Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House

Firstly, Mirela was our PHENOMENAL host for dinner on Jan 21 and we had the most enjoyable experience. Ambiance is warm and inviting - or maybe that feeling comes from the attentive and kind members of the team here. I was blown away by the hospitality (not to say the food wasn't great because it was all so fresh and delicious!!). I enjoyed the Seafood Linguini which was rich, creamy, divine. Tiramisu was light, almost chocolatey mouth feel, creamy, and not overly sweet (aka perfect). Carrot cake was moist, delicious cream cheese and nutty frosting, enough for 2 (or 4) but can be tackled by an ambitious 1! It was close but not quite a full house on a Wednesday night and we had a reservation and the 5 of us were seated quickly.

Our first Joe Fortes experience was a mild one as we had high expectations and finally decided to come celebrate a special day. The service: It started out great, hostess wished my partner a happy birthday and was seated in a nice secluded area. Good start. Then a server came, didn’t introduce himself as our server and poured us some water, then walked away. The same server walked back, looked at us awkwardly, didn’t say anything and was about to walk away and that’s when I asked if we could order. After our food was delivered, the server never came back to check on us; I would say it’s fairly standard practice at most dine-in and especially at fine-dining restaurants. The table next to us was celebrating a birthday, and the same server brought over a cake with a candle (along with their bill), which was a nice touch and something many restaurants do when a birthday is noted on the reservation (we thought we would get one to…more to this). Additionally, our salad came in 2 portions and we were a bit confused as our server never made any indication/voice he would spilt it (most restaurants do) and we had to waive another server to double check in case we accidentally ordered 2 portions and were charged. The next time we saw our server was near the end of our meal, when I made eye contact and asked for the bill. When it arrived, we paid immediately and there was no acknowledgment of happy birthday wishes or an offer of dessert/cake, which felt inconsistent compared to the service provided to the neighboring table. We were definitely a disappointed. The food: We ordered a Caesar salad, miso sablefish and a seafood linguine and a side Mac and cheese. Bread with lobster infused oil and balsamic vinegar was server as an appetizer. It was very interesting as we’ve never had something like it before, balsamic was sweet and paired with this fishy smelling oil, not bad 3/5. Salad was good but nothing to write home about. Pretty standard. 3/5. The miso sablefish was amazing, tender, sweet and savory with good miso taste. The kale, mushroom and beans worked well. The kale was not dry and paired well. 4/5 The seafood linguine was also great tasting. The noodles were cooked very well, scallop was seared perfectly with nice char flavouring, shrimps were large and of high quality. The sauce was not overly salty. 4.5/5 Mac and cheese had a wierd fishy taste to it. Not super cheesy and more watery than expected when digging into it. 2/5 Overall, it was a disappointing experience as we had such high hopes with so many friends recommending this long opened establishment. It just seemed like our server was disinterested with our business. We left full but unsatisfied

Love this spot. It has so much character and charm and the food is always delicious. The service is always fun and very on point as well. I would definitely come here for the oysters and seafood, do not be lame and only get a steak. I ordered the seafood linguine but I subbed the jumbo prawns with mussels which was amazing. The Sable fish was also amazing.

Excellent food and service at Joe Fortes! Everything was perfectly executed: particularly the sable fish and fish and chips. The oysters too were divine. They had a variety and so you could pick and choose, so that’s exactly what we did. Above all, the service was top notch. The crew was attentive and kept water and wine refilled! Special shout out to Darmil who worked the oyster bar, she was very friendly and helpful in enlightening us on which oysters to go for. Also, the conversations with her over dinner were a delight.

Excellent place to eat. Oysters are always fresh and tasty!! One of our goto restaurants when we are in Vancouver. Service has always been good. Can be a touch noisy when really busy. Happy Hour is a must and make reservations to ensure a table, especially on the weekends. The atmosphere is elegant with a touch of charm. The patio is great in the Summer.