Our original lunch plans fell through, so since we were already in Richmond we decided to visit Steveston pier. Here, to take advantage of the unexpected sun and to see what the catch of the day brought in.
We also wanted to take a beat and enjoy the salted sea air and warm weather by the water. Remembering how good of a time we had last trip down, we returned to the same pier side restaurant, only to notice that it has been rebranded to Lavash Seaside Grill. We would later learned that they just opened last Monday, the tail end of June 2023 (when we visited).
Equipped with similar seafood focused, casual plates as before, but now with more Persian influences. This speaks to the fact that their sister restaurant is Anar, the only Persian offering in Steveston.
We dropped in, in time for happy hour between 2-5:30pm, so thought to take advantage of the discounts.
For drinks it was $3 off on either the margarita or the Aperol spritz, but we didn’t want neither. Instead we had the mojito and old fashioned, and at $12 each regularly, this was still a decent price.
The Mojito was white rum, lime, mint, and soda water. It was sour and tart with heavy citrus. The mint mellows it out for a somewhat refreshing flavour, which was what I wanted this sunny patio day, (considering sangria wasn’t an option).
My partner had the Old Fashioned with sugar, angostrua bitters, makers whiskey, and orange. It was more approachable and sweet compared to the above.
On our second round my partner got the Stanley Park amber ale. We ordered it off the on tap menu, believing it was $3 off for happy hour as well, making it $5 a pint. However we would be wrong and would not find out until the bill came. As per the menu the entire “On Tap” category was Asterix-ed and therefore should be eligible for happy hour. A point I made to the owner, who at the time looked at the interact machine and said she couldn’t do anything because she couldn’t apply the discount. The reasoning didn’t sit right with me, but I didn’t feel like arguing for $3, and in hindsight, I should have just taken it out of the tip, but did the automatic 18%, as the lowest option. We at least got the expected discount for the happy hour food items we ordered.
In all honestly I wasn’t too impressed by the service overall. We would have ordered more drinks had we been given more attention.They never came back to ask what I wanted for our second round, and we would have gotten a third, if there was no need to share and nurse the pint above. We couldn’t track down our original server, the owner was seated with a dining customer for the duration of her meal, and we were unable to get the attention of any other employees passing by.
Similarly we received no cutlery and didn’t touch our food until it was cool and the bus boy was able to find us some. I also asked for more pita seeing the one piece we got with our hummus, knowing we would need more. But this took a long while to come, and by the time it did we were nearly out of hummus, simply eating scoops of it and the meat as is. And honestly it didn’t seem all that busy. Only the wrap around patio was seated and including the bus boy and owner I counted 5 employees for under 15 tables.
For food, all appetizers were $3 off during happy hour, so we stuck with that. The owner who sat us recommend the calamari and hummus so we took her suggestions.
The Hummus & Brisket is served with crispy lavash, which is the restaurant’s name sake. I liked the presentation, but didn’t find the meat all that necessary, except for helping to make this dish more of a complete and whole meal. We would enjoy it more below. The hummus was flavourful enough, especially with the whole salted chickpeas.
The Burrata & Shirazi was lean and bland by comparison. Marinated burrata, herbed pistachio pesto, and mixed greens; with rye sourdough. Here, the meat above had the same function, making the dish more fulsome. Although I still could have used more pesto, most of adhered on to the thicker skin of the cheese, which was the best part and the saltiest, lending character to a plate that is otherwise leafy greens and plain toast.
The Calamari Platter was served with their house-made aioli, a Pomodoro sauce, and roasted lemon. We found the squid over cooked and dry, but it grows on you and can be hidden behind the flavour of the soupy tomato sardine-like sauce and the creamy white dill one.
In closing, this was a stop of connivence and the view, but given the disappointing experience and the lack lustre food, not a destination I would go out of my way to visit again. This especially given all the other Steveston patios to entertain.
Lavash Seaside Grill
108-3800 Bayview St, Richmond, BC V7E 6K7, Canada
+1 604-275-6790
sockeyecitygrill.com