A Vancouver Institution Under New Ownership – Le Crocodile

Le Crocodile is a French restaurant located in Vancouver that has been around for over 40 years; since 1983. That’s around the year my parents and I moved to Canada! Since 2024, the restaurant has been taken over by the well known local chef Rob Feenie. The old Le Crocodile served French classics in a somewhat more formal Brasserie type environment. Its one of the few restaurants in Vancouver where most people would be dressed up to dine at. I liked the service and food in the old place and I have a lot of memorable meals there. I heard mixed reviews about the new version so I waited until now to finally try it. The evening started off well as the negroni I ordered was made well with attention paid to the clear ice with logo. The drink itself was one of the better negronis I’ve had.

For starters, we had escargot. I was disappointed that they did not come in the shell. However, this disappointment quickly faded because the sauce was delicious. Better than the recent ones I had in Montreal which is surprising. We also had the Casesar salad which I have started to used as a sort of benchmark to rate restaurants. This one was just ok. The lettuce was a bit soggy and the dressing could of used more boldness. Lastly, the foie gras terrine was good, but could of used some salt to finish on top.

I should mention that the new owner has updated the place wit more modern touches, while still maintaining some of the old layout and charm of the place. I think they did a good job on the refresh. The crowd is also still nicely dressed. For mains, I had the Herb Crusted Lamb Saddle – red pepper piperade, black garlic eggplant, seasonal vegetables, lamb jus. My wife had Sake Maple Haida Gwaii Sablefish – seasonal mushrooms, koji butter sauce, yukon gold. Her dish was really good, but I think a place like this should stick to French classics without trying to incorporate Asian touches. My lamb was really tender and good, but not outstanding.

We were too full for dessert but our server brought some sorbet and chocolates to end the meal. The sorbet was ok and the chocolate was good, but I miss the crocodile shaped chocolates they used to give, and wish they kept that.

Overall, this was an nice meal and service was good. Although the food was good, but not amazing, the overall ambiance and service, combined with the food, made it an enjoyable meal. So while I think the food is not as good as the original, the whole experience of the place is still there.