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- Hours:
Mon, Wed-Thu 5 pm - 1 am
Fri 5 pm - 2 am
Sat 11 am - 2 am
Sun 11 am - 1 am
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street, Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- Free
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Very Loud
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
- Dogs Allowed:
- No
8 reviews for 508 Bistro
8 reviews in English
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Review from Chris L.
Vancouver, BC
1/14/2012
Excellent value. Huge portions for the prices (everything we ordered was $5.99 or less). Massive plate of crispy popcorn chicken for $4.95. Aromatic, juicy cumin lamb stir fry piled high and steaming fresh on the plate, another steal at $5.99 (eat your heart out Legendary Noodle, who charged twice as much for a quarter of the lamb!). Deep fried broccoli was a great way to transform an otherwise blah veg into a tasty and decadent dish, and the sweet and sour fish was a delightful marriage of crunchy batter and thick juicy bites, also excellent. Service is a little indifferent from the younger servers, but overall quite efficient.
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Review from Edward L.
Came here to try out their Taiwanese-style lunch. You know it's authentic when there's a huge "TAIWANESE CUISINE" banner out front.
Parking is available in the parking lot out back. It wasn't too bad today (afternoon) but at night the place does fill up.
The restaurant used to be called Chill, and it looks like the new owners took over without doing too much work on the inside. Not saying it wasn't nice inside (which it was), but it looked virtually identical to the previous place. I had a chuckle when I realized a couple of the decorative panels (with the word CHILL embossed) were still there. Guess the new owners never noticed.
As appies they serve peanuts and chili peppers. This is a rather unique (and tasty) mix, though the fact they served it on a regular plate was really ghetto. Not sure why they didn't simply use a smaller dish (like ones for soy sauce).
The "3 cup" (san-bei) chicken was quite tasty. Not too greasy, and the spices were just right. Not too salty either (common problem with other places). Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the stir-fried beef. It was quite bland (unless you count the taste of table salt).
Our final beill came to $16 after tax and tip. The value is here, but unfortunately, the taste wasn't. One redeeming factor is that I noticed the adjacent tables ordered these huge (and tasty-looking) hot pots. Maybe that would be a better choice if you do give this place a try. You'll need 4 people (or 2 fat ones) though. -
Review from Johnson C.
Vancouver, BC
7/20/2011
508's & Heartbreak.
Alcoholic bubble tea. I'm a lush and I like alcohol. I'm not a sweet tooth and I don't like bubble tea (not usually anyways). So - realizing I can't always go to a bar, combine something I'm lukewarm on with the Dionysus' elixir - the enhancer of all things - it's a instant winner, right?
Allow me to welcome you to heartbreak. Maybe I should have kept my love locked down... but I was disappointed.
Service is goddamned slow and cold (... like in the coldest winter). I know most people sip bubble tea slow and I'm not expecting Robocop level service - but I was seriously considering calling the restaurant from within the restaurant to get waitress to come back. "The call is coming... from inside the restaurant!" [annotation: Don't actually do this - I've done this once with disastrous consequences].
Bottled beer is around $5. And they have a selection of alcoholic bubble tea 'cocktails'. But the cocktails are extremely weak - I know it's probably poor form to get soused in a BBT bar but if I'm paying a premium for cocktails - don't shortpour me, bro. Honestly, maybe I'm paranoid, but I sampled a few of the 'cocktails' and didn't taste any alcohol... I should have watched the 'bartender' prepare the drink.
And there's various Taiwanese snack food. The chicken nuggets were decent, but nothing amazing. The deep-fried pork intestines were not sufficiently cleaned. Seriously, 508... uncleaned intestines? How could you be so heartless? Oh, how could you be so heartless?
But seriously, if I was sufficiently tipsy - your food would probably have been good... or 'soooo amazzzzing' depending on how many drinks deep I'm in. Your food is like bad singing... you need to throw some alcoholic Auto-Tune on that shit.
I'm not sure how you screw up something as genius as alcoholic bubble tea, 508. Here's my guide to success:
1) Make bubble tea.
2) Pour copious amounts of vodka in.
3) Serve.
4) Profit!
That one is free - if you want my banana cognac recipe, you'll have to pay my reasonable consulting fee.
Like Yeezy's experimental album, you've left me bewildered, cold and isolated - but ultimately disappointed.
[PS #1: This is my third review with a Robocop reference... do I get an award or something now?]
[PS #2: Thumbs up to you if 'you see what I did there']Listed in: A Compendium of Fine…
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Review from june Y.
1/12/2012
very flavorful dishes with decent portions. not sure why reviews aren't as great as it deserves. the food's excellent, not to mention well-priced. ...free peanut appetizer had amazing herbs/spices to add flavor. chicken nuggets came with fried basil which was to die for. oyster pancake was fantastic. bamboo shoot with meat was really good too, so was the ginger clam soup. had a variety of other awesome dishes: soup, stir fry, snacks, desserts...
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Review from Maria W.
Vancouver, BC
12/12/2010
Visited Bistro 508 just twice in a week under the new ownership. Enjoyed the food, service and decor. The place has modern decor, good lighting, friendly waitresses and spacious setting which allows for big groups of even 10 or more.
Pleased with their new menu options and enjoyed the added variety. Also glad that they still had a liquor license and kept the alcoholic bubble tea on the menu. I don't think they have local artists playing on Wednesdays anymore though.
Haven't tried everything but here is a list of the Taiwanese eats I enjoyed:
- They serve different versions of stinky tofu. I like the one that is served in a hot pot.
- Traditional Taiwanese soups. I enjoyed the taiwanese fish belly soup.
- Squid dishes were good
- The "3 cup" dishes, i.e. the famous "three cup chicken" from Taiwan...the 3 cup essentially is a blend of soy sauce, sesame oil, and wine and not every place does a good job with the proportion. I found it interesting the menu serves the seasoning for a variety of meats, other than chicken.
- Spicy dishes - all the ones I tried were quite spicy and was simulating for my palate.
One thing that was missing when I went in early December was dessert options. I added that on my comment card for the owner. They only had ice cream and I think it would be great if they could satisfy my sweet tooth with some authentic Taiwanese sweet soups or traditional desserts.
This place is great for friends to meet up, have drinks and hang out. I recommend it for folks who have Taiwanese foods cravings to try it out when they are in Burnaby. -
Review from Janet Y.
Vancouver, BC
2/3/2011
Went to this bubble tea place on Saturday night. It looks dark on the outside, but it was nice and quiet with ample of seats inside. Great for sitting together with friends to enjoy taiwanese food and alcoholic bubble tea!! Yes! you read that right! Alchohoic bubble tea! Must try, come in 3 flavors (hawaiian cocktail, irish cream and baileys). They also have a good selection of cheap beers starting $3.50. Polite and fast service, lots of street parking available. Recommend!!
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Review from Leo D.
Burnaby, BC
2/19/2011 1 Check-in Here
OK Taiwanese food, but their chairs are really NOT comfortable!
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Review from Elsa C.
Burnaby, BC
4/3/2011
We got some traditional taiwanese dishes and an alcoholic bbt. I have to say that they are not as good as other taiwanese restaurants I have been to even though my taiwanese friend said this is the most authentic taste he ever had.
Compared to other places. This place is not too bad, but not too good either. Hence, A-OK rating was given.
