Glowbal used to have a Glowbal Grill Steaks & Satay and Grill in Yaletown, which honestly didn't impress me with overpriced mediocre skewers.
Then they opened various other restaurants including the black-and-gold themed Black+Blue -- still with great ambiance and mediocre food.
Now there's Glowbal.
- Huge "patio" if you can really even call it that. It's basically outdoor seating that will be really interesting to watch when the winter months hit. Funny birdcage booth seating available outdoors as well.
- Luxury-invoking black and gold theme inside.
- Tight-looking ground floor interior as a lot of space is given over to the kitchen.
- Upstairs seating.
- Thankfully spacious staircases leading to the washrooms downstairs.
- Still pricey in the Glowbal style.
Robata Platter ($39) chef selection from the robata grill
- On the day we went, if I remember correctly this was 2 skewers each of:
- Tierra Y Mar (normally $10 for 2 skewers) tiger prawn, chorizo, tomatillo salsa
- BIG prawns, and sweet.
- One prawn and one piece of sausage of so-so thickness (not a whole sausage!) per skewer. That's about $5 per prawn.
- Bacon Wrapped Okra (normally $6 for 2 skewers) spicy aioli
- Two pieces per skewer. I'm going to call this $1.50 per piece of short bacon because okra is slimy and yucky and only made palatable to me by the bacon and dip. Waste of time.
- Where's the "spicy" part?
- Kurobuta Pork Cheek ($8) spicy miso
- Ginger-Soy Beef ($9) peanut sauce
- Chicken ($6) yogurt marinated
- Came with a token salad of shredded veggies and a couple wedges of lime.
- Hey look, no discount!
- Only got 3 sauces with the platter (tomatillo salsa, spicy aioli, and something green)
- Would have been way better if this came really hot.
Tsukune (normally $6 for two skewers) chicken meatball, cured organic egg yolk and soy
- Chicken meatballs were decent and tender all on their own, but definitely try it in the egg yolk dip
- Not sure I'd pay $3 per ping pong sized meatball again, though.
Queso Fundido ($14) chorizo, oaxaca cheese, navajo fry bread, charred jalapeño- Did someone throw in avocado instead of jalapeño by accident?
- Salty!
- Comes in a hot (volcanic stone?) bowl that keeps the cheese sizzling hot for a good time. This sears the cheese into that tasty brown leathery stuff where it touches the bowl.
- While hot and the cheese is quite liquid, it is lots of fun to fork it out and watch the cheese string along, just like in pizza commercials.
- Too-touch chewy wedges of bread. Be generous with the cheese or you won't have enough bread.
- Great way to get a small party started while waiting for your mains.
- Feels a bit overpriced for $14 but its quite tasty and fun, so overall price for not just taste and portion but experience is OK. Definitely try this.
Early reviews touched on shoddy service, and maybe it was different for us because we were seated inside, but there was no shortage of servers and three hostesses at the front. Our server was very attentive with prompt water top-ups and checking on us.
Like Black + Blue, you are basically coming here to impress your party with the space, to feel the prestige of dining in "luxury". If you are a foodie, look over the menu carefully and do not order anything that sounds boring. Like chicken skewers that taste like... just grilled chicken.
Keep your eyes open for slabs of parmesan strategically placed (exposed) on marble counters, ready to be grated onto your plate.
Like Black + Blue, you are basically coming here to impress your party with the space, to feel the prestige of dining in "luxury". If you are a foodie, look over the menu carefully and do not order anything that sounds boring. Like chicken skewers that taste like... just grilled chicken.
Keep your eyes open for slabs of parmesan strategically placed (exposed) on marble counters, ready to be grated onto your plate.
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