Many months ago we posted a reader’s poll listing what we considered to be the top five restaurant tables in Vancouver. We received so much in the way of reader feedback – both positive and negative that we’ve decided to shine a brighter light on the subject, one excellent table at a time.
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Table #1 is the dreamy window deuce at La Quercia. It is the ideal perch at this reliably excellent Italian institution on the West Side, good for people watching both inside and out. It also limits customer flanking to one side only, which is important given that this is a tight dining room. The only downside to #1 is winter. It’s opposite the front door and thus can get intermittently blasted with a chill each time a guest arrives/departs. So we’re going to list an alternative: Table #6. This is the corner three-top at the far end of the same row as #1. It, too, is limited to one customer flank. Bonus: there’s a partition between it and the kitchen, which makes it feel isolated but not removed. Neither table is fixed; both can be expanded to accommodate more guests by annexing their neighbouring tables.
La Quercia is remarkably consistent (voted onto every single Scout 25 since we started canvassing the service industry on Vancouver’s best restaurants), and despite our best intentions to always navigate our readers in the right direction, it doesn’t really matter which table you get here. You’ll find that the by-the-glass wines are well suited to the menu (which is always in flux, and that the service team always has its shit together. There are nevertheless a few mainstays to seek out. If you see either the one-two punchy Vitello Tonnato or the Agnolotti di Guido (veal stuffed pasta with chard, ricotta, and parmigiano) on offer, pounce like you mean it. Buon appetito!