I stumbled upon the newly opened Switch Vancouver (BC Canada), a Karaoke & Oyster Bar located at Robson & Bute.
While they may be known for being an evening and late night spot, they are actually open in the daytime for lunch and happy hour.
They had a sandwich board on the sidewalk advertising their $10.95 lunch set and $1.50 oysters. It got me curious so I decided to give them a try.
Switch formerly occupies Hon’s at 1339 Robson Street and the staff tells me that the owner (who also owns other karaoke spots in Vancouver) had spent about $5 million on the redesign.
Having frequented Hon’s on Robson back in the day and knowing their casual vibes, I was definitely impressed by the transformation.
The focal point of the room was the lengthy bar featuring craft beers on tap.
The menu features French-Japanese-inspired dishes. The $10.95 lunch set had options like spaghetti with cream sauce and mussels; real lobster meat burger with truffle mushroom soup; chicken karaage donburi; hamburger steak and more. The options change weekly.
For dinner, they have entrees like 1.5 lbs whole live lobster; rack of lamb; sous vide free range chicken breast; steak frites and more. Prices seemed reasonable at $30 – $45.
I got the lobster burger lunch set which came with real lobster meat burger; housemade potato chips; a side salad; and a truffle mushroom soup. The burger was more like a slider and the patty had a subtle lobster flavour but OK. The mushroom soup was creamy and had a nice truffle flavour. Housemade chips were tasty and not overly salty. All in all, it was reasonable for $10.95. They do have a lot of other options for add-ons if you are more hungry. I enjoyed the kusshi oysters which were very plump and sweet.
I got a brief tour of the karaoke rooms which come with party lights. One room was occupied by customers and you couldn’t hear them on the outside, so they have good sound proofing.
I liked the lunch set and would be interested to try other items on their menu.
Check them out at 1339 Robson Street, Vancouver BC Canada . switch-vancouver.ca