The Vancouver Club

This is my «other home». We had two of the children’s wedding receptions here and both were the best conceivable. I use this club 5 days a week at least and feel cossetted and spoiled. I have life long friends who are members and it is a comfortable cozy place to be with people you have shared history with. It is a pleasure and privilege to belong to this stellar institution.

Been here to attend a party (drinks and dancing on a couple different floors. I have been here to help photograph a wedding for a young couple who work for Google. I have also been here for the VIFF opening gala. It’s a nice classic location, great for weddings and parties.

I came here as a gust of my girl friend who is an active Vancouver Club member. She took me here for Cocktails & Small Plates Bella Italia as a birthday gift.
With this particular Italian-​themed event we were seated in the Gold Lounge where we indulged five cocktails intricately paired with five plates of nibbles. The food included sliced scallops, deep-​fried artichoke hearts, radicchio salad, grapefruit purée as a palate cleanser, duck cappelletti, and olive oil pound cake. The food was creative and executed to high standards. The cocktails used Prosecco, fruit liquor, Bulleit bourbon, and Long Table vodka just to name a few.
My girl friend ordered us each a bowl of tomato bisque and a side of bread. She sensed I was getting over liquored after 1.5 cocktails. I am weak; I know. She’s absolutely right — the tomato bisque was delicious and good on her for making the executive decision to minimize embarrassment. The seasoning was bang on, the consistency and texture were both excellent. I shamelessly ate half of the warm bread rolls with thick smears of whipped butter.
Overall I enjoyed my experience. I think the event was fun and educational as there was Tristan, the lead bartender who explained his selection of cocktails and how he was inspired to match the choice of food. If you had the opportunity to have cocktails or food here, do check him out. He reminds me of Captain America. I gathered my liquid courage to send him the compliment who politely accepted. He said he gets the compliment quite a bit. Ladies, he is off the market. If you’re looking for a single Mr. Captain America you’d have to find him else where.
The service was above and beyond throughout my short stay at the Vancouver Club. From the front desk coat check girl to the wait staff, everyone was genuinely friendly. I remember at one point I was returning back to the lounge from the washroom and a staff, who was waiting for the elevator went out of his way to open the door for me.
I walked out of the premise like a baby giraffe, but a happy one.

An enclave, a welcome respite
Joshua, Martha, Jonathan and Mark have always taken great care of my partner and I.
Yes they accept gay couples as family members, it’s a brave modern new world after all and this club has made great inroads to represent that.
Under the fantastic management of Philip Ireland the renaissance of this place would seem complete
Great yoga on the rooftop, and rooftop bar in the evenings, new equipment in the gym, amazing bartenders, sommelier and food by Sean Cousins in a heritage space with faithfully complimentary modern touches. The member events are engaging and unique. Yes one thing remember phones are not permitted, why? because if there’s one place that is free of digital intrusion and the art of conversation still exists it is here

Had a chance to attend a whiskey pairing event, featuring of Jim Beam products.
Purple shingle — really nice lavender taste. Nice and refreshing. Served with part of a plant up top.
Knob Creek cured salmon — tiny little sliver. Reminded me of gummi bears for some reason. Really nice chutney though.
Smoked maple bourbon sour — nice and tangy. Served with slice of lime.
Grilled Baja prawns — really just 1 prawn, with seafood cocktail sauce. Tasted like something you’d get at a supermarket. I really couldn’t tell the difference.
Spaghetti western — didn’t know saffron could be used in a drink. Bitters added a nice touch.
Crab cake — served with what looked like onions on top. Quite tasty, but a bit too salty.
Mint julep — cool and refreshing. This one tasted quite strong. Mint sprig on top.
Grilled pork loin — tiny little sliver. For some reason, the corn bread didn’t do it for me. It was dry and crunchy. Smearing it around the sauce helped quite a bit though.
Four horsemen — curiously served in a mini jar. More bitters goodness. This one was quite strong.
House made petit fours — four is French for «oven» — it’s not the number. Had to look it up when I only saw 2 items on my plate. The Macaron was nice and dainty, though I liekd the raspberry tart thing a lot more.

Probably a 3.5, after averaging out: 4 stars for its prestigiousness but 3 stars for its food.
Was here for a wedding last summer, and though I wasn’t expecting much, its seafood buffet, roasted potatoes, and rest of it was kinda ordinary. But the cheesecake, cakes, weren’t too bad ;) The food was in a different room from the reception, where 25-​ish tables were cramped in.
The main entrance for the ceremony probably nicer than the reception area, with staircases going up on either side.
One of the rooms upstairs did have a pool table.
In the back, good bar area and a dance floor, with an open patio with view of the surrounding office towers.
For $ 40 large ones here, i’d hold it elsewhere ;)

Went as a guest today of one of the members and had lunch. Ordered the ‘free range’ chicken club, which was good but basically a club sandwich. Other than having to go and find our waiter once, the service was okay.
The atmosphere is quiet, and the staff was friendly. The décor is fairly updated in some areas, and in other areas its a bit out dated.
Found out the membership fees are quite inexpensive compared to other clubs (ie: golf clubs) so other than having to be invited in, anyone can pretty much afford to be a member.
I would return.

This place is like my second home and it truly never disappoints.
The building is beautiful, having just celebrated its 100^th anniversary and in addition to maintaining much of its history and charm, great effort has been made in recent years to keep the club current. Whether it’s the Gold Bar and atrium, Corner Suite, or new roof-​top patio, this venue always impresses my friends/​clients/​and family. Food is always top notch and service is always bang-​on.
The current GM (he’s been there a while) is/​has done an excellent job of transforming the club in the last decade from an antiquated old-​money club where members were falling asleep in their bowls of soup to a modern, vibrant club with a much younger demographic.
MMG, I’m sorry to hear of your bad experience. I’m sure if you contacted the GM Philip Ireland directly he’d be happy to speak with you. I know first hand that the club has a very mixed demographic with many different ethnicity/​races so not sure what happened there, also the club generally books out for private events on the weekends so you could possibly have been dealing with a representative from elsewhere. Either way, your experience wasn’t great and I think you should bring it to the attention of the GM. I’m there all the time so hopefully we’ll cross paths in the future.
In summary, a great place and very unique venue in the city. Hopefully you Unilocalers know a member that can get you in for a visit!

from an Asian’s point of view, i can’t believe i had the worst service in Canada at Vancouver club.
I attended an event on the past weekend, when I asked for password, the lady in pink at the lobby was extremely rude to us. We asked very polite! and she insisted the password provide is correct while we showed the phone to her that it was missing at least one digit. while we were requesting her to double check the password, she became impatient and don’t even wanna talk to us. And two Caucasians apparently the members at the club showed up, and she suddenly turned into a dog! If you are pet owners, you know what a dog like when they are begging for food. Then I noticed I have been discriminated! it is a social bias that first of all, we are not member of VC, second, we are not white people! This is very heart broken that I have been living in Vancouver and Canada over 10 years, for a private club with outstanding reputation, I can’t believe this is what I deserved!
Also the dinner at vancouver club is terrible. I meant service! no refile of water for our guests during the dinner (at least my bf had requested 3 times and no one take away the empty plates)
I prefer not giving any stars for rating if possible. And please let me know how I could report this discrimination to any organization. I will write a letter to the manger of VC and request formal apology from the lady.

Last week my boyfriend and I went to the Vancouver Club, care of his mentor. The occasion was to celebrate my boyfriend’s graduation. Needless to say, we were treated to some upscale food and service that we wouldn’t normally be able to access.
Upon entering we were led down a long hall with tables full of flowers running down the center. The atmosphere in this room was incredibly still and a concierge approached us and took our coats. Another person led us to the atrium. Seen here —
A waiter helped me into my chair, another waiter put my napkin on my lap, placed my menu in my hands, and then placed the daily specials card on the menu. This is the most complete table service I’ve ever experienced. I’m not sure that I could ever get used to this, but it was an interesting experience that made me smile.
First we ordered cocktails; I had The Vancouver Club cocktail. It arrived in a saucer glass and had a beautiful, wide orange twist. It was smooth, filled with gin, and tasted like orange candy. What’s not to like?
For an appetizer I chose the seared bay scallops. They were quite possibly the most correctly done scallops I have ever had and were full of flavor. They sat on small islands of pea purée, were dressed with shucked peas, pea shoots and delicious mushroom foam. I am a big fan of a well done foam.
My main was the Hecate Straight halibut. It was accompanied by rainbow carrots, carrot purée, horseradish purée, a pressed cake made from crushed new potatoes and peas. I was a little unsure about the horseradish purée but it married well with the fish.
It wasn’t my intention (I swear!), but I had my arm twisted into having a dessert. I decided on the crème brule with lavender sable. The cookie had a dusting of sugar and had just the right amount of lavender. The dessert was very delicate and a pleasant end to the meal.
The service throughout, of course, was on point.
My only complaint is that, upon comparing notes, my boyfriend and I discerned that the women’s washroom was of lesser design than the men’s. It had the feel that it was done some time in the 90s and has not been upgraded since. It definitely did not suit the opulence of the other rooms. I know this began as a men’s club but women have been granted full membership for some time now.
Before entering The Vancouver Club, I was warned by some friends not to get my hopes up as it may be a little too old style but I found the the menu to be quite current, and the staff and atmosphere to be warm under the circumstances.

It’s a good place to go for meetings and a drink with some classy people.
I’ve heard the sauna a work room is top notch.
The food is always delicious and drinks well done.
The service is hit and miss as far as pretentiousness. Sometimes great. sometimes snobby.

While once an Old Boy’s Club, the vibe in here has changed dramatically in the last few years. This includes substantial renovations to the Club for the 2010 Olympics, when the place was leased out to the IOC and became the Olympic Club, an exclusive VIP venue.
There are just a few things you need to know about going to the Vancouver Club:
1. It’s a private members club, so except for a few nights each year when there’s some special event, you’ll need to be invited by a member to get in;
2. There are different restaurants in the Club. The downstairs Grill is casual, and a great lunch or cocktail spot. Upstairs, the Georgian Room is about as formal as you can get. The Ballroom is a special occasion venue, and on the third floor is a quiet bar which serves a plat de jour lunch;
3. It’s got a dress code that varies depending on which room or event you’re invited to — no denim or athletic/​logo wear anywhere (although as I’m writing this there is a Saturday night exception, and on Canuck game nights the rule is sometimes relaxed) but you men need to wear a jacket/​blazer in the Georgian Room;
4. If you’re going to a business meeting, you should know that there is a rule that unless you have a private room you can’t have business papers (contracts or whatever) on your table, so if you plan on that sort of thing it’s wise to ask first.
5. Except Friday nights in the Grill, or on special occasions, this is not a place to take the kids. However, at Christmas or Easter this is THE place to take the kids, and the annual Princess Ball is a little girl’s dream.
Once or twice each year they host the «Extravaganza». It’s THE place to be in Vancouver that night, if you can get in. A themed party on all floors, with dancing and food galore.

I came here for a professional event. Great food and service. Lovely building, both inside and out. Lots of old-​school charm. Dress nicely (business casual is the dress code).

I came here for a work Christmas party. Prior to that, I had only been once before, several years ago, for my cousin’s wedding reception.
It is definitely an «old boys club» type of place but the food is pretty phenomenal. During the «mingling» portion of the afternoon, the staff walked around with trays of appetizers — my personal favourite was the smoked salmon mousse wrapped in thin slices of cheese.
For the buffet meal, there were several options which I didn’t/couldn’t sample (scalloped potatoes, ravioli, orzo, roast beef) but even more that I did. My favourites were selections from the smoked fish plate and the cheese plate. I also tried the hot salmon and the cheese & sundried tomato wrapped in roasted eggplant, both of which were delicious.
For dessert there was cheesecake, which I didn’t try but heard was average, little glasses of crème fraîche with berries, and a fruit plate.
Definitely a classy place that knows how to do a nice spread and handle large crowds. They also kept the wine and water flowing during the meal. I wasn’t aware of any dress code but as it was a Christmas party we were dressed up (ie. most women in dresses/​skirts and sparkly jewellery) so that’s probably why it wasn’t an issue.

Usually here twice a year for Real Estate Council functions. A private dinner on the fourth floor last night was, as usual, superbly catered and staffed. For special events like the Council’s annual Christmas party, the food is simply the very best, each buffet course simply out performs the previous until, graoning with pleasure, you are confronted by the choclate buffet — like the King Crab legs weren’t rich enough?

The Vancouver Club was an old boys club but that changed in the 1990s when they allowed women to become full members. The Club today is very much a coed club. The Club is doing a great job of looking to the future and still embrace its rich history and traditions.
There is a dress code but women are allowed to wear pants! The dress code is simply no jeans, denim or athletic wear. Business casual is the minimum dress code.
You can learn more about it here:

Since 1889, the established society folk in Vancouver go to the Vancouver Club, well they buy memberships and then they go to the club. The building is a fine piece of real estate in the city, it’s designated a class A heritage building. I’m not sure how much a memberships costs or how you get approved, but I attended an event that was spectacular. The food is the best and the service was outstanding. I think women still can’t wear pants to the dining room but I’m not sure. Anyhow, it’s an old boys’ club. Fine wine, fine cigars and old-​world charm.