Last week Karin and I were in town for my dental implants color matching and we had noticed when driving by that the restaurant on the ground floor level of the tower beside the library seemed to have been replaced with a pub. So Wednesday night, when my dad and I had parked under the new pub on our way to the Canucks vs Predators game, it did not take too much arm twisting to convince my dad to try it.

The Library Square Public House is in the ground floor of the small tower in the northeast corner of the block, directly across the street from the main post office. It is a large bar that is simply decorated but comfortable. It was quite packed, both with people on their way to the game, those planning to watch it at the bar, and “suits” having an after work drink before heading home. Because of the crowd, we could not get a seat, but rather ended up standing at the DJ’s area between the bar and kitchen. Despite the crowd, the beer was nice and cold and a waitress was attentive of us throughout our stay. This was pleasant, as I am used to establishments with half the crowd not being able to keep the beer cold due to the pace they are pouring it and not being able to get timely service.

Due to traffic on the way to the game, we did not have the time to find a meal elsewhere as we had originally planned, and so we took up the waitresses offer of menus. We did not have anywhere to place proper meals, so we ordered a plate of chicken wings (it was Wings Wednesday, and a plate of about 20 or more was $5.00) and a order of popcorn shrimp. From our vantage point we could see that the kitchen was very busy, but our food arrived quickly. They set our food out right on top of the plywood cover over the DJ’s sound board, and we ate our fill. The food was quite good, and I will definitely return for a proper meal.

After the Canuck’s win, we stopped again for one beer on our way back to the car. The bar was now less crowded and the DJ was playing tunes. We were able to appreciate the good sound system that pumped out the music, but still allowed you to talk to the person beside you.

I was quite impressed with the Library Square Pub, and now have a new favorite place for the area. An excellent route to a game or concert if one had time would be a stop at both the Kingston Taphouse and Library Square.

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When I first blogged about my dental implants, I did so largely to let my family and friends know what was going on, as they all knew I was doing multiple trips to the dentist; but I labeled it More Than You Ever Wanted To Know as I did not figure it would be that popular a post for many. Little did I expect that it would draw me quite a few visitors that arrived through search engines, as people looked for information on either dental implants or dental flippers. I’m therefore going to try and update what is happening with my mouth so that people that may be researching can find more details.

Last week we traveled into Vancouver in order that I could visit the dental lab to have my teeth colour matched. In the past when I have had flippers made, including the one I am wearing now, the dentists have done the colour matching in their offices using a set of individual denture teeth that are each one shade darker than the next. Implants are a much more permanent and long lasting option, with the crowns that will be screwed onto the implants lasting approximately 20 years before they must be replaced. Dr. Ajar had informed me that I would need to go into the lab in Vancouver in order that they could colour match me under various lights, as the colour will look different under florescent light, incandescent light, outdoor light, bright sunlight, etc.

I was to have visited the lab several weeks ago, and should have had the crowns installed two days ago. When I did not hear from the lab to schedule the colour match appointment, I had the dental office inquire, and it was revealed that there were delays as a part needed for my crowns had to be ordered from Sweden. There was therefore no rush for the colour matching, and in fact they still did not have the part when I did go in last week.

The technician that examined my teeth did not use various lights as I had been led to believe, but rather had a ring light that appeared to be a full spectrum light. She also had two molds of my upper mouth. One which had pegs sticking out from the location of each implant, each one matching pegs that had been screwed to my implants during the molding. The other mold had the pegs and even the gum removed, and the gums had then been rebuilt using a pink waxy material. She did examine my mouth more, as she said the gums will have retreated a bit more as they further healed.

I have worked hard on getting my teeth cleaner and whiter than they have been in years, and it showed when the technician could not match my teeth from the initial set of shades, and instead had to pull out a small set of extremely white samples. She let me know that she was not matching the surface stains nor the enamel, but rather the dentin underneath. She then took out a piece of paper, drew several large teeth, and shaded with pencil different portions of each tooth to match my teeth, marking each shaded portion with the number of the corresponding colour she had matched. The end result will obviously be quite different from what I am used to; on all my flippers each tooth is one solid colour.

The visit ended with me using my fingers to pry my mouth open as wide as possible in all directions, showing both as much gum and as much teeth as possible; while the tech held the shades she had chosen next to my teeth while she took pictures.

The next step is a second appointment at the lab this coming Tuesday. They told me that the crowns will already be finished at that point, and this is to ensure they match. On the slip they gave me, the upcoming appointment is referred to as a “stain appointment”. I’ll provide an update on that visit.

Just how does some guy in a cookie factory know about my lack of both free time and a personal life?

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While in Vancouver yesterday, we stopped for lunch at the English Bay location of the Boathouse restaurant. The are currently having their Lobsterfest, which we had noticed on their website a few weeks back; but the menu we were presented seemed to be an abbreviated lunch menu. We were sitting on the main floor, which has the atmosphere and decor of a pub; but this was the only option as the upstairs dining room was not open and so the main floor was where all lunch patrons were sitting; and, looks aside, it is technically a restaurant and so I do not expect a pub sized menu.

I should point out that neither Karin or I are big fish fans, but we both do love shellfish. Karin is on a restricted diet right now due to allergies, and so we were trying to find a place where she would be able to eat. The shortened menu was just too restrictive, however, as not even the salads seemed appetizing. We had chosen the Boathouse as we really enjoy their Fire Cracker Shrimp appetizer, but it was not being offered during Lobsterfest. In fact, a review now of their regular lunch menu on their website with what we were presented with shows that this was definitely an abbreviated version. I had decided that I would try the coconut shrimp, but Karin did find any meal that she wanted. I did not really blame here as my choice was the only one I had found… I had no back-up plan.

We therefore decided we would each just have a drink and split an appetizer. We choose their Lobster Cakes appetizer, one of the limited time items. It consisted of three cakes, very similar to crab cakes, and three sauces. What was unexpected is that each cake came already sitting in a sauce; which negated choosing to dip more of the cake in your favorite of the sauces. We started cutting each cake in half before I remembered to snap a picture.

The sauces from left to right were Grand Marnier, ginger and tartar. Not knowing what it was when I tried it, the Grand Marnier tasted like a habanero pepper jelly sauce, and was much too sweet. Dipping my fork into the sauce alone, it was a good sauce, but it overpowered the lobster cake. The ginger sauce had the chewy consistency of ginger root, but not really much of a ginger taste. The tartar sauce was a standard tartar sauce.

Overall, the sauces were all too overbearing. Lobster is a light tasting meat, which is why it is most commonly served with just butter; and these sauces masked the lobster flavour. Breading and frying the cakes was probably reaching the limits of the flavour, and if anything I would have liked to add very little sauce, but we were given no choice when the cakes came pre-dunked. Add on top that two of the three sauces were nothing special, and this is an appetizer that I had to try, but can now move on to other things.

Our server was friendly, but not quite attentive enough. As an example, when I was presented the bill, I reviewed it for 10 seconds and then inserted my credit card. We then waited almost 10 minutes for her to pick this up, despite the empty drinks in front of us and the fact we had told her we were done and ready to go. I did not raise a fuss as we were not in a hurry, but if I was not impressed with the food, then the service should impress me with the prices I was paying.

As I said in the title, this is a mini-review as we never ate anything other than this one appetizer. I probably would not have bothered blogging about it at all, but I really was disappointed to be presented the menu we received. I am used to promotions being add on items to the regular menu, and have seen upwards to 15 items as on promotional inserts in menus. Rather than an insert, the Boathouse’s approach is to remove regular items from the menu to insert the promotional items, and overall it seemed they removed more items than they added. Add to this the average service and high prices, and I would have to give the Boathouse English Bay a 5 out of 10 for this outing.

Technorati Tags: food, Vancouver, restaurant, review, Amateur Geek

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