Cobre

This used to be hands down my favorite restaurant! I was devastated when it closed! Brought me back to my first heartbreak, back when Tapastree (Now Tavola) closed down. Those were the dark days…
Moving on!
On a higher note, «rumor has it» they are opening a new place… not too far away from the previous location… soon haha 8-​)
It’s all hush hush at the moment but, I, for one, CAN NOT WAIT!
Will update the Unilocal-​sphere once I know a tad more
Ta Ta ;-)

Ive eaten at Cobre at least 4 times, and each time my wallet takes a serious hit. I just cannot give 4 stars to a restaurant so unreasonably expensive. If the food was beyond exceptional then maybe… and they do have some real gems on the menu (PORK BELLY).but mostly were talking creative tacos and good booze here firmly rooted in hipsterville.
I must admit, I cannot stop drinking their Mezcal, its so smoky and yummy, I’ve dropped 100 $ here just on it alone. Add some porkbelly and some yummy popcorn topped lamb tacos and a few other tapas style items, and the bill reaches close to 300 $ for two people.
They don’t have much of a selection of beers (BOO), which makes you more likely to order one or more of their pricey signature cocktails (not all good). And the tiny share plates seem small so you end up ordering waay more.
It’s good, but there are just as good creative tacos elsewhere in the city at ¹⁄₈ of the price… Maybe those other latin places will also seat you next to a tarted up 20yr old, her mother, and a teenager with navy tats and a nose caterpillar so you can watch «them» in their natural habitat without the added price.

How is it in my first review I give 5 stars and now in my second review I give 1 star, you ask?
For this reason only:
Without warning, we were asked to leave our table after 90 minutes of being there as they needed it for their next reservation.
After spending $ 450 (on a 4 top, I might add), Cobre can go to hell.

Love the concept. Love the cocktails. Love the food.
I understand they are closed for a couple of months now (April 2, 2012) while they move into the place next door.

My girlfriend brought me here last year and I’m so thankful that I finally found the best «tres leches» outside Peru (mouth gets watery as I speak.)
I give Cobre best score for their baja rockfish — Perfect batter thickness, and fresh fish.
Not a fan of their bison striploin. Had it during Vancouver dine out this year and it was a bit chewy. Mushroom was tough. Sauce was too sweet.
Luckily they still serve the best tres leches for which I will keep going back for.

Cobre is a winner! Had a great dinner the other day. Here’s what we tried:
Pulled pork taquitos– super crunchy taquitos with yummy fresh guac made in house. The pulled pork wasn’t that great, could use more flavor. Most disappointing dish, not worth $ 18.
Pulled beef croquette– Yummy! The beef was so tender and flavorful, the breading was light, perfect.
Wild boar belly– OMG orgasmic!!! 4 big cubes of belly on a bed of cameralized plantains, glazed with a wicked tamarind sauce, sprinkled with a tiny bit of crushed pork rinds for texture. Simply incredible. I could’ve cried it was so good.
At $ 18 per tapa, it was kinda pricey but the two of us were totally stuffed which is great. I’d definetily go back to check out the seafood dishes.

Hardly ever stepping out of my Asian and American food comfort zone, I decided to try Cobre based on their fantastic reviews on Unilocal.It was my first night in Vancouver and I was ready to explore the city. Our hotel was downtown and Cobre was only a 5 or 10 minute drive from where we were. I literally fell in love with Powell Street because it was like a scene from a movie. Street lights shining over cobblestone streets in the dark of night. It was beautiful… and maybe I’m a big sucker for cobblestone since it gives streets that aura of history and culture.
Cobre was a really nice restaurant. It wasn’t very big and most of their tables were on their upper level. It looked like a great place to take a date with it’s dim, intimate lighting. We were seated near the window that was facing street side so we had a great view of the outside. They are known for their tapas so we decided to try the Char-​grilled AAA Flat Iron Steak ($ 15), and the Beer Battered Rock Fish ($ 12). The Flat Iron Steak was top-​notch, cooked to medium and was really well-​seasoned. The Beer Battered Rock Fish was good, but didn’t leave as much of a noticeable impression as the Flat Iron.
For tapas, Cobre is a little on the expensive side according to my standards. Usually tapas in San Diego run about $ 10, but I wasn’t sure if things in Canada are simply more expensive. All in all, it was a great dining experience. I just love being in new places and trying new things.

Came here for diner out and the service, atmosphere was pretty good. I would go there again for their spanish tapas. The food was fresh and the portions were… well tapas. So if you’re hungry I am not sure if this is the right place to dig in and notch loose your belt one size.
Otherwise, great place for something new as it is truly different than the most restaurants in Vancouver.

I heard so many good things but somehow took awhile to pay the visit. With the DOV in mind, made a reservation for 6 ppl.
Started off the night with their red wine sangria with various berries — this was not bad. for $ 35 dollars we all got a couple glasses of its goodness. They also have white wine infused with tropical fruits that I want to try next time.
The little tacos are fun to eat because you gotta roll them up without droppin’ the juicy contents. The pulled pork was my favorite.
Even though the place was packed and seemingly not many service staff for the size, it was impeccable. The service was easy going, not rushed, and not intrusive. Then of course, who doesn’t love the brick wall ambiance. I am sold! I will definitely be back for more tacos and sliders!

I love the concept of tapas because it gives you the most selection and a range of flavours for your food palette. Cobre offers just that. A long list of tapas ranging in recipes from Peru to Spain. They also bring the tapas according to the number of people at your table… so you won’t be fighting for the last piece.
See my blogpost for photos:

Went here tonight for a birthday dinner. Food was great, the portions are small for the price but is a great place for a special occasion if you wanna spend a little more.
We had a charred tomatoe soup, shrimp ceviche (to die for), shrimp tacos, scallops and the boar belly. The boar belly was definitely one of my favorite! All the ingredients were fresh and full of flavor.
Server was great, food came quick and we never had to wait too long for each dish to come they served it in perfect order and even if there was a large birthday party present the ambiance of the restaurant was great.
Highly recommend this place.

We came here one night when my mom was in town.
Not a place she would normally try, and I checked Unilocal,and it said that it was open until 2am.
When we arrived, we were told that NO they are certainly NOT open til 2am so perhaps someone should change that on this page, to prevent disappointment for the late night crowd.
Although it was last call for the kitchen, they did seat us.
We were starving, and asked what was fast. The very friendly and helpful waiter suggested the
Sea salt y chipotle dusted fry bread. It was fresh hot and very tasty.
For drinks, my Mom had a beer, I had the rose sangria, and my boyfriend had a most delicious El Jimador margarita (salted & on the rocks). I had a sip and it was one of the best margaritas i have ever tasted!
We had limited time, so we ordered a selection of tapas.
Some of the highlites included–
–White corn free range chicken taquitos
fresh house garlic guac, cholula
–Qualicum beach diver caught scallops
butter browned fresh hearts of palm, coconut bisque
–Char grilled Pemberton Meadows flat iron steak
Tijuana baby ceasar chorizo buttermilk mashed papas (my least favorite)
There was more but I can’t remember — all I know us it was amazingly yummy food and I will return indeed!

Great Choices on the Menu — I’ve never had Elk before and the tapas plate it came on had these soft and tender, gamey pieces of meat which were excellent. The service was attentive and knowlegeable, which was a plus with some of the items being an unknown for me.
The highlight without a doubt was the Chipotle Tamarind Maple Wild Boar Belly Tapas. OMG, a flavour explosion and it just melts in your mouth. I am going back for that dish alone!
We were recommended to have 4 dishes to start with, as we were quite hungry, but I would recommend for 2 people to start with 2 – 3 dishes and go from there.
They also did a decent bourbon sour in a chilled dining atmosphere. Will become a regular I am sure.

I was pleasantly surprised by Cobre. After stopping by for a quick solo drink once, I had the impression that this place was overbearing and overpriced, but when my old man offered to treat me I agreed to have another go.
The snob factor is palpable in an unsophisticated way, but the quality of service, food, and overall experience is actually very high. In my opinion no level of quality warrants unwelcoming snobbery (like a scowling hostess), but that’s just me. I did like it though, so back to the good…
The setting is ideal (at least for me): in the heart of Gastown, just off Maple Tree Square, in a cozy but modern 3-​level room with an open kitchen and adequate bar, the dimly lit space offers a great combination of excitement and romance, perfect for dates or other small, intimate occasions.
The food is delicious and ample. As I mentioned above, I was initially turned off by the prices (for tapas) but after trying a few I can safely say it’s worth it. The portions are generous (once again, for tapas) and the slight twists on classic latin food make for an upscale feel much closer to that of a fine French restaurant than the typical Mexican place, even if there are tacos and empanadas on the menu.
Nice touches include cucumber water served as you sit down and a clientele that tends to be exceedingly easy on the eyes. On the particular evening in question, behind me was seated a lone gentleman accompanied by no less than seven (7) of the finest examples of feminine beauty I have yet to encounter on my many worldly adventures. Seven! No doubt this gentleman is an anomaly, an outlier as it were, but nonetheless the image is seared in my mind, ever associated with Cobre.
Even if it’s not filled with Sirens and a highly favorable ratio, I’ll surely return here to at least daydream over a fine cocktail, delectable nuevo latino cuisine, and sip of cucumber water now and again.

Amazing food & cocktails!
Delicious modern Latino cuisine. You MUST try the ‘Lamb bondiga y mole, sardo parmesan browned garlic popcorn’ devine!
Great interior with lovely ambience for a romantic dinner or small group dinner with friends or family.

I love this place.
It’s great for a date, a catch up dinner with friends, or even with your mom. Mine loved it.
I highly recommended the chicken taquitos and the peruvian tacu tacu with roasted garlic, eggplant y chevre. Not something I would usually pick out of a menu but a co-​worker suggested it and it was amazing!
It’s a neat room and I have always found the service to be friendly and unpretentious. I’m surprised at the complaints at pricey– the tapas top out at $ 15, and you only need two or three for two people. We had a great bottle of wine at $ 42.
I’ll definitely go back again.

I think I’m in love…
Cobre, you have been on my bookmark list for months. Even though I don’t usually like tapas, there was something different about you. But today, finally, our first date. And from the moment we met, I knew I was in love.
You don’t look like much from the outside, but you tempted me with your tastefully decorated, cozy interior. Then you surprised me with the delicious Black bean and ham hock soup (so creamy, so tasty) and Cornbread azul. Then, when I was licking my soup bowl clean, you presented me with flat iron steak on a bed of chorizo buttermilk mashed potatos. Yum. And when I thought you couldn’t do anything to impress me more, you pushed me over the top with the Maple chipotle tamarind glazed wild boar belly chicharon — amazing!
Oh yes, I’m in love. And before I left, an incredible Pastel tres leches — what a way to end our first date.
Cobre, I’ll be back.

Well, so we actually did not make it to the table to tell you about the food.
We hear it is Good, really good. We made rezies for 7 of us. We are told only availabilities are at 6pm or 9:30pm. Cool. We will get there on the early side 6pm. We arrive. The place is empty: Shade and tude central, this distinctly disdainful young lady (with unattractive tattoo) told us they don’t accept rezies for more than 6 people. Not sure who gave us a rezie for 7, the day before. She offered to sit us at table for 6 but we would have to LEAVE by 8:30pm.
Not impressed… especially since we were the only ones in the restaurant.
So we went across the street to Chill Winston, totally different vibe, friendly, great server, good mood.
Note to management: Customer want to eat here, let them. Educate Hostess on the concept of accommodating large parties when place is not busy. Smile.

* Consistent *
Went back for another dinner here to check out the consistency.
Had some of the same dishes as last time, and some new ones as well.
The highlight of the new dishes I tried was the scallop dish. These were very large scallops which were perfectly seared and still very rare inside. Just the way I like them. They were topped with some small fried onions for texture and plated with sauteed heart of palm (which was the perfect consistency), on top of a coconut «bisque.» The coconut «bisque» was more of a coconut cream sauce. The name was off, but the taste was delicious as it pulled together the flavours of the scallops and the heart of palm beautifully.
I figured I would try the sablefish dish again, and once again the fry bread was not as hot as it should be. WTF? I guess that is how they mean to serve it? Not sure why. Otherwise it is a lovely dish where the perfectly cooked sablefish is served on top of a salsa verde with a crispy piece of serrano ham, on top of a chili dusted frybread. But they should seriously put the fry bread down fresh when they plate it!
One of our desserts was again the dulce de leche, and again it was a good housemade version served in a martini glass parfait style. But once again the churro tasted like an afterthought as it was room temperature instead of hot. Perhaps they have a fryer that only works for the first half hour each night!!! Hm…
Overall a pleasant second meal and they are definitely consistent (on both the good and the minor less than good!).

Cobre is one of those places that I’ve always wanted to try, but just never got around to it.
For my friend’s belated birthday dinner, I decided to go here. I made a reservation for 7pm. We arrive on time, and were seated immediately; we even got our choice of table!
I like the 2 level layout of this place. We sat right by the railing, so we got to look down at the entrance. Windows overlook Gastown, and brick walls line the restaurant.
We start off with a pitcher of Caprihina. Birthday celebrations calls for pitchers! This arrived… but it was super super sour… so we asked politely for some sugar syrup, and the waiter offered to bring it back to the bar and get it reshaken. Second round was a lot better, sweeter, and I like my drinks sweet.
Onto the food. There was only the dine out menu available. My friend and I decided that we would order different dishes so we can try out more things.
1)Battered Baja rockfish, jicama slaw y chipotle ajo aioli
2)Pulled duck and cracklin’ y charred scallion, roasted garlic
The first 2 were on tacos, and it actually came out to be 4 mini ones! The duck one was good; the roasted garlic went well with it. Rockfish was fresh, but this one was lacking a bit of flavour and a bit dry.
3)White corn free range chicken taquitos, with fresh house guacamole, cholula
These taquitos weren’t too much better than the late night taquitos I get from 7 – 11. Really. Ok, the fresh guacamole was probably what made it good. There was nothing great about these, and they were hard to cut through too. Not the best as an entrée.
4)Wild Mexican sea prawns, with Pipian verde, and butter browned corn arepas
Three large prawns and corn cakes. A little bit spicy, but this dish was flavourful, and good. I liked this one.
5) Dessert– Dulce de Leche with a tamrind butterscotch, whipped cream and a cinnamon esspresso churro
This was basically a heap of dulce de leche, with a mini sized churro, and by mini, I mean MINI. (Refer the pictures.) I would have preferred more churro and less dulce. Although I must admit, the dulce de leche was really good, and so was the churro.
Service was ok throughout the night. Since they booked everyone at the same time, they were basically bringing out food for our whole section. It almost felt like it was one of those banquet dinners where they bring all the food out altogether. I guess there wasn’t a problem with that, but it just wasn’t personalized service.
One more complaint-​the food was never hot… sometimes even almost cold. I like my food to be fresh and hot. I will give this place another chance by coming here on a regular dinner night and trying out their regular menu and drinks (they have a rose sangria!)