restaurant review Archives - Page 9 of 9

Tap and Barrel, Olympic Village

May 19, 2014

Summer is quickly approaching and we took an opportunity last week to enjoy a patio dinner with a great view. Tap and Barrel offers a huge selection of craft beer, which in my opinion tastes a lot better than your regular beers.

So, before you say you hate beer, give craft beer a try. I’ve been here two other times in the past but never had a chance to try their dinner menu. Here’s how it went!
We came on a Friday evening, so we expected a long line up since it was a warm night. Fortunately for us, they had a patio seat right away! The patio was buzzing with energy and chatter, almost all the seats were taken!

I loved the decor of the patio, it was very simple and had a west coast contemporary feel to it. The tables were wooden, and all the chairs were red. As the night progressed, we came to realize that the glass wall on the patio was very thick and sturdy. It was a bit windy but we didn’t feel a breeze or cold at all, even when it got dark.
We ordered two beers. I got the Phillips Chocolate Porter and the boyfriend got the Vancouver Island Brewery Summer Ale.

The chocolate porter was rich and dark, with a smooth chocolate finish. If you are craving a smooth and dark beer, I would definitely go with the chocolate porter. As for the summer ale, it was light and refreshing with tropical fruit notes.
We had no idea what to order since we’re used to only coming here for beer! I was a bit disappointed because I saw a few menu items on Urbanspoon that looked really good, but unfortunately weren’t on the menu that day.
For appetizers, the boyfriend wanted deep fried pickles ($5.45). The deep fried pickles were cut very thick, and the batter was very crispy. I found these to be quite oily, but was very tasty. I was also impressed at how big the portion was. The dipping sauce was a mix of sour cream and dill, which went really well with the pickles.
We also ordered the shrimp and salmon ceviche ($11.95). I was a bit disappointed with the portion, as I expected it to be bigger (minus the tortilla chips). But nonetheless, there was an abundance of shrimp and salmon in the ceviche. The boyfriend squeezed the life out of the lime, so it was pretty sour to the point where it didn’t accentuate the taste.

Yes, I know that’s not the restaurant’s fault but just be careful of how much lime juice you add into the ceviche, especially if it’s a small bowl. But when you used the tortilla chips to top off the cevice, the sourness was a bit diminished.
For our main dish, we finally decided on their “Maui Wowie” pizza. All their pizzas are hand stretched, hence it being a bit unsymmetrical, and baked in a wood stone oven. It came with tomato sauce, mozza cheese, pulled bacon, and cayenne roasted pineapples. It was pretty average, but I liked how doughy the pizza was and that it wasn’t too greasy. The pineapples really saved the dish, otherwise it would have been really bland.
We also decided to order their mac and cheese, with pulled pork for an added $3 ($15 total). This dish was a total disappointment to us as it lacked any cheese flavour and was lukewarm. We felt that we could have made this better at our own house. The only saving grace about this dish was the pulled pork, but there wasn’t that much to the dish.
By the end of our dinner, the sun had set and the city lights were slowly coming to life under the night sky. It was beautiful, we ended up staying a bit longer just to enjoy the view. Tap and Barrel offers a great and delicious selection of beer, but their food options are a a bit hit and miss. But when an establishment’s specialty is beer, and they do that right, you can’t really complain.

It was a pretty busy night, so our server was quite busy but she tried her best to talk to us when she could, which we appreciated. I can’t say I’ll be back for the food, but definitely for patio drinks!

-Carmen

Sockeye City Grill, Steveston

May 19, 2014

After months of patiently waiting for the weather to get warmer in Vancouver, it has finally come. The boyfriend decided to surprise me and take me to Stevestone for a date, and I could not think of a better day to go. The skies were blue, the water was calm, the air was fresh, and the temperature was hot.

Originally, we were planning to go to Pajos, but the lineup was very long and we wanted somewhere that we could sit comfortably and enjoy the view. So after walking around, we decided on going to Sockeye City Grill because they had nice patio seats and view.
There was another restaurant right beside this one we were going to go to, but after checking our phones, we saw that it had an abysmal 28% with almost 200 user votes. I’ve never seen a rating so low save for Kiwawa in Metrotown, so I’m glad we saw that before we went to that place.
We were seated promptly on the patio. Here is a picture of our lovely view. There was a loud family next to us with a crying baby, so of course, things weren’t 100% perfect but the parents managed to keep the crying controlled for the sake of other customers.
The boyfriend decided on getting the two piece cod fish and chips ($18). Yes, the prices here are going to be a bit pricier because Steveston is a tourist area and the seafood is also fresh, local, and wild. Originally, I wasn’t going to have much because I didn’t want anything oily or greasy that day, but it was so good I ended up having more than one bite. The cod was so juicy and fresh. I’ve never had such fresh fish and chips before!

The batter was also very crispy, and the tartar sauce accentuated the juiciness of the cod even more. I felt like our cod tasted like a higher grade of fish (it’s the cheapest type of fish on the menu) because it was that good! The pieces were also very large. A lot of places have their batter really big so it looks like the fish inside is too, when it actually isn’t but this wasn’t the case. YUM!
As for me, I got their large seafood chowder. I was a bit disappointed because there wasn’t much variety of seafood in it. I only tasted a few pieces of cod inside. At least what small amount of seafood I had in here was juicy and delicious though. There was a lot of vegetables in here. I found the taste to be a bit bland, but improved a lot when I sprinkled some salt and pepper to it.
To add to the semi-disappointing chowder, I added the bread bowl for $3. However, I didn’t realize that the bread bowl meant that it would come in its own baskets. I thought it meant that the actual bowl for the soup would be bread. 🙁 Oh well, the bread was good at least. It was soft and doughy, and tasted good when dipped in the chowder.
Here is a bonus and random picture of Steveston, I just thought it looked very pretty (save for the garbage bin…oops). Overall, our visit to Sockeye City Grill was decent. I would recommend getting their fish and chips rather than the seafood chowder. The service was also nice and attentive.

Our hostess also asked us if we preferred a table with lots of sun, or shade, and then proceeded to give us the best seat available. If you want a to enjoy a nice and comfortable lunch at Steveston, I would recommend this place.

Roundel Cafe, East Van

May 15, 2014

I have driven by Roundel Cafe many times, but haven’t really noticed it among all the other merchants by Hastings and Nanaimo. This area has a lot of restaurants- from Sushi Nanaimo, East Cafe, The Red Wagon, Basho, Platform 7, and many, many more!

My friend and I planned to go here during the Easter weekend, but there was a really long wait so we decided to go to Basho. I came back here two weeks after, because I was really interested and wanted to see if they had good brunch.

The Red Wagon is pretty much across the street from them, so they do have lots of competition because that place is really famous for their brunch. I wanted to see if they held up as a good brunch diner.
It was a lot quieter when we went this time around, only about three other tables were seated. Service was very friendly, informative and efficient. We both had questions to ask about the menu, and our server happily answered them.
I finally decided on ordering their corned beef hash, served with eggs and salad. I thought the beef was very flavourful and cooked well. It was also mixed with onions and peppers which gave it a sweeter flavour.

Underneath the beef was the roasted potatoes. They served the usual white potatoes, but there was also a mix of sweet orange potatoes. I appreciated the mix, as the sweet potatoes were less starchy and dry. Some of the potatoes were really burnt though.

The salad and eggs were average, I think the star of this dish was the corned beef.
My friend ordered the free range eggs any style combo, which came with salad, roasted potatoes, and a choice of either ham/bacon/farmers sausage.

She thought that her dish was really delicious, especially the farmers sausage which was very juicy and had a hint of smokiness to it. Her roasted potatoes were a bit burnt as well.

For both our dishes, you can request for toast if you’d like. Their jam is house made, and we both found it to be very tart and not sweet. It had a very strong rhubarb taste. We would have preferred a sweeter strawberry jam!

It was a lovely afternoon, and we decided to indulge in a strawberry ice cream milkshake! It was smooth, rich, creamy, and thick. We also asked for soy milk since I didn’t want that much dairy, and she also did not charge us for that which was nice!
To end the meal, we recieved a fortune cookie. This fortune cookie was not true for me. I was about to start school the following week and was nervous for one of my courses! Haha 🙂

Overall, we had a satisfying and enjoyable visit to Roundel Cafe. Nothing really stands out to me, but it’s not bad either. I would come back if I was in the neighbourhood and it was convenient, but wouldn’t specifically plan another visit here.

I’ve read some other reviews on Urbanspoon where people mentioned their pancakes weren’t that good, so if you are craving pancakes, I would suggest crossing the street to The Red Wagon.

JOEY Bentall One, Downtown Van

May 15, 2014

I apologize for the lack of restaurant reviews lately. My summer semester started a week ago, and the assignments are already piling up! The good news is that one of my courses will be done in half the normal time, since it’s an intersession course, so I will have a lot more time once it is over. But for now, I am swamped with course assignments, starting my application process for co-op, work, and trying to squeeze in a social life still.

Hence, my attempt at squeezing in a social life results in this restaurant review. It was one of my childhood best friend’s birthday last week, so a small group of us converged over great food at Joey!
There are actually two JOEY restaurants on Burrard Street in downtown Vancouver. One is the actual JOEY Burrard, while the other is JOEY Bentall One. Bentall One is located a block away from Burrard skytrain.

I was a bit confused at first since my friend told me it was the Burrard location, but when I got there, it said Bentall One. Thankfully, I was at the right location! As always, the decor and ambiance was very fancy and lively.
Since I was running late due to my class, they decided to order an appy while waiting for me to arrive. They were also nice enough to save me a piece of the pesto shrimp flatbread, $14.50.

It was very doughy and loaded with a lot of ingredients on the top. They were also generous with the amount of shrimp. I was really considering ordering this as my main dish, but decided on getting something else.
I ordered the chicken souvlaki served with skinny fries, $14.50. I was surprised when the dish came out, because I was expecting it to be on a bed of rice, with a chicken skewer.

However, this wrap was really filling and delicious nonetheless. The chicken was grilled and had a hint of smokiness to it, while the other veggies and cheese inside tasted really fresh. The pita bread wrap was also very soft.
Friend’s lobster grilled cheese, with brie, cheddar, and and cocktail sauce $15. I had a bite of the sandwich, and really enjoyed the strong flavour of cheddar in it. The lobster was mixed inside with the warm cheddar and brie cheese.
Some of these I didn’t get a chance to taste, so I will unfortunately just have to give you guys the name and price. Ahi tuna tacos – $12.
Bacon cheddar burger, sub yam fries $15.25.
The 500 salad – organic quinoa, barley, watermelon radish, mint, tomatoes, avocado $13.50.
If the birthday girl wants to indulge in dessert, she is allowed to. She decided to order the molten lava chocolate souffle, $8.25. Yes, it looks and sounds as good as it tastes! Thick, warm dark chocolate slowly oozes out of the molten lava cake after you dig in. The chocolate was very creamy and smooth. Paired with the raspberry sauce and vanilla ice cream, it is seriously a match made in heaven.

As always, service was attentive despite the restaurant being relatively busy.

The Fish Shack

February 3, 2014

Update: I posted this a few hours the same night after finishing our meal there. My friend told me this morning that they had severe food poisoning and had to see the doctor. He was the only one that had the fried oysters (which was an add-on option for the Dine Out menu), so that was probably what caused it. He didn’t eat anything after we went out, so chances are the culprit was the oysters! You have been warned.

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The Fish Shack is one of the restaurants owned by Glowbal Group Restaurants, which is pretty well known in Vancouver. Seeing that it was one of the places on the Dine Out 2014 menu, we decided to try it this weekend after making a reservation.

We went as a party of four – my friend and her boyfriend, my boyfriend, and myself. I have mixed feelings about this place, and I’m going to be as honest as I can with it here. It was definitely an interesting and unique experience atmosphere-wise, and the food was decent but my friend got horrible food poisoning afterwards from one of the dishes.

Food: Originally, we came here for the Dine Out menu but all of us, (except for one) ended up ordering off the regular menu instead. All together, we ordered the New England clam chowder in a bread bowl, fish and chips (2 pc snapper),another fish and chips (1 pc ling cod + kimchi style cole slaw), Fish Shack salad, Fish Shack mixed fry (calamari, shrimp, fish bites), penne jambalaya, and sticky toffee pudding.

We all agreed that although the food wasn’t bad, it also wasn’t delicious either. The clam chowder was pretty good, generous portion of seafood inside and the bread bowl was also very big and filling. My boyfriend thought the fish batter for the 2 pc snapper was soggy, although the fish was alright.

He also said the chips were really good, which I agree with once they’re sprinkled with vinegar! My friends enjoyed their other dishes but one of them didn’t like the jambalaya. The Fish Shack mixed appetizer was alright as well, I think I just personally did not like the type of fish that was used. It tasted a bit bland to me, but the portions of the fish were generous.

Some of the food we ordered!

Decor: I really liked the decor of the restaurant. When you first walk in, you see a black wall which is filled with different facts on various types of fish, illuminated under cute little red lamps.

The other wall was filled with wooden pallets which gave off a legitimate seafood restaurant feel to it. Tacked to select pallets were cute trivial facts, jokes, or puns on seafood. The decor and look was what I liked most about this place!

Service: Our server was really funny and we enjoyed his presence. He had a sarcastic sense of humor which we enjoyed, but I could see other customers that would not appreciate it.

While we were eating, we heard some shouting and dishes dropping in the back. One of us saw and heard a server yelling in the kitchen, “don’t f**king talk to me like that” and some other workers pulling him back. However, it did not cause much of a scene or ruin our experience.

The wait time for the food was decent as well, my boyfriend and I had to wait longer for ours since we didn’t order starters, but our server confirmed this with us first.

Ambience: The restaurant was moderately busy. Not busy enough so that it was cray cray but the bar seats were all filled. There are 4 screens in the front of the restaurant, but they aren’t that big so I wouldn’t recommend coming here to watch a sports game.

Overall, the decor of the restaurant was very refreshing, friendly, and welcoming. The food itself was nothing special but the service is good. I would say to give this place a try if you are a big seafood fan and check out the decor while you’re at it!