Café Nuba

Same location has a Mexican brunch on the weekends 11 to 4 (not sure about weekdays).
I had Huevos Rancheros for the first time here, so I can’t comment on if it was worse or better than other ones. But based on this, Huevos Rancheros isn’t for me.
The chairs were retro pastel cute.

As are the other Nubas, great food! And a great deal if you want to bring a large party here for a mostly vegetarian meal! I’m talking $ 20 — great deal! For 8ish courses to share amongst your table? I stopped counting after 5. And they ended it with a grilled chicken dish which we were all too full to finish. We were 30 or so people and there was another large group next to us so it seems like they do this often.
Haloumi and tomatoes are still my favorite dish. Then when you’re done, you can go dancing next door or downstairs at the waldorf!

Was here recently with a large party (30+) and we all had a really great time.
As we were a large group it was a set menu (variation of La Feast @ $ 20/​pp). The food came out «family style» which was great for a large group as it encouraged conversation with your neighbors, most of it was delicious (the crispy cauliflower is to die for… but the lentil dish failed the visual appeal & taste test), came out a good pace, and was really excellent value as we were all getting stuffed about half way through the meal.
The staff were understandably swamped, but I never had a problem getting someones attention for a drink order and they were always very pleasant. Both our party and the party beside us (80+ppl) wrapped up around the same time, but the staff managed to keep their cool and amazingly there were no bill mix-​ups at our table. They were so organized — a bill for food, another for drinks, and they worked their way down the table crossing off guest #‘s as bills were settled up. It was possibly one of the smoothest experiences I’ve had with a large party for dinner.
So impressed — just too bad it’s kind of in the middle of nowhere.

Wow! What a great experience we had here! I came here for a couple of friends’ going away party, so they had organized a set menu for approximately 40 or 50 of us. (disclaimer: for those of you more famililar with the menu and Middle Eastern cuisine in general, apologies if I incorrectly name/​describe any of the dishes — the set menu meant that we weren’t looking at the food menu at all; we were just brought dish after dish at our table!)
But I digress. The food was fantastic, served on mezze platters or «family style», you could say, and once it started arriving at the table, it kept coming until we were incredibly full. The first plate was the hummus, baba ghanouj and pickled radishes served with pita bread. Then came green salad, crispy cauliflower, a platter of olives and feta, and one of my personal favourites, falafel. The last three plates were curried lentils, a sort of stew with chickpeas, tomatoes and cream (both of which were extremely tasty), and perfectly grilled and seasoned chicken skewers. Everything was delicious and even though it was a set menu, the food came out promptly and there was more than enough to satisfy our appetites.
I was most impressed with how organized and efficient the service was despite dealing with such a large group of us. The individual drinks that each of us ordered were added to the set menu price (which for us, despite massive amounts of food, was only $ 20) and the servers were great with dealing with various methods of payment, etc. Unlike other experiences I have had with large group dinners (and with a large group that was still much smaller than this particular crowd), this was one case where I didn’t mind them charging a mandatory gratuity. They deserved that and more.

I guess all this Nuba needed was a little time. I revoke my previous comment, I think this location is best. BEST.
I love feeling like Frank Sinatra might walk in at any moment. Amirite?! It’s such a sexy room.
Birthday celebration was coincidentally booked on the same night as Afro Cuban Jazz. Jackpot us. Adorable couples dancing the crap out of each other really added some extra loveliness. Every Wednesday people! Go!
Family style platters filled with all the Nuba highlights really made serving a big group pretty painless. Hummus. The Crispy Cauliflower. And so on. $ 20 a person left us all incredibly stuffed.
Service was really good considering how packed the place was. The bill paying at the end was a little annoying, some bills were a little messed up. But I also think the annoyance was more so because in this Jetson age no one ever has cash and a million cards need to be sent to space.

I never met a Nuba I didn’t like and the Waldorf Nuba is my personal fave.
Falafel made of pureed Chickpea (no gluten) and the perfect balance of spices. Served with some of the best Hummos in Vancouver.
Add Chicken Tawook, Mjadra and a delicious beverage and these dishes are enough to make a memorable meal.
Add to this, the friendly (and adorable!) serving staff who are knowledgeable about food allergies and the menu, and ding-​ding– we have a winner!
I can’t get enough of this place.

Somewhere between 3 and 3.5 stars. I definitely love the Nuba restaurant on Cambie much, much more but I’m not totally disappointed…
We shared a bottle of wine. I didn’t really want a whole bottle but they don’t do half litres (???) so we went for it.
The Najib’s special is always a go to, especially for my cauliflower lovin’ wife and I decided to go small for my non-​share item: the babganooj, which was a little too bitter and tart for me this time around. The wife had the chicken tawook: marinated chicken skewers served over homous. She was very pleased but I was so hungry after that I decided on a dessert to help fill the void. The dolce de leche caramal flan was a hit to share.
The reasons for the loss of stars would have to be with the strangeness of the servers always switching: we had all of them serving us at different times and it weirded me out. The way they try and squish as many things and plates and whatever on to our tiny table was quite bothersome too, and I’m a klutz so we are lucky that I didn’t knock the wine over…
I wasn’t happy with the $ 100 tab either. Seemed a bit much for cauliflower and a smear of eggplant. The wine was $ 45 but they should consider doing half litres. For real.

This place didn’t leave a bad taste in my mouth, but it didn’t leave me craving more either. The food was good, the décor was cute, but lack of fun ambiance, simply a-​ok service and immensely disappointing drink kinda made it a less than noteworthy experience.
I came here with Evilyn T and my mom to check out the tiki bar, not realizing it was closed until 8pm and after that would be hosting an event with a ten buck cover. We figured Nuba would still be fun because they had cute tiki-​ish bamboo décor, and i recalled that the tiki Bar shared certain menu features with Nuba that i had been really into the last time i are at the tiki Bar.
Well, they did have some of the same drinks but… Okay, i don’t know whether it was our server (who at one point had to come back to the table because she forgot what out order was and didn’t write it down) or the bartender, but between when we placed our order and our drinks arrived at our table someone screwed up big time. We ordered three mai tais… and whatever the brought us sure as hell wasn’t a Mai Tai. We were all wondering what was up since it was yellowy and light… It seems most likely that we got mojotis instead of mai tais. I really love the mai tais in the tiki bar, but for whatever reason, Nuba’s suuuuuucked.
For food, i had the rosted eggplant tartar and goat cheese and the chorizo, both from their guest chef’s Argentinian menu. The eggplant tartar was good, but the menu failed to mention that it would be served cold… When i hear ‘roasted’ i think warm, right? So while it was good, it kinda just reminded me of those lazy nights where instead of cooking you just dive into the chilly container of baba ganoush you have sitting in your fridge. Evilyn mentioned this in her review but i’ll say it again: the goat cheese that came with this dish straight up tasted like cream cheese. It’ kinda bad when you’re eating something and you think ‘wow, the warm roasted veggie salad with goat cheese from Panago tastes better than this.‘
Aside from that, even though it was a cute place it just felt weird sitting in there… Maybe it’s because we were seated in the section where the interior decorator failed to include any lights (seriously, it was bright everywhere else but we were tucked into this spot that managed to be in the middle of the restaurant but still very dark) or maybe it was just a lack of music and activity. The space is really huge, so even though there were other people there it just felt kinda empty.

Yum!
After an exhausting 4 HR shopping marathon we dragged our starving selves to Nuba and were delightfully satisfied.
In my experience the service at this location is always great, this visit was no exception, welcoming staff, efficient yet relaxed service — love the vibe.
Nuba is huge, with lots to look at, the space is open and tiki themed, the main dining area feels like a throwback to the Waldorfs earlier days. We luckily snagged a booth near the window, in fact it wasn’t too busy for 6pm on a Sunday so we almost had our pick of the place and prepared to feast. It was my girlfriends first time at the spot so we decided to do the Grand Feast — a 3 course sampling platter with Hummus, Baba Ganooj, salad, prawns, beef and chicken for two, plus more for $ 48. Everything was so good, not to mention filling, we ended up leaving with a midnight snack and lunch for the next day. Loved all the flavours and attention to detail; it was clear that the dishes were prepared, plated and served with care.
The high point of the meal for me was probably the Najib’s special, I’ve read that this is one of Nuba’s signature dishes and tried it at another location only to be slightly disappointed (it’s deep fried and was kind of burnt last try). After trying it again at the Waldorf location I see what all the fuss is about, so randomly — so good! It’s deep-​fried Cauliflower tossed with lemon and sea salt, I know my explanation won’t do it justice but I highly recommend giving it a chance if you ever make your way to this location. The low point for us was the Baba Ganooj, we generally really like Baba Ganooj and anything with eggplant so I’m not sure what went wrong this time. We both just thought it was a bit off. Luckily for me I had an amazing Caesar with killer garnish to wash it down with so all was forgotten.
Definitely check this place out if you’re in the neighborhood! Based on the size of the spot, fun/​chill vibe and sharing plates, this could be a great stop for a big group as well.
Cheers.

It’s not entirely Nuba’s fault that I feel so «meh» about my experience, we had intended to order up some appies and hang out in the Tiki bar, but apprently it was closed until 8pm, thus we found ourselves seated in the hotel restaurant staring at two different menus.
Apparently they rotate through chefs in the restaurant, and do themes, so the menu is always a’changing. Currently they are doing an Argentinian menu, so I decided to order one thing from that menu, and a few things from the Nuba menu. I ordered the roasted eggplant tartare with goat cheese quenelle from the Argentina menu, and some Najib’s Special from the Nuba menu, and a mai tai from the alcoholic menu. It’s been so fucking cold in Vancouver this month, I was really hankering for some tiki-​ness and tropical drinks with umbrellas to defrost my frigid temperment. Unfortunately, with the tiki bar closed, and my mai tai tasting nothing like a mai tai, I was left chilled and sour.
Our waitress was one of those pretty and kind of clueless girls, who took our order and then came back five minutes later because she forgot and laughed to herself that she needed to find a pen. Ummm… yea… I don’t have the best memory either, but at least I am aware of my shortcomings and come prepared.
The roasted eggplant was alright, but the goat cheese just tasted like a scoop of creamcheese that had been dumped on top of it. My Najib’s Special was lukewarm and I was still hungry. I ordered up a side of hummus as well, and at least that tasted pretty good, I think if I crave Nuba in the future, I’ll just stick to their main restuarant, since the waldorf doesn’t seem to make the copycat cut.
After our dinner, the clock finally struck 8pm and my date checked to see if we could sit in the Tiki bar and have a blended fruity drink. Nope. Looks like there was a ten dollar cover to sit in the bar and have a drink. Srsly? On a Tuesday at 8pm? What the fuck is up with pubs charging cover? Are restaurants going to start charging cover too? It’s completely ludicrous! You are charging me to come into your establishment so I can sit on a chair and spend more money on a drink, which was probably marked up 200% already. You’ve got to be kidding me. Between the three of us that would have been $ 30 cover, plus at least $ 30 on drinks/​$ 10 each I’m sure. So $ 60 to come in for 30 minutes for one drink. After I already dropped $ 40 on dinner and a drink, what a deal. Boooo-​urns!

A group of 4 came for FeastVan about a month ago and between us, we tried the entire FeastVan menu. The dishes were great — the food was tasty with a great balance of flavours. The menu is completely different from what their usual menu is so no point in rehashing the dishes and making recommendations…
What really did it for me was that the service was phenomenal. Firstly, they had lost our reservation and it was a busy busy night. But instead of turning us away, they offered to seat us in the Tiki Room once it opened and serve us in there, and in the meantime seated us at the bar and brought us complimentary champagne. Not only that, the hostess continually checked up on us to make sure we were comfortable and to update us on the situation. Luckily, we were seated sooner than expected. Secondly, our server was SO patient and SO great at explaining what each of the dishes were and what to expect. I’m not shy about asking questions, and it’s rare to find a server who (despite having full tables) would take the time to explain things in detail and deal pleasantly with my incessant questions.
Waldorf is a bit out of the way for me to get to, but I would definitely recommend it to others, and I’ll be back when I’m in the area!

Valentines.
Set meal, 55 $. Great.
Gluten free beer, things are looking up.
Date arrives, we order our meals.
4 courses, all of which were alright. not fantastic but alright. The best course was probably the first, followed by an alright second course… followed by an alright third course. finally followed by a rather nasty flambé banana.
Everything all around was OK. Food was meh for 55 $ for a four course set menu. I was expecting to at least not need to go find a second meal after.
What really made the entire experience a bust was when the bill arrived. On top of the over priced, small portions they stapled a 18% gratuity. That’s fine, really… I generally tip that much. when the service and food merits. It did not.
I received bread on my gluten free meal, rocks in my over-​salted risotto and a overcooked drunken banana for dessert.
No where on the menu or when we made the reservations were we informed we would be forced to tip more than I feel the meal was worth.
All in all, I just wouldn’t go back … if this is the best the chefs can do while pumping out 8 different plates, I can’t imagine how much worse it could be when they have an entire menu to cook.

I came here for a Christmas party as was pleasantly surprised with the place. I love the retro tiki vibe happening here (obviously since it’s right next door to a tiki lounge!) and the area that was sectioned off for us was perfect for our numbers. The service was great — we had about three or four servers taking care of us so it was never slow and tables were cleared quickly. The drinks took a while to arrive, but they were delicious so it was forgiven.
I knocked it down a star simply because the food was lacking. We went with a set menu, which was «buffet» style, but we were only given one shrimp skewer and one chicken skewer. We could serve ourselves as much salad as we wanted (the vegetables, cheese and toppings were pretty extensive). There was also a giant plate of smoked salmon and chilled shrimp, but those disappeared quickly as well. They also had scalloped potatoes and risotto, and all the food was served buffet-​style. The entire meal cost $ 40 (tax and tip made it 50), which I thought was pretty steep for what we got.
Other than that, the place itself is nice, and is just like any other nuba with a larger selection of drinks. Perhaps it would be wise to check out on my own to sample some of the regular menu. And then off to the tiki lounge!
Transit options include the 20, 16 and 14, and there’s a parking lot in the back and street parking around the area.

I recently went to Nuba for a group dinner and we had a fantastic time!
We pre-​ordered a variety of their small dishes. The dishes just kept coming and the food was all very tasty. It was a great way to eat a meal especially for a group. It was lots of fun and a social way to eat.
The atmosphere and décor are nice though the staff seemed a bit confused and unhelpful at times.

Café Nuba at the Waldorf is a little island of class in an otherwise desolate area. With its fantastic atmosphere and excellent menu there’s going to be something for everyone. Being located on East Hastings not far out of the DTES there is still definitely some «local color» around in the neighborhood, and the abandoned Canadian Tire across the street may not be the most desirable thing to stare at from the patio, but really there is nothing else in the area that comes even close to matching what this place has to offer.
The menu and things can be a little confusing — Nuba is open weekend mornings for brunch, but not till 11:00. Brunch is mexican-​style and quite excellent. We arrived at about 10:45 not realizing the later start, but the staff were pleasant and sat us anyhow though we couldn’t put our food orders in till the kitchen opened. Coffee was no problem though, and theirs is quite good.
For brunch I had the Molletes — first time I’d ever had anything like that. I got mine with chorizo — it comes crumbled in underneath the cheese. I mean what’s not to like — good cheese, beans and chorizo? Count me in!
Afternoons are a bit funny — their dinner menu doesn’t start till 5:00. First time we went there around 4:45 and never even knew they had a more complete menu until after we had finished our food, though the «limited» afternoon sheet had plenty of tasty treats like the meat and cheese plates. Those are fantastic btw. Second time back for dinner we got there more like 6:30 so dinner service was in full swing and we got the full menu.
I had the market fish the second time, which was a fabulous snapper dish. The portion size was totally awesome, I definitely got more than I was expecting. The dish was super tasty again too — I can definitely say I’ve never had any problems with the food here whatsoever.
I’m a definite beer connoisseur and Nuba doesn’t disappoint here either — they have an extensive selection of bottled beer. There’s LOTS to choose from.
The one big negative I will have to give them is related to service unfortunately. The last two times I was there I had no issues — we got served promptly, the staff had great attitudes and things went well. The first time I was there though it was a complete and total disaster. Since I haven’t seen a repeat I won’t get in to it, but the long and the short of it was some people in our group had already finished their food before others had even managed to order drinks, the bartender was doubling as a server (which he wasn’t very good at) and in the end we had to tell them to charge us for stuff since a half dozen things were missing from the bill. Hasn’t happened again though.

Quite honestly, understanding that stuff happens I still would have given Nuba at the Waldorf a 1-​star had the owner not comped our entire meal for the service we received but even so, reflecting on the experience I appreciated that he took responsibility but I will not return.
We arrived Saturday night at around 7pm
— We were seated and waited 20 minutes to be noticed by a server
— We ordered our drinks and our meal/​appys to arrive at the same time because it was busy and we didn’t want to be sitting there all night
— Forty five minutes the server told us our food would be «right up»
— Fifteen minutes after the owner brought us some hummus and told us our order would be «right up»
— Fifteen minutes after that and over an hour and a half after we stepped foot in the restaurant our food arrived. My boyfriends steak was cooked rare instead of medium rare, my crispy cauliflower was burnt and I might also mention the sangria we got tasted more like concentrated orange juice than anything else.
All in all a terrible experience — and let me say we had to ask to get our meal comped which after 1.5 hours was a bit silly but the owner really genuinely seemed sorry about what happened.
From now on, we will continue to go the Main St. location where the service is better, the food is better and the drinks are better. Too bad though because I love the retro interior of the Waldorf and the location for me is much better!

we love Nuba, in all its incarnations. I have had a great lunch experience here (this location) in the past wherein our order came to the table wrong and the server immediately solved the problem in a way that made our lunch even more fantastic than how we originally ordered.
Brunch today — not so much.
me: may i ask for scrambled eggs rather than sunny side?
server: no, not really.
me: really? there are scrambled offered on the menu elsewhere?
server: yes; the chef’s an $%#hole.
the eggs we eventually were served were stone cold. much time passes. server returns.
me: the eggs were ice cold; i have to be honest; they were awful.
server: really? yes, that’s the thing with eggs, they get cold if you don’t eat them right away.
there wasn’t much point to mentioning that i have had occasion to eat hot eggs in a restaurant before.
finally, $ 4 to substitute organic eggs seems high, but maybe it’s just me?
I have been a cheerleader for the Nuba folk ever since they originally opened and the lovely owner personally walked the take-​out menu over to our office one day. please, nuba, take good care of your newest location; the room is a gem and we know you have it in you.

Not as good as my favorite Hastings and East 3^rd locations. Juicer doesn’t work which is why I popped in. Having a $ 9.00 473 ml Grolsch ‘instead’ with the ceramic top.
Had the Quarter Chicken with Lebanese spices. Is it me or are the portions getting smaller? I have noticed in the past while prices are staying up and portions are shrinking. The Quarter Chicken wasn’t enough to eat.
Overall the Waldorf is my 3^rd favorite Nuba with Hastings #1, East 3^rd #2 and the Seymour location #4. Will stick to the top two next time. However, the service was consistent with other Nubas: Friendly, reasonably prompt and attentive.

Nuba @ the Waldorf cannot handle large groups.
It was my 39^th birthday, so I put together a group of 20 of my friends. The plan — go to Nuba for dinner, then next door to the Tiki Bar for drinks.
We’re a little older, and lot of my friends had kiddies at home, so an early dinner followed by drinks suited us fine. We were poised to hit a restaurant and a bar at non-​peak times, drop a few grand, and be gone before it got busy. Any proprietor should drool at this.
I called ahead and was told that for large groups they do a fixed menu, and that they don’t reserve at the Tiki Bar, but since it’ll be early, we should have no problem getting seats for our group afterwards. Sounded great to me.
The room is nice, the server seemed great. The food quality was pretty good, but the quantity was a joke. $ 20 a head gets you significantly less than if you ordered a-​la-​carte. Pita with hummous with baba ganoush and tabouleh to start. Yummy. Next dish is a bit of Najib’s special cauliflower (best cauliflower on earth), mini falafel, delicious fresh feta, and other delights. The meat was on the side… one seriously overdone lamb popsicle (Vikram Vij would weep) or marinated prawn per head. That’s it. My wife is barely 100 pounds, and she was still hungry. I’m way more than 100 pounds, and I was still starving at the end.
But to the TIki Bar we were to go, so the bills started coming. I kid you not — from the time the first bill comes to the last takes nearly an hour. At this point of the epic review, I invite you to read my other reviews. I’m not a cranky guy — I eat out a lot, and I’m pretty forgiving and understanding.
I’ve eaten at Nuba many times at the downtown location and once at the Main St. location, and always enjoyed it. I’m embarrassed that I brought my friends to this place and livid that I had to spend my birthday twisting the managers arm to try to get my friends bills settled at the restaurant. The manager did manage to get us seats at the Tiki Bar, so at least that.
I don’t chuck out one-​star reviews often, but considering how much fun tonight should have been, and how lame I feel right now, I feel the review is deserved. So unfortunate since the re-​done Waldorf *should* be so awesome.

When a server spills a drink on me, as one did during a recent visit to Nuba Café, I don’t take it personally. When she then spills coffee (that stains!) I start to wonder. But when, after spilling on me twice, she tells me that she’s going to let me know when the concert downstairs is starting — the concert that I paid good money to see — and then gets around to doing so a full 45 minutes after it has started — I get a little miffed. Well, at least I caught the last two songs. I mean, it is an honest mistake for a busy waitress to forget to tell me and my friend a detail like when the show is starting — but then she shouldn’t have offered to do so. I didn’t make a special request for her to alert me to this — she brought it up when I mentioned we were seeing the band later.
Furthermore, if you spill a drink on a customer once I figure it should be comped. Twice? For sure. I didn’t mention this when the bill came, but I shouldn’t have to.
On the upside, the food was 3– to 4-​star. The appies are mostly standards, but the mains get innovative. They offer good vegan options. The kitchen seems relatively quick.
I really want to like Nuba Café. I really do. The Waldorf isn’t just «hipster cool,» it is genuinely cool. I like the interior, the seating and tables, and the concept. I like the great events they’re putting on, the shows they’re having (when I actually get to see the band) and the concept in general. But two of the three times I’ve gone, the service has been weak, and the third time it was just OK.
Let’s hope they can put together a stronger team at some point — the Waldorf concept deserves better.
(Note: I’ll review my experience in the Tiki Lounge at some point — service was far better in there)