The Fable family of restaurants – Fable Kitchen on West 4th and Fable Diner on Broadway has a brand new location in Downtown Vancouver. Fable Diner & Bar has taken over the former Kingston Taphouse & Grille space on 755 Richards Street. Fable Diner & Bar aims is offering brunch, happy hour, dinner, and late-night eats for dine-in, takeout, and delivery. You can enjoy Fable’s signature diner fare along with new dishes and nostalgic desserts. They also have a Game Day menu where you can enjoy the Canucks game on 13 TVs and 2 video screens! Check out the game day specials here. I came by to check out the new menu and space with a few friends last week – read about my full experience below.
Fable Diner & Bar – Starters & Sharesies
We came by after work so we ordered off the dinner menu. They do have lounge menu by the bar if you’re wanting something more laidback. To start we had:
- Daily Bread ($5.00)
- Fable Wings ($14.00)
- Kale Cesar Salad ($15.00)
The Daily Bread is baked in house daily and served with house butter. The bread was alright. It was a little too crispy and each order comes with four small sticks. It was a bit of a disappointing start. The Fable Wings are tempura battered (hot or salt and pepper) and served with house ranch. The wings had a good crunch and the ranch was a nice way to temper the hot wings. A good way to get the night started! The Kale Cesar Salad features bacon, sourdough croutons, fresh parmesan cheese and it was very tasty! The dressing packed a nice punch and there was plenty of kale.
Fable Diner & Bar – Main Street (Entrees)
For our entrees we went with:
- Flat Iron Steak ($28.00)
- Fable Burger ($14.00)
- Double Diner Cheeseburger ($19.00)
- Grilled Cheezus ($15.00)
The Flat Iron Steak features black pepper jam, potato rosti, and grilled broccolini. The steak was well cooked and the potato rosti was delicious! We asked for medium rare and it came more medium, however the steak was still quite tender.
The star of the show was definitely the two burgers we ordered. The patties in both the Fable Burger and the Double Diner Cheeseburger were so juicy and flavourful. The Fable Burger features 4 oz smash beef patty, fable sauce, lettuce, tomato, potato bun and french fries. We added cheese and bacon and we highly recommend you do so as well. The Double Diner Cheeseburger features 2 x 4 oz smash beef patty, double slice cheese, fable sauce, lettuce, tomato, potato bun, and french fries. This is similar to the Fable Burger – just double the patties.
The Grilled Cheezus features Swiss cheese, cheddar, brie, and cola onions. It was so yummy and truly the perfect comfort food. It comes with fries, however we substituted the fries with tomato soup. You can’t have a grilled cheese without tomato soup! The sandwich was nice and crispy and the tomato soup was so flavourful and thick.
Fable Diner & Bar – Dessert
To end the night we had:
- Lemon Parfait ($9.00)
- Cookies and Cream ($8.00)
Both desserts are pretty standard, however I do prefer the Lemon Parfait. The Lemon Parfait features Italian meringue, shortbread and lemon curd. The lemon curd was very tart and sour – just the way I like it! The meringue was nice and fluffy and torched so it tastes exactly like marshmallows. The Cookies and Cream features white chocolate panna cotta, fudge sauce and chocolate cookie crumble. It wasn’t very sweet and the panna cotta was very smooth.
Worth a Try?
If you’re in the area looking for some inexpensive drinks and comfort food Fable Diner and Bar is a good pick. The restaurant itself is definitely a throwback to a bygone era. The decorations and vibe is quite dated, but it does have a certain kind of charm to it. It’s a good spot for a really good burger and they have a pretty decent $33 set menu (which includes the Flat Iron Steak as an entree choice!). Overall, I wouldn’t say this is a spot you need to come running to, but it’s a good place to have in the back of your mind when you’re looking for a spot for dinner in Downtown Vancouver.
