The Flying Pig

We came here on a Thursday evening and just made it in time for happy hour. We didn’t have to wait before being seated and service was prompt. We ordered the Steamed Clams, BC Salmon Sampler, and the Bone Marrow Cheezy Bread. My favorite dish of that night was definitely the steamed clams. The broth was so addictive, I had a spoonful after we finished the clams itself. The BC Salmon Sampler was also delicious, but it came last so we were pretty stuffed to enjoy it to its fullest.

I’ve only been there for happy hour, but let’s face it, why would you go for dinner when you can fill your face with probably the best appies in town?
Salmon Cakes, carpaccio, mac and cheese, a meat and cheese plate, deep fried risotto balls… I mean, you and a friend can chow down for probably under 40 dollars and that includes drinks. Great atmosphere, grab a table by the window and watch the people.

I had heard so much about Flying Pig, and do think it’s very special in ambience, but I was quite let-​down by the actual taste of the food. When I read ‘marrow cheesy bread’ I’m thinking a lovely roasted and unctuous bone marrow, maybe with some roasted garlic, and at least one or two kinds of cheese and some herbs on a ciabatta (that’s my version, anyway). Instead, it was typical run-​of-​the mill cheese bread. I had no sense of bone marrow whatsoever.
As for short rib/mac…you simply can’t go wrong with short rib that is braised. It will always be delectable. And with the?? cabernet cream sauce, it was nice. But OK, just ok. Missing some ‘zing’. Some element to raise the bar a bit (some acid? maybe some zest last minute? Yummy but not fabulous by any means.
The brussel sprouts… crispy from being deep-​fried, but taste of burnt leaves, and very aggressive seasoning (sooo salty I spit them out). Nope, not a winner. I think having capers and salt and lemon (assuming) on one vegetable is overkill. Capers are already brined/​salty and lemon has salt-​like notes.
I won’t be back unless friends want to go and then I“ll gladly accompany them. It’s a great environment, great wines, and if you’re not setting to high a standard, decent food (most of it).
Very nice staff.

I really enjoyed the ambience of this place and we were offered the window seat which is always my favourite. We got the daily special fish which was very fresh and beautifully plated. We also got the macaroni and cheese, which came with a huge piece of garlic toast. This was very filling and not too heavy like normal mac & cheese, it is quite soupy at the bottom which I found kind of weird. A bit saltier than my liking but still quite good. We also got a basil bacon mushroom soup of the day, it was strangely sour and the texture was like apple sauce? Anyway don’t recommend that but everything else was excellent

A great spot for a nice meal, a few coldies in a pleasant atmosphere. Service was excellent and our waiter went out of her way to make sure we were happy.
Happy to recommend. I had the Sirloin and it was cooked to perfection.

Great atmosphere, good service, average food.

I never do reviews like this, but 5 stars to this amazing eatery. As I walked away form my meal, I was blown away by how fantastic of a dining experience I had. It’s few and far between where I have no critiques of my dinner, but flying pig left me speechless. I’m sad to say that I don’t remember the name of my server, but he was professional, friendly, and very educated on the menu. His suggestions were all on point and he was able to answer all of the questions I had both food and drink related.
The meal itself consisted of the calamari, bone marrow cheese bread, and their chef special of pork chops with wild caught mushrooms on mashed potatoes. It was phenomenal. Yes… phenomenal! Please check this place out. They deserve every cent they get and I don’t thing you can go wrong with anything on the menu.
Enjoy!

For a guy that loves Happy Hour, this is only the second time I ever been to the Flying Pig, and the first time was to try their brunch at the Gastown location. The brunch was just average.
With a late meeting scheduled in Yaletown, I thought to check out the Flying Pig ‘Appy hour’ menu. In line with the other Yaletown row of restaurants, the Flying Pig offers an above average happy hour of deliciousness. I ordered their beet salad and steamed clams, good starters before actual dinner time.
The portions are on the light side but good quality food all around for each $ 6 item. Wines and feature beer is $ 4.75. The menu is the same for all 3 of their locations: Gastown, Olympic Village and Yaletown.
The service is friendly sitting by the counter with the attentive servers, and definitely warrants a repeat return.

I had higher expectations to be honest, based on all these amazing reviews and stars, but it just didn’t wow me. For a place called «The Flying Pig», I’d expect a much cooler vibe. The appies were great, as were our main courses, and we enjoyed a pint or two as well. But that’s about it, and even for a foodie, I still wouldn’t consider that one of my most memorable experiences… because everything matters, not just the food.
So, all in all, the food IS good, the ambiance… not so much.

We came right after getting off our flight for Appy Hour! Boy were we hungry! The place was pretty empty at 4pm during Appy Hour. The place started filling up as 5pm came.
We ordered the beef carpaccio, lobster and shrimp risotto, salmon cakes, cheesy bread bone marrow, croquettes and steamed clams.
Everything was delicious and flavourful. I will definitely always be here when I move here. The one dish that I had a comment on that I didn’t really like was the risotto. The consistency of the dish was just off. The risotto was not flavourful itself. It felt like eating pieces of risotto instead of a creamy luxurious consistency. They were falling apart from one another. The consistency seemed more like a soup and some bland rice. Maybe it was just that batch. I would still give it another try.
Overall though, the food did impress me and I would definitely come back. The beef carpaccio was amazing and so was the bone marrow! Those are must trys in my books!

Heads up, the food here is rich and heavy, go prepared to chow down or take a group and share. Atmosphere is nicer than I expected, more of a date night spot than a casual pub eatery.
THREE PEA SOUP: I liked how whole sweet peas were included to add texture to the usual smoothness of this soup, but there wasn’t nearly enough ham.
BC SALMON SAMPLER: Lox-​style smoked fish with crostini, a salmon cake with sour cream and greens, and a few chunks of a dried or candied salmon that neither me nor my guy cared for. Interesting sampler plate, an additional cake would have been more appropriate for sharing.
RED WINE BRAISED SHORT RIB: I swear, every damn restaurant in Van has a short rib dish on the menu. We finally caved and tried this one. It was okay but not great, aged white cheddar mash was just potatoes with cheese on top rather than worked into the dish. The red wine gravy was a little overpowering. This is served with a bone marrow, which our server plated with the following dish…
BONE MARROW CHEESY BREAD: This was my BF’s pick. The cheesy bread was tasty, but bone marrow is rich enough to not need the assistance of butter and cheese. If you want to completely overdo it for no apparent reason, order this. The components are good, but pairing them together was unnecessary and didn’t serve any purpose.
CRISPY BRUSSELS SPROUTS: with lemon, parm, and capers. This was a hit, glad to have one veggie dish to round out our more indulgent options.
Service was a little more casual than the price point and atmosphere would imply. Location was pretty busy even for a late weeknight dinner, consider making reservations or sitting in the bar area.

Great location, service, and restaurant. OK brunch food.
Go for: beautiful interior décor, tons of seating, staff is amazing
Don’t go for: good/​great brunch food, easy and free parking

Visited Vancouver for the day and decided to stop in for lunch! Complimentary bread was super good, very fluffy & served with olive oil/​vinegar.
Small menu which you can find on their website. I went with a family of 4, we ordered 3 dishes and all of them were amazing.
I personally had the «Braised beef short rib jumbo macaroni.» Don’t let the word macaroni fool you into thinking this is a childish dish– it’s far from it! Perfect amount of cheese, mushrooms and the beef was cooked to perfection.
My other family members ordered the wild seafood pappardelle and 2 orders of the Parmesan breaded chicken cutlet. Meal size was just about right for all of us. All dishes were finished completely!
The only downsides are that it’s a little expensive for a lunch (entrees are $ 14 – 18) and the food took a little bit longer than we would have liked to come out.
Overall I know my family will be returning!

This review of The Flying Pig is based on my brunch experience.
Did I come with a high expectation? In a way with all a 4 Star and over 500+ reviews. But sadly the brunch experience was just OK.
I do love the fact that I can make a reservation as it is always a frustrating experience to wait for more than 30 minute for a table especially you only in town for the Weekend.
Menu looked interesting and promising. But the 3 items we shared did not really impressed me enough for a repeat visit or as must visit.
BC Salmon Sampler ($ 10.50)
Braised Beef Short Rib with Jumbo Macaroni ($ 14.50) — meh, really underseasoned and ribs so dry
Sausage Harsh Brown ($ 14) Special of the Day
Drinks: Glory Day/​Mimosa/​Latte
The best item was the complimentary banana bread!

Came here a week and a bit ago for lunch. Wasn’t packed, but reservations are probably recommended in case.
I had the veal parmesan sandwich. It’s an open faced sandwich which comes with Caesar salad and fries for $ 15.50. It is very heavy on the carbs and very filling overall.
The fries and salad were great, but unfortunately the most important part, the veal, was rather disappointing. I found the veal tough and difficult to chew. It felt like I was eating pork cutlet or tonkatsu from a Japanese restaurant. I would definitely order something if I come here again.

Lobster mac & cheese. brunch. atmosphere
First, full disclosure, I have mixed feelings about the food at Flying Pig. I came a few times already because of friends. Mostly, I had good experiences but one of times, some of the food I had was salted just a tad too much. I am a stickler for consistency so thought I share.
Second, had the lobster mac & cheese a few times as a add on side. You need to get on that if you haven’t! Lobster meet mac & cheese… why haven’t we thought of this earlier!
Third, great atmosphere, both the Gastown and the Yaletown location. Very consistent atmosphere and overall good experience will keep come coming back. You definitely won’t be bored if you are people watching or having a romantic night out.

This place was BOMB! I came here over the weekend for a one-​day Canada trip and the trip was well worth it!
I ordered the short rib with bone marrow and mashed potatos! If you’re a fan of bone marrow then this place is to die for! The bone marrow was just so perfect and flavorful! And not to mention the short rib cut like butter. Juicy! The mashed potatoes were great too, but not comparison to the rest of the meal. There was actually too much potatoes for me to eat.
I also short rib macaroni which was a nice side dish. Rather large actually. The whole meal was just really awesome and VERY filling. I shared these two dishes with my boyfriend and we left the restaurant feeling extremely full.
This place receives 5 stars from me because the food was wonderful, it was affordable (yay currency rate!), and the waiters were always on it! Definitely try this place out! :)

This isn’t my favourite location as I prefer the Olympic village one, but it’s still pretty solid. I came with a group of friends for a birthday during happy hour and ordered a couple of appys and drinks with my boyfriend.
We shared the salmon cakes– pretty good, the humbolt squid– okay but the Olympic village location does it better, and the beef carpaccio– my favourite of the night. I had a house red which was fine and the bacon bourbon Caesar. The Caesar wasn’t what I expected since the other location comes with candied bacon around the rim and this one did not.
Overall though, everything was what I had expected. Service was good but nothing special and food was up to par.

Several weeks ago, I visited the Yaletown location of The Flying Pig. I previously had dinner at the Gastown location where I found the food to be so-​so. The primary reason why I didn’t like it was because I was found the food to be too heavy. My sister and brother-​in-​law wanted to try this place out while visiting Vancouver, so I decided to tag along with them.
The parking situation in Yaletown is a bit tricky. There is meter parking spaces outside the restaurant, but the price is a bit high. It is $ 2 for every 30 minutes. If you don’t have enough coins, I believe there is a pay by phone option available.
Compared to the Gastown location, I found the interior to be much brighter and more inviting. The Gastown location feels very tavernesque. We dined here on a Saturday morning so the restaurant was serving its brunch menu. This menu consists of breakfast plates, the lunch menu and a number of specials found on the board. Prior to your meal, they serve you a delicious piece of banana bread in place of the usual house bread.
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Many of the items that my sister and BIL wanted to try were actually on the dinner menu. Fortunately the restaurant seems to be customer friendly about special orders. We asked if we could get the crispy brussel sprouts ($ 6) and the kitchen obliged our request. If they have the ingredients to make the item, it is worth a try to ask to see if they could make it.
The entrée that I had here was the blackened steelhead trout ($ 15.50). That seemed like the least heavy item on the menu as other lunch menu items were chicken cutlet, pulled pork rigatoni and braised beef shortrib macaroni.
While my selection was by process of elimination, I have to say the steelhead trout dish is stellar. Steelhead trout has a similar taste to salmon if you haven’t had it before. The trout sat on top of some fresh greens and couscous with tomato and feta. The steelhead was cooked perfectly and the greens with couscous was healthy and filling. Along with my steelhead, I had a few of the crispy brussel sprouts which were nicely roasted and tasty. It is a good simple side dish to order with your entrée.
I enjoyed my brunch meal at The Flying Pig. The food is good, but you have to be in the mood for the food that they offer here. Your dining experience is heavily influenced by your menu choices. The menu items here tend to be a bit on the rich and heavy side, but they do have some lighter items like the steelhead trout if you aren’t feeling decadent.

My kind of restaurant.
Chic.
Beautiful bar.
Decent wine list.
Farm fresh ingredients.
Amazing appetizers.
We came here the night of my birthday so I can get me a nice glass of that Jesus Juice aka vino. Ordered the crispy brussel sprouts and Chilliwack creamed corn to share. Both were excellent choices!
For my entrée, I ordered the Pan Seared Haida Gwaii Halibut. Must admit, one of the best pieces of halibut I’ve had at a restaurant. I forget what wine I ordered for myself but let’s just say it wasn’t anything out of this world (mind you that I do live in the Bay Area which is all about GOOD wine!).
A great place for date night or just appetizers and drinks with your friends.