Sauce has two things going for them - their kitchen is open until 1 am and their wine is priced $7 over cost. In the summer time they also have fairly large patio, so we'll call that a seasonal third.

The space Sauce occupies at the bottom of Yates St, has been many things over the years, but it appears Sauce may have found a niche with the bar/restaurant approach.

They've got tonnes of seating, which at slow times can be a curse, but is reassuring for people not looking to be turned away by smaller restaurants.

On this night, it was Cuban Sunday. When we arrived the band was just warming up and we were strangely seated directly in front of them. That sucked - I can live without a full volume sound check in my ear. We moved to the back of the restaurant and it was much better.

We ordered a variety of appys for the table - the winner by a long shot was the Crispy Beef Curry ($9). It was a large serving of well seasoned meat and veggies, served in a popadum. The Blue Crab Cakes were notably average ($10), but acceptable and presented nicely. The Ginger Chilli Prawns ($10), I thought needed a slightly thicker sauce, to better coat the prawns and some bread to soak up the sauce, but generally the flavour and approach was nice. The Lemon Lime Calamari ($8), had a much more interesting description then it did execution, but the squid was tender and the chipotle dipping sauce a nice change from tzatziki. 

Surprisingly, our second favourite item was the Pommery Chicken Strips ($9). They were fresh made and well seasoned chicken strips, accompanied by yam fries and creole aioli. I normally think of chicken strips as something you give to fussy children, but these held their own.

Lastly, we ordered a Chicken and Asparagus Pizza ($12). The pizza was big and the crust nice and I thought the topping was good, albeit a bit of a snoozer. Since they only have two pizzas on the menu I thought they might have selected more adventurous toppings.

Once we got over the poor seating, the service was good. Twice the server picked up on Patty's mumblings as she passed by and quickly addressed his needs (the usual - bread and beer). The atmosphere is somewhat vacant on a slow night, but is nevertheless attractive and a comfortable place to meet with a few friends. I'd like to see them do something with their high ceilings. I wouldn't however recommend it was a good spot for a romantic dinner.

While the food wasn't perfect, it was totally acceptable and if it's past 10pm and you're hungry Sauce is a good pick. We'll be back to try their dinner mains soon.

Value of Food: 74/100

Quality of Food: 82/10 (above average for a pub)

Service: 79/100 (would have been better if we'd been seated more thoughtfully, but the rest of the service was good)

Ambiance: 68/100  (nice space, but they have to address the sometimes vacant feel)

Wine and beer list: 79/100 (short, but comprehensive and cheap)

  Reviewed: January 8, 2005