Newly opened on Davie Street is Souvlaki & Co, a Greek fast-food eatery.   The restaurant takes over the space formerly occupied by Meat City Sandwiches at 1074 Davie Street.  I’m a regular at Stepho’s, which is one of the longstanding Greek restaurants on Davie.  I was interested to see if Souvlaki & Co was just as good as Stepho’s and decided to give them a try.

Note:  None of the food in this review was complimentary.  This review is done anonymously.  

Interior

The interior of Souvlaki & Co is minimal and suited for a fast-food setting.  There are tables for you to sit down and enjoy your meal but the set up works for a grab-and-go.

Souvlaki & Co Menu

On the menu are souvlaki (meat and vegetarian options), rotisserie combos, pita wraps as well as Greek salads and soups.  I got the calamari ($11.95) and lamb pita souvlaki wrap ($6.95).

Unfortunately, the calamari was disappointing and was very soggy.  None of the pieces was crispy on the outside.  The calamari came with potatoes, rice and a salad as well which all bland.  I thought that it would have been nicer if the takeout container had individual compartments to separate the different sections of food.  Stepho’s takeout containers (as seen here) are better organized.

The pita souvlaki wrap fared better than the calamari.  For $7, it was reasonable value and came with tomatoes, onions, fries and tzatziki.  The fries were an interesting touch; there were reasonably crispy.

Overall Impression of Souvlaki & Co

In general, Souvlaki & Co failed to impress me based on the items I tried.  I would still stick to Stepho’s for takeout and dine-in.  Rating: 2/5

Souvlaki & Co
Address: 1074 Davie St, Vancouver, BC
Website: ‎souvlakiandco.ca

The Daily Catch is known as a seafood market in Vancouver offering 100% sustainable seafood.  But did you know that their Denman location also operates as a Fish and Chip Kitchen?  This past summer, I decided to try some of their prepared food offerings.  Here’s a look at how it went.

All of the hot food offered by the Daily Catch is also 100% sustainable.  Fish and Chips can be enjoyed as one piece or two pieces and come with chips, coleslaw and tartar.  They also serve a Baja Style Fish Taco and Boston and Manhattan Style Clam Chowders.

Interior & Service

The interior was minimal but functional with a mix of small dining tables, high top tables and seating by the window.  How it works is you place your order at the counter, they give you a number and food is brought to your table.  The food took about 15 minutes as the fish and chips were freshly fried.

What We Tried

Note:  None of the food was complimentary.  This review was done anonymously.  Opinions are my own.

The Fish and Chips were OK overall.  I thought the fish mostly had a nice, golden brown exterior (one part might have been a bit too dark).  The batter was crispy and the fish was tender.  The coleslaw wasn’t particularly flavourful in my opinion.  I think Go Fish on Granville Island has the best coleslaw with Fish and Chips.  The fries could have been crisper and could have used more seasoning.

The Manhattan Chowder was also just OK with a reasonable amount of ingredients.  A good balance between tomato and clam flavour.  The soup wasn’t too thick nor too thin.

Overall Impression of The Daily Catch

It was interesting to see that Daily Catch serves prepared hot food in addition to being a seafood market.  I thought the Fish and Chips and chowder we tried were mostly standard and nothing really to write home about.  I’d still be OK with returning in the future as there aren’t too many Fish and Chips options in English Bay.  Rating: 3.5/5

The Daily Catch
Address: 1059 Denman Street, Vancouver, BC
Website: dailycatchseafood.ca‎

Seafood boils had become a bit of a food trend of late in Vancouver.  Within the last year, Toronto-based Captain’s Boil had opened up three locations in Metro Vancouver.  Several months ago, The Holy Crab opened up in the West End at 1588 Robson Street.  Having enjoyed my experience at the Captain’s Boil, I decided to give The Holy Crab a try.  But this time, I decided to go about it differently by ordering takeout.  Seafood boil at home?  Sure, let’s see how it turns out.

Note:  None of the food in this review was complimentary.  This review is done anonymously.  All opinions are my own.  My experience also dates back to June 2017 so things may or may not have changed since then.

Ordering via foodora

I went about it by ordering from The Holy Crab via foodora.  While many restaurants charge more for their items that are ordered through a third-party service (as they need to pay a certain percentage to them), I found that The Holy Crab didn’t charge extra.  Therefore, The Holy Crab’s menu on foodora is the same as their regular menu.

What I ordered

My foodora order consisted of 2 pounds of shrimp ($15 x 2), crispy chicken strips ($9.50), and crispy fish fingers ($8.75).

Picking up the order was a no-frills experience.  *However*, after I got home, I noticed that one of the items was missing: the crispy chicken strips.  Shortly after, I received a call from the restaurant who notified me that they had mistakingly left out that item.  They asked if I could return to the restaurant to pick it up.  I declined as I had already made my way home so it was decided that foodora would cancel the charge for the item.  I contacted foodora afterward and the charge for the crispy chicken strips was canceled.

The shrimp were nicely arranged in the boxes and appeared reasonable in size and quality.  I found them to be very bouncy in texture which was nice.

The cajun sauce was packaged into separate containers.  I was quite looking forward to having the sauce with the shrimp as the sauce is one of the highlights of a seafood boil experience.  Unfortunately, the sauce was a great disappointment as it was simply too salty, too garlicky and too overpowering.  In comparison, the signature sauce at The Captain’s Boil is much appealing in terms of flavour.  The Holy Crab’s sauce did not meet my expectations.  Put it this way, my husband and I decided to forgo the sauce and just eat the shrimp on its own because the sauce was so unpleasant.

Surprisingly, the crispy chicken fingers were the highlight of the meal.  That doesn’t say much considering the seafood boil was supposed to be the highlight.  The fries were OK and could have done without the seasoning they applied.

Overall Impression of The Holy Crab

I really wanted to like The Holy Crab but the flavours just didn’t appeal to me.  The sauce was the greatest disappointment but the texture and the quality of the shrimp was reasonable.  I don’t have an interest in ordering from The Holy Crab again and would recommend dining at The Captain’s Boil instead.  Rating: 2.5/5

The Holy Crab
Address: 1588 Robson St, Vancouver, BC
Website: www.theholycrab.ca