Ahh Feenie’s. Sweet delightful Feenie’s. I’ve got a definite love-hate relationship with Mssr. Rob Feenie. On the one side, he comes off as a total pompous dick – on his show AND in real-life, and don’t even get me started on the food at Lumiere and LTB, but Feenie’s… Feenie’s is this perfect example of what CFD should be.

Awesome atmopshere, great service, well-made food, at perfectly sized portions, at d*mn good prices. Everyone raves about the Feenie burger, and when I had it, I had it with the additional short-rib and it was good — but I’m not a fan of the fat-ass homemade patty, so I think I was really loving the surreal tenderness of the short-rib more than anything… and the fact that the burger made me run for the You-Know-What right after.

Now the duck-confit shepherd’s pie remains one of my all-time favourite dishes, and ranks up there on my “why-the-heck-didn’t-someone-think-of-this-before” list. Truffled mashed potatoes covered what essentially is a densely packed smush of shredded duck. This one dish actually has recurrently starred in my dreams, and I believe is the only dish that had my friends and I trying to recreate it at home (we almost got there, but we substituted Chinese shui-ahh instead of confit… and the results were still delightful, but the surrealness wasn’t really there).

Now for the bad — I hadn’t eaten there for dinner in close to 2 years (had a few brushes with brunch which was VERY good) and went back for a taste… and I was quite shocked to discover that the menu had not changed AT ALL. AT. ALL.

That’s almost a cardinal sin for me. I demand change in my eateries. I’m not talking about a drastic redo of the whole menu, but an artful seasonal adjustment every few months wouldn’t hurt would it? I’m not really one to keep trying the same thing repeatedly unless I’m at my favourite hole-in-the-wall, or diner. So yeah — that was cause to knock Feenie’s down 1 star to 3 stars. Beyond all that, if you’ve never experienced the room that is Feenie’s — what are you waiting for???

One of the best restaurants in Vancouver. Offering an extensive variety of quality Canadian cuisine.