restaurant review – Bin 942 (Granville and Broadway)

While I am always up for a good challenge, I am sometimes weary of trying again a restaurant where I’ve had a bad experience. True, one should give restaurants and coffee shops at least two tries, but in the case of Bin, I just hadn’t had neither the interest nor the willingness to change my opinion. I am glad that Arieanna and Ianiv invited me to Bin 942, because my opinion has shifted completely. I *really like* Bin 942.

Credit: Ianiv and Arieanna

We first ordered a mountain of pommes frites. It’s the perfect size for sharing (for four people, as Ianiv’s sister joined us too). Then each one of us ordered a different dish.  Their menu is outstanding.

Tamara opted for the Crispy skin Yucatan Chicken Breast, with traditional mole sauce, poblano chile blue corn bread, chayote jicama salad, cilantro syrup, and pumpkin seed oil, while Ianiv chose their other special, roulades of venison that were accompanied by fries and a salad. Arieanna opted for Kobe Beef, Meatballs as contemporary stroganoff, black truffle pinot noir sauce, handcut papardelle, creme fraiche with a mascarpone garnish.

As for me, they had a wonderful fresh BC Halibut with warm fingerling potato salad with chorizo, crimini mushroom, shaved fennel, warm saffron creme fraiche, but I chose their halibut special with shiitake mushrooms and scallop.

Credit: Ianiv and Arieanna

We also shared a plate of  Kalamata black olive hummus with Navajo fry bread, which was presented in a strange form, but really tasty. Overall, it was a great experience, particularly because of the company. It’s funny, but it’s the second time I’ve gone to a restaurant with Ianiv and Arieanna and I’ve had a wonderful second experience (my first time with Brown’s Social House was terrible and the second one was simply outstanding).

Overall, I would rate Bin 942 really high. My only (small) things against this place

- It’s become really much smaller since the bar opened.

- The wait time is slightly on the long side (45 minutes from the moment we got there)

But in addition to the great food and on the positive side, I have to say that the portions are relatively generous (while tapas-sized, the tapatisers are good for one person’s meal – ideal for sharing if you have 3 people at the table, more difficult to share if you have 4). Another great element – the music – slightly loud at times, but really really good.

And finally, there was this female server who was paying attention to EVERY SINGLE DETAIL of everybody’s table, so I have to say that she picked up the slack that our server had (yeah, I wasn’t all that impressed with our original server). But this other “star server” really did a wonderful job. Water glasses always full, always checking on us and asking how we were doing, etc.

I would sincerely go back to Bin 942, although most likely in a smaller group. The tables, unless you are lucky enough to score a booth, make it slightly complicated to sit. But don’t take that as a negative element. It’s a cozy atmosphere. And if you want to see my live-stream review, you can check it out on Ianiv’s Qik stream

Related posts:

1. Restaurant review: Deuce (North Vancouver)
2. Restaurant review – Shin Ju (South Granville)
3. Restaurant review – The Crime Lab (Vancouver, Coal Harbour)
4. Restaurant review – Bridges (Granville Island)
5. Restaurant review – The Mongolie Grill (Broadway and Cambie)