After appetizers downtown at the SIP a few weeks ago, Karin and I headed towards Vancouver General Hospital to find a full meal before her 6:30 appointment for an MRI. We wanted to park nearby and walk if possible to the hospital, and so I pulled into the parking lot of the former Chevy’s restaurant on Broadway at Oak. Chevy’s used to be one of my favorite spots in Vancouver, but when I had attempted to take Karin there previously we had found it had closed. A new establishment has opened in it’s place and we decided to try them.

Upon entering the Rugby Beach Club Grille, I was greeted with a familiar room. The restaurant has been renovated to give it an oceanside feel, but the layout has not been changed, largely I believe because it has always been comfortable and works well. Formerly TVs hung from the ceiling throughout the room so that every table would have a view of the sporting event; these have been removed and the ceiling is now covered with large large bamboo stalks. The large TV covering one wall of the lounge remains, and many people were sitting in the bar area awaiting the Canucks game. The built in tables remained as before, as well as the bar and open kitchen kitchen; with everything having been refinished.

The decor did have me worried a bit, as there was a nautical theme and we are not big fish fans; but we did not have to worry as the menu was extensive. In addition to numerous salads, the appetizer menu had nine seafood items, but then had eight non-seafood items. We started with an appetizer of Ribs, Ribs, Ribs. As the name and picture implies, there is three flavours of ribs in this starter; Mesquite Rye BBQ, Caramelized oy and demerarra sugar, and Cajun dry rub. I think we might have been cheating a bit on Karin’s diet, as vinegar is something she must avoid right now; but a little shouldn’t hurt too much. Each of the ribs was meaty and flavourful, and we gladly licked our fingers afterward. I would definitely try this again, which could be a problem as there were many other tasty items from which to choose.

Looking at the main menu, it seemed that everything was extremely reasonably priced, even priced too low to believe. It took a little to realize the reason; all items on the menu come unaccompanied. If you order a steak, that is all you get on your plate. Vegetables and carbs are ordered separately, and the portions for these sides are enough for two people. As Karin and I are both watching the number of calories we stuff down our gullet, eating out has been a nemesis as almost any plate is almost half carbohydrates. Too top it off, we have had even more trouble eating out as of late due to Karin’s need to avoid the foods to which she is allergic. We had stumbled upon the perfect restaurant for us completely by luck!

Just like the appetizer menu, there were numerous choices when we choose our main course. In addition to the seafood section of the menu, there was a separate sections for shell (shellfish are fine by us, and I think I’ll try the prawns next time), chicken, vegetarian, turf (lamb), steak, ribs and surf & turf. Within each section there is numerous choices. I suspect that the separation of the sides from has allowed a much more extensive range of choices, as the chef did not then feel the need to have a unique starch and vegetable combination with each choice. With such a wide range of choices, you would think we would have had different things, but we were both attracted to the filet mignon, though I had mine with blue cheese topper. Without the sides, each filet cost $11.95! When was the last time you had filet mignon for that price?

Skipping the carbs, we had roasted asparagus with balsamic drizzle. Again, this was a bit of a cheat for Karin due to the vinegar. We had not been steered wrong, there was definitely enough vegetable for the both of us. The portions were just right, but had we not stopped at SIP earlier in the afternoon for an appetizer, we might have had two vegetables dishes, thereby having a filling meal without the starches and still at a very reasonable price.

While the ability to make your own main and side dish choices did fit our dietary needs perfectly, I also liked the idea purely from the point of view of being able to pick what you enjoy eating. Many a time I have been out and have seen something that seemed quite tasty, only to realize that the accompaniments were not something that I would enjoy at all. The Rugby Beach Club would also be the perfect place to go when some have a limited diet and others do not.

As we left, the crowd watching the Canucks game was just beginning to get into the game, and it was only Karin’s appointment that kept me from proposing we stay a while. This will definitely be a stop again in the near future. Overall, I’ll give the Rugby Beach Club Grille a 7.5 out of 10.

For more pictures, click on any of the above and explore the others on our Flickr site.

Technorati Tags: Vancouver, Amateur Geek

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

I am trying to keep with my commitment to write a bit of a review for each place we go out to eat, and will therefore be writing two different posts regarding our experiences on Tuesday as we stopped for food twice. I’m sure it must not seem like we are not on the budget we claim to be, but Karin and I do avoid going out to eat as much as possible in order to keep the unnecessary expenses low. That is why the attentive reader will have noticed that most of our dining out is in Vancouver despite the fact that we live in Abbotsford; we normally eat out only due to circumstances, such as being in Vancouver for appointments. The other main reason we will eat out is if Karin’s son Colby is visiting from Kamloops, but in either case expect our reviews to be of reasonably priced establishments. Fancy dinners out would require quite the special occasion.

Yesterday we were in Vancouver as Karin had an appointment for an MRI of her jaw. I too was supposed to have an appointment at the dental lab, which we had planned for the same day to help the budget, but the lab needs more time and that is rescheduled for Monday. We kept our original plans to depart Abbotsford in the early afternoon, and therefore had several hours in Vancouver before we had to be at the hospital at 6:30.

We had been wanting to try out SIP Resto Lounge downtown Vancouver on Granville Street, but had driven right past it last time. Checking the map ahead of time this trip, we knew that it was directly across the street from the Chateau Granville. It is lucky that we had checked, as it was hard to spot the restaurant without knowing exactly where to look. This area of Granville is one of the few remaining areas downtown that has not seen major renovations, but as the renovations are ongoing a block away and there is now 20 storey condo buildings one street over, SIP was wise to move into this location now. They are still hard to spot between the seedier businesses, but we found it this time and parked nearby.

After picking up some guitar strings for Matthew at Tom Lee Music up the street, we returned and found that SIP was just opening. It is situated in one of the old, narrow buildings in the area; and the necessity of a fire exit at the back leaves no room for a separate kitchen. Instead, the bar that stretches along one wall is half liquor bar and half open kitchen, with bar stools along the entire length. Most of the seating is small, high bar tables with stools around them, save for the tables along the opposite wall that have benches against the wall and bar stools on the opposite side. We asked to be seated in one of those seats so we could both sit on the wall side and check out the rest of the establishment. We were the only customers other than a couple of people sitting at the food bar who may have been regulars or may have been staff yet to come on duty. The bartender was bringing in and sorting the week’s liquor order through the back door.

One of SIP’s main attractions is that everything on the menu is cooked with liquor. The Casa salad’s dressing is made with Finlandia Lime Vodka, the filet mignon is marinated in Jack Daniel’s, and you can finish with a Mocha Bailey’s Crème Brulle. We checked out the menu, and decided to start with two Grilled Satays and the “World’s Best Crab Cakes”. The satays are each a single skewer, and so they only cost between $2.25 and $3.50 each. We tried a chicken tender seasoned with garlic, chardonnay and jalapeno peanut dip and a beef tenderloin flavoured with jack daniels and tarragon garlic aioli. Both tasted good, though I think they would have been even better with a beer, but due to the time and our plans we both were drinking Diet Pepsi. I did notice that in an empty restaurant, people do notice more when you take pictures of your food.

The crab cakes were much better than anything I’ve managed to make at home. They were small, but still held their shape when bit in half. The tops and bottoms had been perfectly grilled, offering a crispy exterior while the interior was a tasty blend of crab, shrimp, garlic and Grey Goose L’Orange sauce. I could have eaten this entire appetizer myself.

As we were the only patrons save the people at the bar that clearly knew the staff, we could not judge the atmosphere very well. It also did not help that this lounge themed restaurant had bright sunshine shining in the front windows; it did not fit with the decor. Opening time was not the best time for a first visit to a new restaurant, but we did experience enough to tell that there is great potential for SIP to be an enjoyable place to eat, drink and observe. We therefore decided to not have our main meal here, instead we will come back when we are downtown for an evening and enjoy a full meal while people watching.

Overall, I give SIP Resto Lounge a 7 out of 10, but will revise that after a visit for a full meal.

Show on map

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

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.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

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

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite