Bacchus or Bishop's or others
 

Looking for a really special place for dinner with great food in Vancouver. Getting some good feedback for Bacchus, but wondering how Bishop's is? Don't want anything too FORMAL... Thanks!

Both are great, Bishops is very local shmocal but high end and cozy. The food is terrific. Check out Campoverde Social Club for after dinner drinks! It is close by (www.campoverde.ca) and a great place to shmooze.

Bishops has one of the best reputations in Vancouver for fine food. Rain City Grill is very comparable in quality with a more interesting location, (off English Bay Beach), and has a less intimate feel. Bacchus is a new player on the block and I havn't eaten there so I can't reccomend it.

http://www.westrestaurant.com/westrestaurant/
less formal than Bishops-has a better rep as well.

Also try www.chowhound.com for other ideas

We just ate at Bishop's in late September and I will say we were underwhelmed! We had been looking forward to our meal there as our "special dinner". We found the food,although good,somehow lacking. If one could say it seemed done by rote vs inspiration..that would be my description. The dining room is small and intimate. There was a party of 12 taking up most aspects of that dining room and the dining experience of the rest of us. I do fault the establishment for not considering this when booking a large party(eg sit the rest of us in the lower dining room or seat the large party in the lower dining room.) We felt the service lacked in large part because the party demanded much more. I would probably not repeat Bishop's on return trips to Vancouver. It seems to have a feel of being past it. Personally..we loved Bin 941 which is not formal at all, small but with some of the most impressive food we ate in Vancouver and Seattle.

Rain City Grill is my absolute favourite Vancouver restaurant. We were there in mid-August and it was even better than I remembered it from the last trip. It's certainly not formal, but the food is high-end in terms of quality and priced accordingly, i.e. not overpriced but not cheap either.

Thanks all for the responses. I have a 2002 copy of ZAGAT guide for Vancouver and Bishop's seemed highly recommended. Maybe they are slipping..hmmm.. Anyone been to Lumiere in Vancouver? That's also tops on the list...

PamSF-Bin 941 does look good! Checked out the website and looks like a "cool" place. Is there a difference between Bin 941 and 942 other than location?
Thanks!

Gail~check out the www.chowhound.com message board for Canada to view comparisons between 942 and 942. We were staying in the West End(at O'Canada House) and 941 was an easy walk from there. I suspect Bishop's is slipping.

whoops I meant comparisons between 941 and 942. Seriously, this was some of the most exciting food I've had in a great while.

Also check out West..we did not eat there but it gets consistently good reviews on chowhound.

PamSF-Thanks for the info and will check out WEST. I'm looking forward to trying some new and creative restaurants, but will probably keep BISHOP's in mind as well as Lumiere.

Bishops is slipping? Not to my knowledge. I've dined there at least twice a year (sometimes more) for the last ten years and never have I had a bad dining experience. Great service, excellent wine recommendations and food that is always consistantly well prepared.

I would always recommend it.

hydra-Then I just gotta try BISHOP's. It really looks like a nice place and what the heck, we'll give it a shot... Thanks for the responses...