Fayuca opened up earlier last year in Yaletown and features a Northern Pacific Mexican menu. E, K and I decided to come here for a girls night out.

The restaurant has a really nice patio with cute cushions and chairs. The only downside is there are no heaters or blankets outside, so only great on a sunny day.

The interior is also uniquely designed and features a small bar.

When we visited, we were able to check out their happy hour menu which is available Monday to Friday from 4pm-6pm (it used to be start at 3pm but has since changed). Keep in mind this menu was from the end of summer so may have changed since. Dishes are $7-$12 and are meant for sharing.

There are quite a few drinks on the happy menu as well. Beers, wines, and cocktails are among the choices.

Mezcal Jamaica

To start, I tried the Mezcal Jamaica which featured Sombra artisanal Mezcal with tart hibiscus “Jamaica”, cinnamon and orange. I actually didn’t end up enjoying this drink as I personally don’t enjoy cinnamon in my drinks and it was a bit too tart for me. Instead, I switched to a glass of Nate’s syrah which I enjoyed.

Half-Dozen Sawmill Bay Oysters

Moving on to food, we ended up trying almost all items on the happy hour menu except for the grilled oysters. We decided on the Half-Dozen Sawmill Bay Oysters which were served with a daily aguachile. As expected, the Sawmill Bay oysters were rather small and not as sweet I’d like them to be. They were okay but nothing mind blowing. For $1.50 each, I would probably skip this next time.

Sockeye Salmon Ceviche

Next was the Sockeye Salmon Ceviche which is served with a jicama aguachile. It was also served with this crispy cracker. The salmon was fresh and had just the right amount of acidity.

Roasted Golden Beet Ceviche

The Roasted Golden Beet Ceviche looked almost like salmon ceviche! It was served with a carrot aguachile along with some avocados. I normally don’t like to eat beets, but this is a much try! The texture reminded me of salmon and the ceviche was served with corn tortillas.

Guacamole with Crispy Sunchokes

Another dish I enjoyed was the Guacamole with Crispy Sunchokes. It was topped with toasted pumpkin seeds and Macedonian feta. The guacamole was so flavourful and the pumpkin seeds added a nice texture. Again, these were served with corn tortillas.

Albacore Ceviche Tostada

Lastly, an order of the Albacore Ceviche Tostada comes with two tortillas and is topped with avocado and purple cabbage. The dish also comes with a habanero sauce but it was way too spicy for me! These tostadas were really enjoyable and flavourful.

Tostadas

Almost all dishes on the happy hour menu came with a dish of Tostadas or corn tortillas. These were crunchy and lightly salted. However, because almost all our dishes came with tostadas, it got a bit salty after a while. I think we wouldn’t have minded them as much if we only had 1 or 2 dishes with the tostada.

Overall, I enjoyed the happy hour menu at Fayuca but wished there was a bit more variety. I found most of the dishes were ceviches and therefore served with the same tostada to get a bit boring after a while. However, there are definitely some solid dishes during happy hour and I’d love to come back to try out their dinner menu. Happy hour ends up being not as discounted as you’d think as most dishes are around $10.

Pros:
– Solid dishes during happy hour
– Large variety of drinks to choose from on happy hour menu

Cons:
– Almost all dishes during happy hour are served with tostadas so can get a bit repetitive

Price Range: $25-$40 per person (happy hour)

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 3.5 Service: 3.5 Ambiance: 4 Parking: Paid meter parking on street Overall: 3.5