Sandbar Views

On Granville Island, most restaurants are 75% view and 25% decent food. It can be difficult to find a place to eat that is both delicious and beautiful. Luckily there is the Sandbar to provide both excellent food and atmosphere. Recently a friend and I had a lovely simple meal at the Sandbar that ended with fireworks over English Bay. I was in the mood for a simple meal and settled on the fresh mussels in a coconut curry sauce. Now any true mussel lover knows that the sauce is the best part, and luckily the Sandbar provides plenty of bread for dipping. The food itself was perfection. The mussels were juicy, the sauce was delicious, and at the end of the meal I felt like I had received my money’s worth.

My only complaint about the whole night would be the service. It is rare for me to feel wholly uncomfortable in a server’s presence, but the young man who waited our table would simply not stop staring. Apparently I reminded him of his cousin and he called me by her name for the rest of the night. In addition to calling me his cousin, he was difficult to find, frustrating to communicate with, and very slow to respond to simple requests such as water with no ice, and a bowl for mussel shells.

Despite the poor service, both the food and the view at the Sandbar make me certain that I will return.

Please forgive the poor quality photos. The lighting was not great and this was before I received my fantastic birthday camera!