Six courses, $95, no tip: Trying Mount Pleasant’s all-in tasting menu
We independently select everything we recommend. Buying through us may earn us a commission, which supports our work.
Article content
It was an unexpectedly hot Saturday evening in June as I made my way up to East Broadway on foot. By the time I reached that funny little triangular wedge where Main, Kingsway and Broadway collide, I was feeling it. This is where you’ll find Murmur, if you know to look.
Article content
Full transparency: I didn’t. It wasn’t until I saw the “you’ve arrived” notification from Google Maps that I realized I’d reached my destination. I’d never actually got a proper glimpse of the restaurant. The construction hoarding sealing off the entire block from the street had come down just days prior. For nearly a year, the whole time it has been open, this spot operated essentially out of sight thanks to the area’s ongoing SkyTrain construction.
Article content
Article content
Story continues below
Article content
When I made it to the pocket of a restaurant, 600 square feet total, the chalkboard out front stopped me. Four courses for $65, six for $95, with tax and gratuity included. This kind of all-in pricing model still feels radical in Vancouver. Other local dining establishments, namely plant-based favourite Folke and viral café Cowdog, share the same no-tipping ethos and have found consistent support since opening.
Article content
Article content
West Coast Table
Article content
“There have been quite a few people who really want to tip,” says Murmur owner James Romanchuk. “People have been genuinely shocked that we don’t accept tips. There have been people who’ve been very appreciative and supportive.”
Article content
Romanchuk was perched at a counter that served as the bar and host stand all in one when I stepped into the space for the first time. Behind him, Murmur’s chef, Abbie Gluvic, was locked in, head down, finishing the meal for the one other party of four in the 16-seat restaurant. It was just the two of them that evening: one back of house, one front.
Article content
Article content
Article content
My dining mate and I took our seats at one of the tables close to the window. My eyes wandered around the space, from the mismatched tables and chairs that somehow looked cohesive to the vintage floral-panelled refrigerator in the back.
Article content
Story continues below
Article content
Shortly after we sat down, the first cocktail hit the table; then, with what felt like an eruption of energy, my fellow diners boisterously stood up, clapping and thanking chef Abbie for the courses they’d just experienced. Abbie popped her head around the wall separating the open kitchen from the table and humbly acknowledged them before tucking herself back in. The group sat back down; even though the food had stopped coming, they were in no rush to leave. Murmur felt like someone’s apartment you’ve known for a while — and that, it turns out, was exactly the point.
Article content
Article content
Read More
-
Here are the new places to eat and drink in Vancouver this June
-
Time Out Market Vancouver at Oakridge Park: Here’s what to eat first
-
Advertisement 1
Story continues below
Article content
Romanchuk says he was “primed for a mid-life crisis” when he left his career in animation and software development behind to open the restaurant, which was originally intended to be a simple neighbourhood coffee shop. Fuelled by what he calls “ignorance and arrogance,” he signed a lease, picked up a paintbrush, and got to work.
Article content
“I really had this vision of being able to provide a comfortable, safe third space for people,” he says.
Article content
Article content
Aside from the state of the floors, which he described both as terrible and as possessing an element of romance, the bones of the space left behind by the address’s former tenant, Home on the Range Organics, were solid. He tackled the reno himself, and three months later, Murmur, which is named after both the ambient hum of a full dining room and the murmuration of a flock of starlings, was ready to open.
