1300 Robson Street, Vancouver (Robson Street District)
If you ever was looking for a place that was stereotypically Canadian to celebrate your Canadianess and sport your red and black flannel without being questioned, then Timber is your go to place to celebrate your patriotism. With the promise of always showing the hockey game, waitresses wearing plaid flannel and beaver hanging out by the entrance, there certainly is no other place in this city that screams "O Canada". Cleverly named for what must seem like an entire forest in their restaurant, Timber's long wooden bar tables and benches are lined with beautiful wood, or timber as they say in the industry. The space itself is very spacious, with long communal bar tables on the leftside when you walk in, a massive bar, a less rambunctions right side with tables for two or four, and a large area in the back for parties. The kitchen is completely open and you can look into it and watch the staff cook up the dishes. Timber takes no reservations, but on a Friday night (Black Friday night) at about 5:45 and a hockey game on, my friend Mateo and I were able to seat ourselves no problem. Timber has a lot of great looking cocktails and serving up a classy wine selection and a fantastic local beer selection. We decided to split a draft beer flight, which was $15 and so worth it. Probably my favourite part of the whole night. We had the Dageraad Blonde, Bridge Bourbon Blood Orange Wheat, Powell Street "Old jalopy" Pale Ale and a house Radler with fresh grapefruit juice. Radler was the first "beer" I ever had, so I had get that - and I loved it!. My other favourite was the Blonde. However, the food was a little less impressive. We ordered a bannock to share (which was half off, thanks to happy hour that runs from 3-6PM!), I had the perogies and Mateo had the elk (elk?!) tourtiere. The last time I had bannock was in grade 4, when my class did an overnight stay at one of the Coast Salish Big Houses in Squamish as part of Outdoor Education. We cooked bannock on a stick over an open fire. Nearly 10 years later, I was eating it again with a delicious plum chutney. This dish took me back to grade 4, and I was hooked. The bannock was nice and soft and perfectly cooked, and the plum chutney was incredible and paired so well with it. I was unfortunately not as fond of the main dishes that we ordered. I was debating between the mac and cheese and the perogies, and ultimately going with the perogies made me question my choice. The three perogies were served on a small plate over a blanket of sour cream and topped with roasted Ambrosia apple, cheddar, smoked onions and sauerkraut. I personally love perogies, but I did not like these at all. For starters, I thought that the center was a little bland, and the flavours of the sweeter apple and sour sauerkraut made for a confusing dish. As well, the wrap of the perogies were incredibly soggy - probably because they were swimming in sour cream - and were the consistency of Chinese dumplings that sit in soup. It was really weird for me, and I was expecting to bite into a pork center; instead, I was faced with a colourless, flavourless unknown. I had the option to add bacon (+$4) or brisket (+$6), and in the interest of saving money I politely declined. It might have been worth my while to do so. Oh well. Mateo offered me a few bites of his elk tourtiere that had a lard crust and was served with a green tomato ketchup. I couldn't really get past the lard crust, but it was good - like puff pastry but a little denser. But in all, it was just the crust and the minced elk, which made it kind of like a shepherd's pie without the mashed potatoes or the peas. In a word, really underwhelming for the price, but I guess it's made up for in size. From what I saw at other tables, the bison burger looked delicious and the mac and cheese looked like a fair size as well. But bone marrow? I'm not too sure if I can stomach that. While the food wasn't that great, the service was quick and friendly, something that I appreciate in a business. Timber is definitely a walk on the Canadian side, but I think that I can be a Canadian and afford to leave this out of my national identity. Timber also serves a weekend brunch, which I might check out one day. However, I would only suggest making your way out to Timber if you happen to be in the area or if you have a car. Walking from either Granville or Burrard station takes about 12 minutes, and if you aren't fond of the unknown parts of the animal or soggy wannabe perogies, then don't make a special trip. Perhaps cozy up at home in your own plaid flannel, get yourself a cup of tim Horton's coffee and enjoy some mac and cheese in front of a roaring fireplace.
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151 E 8th Avenue, Vancouver (Mount Pleasant)
The neighbourhood of Mount Pleasant is known for its quirks and gems, and Eight 1/2 Restaurant Lounge is no different. Located inside a 100 year old heritage house, the exterior is absolutely stunning, and gives off the feel that you are going to visit someone at their home to have a family dinner. The interior is very cozy, with the restaurant and lounge area blurring together to create a very friendly and intimate ambience. Everyone is very friendly and the service was relatively quick, yet easygoing. Kim and I decided to share a craft beer flight (which featured beers from Coal Harbou Brewing, 33 Acres Brewery, Four Winds Brewery and Driftwood Brewery), the steak bites and a pesto prawn pizza. This was the perfect amount of food for the two of us. While I like craft beer, I personally was not a fan of the ones that were on the flight that night. They were all amber to dark beers, whereas my personal preference is more pale and light. I guess I have to work up to that tolerance! However, I will say that the beers went really nicely with the steak bites. The steak bites came with a salad on the side for us to share, and the bites themselves were very tender and marinated beautifully! The chili rub provided a lot of heat and that was cooled down by the creamy parmesan dip. The pesto prawn pizza was definitely my favouite though, and the highlight of the night! All of Eight 1/2's pizzas are 10", which makes it a good size for sharing but also a fair size for one person to enjoy on their own. The combination of pesto and prawn is not new to either Kim or I, but this pizza in particular had a nice balance of pesto and sauce, and everything meshed really well together. I just wished that there were more prawns on the pizza iself - it seemed a little lopsided that way. All in all, a really worthwhile place to check out and for me to go back to! Their large dishes look delicious and it just seems like a really fun place to be. Fun fact: Eight 1/2 is located halfway between E 8th Street and E 7th. Not sure how that happened. 85 West 1st Avenue, Vancouver (False Creek/Olympic Village) People that know me well know that I don't really like the taste of beer. So why oh why would I go to a place called Craft Beer Market, which boasts 100+ different kinds of beer on tap in their restaurant? In this foodie adventure with fellow peer leaders and friends Kim and Shelby, our girls night out took us to Olympic Village where we enjoyed the various kinds of beer on tap and their delicious comfort food classic, macaroni and cheese. The restaurant is in the old Salt Building, and it is massive. The atmosphere is so lively and the huge bar that runs along the center of the floor houses all the various taps for beer, anything from pale ale to lager to malts and stouts (and yes, I had to Google all that). My friend Kim is a bit of a beer connoisseur, and she was the one that told us about this lovely place and also had a coupon for a free appy - fish tacos! And as mentioned above, we had their craft mac & cheese, complete with breadcrumbs, a blend of three cheeses, bacon and poblano peppers which added an extra kick. But the beer was obviously the star of the show. Upon asking our waitress what she would recommend to someone who has zero knowledge of beer, she brought over three different kinds of beer - Fruli, Stiegl Radler, and some pale ale or another. I ended up going with the Stiegl Radler, which had the taste of grapefruit, sparkling, and did not taste like regular beer at all. This is how I ease my way into beer... I see myself going back again and again in the future, definitely! |
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