Smoking Dog Bistro

It was a nice sunny day, so we headed for brunch at Smoking Dog Bistro in Kitsilano. We sat at a shady table on the patio which would have been nice if not for the flies zooming around overhead. Shortly after we had placed our orders, we were given a complimentary basket of bread. I hadn't expected this for brunch, so it was a pleasant surprise. The portion was small, but I had no complaints since it was on the house. The bread was nice and crusty with a fluffy soft centre.

The stuffed French toast ($11) tasted pretty good, but it was not worth the price we paid. I think I misinterpreted the word "stuffed", because apparently that does not mean there would be filling inside the toast. What does "stuffed" mean then? All we got was one slice of bread cut into 4 pieces with fruit compote on the bottom, creamy melted brie on top, and a swirl of whipped cream in the middle. It was definitely not enough to satisfy the average appetite. For $11, I would expect at least two slices of bread.

The seafood crepe ($14), on the other hand, was very good value for the price. The crepe was well-executed and the chef was very generous with the seafood filling. There were pieces of salmon, halibut, prawns and scallops. I also enjoyed the crispy roasted potatoes with red and green pepper shreds.

Because the seafood crepe was so tasty, we decided to get a crepe ($9) for dessert as well. It came with a small scoop of vanilla gelato and two very tart berries (probably because they are not in season). The crepe itself was drenched in an overwhelmingly strong and fragrant Grand Marnier orange sauce. While the sauce was very nice with the richness of alcohol and the refreshing taste of citrus, I felt that it completely dominated the dish and the crepe could not be appreciated in its own right.

Although we enjoyed all of our dishes, we found the price points a bit too high in general. But then again, this is a French bistro and French cuisine is known to be expensive.