Bistro Review: Sardine Can

While coming home last week, I noticed that 26 Powell Street had once again changed hands.  Maybe it's an unlucky spot but this space has seen many different hands in a short amount of time.  That's not to say that the former bistros were bad -- but you could tell every time that the operators were small time and that it was most likely a venture of love.

Yesterday, while I was out and about I decided to check out the space and look at the menu. Immediately I recognized that whoever took over the space was no Mom and Pop operator.  You could see that this space is run by professionals with enough money to pretend this was still a hole in the wall. Also, I noticed that it was a tapas bar. Most items on the menu were $10 (a bit more expensive and with less variety than La Bodega (1277 Howe Street)) but lot more interesting than Notturno (280 Carrall Street).

Gastown is not short of "tapas bars" a.k.a. "Let's serve average quality food in small portions and call it tapas, so people have to order 7 plates to get full."  With this in mind, I decided to try out Gastown's newest tapas bar the Sardine Can and see if this was the case.

"Prove me wrong, kids. Prove me wrong"

I met my friend last night and ordered: The Asparagus with Aioli, Sardines on Toast, The Clams and the Pepper stuffed with salted Cod.

Usually, I define each dish and explain the different flavors I liked but I don't feel that this needs to be the case here. The food in general was not offensive but not impressive either. None of the dishes carried any distinctive flavors or character (unless Spanish is synonymous with salt alone).  All in, I lack to see the value or unique dining experience of Sardine Can.