The Wallflower Modern Diner

Crab Cake Dinner

Restaurant: The Wallflower Modern Diner

Cuisine: American/Contemporary
Last visited: October 16, 09
Area: Vancouver, BC (Main Street)
2420 Main Street
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 2.5
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3

Overall: 2.5
Additional comments:

• Family owned and operated
• Attracts 30-40's
• Contemporary diner
• Old fashioned homestyle comfort food/cooking
  
• Diner items, some w/modern twist
• Go for the simple classics, the more "gourmet" items are not as good
  
• Previous cook at Boathouse Restaurant
  
• Casual dining
• Breakfast until 4pm
• Lunch and dinner
• Friday and Saturday brunch
  
• Closed Sunday

** Recommendation: Burgers, Meatloaf Wellington (but I didn't get to try it, should be really good based on their burger patties), I didn't try it but the wraps looked huge

I've been meaning to try this restaurant every time I'm in the area, but always opt for The Foundation in the end. At last, I finally made it to the door! I was reading their menu and specials board but what convinced me was the owner of the shop next door telling me that the food was really good - and that's all folks!

It's not a truck stop diner and not pretentious either. It's one of those trendy diner places located on Main offering homestyle classics with a slight twist. The lighting is a bit dark and the decor is artistic so it's quite a loungey atmosphere during the evening. Nothing professional or gourmet, but there's effort an it's affordable. Almost everything is made in house which is great, but it's also not so amazing that I'm dying to go back. I would go back to try more things though, so I can get a better idea of what they offer.

On the table:

• Wallflower Burger 4/6
• Eggplant spread, tomato, cucumber, pickles, lettuce, raw red onion, and melted Havarti
• This is a piled high burger with fresh ingredients and a thick patty!
• The secret is definitely in the patty - and they tell you this right on the menu: "The Wallflower patty is our secret recipe with beef, pork and seasoning." This patty is pretty delicious I must say. You can definitely tell it's fresh and homemade. The patty was flavourful with the combination of meats and they worked it just enough so that it was still tender. The first bit was really juicy and delicious, but as it got cold it started to taste dry and not as great...which is somewhat expected.
• The cucumber was as great addition to this burger and the melted Havarti was great. The pickle was a little distracting and I don't think they need it even though I like pickles. With more eggplant spread and no pickle the burger is heading a better direction.
  

  

• My complaint is that there's not enough eggplant spread. I'm pretty sure the eggplant spread is the same one they serve as their "eggplant dip" on their appetizer menu. It looks almost like hummus, but doesn't taste like it. The eggplant is very pureed with maybe yogurt? There's lots of garlic powder and maybe some cumin. I could barely taste the spread in the burger though - I could only taste the garlic powder from it.
• Crab Cake Dinner 1.5/6
  
• Crab, curry, onion, apple and peach served with veggies and salad.
  
• Perfect example of stick to what you know! This is one of their attempts at "gourmet" items. The waitress recommended it, but it was not good...barely ok.
• First there was hardly any crab (well at $12 I can't be getting much anyways). The crab cakes had so much filler like breadcrumbs and very little crab. The inside was mushy and the the exterior definitely tasted like cardboard. It was over battered and had a thick Panko crust. They didn't seem to know how to use Panko properly because it was patted and glued on and not crispy at all. It was distracting and tasted and looked like cardboard with a mushy middle. The texture was like cardboard too. They also used some cumin, but overall it could have been saltier. It came with curry mayo for dipping, but it didn't help.
• The apple and peach is actually served on top. I thought it was going to be in the crab cakes. The peaches were canned but the apples were fresh. I know they were going for presentation but they should have chopped it up and made it into a salsa. Poor execution.
  
• The veggies it came with were good though. I think they sauteed them with olive oil.
  
• Caesar Salad
  
• It was a normal Caesar Salad! The guy that recommended the place said it was really good - but it was really normal. Lightly dressed and I think it was shredded Asiago cheese instead of Parmesan, but I could be mistaken.