This is a decent restaurant, but I think it's overrated. It's clearly been the victim of too much hype. It only does it disservice to portray it falsely, because it sets you up for disappointment. That's what I find happened to me when I visited it for the first time recently, carrying on my shoulders a world of expectations that promptly and unceremoniously bit the dust upon arrival.
Fraiche, one of the best restaurants I've ever been to and certainly the best fine dining restaurant I've been to in Vancouver, isn't even on the list! Haphazard ratings like this are what make me dislike the ratings at Urbanspoon.
(And it's not just about one restaurant on a big list. What about the other restaurants on the list? A hot dog stand is the best restaurant in Vancouver? And a cheap Greek eatery is the second best? Followed by Les Faux Bourgeois? Yeah, makes perfect sense.)
Anyway...
My recent experience dining at Les Faux Bourgeois was by no means an unmitigated disaster or anything. I can recommend this restaurant if you are looking for a decent traditional French cooking. The prices are not the absurd prices of some places like Cru, and the food was mostly quite good, which I can't say for many French restaurants in these parts.
Just don't expect to waltz over there one night and find a seat. You have to reserve to eat at this place at least one month in advance. For Fraiche I would gladly jump through hoops, but it is laughable for these guys (and the rest of Vancouver) to think so highly of themselves.
Aside from this, the main problem with this place is that the service was unprofessional and not what one would expect of a French restaurant of any caliber, much less the highest-rated fine dining restaurant in the city. Red and white wine were served in the same glass. The waiter wore a ragged t-shirt and did not pour the wine after opening it. The atmosphere could at best be described as bustling; at worst, harried.
It was horrendously noisy in there. I've never been in such a noisy restaurant. I could barely hear what the person sitting across the table was saying. And this was on a Tuesday night. That, and the lighting was very bad - it felt too bright and too dark at the same time, because of the lengthwise orientation of the restaurant and the lack of good lighting.
For openers we had TARTE FLAMBÉE ALSACIENNE ($10, caramelized onion puff pastry tart, crème fraîche, ricotta cheese, lardons, grape tomato salad). A fairly pleasing dish, but not particularly revelatory or creative. This sets the tone for the evening. The fare here is traditional and to the point without embellishment.
For mains we had FILET DE BOEUF GRILLÉ ($19, tenderloin with potato gratin and glazed vegetable, red wine shallot jus) and a dish of lamb with ratatouille that I don't see on the menu on their web site so I don't have details. The tenderloin was exquisite in the red wine sauce, and went perfectly with the potato gratin, which tasted very much as my mom used to make it. The lamb, on the other hand, was disappointing - decent but humdrum and lacking in taste, certainly not the overwhelming success of the tenderloin. So it was a very hit-or-miss experience.
We ordered a bottle of Spanish Beronia Rioja Riserva 2005, which was exquisite - earthy, full of tannins, long, with great evolution and body, though the fruits were a little gone and it felt like it was peaking. A very big and bold wine, just like I like them. It went very well with both of our dishes.
There wasn't even a dessert menu. When we asked about desserts, the waiter casually recited the four uninspired desserts they offer - chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, creme brulee and lemon tart. Very original. Very creative. The chocolate cake and creme brulee were good, to be sure, but everything about this meal was too middle-of-the-road and lacking in tension and excitement. The dishes we were served didn't have an aura about them as if the chef had carefully arranged every detail. The vegetables on my plate were literally inedible - a few tasteless pieces of carrots that seemed completely out of place. Little things like this are telltale signs of a lack of spark, and the fact that they are blase about their reputation and can sit on their laurels and watch the customers roll in.
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