Ensemble Tap

No Longer In Business

I find this place to be cold and just trying to be urban-cool. The selection is limited but at least enough for a quick glass of decent beer, and better than the other pubs within a few blocks.
I will still go farther and get more beers. I hope they will develop the beer offer nevertheless.

Visited on a Friday night when they had an Elysian on cask, so I was happy straight away. Nicely, modern bistro interior with plenty of seating at the bar, too. Decent enough selection of local (Howe Sound, Driftwood, Phillips, Red Truck) & PNW (Alameda & Elysian) taps, with just a couple given to the Big Boys (Big Rock). Food was very good, especially the Reuben. Nice to see a compact, but flavourful food menu, nothing worse than reading War & Peace just to get some grub!! Staff were chatty, friendly & helpful. Nice relaxed atmosphere, with large screen TV’s dotted around the room (no sound). Also a nice surprise that they recognise CAMRA, so I got a 10% discount on my beers purchased. A nice place to visit!

Nice place with attentive staff and great food. Beer slection is OK with a number of local and import taps and some interesting bottles Definite place for eating, not just beer.

Friendly service, average-to-below average taplist, average prices for Vancouver (i.e. high), and nice atmosphere. Don’t think I’d be enticed to return unless there was a special event here.

Nice new beer bistro. Food was very good and selection of beers was pretty interesting. Lots of focus on BC craft beer which was nice. Only complaint was the taps are VERY cold, so order a few at a time so they can warm up.

Obviously I’m in the minority here in not recognizing the current "greatness" of Ensemble Tap but its a nice new addition to the Vancouver scene - with some decent seasonal taps from Howe Sound and a couple of less-commonplace Gouden Carolus and La Chouffee Blonde. The food is very good and, though limited, I appreciate the tap selection. It isn’t the greatest "beer bar/resto" in Vancouver (others seem to disagree?!?), but they have a lot of potential for building into that "micro-brew/high-end food" niche.

Sat at the bar and the service was beyond excellent. The bartenders were very knowledgable in the food and beers on the menu with great reccomendations. The G.M. came over to say hi to us and also gave us a brief run down to the concept of the restaurant and with his own reccomendations. He was very helpful, friendly and very funny. Ensemble Tap is the place to hang, whether you’re just going in for a drink or a family meal. The food was amazing! Well done to the ensemble team! back of the house and front. Great selections of beers on draught and by the bottle. well thought of and well put together. Cheers!

Can’t wait to come back

A great new place to go in Vancouver for craft beers - not just Canadian brews but also some damn fine Belgians. Love being able to drink Gouden Carolus on tap! They have 15 micro-brews on tap and another 25 beers in bottles (including a couple macros for the unenlightened). It is worth going for the beer alone - but what makes it a must visit is the food. Owned and run by Top Chef Canada winner Dale MacKay, there’s some delicious food designed to pair well with beer. Their Bangers & Spaetzle is fantastic and the Apple Crumble is to die for. The place has a warm, sports-bar ambience (screens everywhere which was great for watching the hockey) and excellent service. I’ll be visiting here frequently.