Martini’s delight at Delilah’s (West End, Denman and Comox)

Credit: Beth Snow on Flickr

[Disclaimer - These martinis weren't made at Delilah's - I just needed a photo of a martini to go with it ]

There is, admittedly, a certain degree of correlation between hanging out with awesome friends and wonderful places. Or maybe it is that I have great taste in friends. And I think I have the same great taste in restaurants and bars. This is the case with Delilah’s. What a wonderful place to hang out and have a strong martini (or two, or three) with a good friend. In this case, said great friend was Erica Hargreave.

Erica and I had been planning for a while to get together and enjoy a couple of drinks and as we were driving into the downtown core of Vancouver, Erica suggested Delilah’s. Her suggestion was met with my enthusiastic “ABSOLUTELY! I *LOVE* DELILAH’S“. We headed into the West End and were warmly greeted by D.J. (whom, we learned, is the bartender – he just happened to see us coming in and decided to take it upon himself to greet us, take our coats and lead us into the bar area).

Delilah’s has (as some other writers have indicated) a sort of Victorian decor. The lighting is warm, the carpets and furniture are sophisticated, but more than anything, the dining room is inviting and cozy. It does make one feel at home. We sat at the bar and ordered a couple of martinis. Full disclosure – I love sweet martinis. I know – some people would say I’m not drinking real martinis.

I chose a Clockwork Orange (vodka infused with orange with a second or two of Orancio Cinzano) and Erica started with an Impaired (Absolute Pear with pineapple and apple juice). My opinion of the Clockwork Orange in four words = VERY STRONG, VERY GOOD. For my second and third martinis, I chose a Pearl Necklace (a creamy concoction of vanilla vodka, crème de cacao and Godiva liqueur) and Erica decided (since she was driving) to just have a Caramel Apple (vodka with Sour Puss Apple, caramel toffee liqueur & cranberry juice) and then a Shirley Temple (with no alcohol).

I frankly enjoyed the Caramel Apple and the Pearl Necklace much better than the Clockwork Orange. But the best part of the evening, in addition to having a chance to spend time with Erica catching up, was that we got to meet the original owner, Fran. She told us the story of her vision of Delilah’s (a homey, welcoming environment with class and sophistication) and how she is now back to help the owner a few nights every week. It’s awesome to see that that she is back to strengthen what she built initially (because let’s face it, almost everyone recognizes that Delilah’s has some of the best martinis in town).

Both Erica and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Fran, and we definitely will come back to Delilah’s at some point. More importantly, it was a wonderful opportunity to just spend time and talk about stuff. We shut down Delilah’s! We did! I had not shut down a place in a long time. You can imagine how much fun I had chatting with Erica over a few drinks at Delilah’s. As Larry puts it, I always manage to have a wonderful time everywhere I go, but I can’t take full credit for this. I LOVE spending time with my friends, and Erica is someone I am very grateful that the Vancouver tech community has given me the chance to get to know and become good friends.

I’d recommend Delilah’s for a great martini, for sure!

Related posts:

1. True Confections (Denman and Alma locations)
2. Circa Restaurant Lounge (Granville Street, Downtown Vancouver)
3. What flavor martini are you?
4. Restaurant review – Fatburger (Denman St., West End)
5. Bar review – Maxine’s Hideaway (West End, Davie Street)