Society Restaurant & Lounge

So...sigh...ity

(btw, the tagline was supposed to be a "play on words" with the name of the resto - "Society", lol)

Location: Vancouver (Yaletown)

As the latest newcomer to the Glowbal Group family, I must say that Society has done a pretty solid job in the marketing department.  For the past few weeks, I've come across numerous reviews about it (most were positive) and recently, it has given me an even better reason to pay it a visit.  For the month of November, they were offering lunch entrees & appies at half price (!) and complimentary "junk food platters" during dinner time.  Luckily, I was able to take advantage of this amazing offer on the very last eligible day.

Food:

Society brands itself as offering upscale comfort food ...otherwise known as, "comfort food with a twist" (think Lobster Sheperd's Pie and Mac'n'Cheese Balls).  We opted for the latter as one of our appies, in addition to the Smoked Salmon.  The mac'n'cheese balls were essentially, little round spheres of nicely-packed macaroni and cheese (with a touch of jalapeno!), coated with batter, and deep fried. They were tasty, with my only complaint about them being a bit too greasy.  (Side note: Cheesecake Factory (in the U.S) has a lovelier version of this...or so I've heard (and believe!)  The subsequent smoked salmon appy was a nice balance to our meal (after the indulgement of the previously-mentioned calorie-laden mac'n' cheese balls).  There were 3 generous pieces of smoked salmon with accompanying toasted mini bagels, capers and cream cheese.

For my entree, I had the Loaded Prime Rib Burger - with bacon, sun-dried tomato aioli, caramelized onions and a side (green) salad.  The salad was nothing special, although I liked the fact that it wasn't overly-drenched in dressing.  The burger was juicy - beef was perfectly cooked (about medium-rare), with ample toppings and sauce.  It was enjoyable but I would've likely savoured it a lot more had it not been for...

(...the service!)

** I also sampled the Lobster Gnocchi (delish!) as well as the Italian Pizza (nice, crispy crust, ample toppings, a bit too greasy)

Service:

Service was shockingly atrocious (I could be overstating it, but read on and you'll see why).  Perhaps I had been expecting a lot more given: how bustling the place was, how much press it had received and just overall, the recent spurt in the popularity of the place.  But I should have known that, as with most of the other Glowbal-chained restos, emphasis is usually placed on ambience (and food)...and less so on service. 

There were several whammies that occured during our entire meal. I won't go into detail but basically, our server really seemed like he didn't want to be there (even admitted to us that it was his "Friday" (we came in on the Monday), forgotten our drink refills, mixed up my drink, forgotten or didn't even bother to include the (untouched) garlic bread into my dining companion's to-go leftovers and was basically m.i.a half the time.

Value:

As mentioned above, we had our appies & entrees at 50% of the cost.  At regular price, value doesn't seem too bad (although had I paid regular price, I would have a different perception of the value and worth)

Ambience:

Pretty.  I had made reservations prior to arriving and was thankful to have been given a booth. 

Overall: 7.5/10

Yay: Come for what they excel at: offering home-style food..."with a twist". Here you'll find lobster with your gnocchi, truffles in your mac'n'cheese...and so on and so forth.

Nay: The service. Don't expect spectacular....and location (it's in Yaletown)

Interesting Fact: It's situated in the ex-Coast location, and also a sibling (precisely, a baby!) restaurant to Trattoria, Italian Kitchen, Glowbal and Sanafir.



Posted by: J