Fray

Update! Sorry, this restaurant is now closed.

Restaurant: Fray
Cuisine: American/Local/Pacific Northwest/West Coast
Last visited: December 22, 2011
Location: Vancouver, BC (Kensington)
Address: 3980 Fraser Street
Bus: SB Fraser St FS E 23 Av
Price Range: $10-20 ($15 mains)

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: FMF Must Try!

Food: 3.5
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3.5
Overall: 4
Additional comments:

• Local ingredients
• Comfort food w/twist
• Fun/retro diner ambiance
• Good for groups
• Gluten free options
• Vegetarian options
• Reasonably priced
• Beer available
• Board games available
• Accepts credit cards
• Sat-Sun – 9AM brunch
• Mon-Sun. Dinner 5pm-10pm

**Recommendations: Rosemary Potato Chips WITH Parmesan dip or truffle aioli, Portobello French Fries, Fray Burger WITH added Egg, Fray Poulet Chicken Dinner

Vietnamese restaurant, Vietnamese restaurant, dive, Vietnamese dive, nail polish salon, karaoke shop, “for rent” space, Fray, Vietnamese restaurant, no wait! Stop! Back up! Back up! Back up! What’s that? What’s Fray? Well that’s what I wanted to know too! It’s definitely an unexpected location for a Pacific Northwest restaurant. Fray is one of Vancouver’s newest restaurants offering creative comfort food made with local BC ingredients. It’s new and refreshing to the neighbourhood and faces little competition in an area saturated with mainly “the typical” Vietnamese restaurants.

I actually received an e-mail from the owners notifying me of its opening, but due to scheduling I ended up randomly visiting unannounced on my own time and dime. The space is large and spacious and they even offer boardgames to their guests. It’s very casual, playful, laid back and more or less something you would expect to see on Main Street or Commercial Drive. I question if it would do as well if it was actually on those streets facing similar competition though. It kind of reminded me of a slightly fancier The Red Wagon and less fancy Commune Cafe. It has a diner like appearance, vintage feel and modern retro decor, which is quite exciting and charming to the area.

The food is modern comfort food with an approachable twist, which is quite popular in Vancouver, but this time it’s not overpriced, which is a rare find in Vancouver. It’s a place where you can eat and get full and I could sense the passion and the effort. As for the whole “local/organic” bit, I wasn’t as convinced since there were lots of non-seasonal ingredients. I wouldn’t have guessed that was the theme, but it was definitely marketed that way.

I get what they’re trying to do, but I’m more infatuated with its unique location than the actual food, but the food was good for the price. I’m not raving about it, but I’m satisfied with it and it’s a fun place. I’d be more surprised and impressed if I found the restaurant randomly with no expectations though. I like the intention of the restaurant, and it manages to be inventive and affordable without sacrificing quality or portions.

On the table:

Fray’s Famous F-Bombs – 2/6 (Okay)

• Our signature dish; fresh figs wrapped in Fraser Valley bacon with a balsamic reduction $7.95
• They’re usually a 6/6 thing for me. If you’ve never had them and you like sweet and savoury you’ll likely enjoy them.
• Bacon wrapped dates are one of my favourite things and I’ve had a lot of versions of these in the States, so I only found these ones okay.
• The figs weren’t big and plump and they were quite soft and mushy and the bacon wasn’t crispy enough to contrast the fig.
• The figs tasted like sticky dried figs although they were moist. I’m not sure where they would get fresh figs at this time of year anyways… ?
• It was what it was and there was a nice salty and sweet balance with an acidic sweet tang of balsamic reduction and I appreciated the thick strip of bacon.
• Personally when I make them at home I like to stuff them with almonds and brie or blue cheese for extra texture and flavour.
• Just for comparisons sake, here are some excellent ones outside of Vancouver that I’ve had – Dátiles con Beicon from Boqueria, Griddled Bacon Wrapped Dates from Tasty n Sons, and the one who apparently started the trend was Firefly Tapas in Las Vegas. I’m glad the idea is finally in Vancouver, but they can get better.

**Rosemary Potato Chips – 4.5/6 (Very good-Excellent)

• A stacked bowl of house made rosemary infused potato chips $4.95
• I started eating them with Parmesan dip (from the Sex Pistols) and the truffle aioli (from the Porotobello French Fries) and it was even better.
• I highly recommend ordering the dips separately with these chips! You have to make the request.
• This was one of my favourite things and I would never think to order them.
• It was a huge bowl of warm, salted, crispy, thin cut potato chips that were perfectly seasoned and baked.
• It was more like a gourmet and fresh Lays chip than a Pringles or Mrs. Vickie’s.
• I could taste the aromatic rosemary and they were naturally a bit oily, but I enjoyed them thoroughly.

**Portobello French Fries – 4/6 (Very good)

• The death of the French Fry! A jenga tower of breaded portobello strips lightly fried and served with truffle aioli $8.95
• Everyone loves these and I did as well, but I also love portobello mushrooms. This was a pretty heavy appetizer.
• They were very crunchy with a thick panko batter, but the mushrooms were also thick cut and meaty enough to make it taste like it wasn’t just batter.
• The batter didn’t slip off the mushroom and it was never floury, soggy or mushy.
• The mushrooms were juicy and they were well executed, but I couldn’t taste much truffle in what I thought was just garlic aioli.

Sex Pistols – 3.5/6 (Good-Very good)

• A stack of sauce-loaded chicken drumettes. Choose from hot sauce with parmesan dip or honey curry with tandoori $9.95
• These were hot sauce with parmesan dip, but they weren’t very hot at all.
• The wings were good and not dry with a small kick, but for being called “sex pistols” I thought they’d be much spicier.
• The parmesan dip tasted like sour cream with some actual parmesan cheese in it so it wasn’t smooth and pureed.
• The parmesan dip was cooling with the mildly spicy chicken, but I enjoyed it most with the Rosemary Potato Chips.

Seasonal Soup – n/a

• A cup of fresh soup served with grilled focaccia. Ask your server for today’s special. $4.50
• It was chicken noodle soup and I didn’t order this, but there was no rave or complaint.

**Fray Burger WITH added Egg – 5/6 (Excellent)

• A patty of house ground Pemberton BC beef with cranberry tomato ketchup and mayonnaise served with house salad. $10.95
• YES! That is an an added FRIED EGG to the burger which was done upon request.
• This had an added tomato ($2) and a fried egg ($1).
• The photo is perfect for my Beauty of an Egg Yolk Series.
• The egg was only a featured option for The Fray BLT, but it was what made this burger amazing.
• I just wanted to top it off with wedges of avocado… and pulled pork and bacon.

• The egg really made this burger, and I’m not sure how I would have felt without it.
• The burgers are popular here, but I wish they were available medium rare since they are house ground.
• I found the bun much too thick although soft and chewy.
• It was the Filipino purple yam buns, but it didn’t taste or really look like the ones I’ve seen before.
• The patty was quite thick, not dry, and very well seasoned.
• The patty could be juicier, but the slab of mayo and egg yolk helped sauce it up.
• I couldn’t taste the cranberry tomato ketchup and if I removed some of the bun, I enjoyed it!

Porchetta Sandwich – n/a

• Roast pork with caramelized onion and horseradish mayo on rustica bread $8.95
• If you’ve had the Porchetta Sandwich from Meat & Bread, then you’re going to want to compare them.
• I’m judging purely on looks since this wasn’t my order, but I was hoping for some cracklings.
• My friend said the pork was generous, but it didn’t seem freshly made although still good.

TaunTaun Burger– 3.5/6 (Good-Very good)

• Inspired by the Empire Strikes Back: beef patty with pulled pork, bacon, cheese, ketchup & BBQ sauce, on a purple yam bun. Slit it open and climb on in! $15.95
• Yes! Layer anything with pulled pork and I’m there.
• The pork isn’t the same one they use for their pulled pork sliders (which they ran out of on this night), but this was good and juicy.
• The bacon was crispy and the patty had a good thickness and it was moist and very well seasoned again.
• It was white cheddar cheese and again there was too much bun for the burger, but it was a good burger.
• Again, the bun is soft, but a bit chewy and it still didn’t taste or look like the Filipino purple yam buns I’m used to seeing.
• I would have preferred a fluffy white bun or brioche bun.

**Wild Mushroom Ravioli – 4/6 (Very good)

• Filled with mushroom and marscarpone with brown sugar sage and roasted cashews $13.95
• These ravioli are the chef’s recipe, but they’re made somewhere else.
• It was a fair portion with lots of cashews which I appreciated. If it wasn’t pine nuts, then buttery cashews are a good alternative with ravioli.

•  The ravioli was cooked al dente and the inside was filled with minced mushrooms and some herbed bread crumbs. It still had a dominant mushroom flavour though, so it wasn’t all filler.
• It was nice and buttery and well sauced, but I wanted more sage presence and the butter wasn’t quite browned yet.
• The marscapone was very mild and barely noticeable, but it was still a very good pasta dish with a nice nutty crunch of cashews.
• As a restaurant with a focus on local ingredients, I would have loved to see fire roasted cherry tomatoes, actual pieces of Portobello mushrooms and some whole leaves of sage though.

Mac and Cheese (with sausage and bacon) – 2/6 (Okay)

• Artisan radiatore pasta with sharp cheddar, bechamel sauce and spices. A real winter warmer $12.95
• Add tomato, mushrooms $1 each Blue cheese, sausage and bacon $2 each
• This one had added sausage and bacon ($16.95), but there wasn’t enough to justify the cost and the portion isn’t very big overall.
• If there was no sausage and bacon it would have been quite bland.

• The cheese sauce was more like a thin white sauce and it tasted more like a butter sauce with a hint of cream than a creamy cheese sauce.
• I couldn’t taste cheese or spices and the sauce just didn’t stick to the noodles.
• The noodles were quite overcooked and very soft and the sausage was homemade but not particularly noticeable or memorable.
• The bacon and sausage didn’t seem infused in the sauce and it just seemed like buttery noodles.
• It was sprinkled with a crispy panko crust and that was my favourite part.

Mac and Cheese (with Blue Cheese) – 2.5/6 (Okay-Good)

• Artisan radiatore pasta with sharp cheddar, bechamel sauce and spices. A real winter warmer $12.95
• Add tomato, mushrooms $1 each Blue cheese, sausage and bacon $2 each
• If you order the mac and cheese you almost have to add blue cheese ($14.95), even if you’re not a fan of it, because otherwise it just tastes like melted butter with a bit of cream.
• I couldn’t taste any cheese without the crumbled blue cheese.
• There wasn’t too much blue cheese, but it was the only thing giving the dish flavour.
• I loved the cripsy panko gratin crust, but the noodles were overcooked again and the sauce on the runny side.

Pacific Salmon de Orzo – 1.5/6 (Poor-Okay)

• Fresh west coast salmon pan-seared and resting on a bed of orzo pasta $14.95
• This was quite disappointing.
• For this type of restaurant I didn’t expect the salmon to come with the skin, but I always prefer the skin. I’ll overlook that though.
• However, the salmon was dry and slightly overcooked and so was the orzo (rice shaped pasta).
• Both were quite bland and the orzo really just tasted like pasta with spinach and a bit of red pepper. I actually make the same one at home, but I add feta, lemon and dried cranberries.
• For a local and organic type of restaurant I expected more presence of greens.
• I think they’re capable of something more like the Seared Salmon Risotto from Commune Cafe.

**Fray Poulet Chicken Dinner – 4.5/6 (Very good-Excellent)

• 5 spice half roasted BC chicken served with seasonal vegetables, artisan herb gnocchi and chicken pan gravy $16.95
• This was maybe my favourite dish. It was unexpected!
• It was a huge roasted chicken and it was super juicy, tender and moist and dripping sauces everywhere.
• The dry rub was fantastic and it was just Chinese 5 spice powder, but it tasted fresh and it was very strong and aromatic.
• I could taste cumin, cinnamon and cloves with some black pepper and maybe cardamom. It tasted like freshly ground house made 5 spice.
• I was hoping the seasonal veggies would be seasonal though, and turnips or root vegetables would be nice to see over green beans.
• The gnocchi was also fantastic and they were generously sauced with a creamy buttery chicken gravy.
• The gnocchi was semi-crispy and very soft, pillowy and moist with a nice tender chew and good potato flavour. It was a very well done and certainly one of the better gnocchi I’ve had in Vancouver and in general.
• I would love to see fresh herbs incorporated into the gnocchi or pan fried with the gnocchi too.

[geotag]