Recent Awards
Best New Restaurant - Eastside
—The Georgia Straight
Best New Restaurant -
No.
2 Overall
—The Georgia Straight
Best New Restaurant –
Honourable Mention
—Vancouver Magazine
Top 10 new openings
—Metro Vancouver Newspaper
Reviews
NORTHWEST PALATE (written by Laurie Guy) Nov/Dec 2009
Materializing at a clumsy intersection in an equally clumsy East Vancouver neighbourhood, Les Faux Bourgeois has quickly become a French bistro beacon in a part of the city in dire need of good dining.
In namesake and physicality, Les Faux echoes the working-class yet sophisticated tastes of owners Stephan Gagnon and Andreas Seppelt. The traditional bistro setting creates a cozy and casual dining scene focused on well-prepared, simply presented, and moderately priced dishes that are faithful to classic French roots.
Co-chefs Gilles L’Heureux and Christopher Hughes present rustic dishes that consistently master the balance between the rich ingredients and light touch of French cuisine, and will set you back no more than $19.00 for a main (the filet de boeuf grillé). With traditional offerings, such a rich and flavorful pâté de campagne, steak frites, and duck confit, one feels the flavor of Paris seep in. A fresh board offers up equally worthy specials that change each night.
Though appropriately representing France, the wine list heavily features Spain, British Columbia and California with a few Italian, New Zealand, South African, and Argentinean bottles rounding out the collection, which is graciously marked up a little under industry standards.
The experience is further charmed by Francophone servers who casually outfitted with wraparound waist aprons, know their menu and wine list well and provide that friendly but professional service renowned in the Old World, where serving is a dignified profession and not just a stopover on the way to bigger and better things.
Judging from the buoyant diners consistently packing the tables (for which reservations are essential) and bar (available on a first-come, first-served basis), Les Faux Bourgeois itself is settling into more than a stopover on this Kingsway stretch.
Open Tuesday – Sunday from 5:30 – 12 pm.
—Laurie Guy
__________________
The VANCOUVER SUN
—Mia Stainsby
“It either makes you pine for Paris, or transports you there!”
__________________
In a time of economic uncertainty, it’s no wonder this savvy new effort plays to a packed house every night. Daily blackboard features supplement a fetching menu that never exceeds the $20 mark. Start with the escargot Bourgogne ($8) before diving into an aromatic chicken pot au feu ($16). Steak with salty house-made fries – elevated by a pungent garlic aioli – is a steal at $16 , and the dessert of hot chocolate and spongy madeleines ($7)is worth saving room for. Oenophiles masquerading as servers maintain a spirited atmosphere of clinking glasses and lively chatter with hefty pours of the cheap and cheerful. Best call ahead.
