Sylvia Y.
Yelp
I feel like I've finally had enough time to digest my upsetting experience at June on Cambie to bring a honest review. The backstory - I've been here twice since their opening; the first time fresh within the month of their opening (pre-Lala), I had such a delightful experience, I decided to celebrate my birthday here the following month.
The initial experience: 1st seating, packed, had a wonderful server (tall, slender fellow), food & drinks met and exceeded my expectations.
The Drinks:
ABC sour - read basic on menu, but the flavors worked so well together! Very smooth, refreshing palette, with just the right amount of punch.
Blue Fizz - very sweet, muted spirit undertones, would've considered an extra shot in this one!
Genmaicha Clover Club - this ones my favourite so far!
The Food:
June Brioche - the knob butter is really the star of the show. Solid brioche but portion size did not justify price point.
Duck w/ frites & salad (seasonal, unfortunately) - this duck was phenomenal. Cooked to perfection - tender, juicy with a worcestershire-y sauce cutting right through the fattiness of the skin. This is also the dish I raved about prior to knowing it was seasonal :(
Pasta for Rachel (2 attempts!) - the instagram-made-me-do-it order. I loveee fresh pasta cooked al Dante. 1st attempt, delish! A very buttery sauce base, plump little fillings, served fresh to the table. 2nd attempt, a disappointment. Served with crusty dried edges, nearly sauce free making it very bland. All neighbouring tables were served 'the IG way' with a performative table side butter service and we inquired with our server (a woman, slightly dismissive & irritated, serving a section of the back wall booths) and she clarified that the diner has to request extra butter served for the service, and swiftly left without further explanation. This is not noted on the menu, nor was it mentioned to us by our server upon ordering.
Mussels - great sharing dish, portion & serve style. Very saucy and delish with the brioche soaking up the sauce. Mussels pictured from 2 visits included, both dishes look irrelevant to each other. Consistency is obviously a problem here.
Halibut - regular menu item (thankful, unlike the duck breast), get the halibut for some kind of stability. Beautiful presentation, incredibly fresh halibut steak.
NY Strip steak - classic steak & frites.
Frog legs - not the first time having frog legs (pretty pan-Asian protein choice) served deep fried with a sweet sauce equivalent to Korean yangneom chicken, though not meaty enough.
Beef tartare - housemade chips were nice, I actually liked the tartare as the drizzle of sauce toned down the gaminess of raw meats.
Crab dip w/ spiced Madeline - the Madelines were solid, but the crab is occasionally too fishy to taste (1st attempt) and completely fine on another (2nd attempt).
The Experience:
A hit or miss? In my opinion in the scene of boutique-y dining experiences, good service anchors down the fort beyond the physical consumables. On any special occasion, like my birthday, to have bad service is literally a cherry on top for reasons to never come back - we didn't even want to bother with another round of drinks, or even do dessert to bear with our sever any longer. Beyond a prettyyy dismissive response to our inquiries, we did start the evening with over recommendations, approx. 2-3 dish each, where the neighbouring table of the same party size was only recommended 1-2 dishes a head, questionable. Perhaps I'd swing in for walk-in drinks, but no more 1-month out reservations, and definitely unnecessary to book for food quality as inconsistent as I've experienced.