Red Sea Cafe

Added May 20, 2009 by alissaraye of vancouver (2 Reviews)

Unassuming facade/name belies rich & rewarding experience within!
I've been enjoying Red Sea for over 3 years solid and have never had anything less than an amazing meal experience.

The service gets a 5 star rating because we are greeted by very warm smiles by all staff every time, the water is always refilled promptly, we never have to wait long for the food/cheque and they always ask us if everything is to our liking. I can't ask for more!

I'm vegan and Red Sea is my go-to place for a special shared meal; it's my favourite non-vegetarian restaurant in Vancouver. The shared veggie platter is what I get every time and it's always delicious and extremely filling. For $8.50 each, it's pretty outstanding value. Sometimes some dishes are fresher than others but that's to be expected and each dish always tastes great. The only dish I don't like of the 7 veggie dishes is the split pea because it's a bit bland, but there are so many other dishes to choose from that it doesn't matter.

Though I've never been to Africa, the ambiance seems authentic. The music (and sometimes tv) is always African, as is the art. I love when I can enter a restaurant and imagine that I am transported to another land.

Added May 18, 2009 by snowysakurasky of Vancouver (7 Reviews)

interesting, not as yummy as expected
i don't know if this kind of cuisine is my thing. my other experience with african food was in france when i had an african friend from ghana (the OTHER side of the continent, i know)and her family often made delicious spicy chichen vegi stews and that kind of thing... this was definitely not asgood, but as someone esle pointed out its hard to comapre meat and veggies and i dont eat meat any more.

anyways, we had the veggie platter and it gives you five big scoops of the vegetarian dishes you choose: we chose kale okra cabbage peas and lentils. a lot of the dishes tasted very simiar to me. theay were all quite mushy, the only one i really liked was the okra with tomatoes. the soft flat bread is very sour, so our toddler was not intersted in munching on it while we ate. i might have enjoyed the meal much more if we had chosen rice, but the owner said it would take some time as many of their clients are not into eating gluten, so they only keep the bread ready, not the rice.when we went to pay, the cc/debit machine was out of paper, so my s.o. had to drive to the nearest bank machine. we got full very fast, probably from all the spices, and had lots left over after only paying about 17 plus tip. it is not fun to pack this to go home though! my s.o. is not a vegetarian but he found the meal fulfilling and appreciated the warm and prompt service.

the place has nice authentic (i think) artwork, which is on little furry hides! it seemed clean, was kind of warm which is fine, the only thing is the tables are have table cloths under glass, and so the sides of those are kind of dirty, they could change them every day for all i know, but as the food is soft and you eat with your hands, maybe table cloths are not the best option?
*disclaimer* i am a very picky eater!

Added Mar 2, 2009 by sushiman989 of Kerrisdale (15 Reviews)

I'm hooked
I've been taking the bus past this place for quite a while and decided to finally check it out yesterday. We went mid afternoon on a Sunday so the place was empty but we sat down anyways and were greeted by the owner who promptly brought us menus and water. The two of us shared the dinner for two which consists of two vegetarian and two meat dishes. The food came on a large platter accompanied by crepe-like bread that you tear off and use to pick up food. It's rare to find utensil free restaurants in town that aren't fast food so this was a unique experience. The chicken and beef dishes were quite spicy but very flavorful and balanced by the mild bread. The vegetarian fare was milder but still quite enjoyable. Great value and quality food. I highly recommend this for something different.

Added Jun 22, 2008 by erlingbiggs of Vancouver (4 Reviews)

Must have caught them on an off night
I'm surprised by the rest of the reviews here, because I ate at the Red Sea for the first time last night and was really disappointed.

The service was indeed friendly and prompt, the restaurant clean, comfortable, and well-maintained.

My friend and I ordered a vegetable platter of five dishes. We had the lentils, a split pea dish, green beans, cabbage/carrots, and another dish I can't recall. The food arrived very quickly, but it was really disappointing. Three of the five stews were lukewarm to almost completely cold - the carrots in the cabbage dish were actually chilly. I think the food arrived so fast because it had been prepared earlier and not heated through. The two dishes that were almost sauce-like in consistency (lentils and the one I can't remember) were warm but not hot, tasty and well-spiced. Some of the food seemed a bit over-processed, although it had been left a few spins too long in a Cuisinart. I didn't find the flavours remarkable - except for those two dishes the food seemed a little bland.

Had I been alone I would have sent the food back for heating. Had the food been warm it probably would have been OK - hard to tell because it's hard to evaluate a hot dish when it's served cold.

The injera was warm and plentiful - we needed more and it was provided. The prices were good.

I'll try the place again to see if I just caught them on an off night.

Added Apr 5, 2008 by omar of richmond (19 Reviews)

Good
visited there last week- 3 adults shared the vegi. plate for 3 that was recommended on this web site. that gave us 6/7 of their vegi. dishes- they were all good- the ocra and the lentil ones were the best to my opinion. the kids had the mild chicken. it was good.
I would say that I liked the food in Harambe a bit more- but there I had meat... so it's a problem to compare.
I probably come here again- the atmosphere was relaxed. and the food in general was good

Added Aug 7, 2007 by Spiderwoman of East Vancouver (10 Reviews)

yay no silverware
I tried this restaurant for the first time the other day.
Got #4 on the menu. A lamb dish with tumeric, ginger, etc...

I was really pleased with the ambiance. It's so clean and peaceful.

The food was fun to eat. A bit on the tough side but still tasty.
My friend who had been there before said to avoid the beef.

I would go there again. Good prices for what you get.

Added Aug 28, 2006 by ryanrake of Vancity - east (1 Reviews)

Great Place!
Red Sea Cafe is awesome...

I am a huge fan of the veggie platters, and some friends who can not live without meat at every meal fully endorsed the lamb dishes when we took them...the prices are really great for the amount and quality of food you get and the man who serves you is great - super nice guy who is always very helpful if you want to make special requests. Hopefully this is the first of many great places that will occupy Fraser/B-way...

Try it out!

Added Jun 14, 2006 by King_of_Kitsilano of My Beautiful Kitsilano (31 Reviews)

Unique and Delicious!
Had the opportunity to eat @ this great little spot recently and was very satisfied.
The owners have put time and energy into the concept and their low key charming approach is a winner.
Don't be put off by the 'down hood'-inside is clean quiet friendly and well run-quite unlike many east side restaurants.
As per the previous post we had the Veggie Platter-all kinds of well presented tasty vittles(!)