Original Joe's Restaurant & Bar

Restaurant: Original Joe’s Restaurant & Bar

Cuisine: American/Canadian/Pub food
Last visited: February 26, 2010
Area: Multiple locations - Richmond, BC (Ironwood)
1215 Davie Street
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4.5
Service: 4.5

Ambiance: 4

Overall: 4

Additional comments:

• Multiple locations (Canadian franchise)
• Offers traditional/classic bar food
• Made from scratch dishes
• Big portions
• Great for beer
• Lots of seating
• Daily drink/food specials
• Busy during game nights
• Very casual atmosphere
• Free parking
• Big screen tv’s
• Great for snacks/beer
• Wine available
• Small selection of desserts
• Mon-Sun 11am - midnight

**Recommendation: Joe’s Red Tractor Nachos, Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwich, Sweet Potato Fries

Original Joe’s is a really casual restaurant/bar/pub serving up traditional pub food made from scratch! I actually wouldn’t have guessed from the looks of it, but it is! They have multiple locations in Canada and in Vancouver and the lower mainland. This one I visited is the newest location – it’s the Richmond location that opened in January 2010.

I came to watch the Olympics Canada VS Slovak hockey game and we won…so my good spirits and enthusiastic atmosphere may influence my review to be higher than normal. Having said that I also don’t feel like I’ve tried enough to give a proper review, but I would definitely go back to try more things because I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed everything for the most part. The food was much better than expected and very affordable with big portions. It’s not pretentious and similar to places like Kelsey’s – definitely more bar/pub then contemporary restaurant like Earls which is also bar-ish.

They have daily specials at a bargain price – so there’s always something going on.

On the table:

Crantini

• Medium $9.50 Large $11.50
  
• It was on special for $4.75.
  
• It had 1 oz of Vodka but I could barely taste any…it was pretty much cranberry juice.

**Joe’s Red Tractor Nachos 6/6

• Crisp tortilla chips piled high; layered with melted cheddar and mozzarella, roma tomatoes, red and green onions, black olives and jalapenos. Served with fresh tomato salsa and sour cream. Full 15.99 – Half 12.99
• Add spicy beef, chicken or pulled pork 3.99 Guacamole 2.99
• I ordered a half order with chicken and they are seriously ENORMOUS. The really wonder if a full size is twice as big for $3 more…seriously the half order could feed 4 and looks like a full order.

• These were delicious! Lots of cheese, really fresh ingredients and big pieces of vegetables.
• You can’t really screw up nachos, unless you cheap out and don’t give enough toppings or cheese.
• I added chicken and it was nice big slices of grilled chicken breast.
• The salsa had corn in it, which was awesome.

**Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwich 4.5/6

• Slow roasted pork shoulder, pulled, then “mopped” in your choice of sweet onion mustard, cider pepper, or southern style BBQ sauce. Topped with honey slaw and served on a fresh white bun. Served with your choice of 2 sides.10.99 (They serve all the sauces on the side)
  

• This was piled high and loaded with pulled pork and lots of honey cole slaw.
• The pork wasn’t too juicy, but still good, and with the BBQ sauce it was fine.
• I asked for all 3 sauces, however the server forgot 2 of them. I think the sauce I ended up getting was southern style BBQ sauce. It was a very tangy BBQ sauce with a big kick! It was almost like there was Frank’s hot sauce in it and tons of Worcestershire.

• I really liked the cole slaw. It was very lightly dressed, not a gloppy mess so the veggies weren’t soggy. It was a tangy dressing and mildly sweet with a touch of honey. Nice and crunchy.
• The bun was just a regular burger bun. Nice and soft though.
• 

Mango Pasta Salad – Side 1.5/6

• I didn’t like this side. It was a very simple pasta salad with dill like mayo dressing. The dressing was light but I thought it would be a sweet mango dressing.
• There was pretty much zero mango taste. The mango was little bits of fresh mango tossed in the salad. I found 2 pieces the size of bacon bits in the entire bowl.
• It didn’t necessarily taste bad but because they called it mango pasta salad, I was left very disappointed.
• It tasted like a very lightly dressed regular pasta salad with some black pepper, red onions, and red bell pepper. There wasn’t much bell pepper either.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Gravy – Side 2/6

• This was the most traditional mashed potatoes I’ve had.
• The mashed potatoes are very smooth and quite creamy, and although they claim everything is made in house…the potatoes tasted like packaged mashed potatoes. No garlic or additional flavorings…it was just any old mashed potato.
• I’m pretty sure the gravy is packaged, it really tastes like it.
• They topped the mashed potatoes with fried onions or shallots – which were extremely soggy and not good.

Steak & Prawns 4/6

• 6 ounce grilled steak and a skewer of prawns (your choice of garlic or Cajun) served with your choice of 2 sides. Friday special for $15.99
  
• I don’t expect a supreme quality of beef and you have to take into consideration it is pub food – so lower your expectations a bit.
• It was decent, it had a coating of course rub with sea salt on it and it was grilled really well. The meat was tender – not steakhouse quality obviously, but still very good.

• The prawns were not made in house – I think they’re the pre seasoned frozen ones from Sysco Food distributor. I can’t confirm, but from appearance and the fact that you can chose the flavours I’m pretty sure they are the pre-prepared kind. They are still good, but just not made in house.
• They’re a bit small and obviously fresh ones would be better, but for $15.99 – they do the job.

**Sweet Potato Fries – Side 5/6

• Cut thin, fried crisp and seasoned with a house made spice blend. Served with our signature dill dip or chipotle sauce.
• Extra 1.99 as a side, or 6.99 as appetizer
• I thought they did a great job with these!
• They’re very lightly seasoned and not that salty at all, but still flavourful. They are cut thin so they were actually very crispy.
• I think they served it with the dill dip because the sauce wasn’t spicy at all…however it was orange so I’m not sure. It basically tasted like a yogurt based dip with dill flavour – so it was almost like a mixture of dill dip and chipotle yogurt dip…but not spicy.

Caesar Salad – Side 2/6

• This was just a standard quickly thrown together Caesar salad. Not much else to say here. A few bacon bits and croutons on top.

Big Ridge Brewing Co.

Restaurant: Big Ridge Brewery

Cuisine: American/Pub Food/International
Last visited: February 4, 2010
Area: Surrey, BC
15133 56 Ave
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 2.5
Service: 5

Ambiance: 3.5

Overall: 3

Additional comments:

• Part of Mark James Group (DIX BBQ, Yaletown Brewery etc.)
• Lively neighborhood pub in Surrey
• Great for beer, samples available
• Busy/line-ups on weekends
• Classic pub food
• Affordable prices
• Lots of Chinese stir-fry dishes/bowls
• Felt like Hon’s – very Westernized Chinese food
• Casual, loud
• Restaurant and separate bar area
• Open kitchen
• All ages welcome
• Open late

**Recommendation: n/a

I actually wasn’t aware that Big Ridge Brewery was part of the Mark James Group. When I heard DIX Barbeque and Yaletown Brewery my expectations were set a bit high…too I high I think. Especially since the parking lot was completely full and there was a 30min. line up at 7pm with every single table full.

When I looked at the menu I was already not so gong-ho…I saw a lot of Chinese options and a pub making Chinese food? I had my hesitations. However the kitchen is a big open kitchen and half the chefs are Chinese so I thought “hey maybe it is authentic?”…but then just looking at the dishes going by and talking to some staff it’s pretty obvious it is very Westernized Chinese food. In which case I think I’ll stick to the traditional pub food. I’m not really one for pub food, but I can appreciate it – in this case I would much rather have pub food from the The Hub.

The portions are surprisingly not that big here and I think they really need to invest in some nicer dishes. I felt like I was at a really rough pub and for The Mark James Group I expect a little more “posh-ness”. The food was almost served cafeteria style like Ricky’s All Day Grill. I’m really surprised to see such a high rating for it on Urbanspoon – I thought it was very mediocre.

They are about to release their new menu which consists of a variety of Asian/Indian influenced dishes so if you want to sample those you should go now because they will be choosing the most popular dishes and including them on their new menu.

On the table:

Fish Tacos 2/6

• Beer battered halibut bites wrapped in a flour tortilla with a Sriracha aioli and cilantro-Asian slaw $11.99
• This is one of their special feature items. They’re supposed to include it on the official menu if there’s enough positive feedback and demand.
• It’s supposed to be a main, but for me it was more like an appetizer. The plating really needs some work…or maybe even just another plate.
• It reminded me of the Vietnamese sandwich “Banh Mi”, except those are way better. These tacos are loaded with shredded cucumbers, carrots, daikon and cilantro marinated in vinegar.
• The Sriracha aioli came off as chipotle mayo.
• It came with 3 pieces of halibut bites that tasted like battered chicken. It was a bit dry and overly battered as well. It was crunchy though. I could barely taste the halibut because the pieces were too small.
• Overall it was tangy, slightly spicy and basically something I could make at home.

Vegetarian Pizza 4/6

• The menu calls it “The Best Vegetarian Pizza Ever” – Japanese eggplant, broccoli, roasted corn, balsamic onion, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, mozzarella, Feta, and pesto $12.99
• If the menu didn’t say “The Best Vegetarian Pizza Ever” I would not have ordered a vegetarian dish at a pub. This is a bold statement and I just had to order it. It was more than I expect from a pub, but is it the best ever? No. It was very good though.
• The menu says “Our pies are bigger than the other guy’s” – they weren’t that big. I think they’re 14’’ inch pizzas? I mean it’s worth it, but all these are bold claims which lead me to have high expectations.
• This is a very tangy pizza. The tomato sauce is tangy and with the balsamic onions and sundried tomatoes it was even tangier. The onions were crunchy and needed to be cooked longer though. Or they should slice them rather than dice them and they would have cooked through.
• The tang was balanced very well with the salty Feta and pesto drizzle. They used a lot of both these ingredients and I could taste everything except for the eggplant. There was barely any and the few pieces it had were really dried out.
• The crust is nice and thin and it’s baked in a fire-wood oven, however they need to bake it longer because only the edges were crispy and the rest of the crust was very soft and chewy. However looking underneath it looks like it was baked enough...they need to adjust the heat.
• Overall the pizza is quite good, but they just need to work on the cooking temp/times and execution of ingredients. Not everything should be diced because each veggie has a different cooking time.

Quarter Chicken & Ribs 2.5/6

• ¼ beer can chicken and our famous pork ribs, served with oven roasted potatoes $19.99
• For 19.99 I could get better chicken and ribs elsewhere. It wasn’t bad, but it’s wasn’t that good either. The portion is also surprisingly not that big for a pub/bar restaurant. It was ¼ chicken and 5 ribs piled on top of mashed potatoes.
• They actually do a good job with the sauces and seasonings, but the quality of meat is the downfall. If they changed that it would actually be quite good!
• The chicken was served with chicken onion gravy and it almost tastes packaged. I felt like they used cornstarch to thicken it rather than letting it reduce.
• The chicken wasn’t that juicy and it was actually quite rough in texture – although not necessarily dry.
• I couldn’t tell they used beer but they did use some rosemary on the skin. The skin also wasn’t crispy and got soggy from the gravy.
• The ribs were falling off the bone, but not tender at all. The meat was very chewy which means the quality of ribs they’re using isn’t great. There wasn’t much meat on them in general.
• The ribs were served with a barbeque glaze or sauce. It was sweet and tangy, but didn’t have much of a kick and they needed more of it.
• It comes with roasted potatoes, but I changed it to roast garlic mash – no extra charge.

Roast Garlic Mashed Potatoes 4/6

• This was a chunky mashed potato as opposed to a creamy smooth one. It’s made with Russet potatoes with the skins on so they’re nice and flavourful.
• There are bits of potato you can chew into. They were very garlic tasting and quite good! I enjoyed them more than I did the meat.

Cole Slaw 1/6

• I was not a fan of this cole slaw. They used a combo of mayo and horseradish for the dressing. It was very spicy and watery in texture and didn’t match the flavours of the chicken, ribs, or potatoes.

Dessert

• Just showing the menu...I decided to pass on dessert because I was not impressed with dinner…I actually just went across the street to McDonalds for ice cream instead. McDonald’s ice cream is so reliable.

The Irish Heather GastroPub – Long Table Series 2

Restaurant: The Irish Heather GastroPub – Long Table Series 2

Cuisine: Pub food/Irish/West Coast
Last visited: January 24, 2010
Area: Vancouver, BC (West End/Downtown)
210 Carrall Street

Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: n/a (only came for LTS)
Service: 3.5 (for Long Table Series event)
Ambiance: 5 (for Long Table Series event)
Overall: 5 (for Long Table Series event)
Additional comments:

• Irish cooking in Irish house with Irish people working
• Sister restaurant to Salt Tasting Room, Shebeen, & Salty Tongue
• Since 1997
• Classy pub with affordable food
• Homemade comfort food w/twist
• Handmade sausages
• Some fusion items or globally inspired twists
• Sandwiches made with bread from Vancouver’s local Terra Bakery
• Fine tuned menu
• Extensive beer and wine list
• Very popular Long Table Series offered – reservations required
• Vegetarian options available
• Casual, yet sophisticated
• Lively atmosphere
• 2 rooms – one brighter lighting the other darker
• Serves lunch and dinner

**Recommendation: Long Table Series

It was my first TwEAT-up for Follow Me Foodie and I decided to host it at The Irish Heather for their Long Table Series. The 1^st time I tried the Long Table Series was back in Christmas for their Roast Duck Leg. The event and food made a lasting impression so it was no doubt I would come back for seconds.

This time I was joined by some close friends, new faces as well as Vancouver bloggers Kim (I’m Only Here for the Food), Nicole (Le Mode Du Jour), Kathy (Kathygko), Michelle (2010 Cheap Eats), Adela (On the Fringe) and Elaine and Chris (Parker Pages). Thank you for coming guys! Everyone is welcome to these TwEAT-ups so if you’re interested just e-mail me at mpak@followmefoodie.com.

This time I wasn’t late and was able to see how the whole event goes down. While dinner starts promptly at 6pm, people are invited at 5pm-6pm for pre-dinner drinks in the Shebeen (a private room/lounge) in the back of the restaurant. At 6pm they open the doors to the dining room where there’s a mad rush of hungry people and a game of “musical chairs” at a 40 foot long wooden communal table. (I still felt like Oliver Twist getting a meal from the Upper East Side.) Next Chef Lee Humphries comes out and explains the menu and paired drink for the evening. All this happens for only $15 (tax + services included). It’s good food, a fun time, and more than a fair deal so I have nothing to complain about. They also offer homemade desserts at $5 for those that are interested, but I wasn’t too impressed by them.

Note: The portions are a bit inconsistent and late arrivals tend to get bigger plates!

On the table:

Smoked Pork Chop 4.5/6

• Smoked Pork Chop with Bacon Braised Cabbage, Crisp Potatoes and Roasted Apple-Raisin Gastrique with 16 oz - Pint Orchard Hill Cider $15

• I liked the Roast Duck Leg better than this dish, although this one was still good.
• I was actually expecting a pork loin chop, but I guess at $15 I can’t expect that. I should have clued in when it said “smoked pork chop” because that means it was slowly cooked….which is usually a cheaper cut.
• The pork chop was I’m pretty sure a chump chop which tastes more like a ham than it does a pork chop. This was mainly due to the fact hat it was smoked as well. It was quite tender, relatively lean with some fat around the edges and cooked with the bone to retain juices and flavour.
• It’s a big slab of it and it’s a pretty cheap cut, but they didn’t do a bad job with it. By slowly smoking it they were able to get a nice smokey flavour with a slight sweetness throughout the meat.
• The apple-raisin gastrique was very hickory in flavour but they needed much more of it. The raisins needed to be cooked longer because they weren’t as plump and juicy as I would like. It matched the pork chop really well, I just wish there was more of it or even if it was a bit more saucy than compote like.
• The bacon braised cabbage was the best thing on the plate! I could have eaten a whole bowl of it. It was almost like creamy garlic mashed potato cole slaw. It was sweet, salty and tasted like a scallop potato mash with braised cabbage and carrots. They definitely thickened this braised cabbage with some creamy mashed potatoes, it was so excellent!
• I think it was braised with a touch of vinegar and maybe even sour cream because there was a savoury tang to it. I mixed my apple-raisin gastrique into it and it was even better! The only thing is the bacon wasn’t crispy or cooked to enhance all the flavour it had to offer.
• The crisp potatoes were very crisp and dry. They were almost like crackers and they could have used more salt. I dipped these into my braised cabbage and that worked really well.
• The cider was a great match for the dish. It really brought out the apple flavour and enhanced the sweetness of the meat and their was a slight bitterness that was welcoming and not overpowering.
  

Dessert

• The available homemade desserts for the evening:
• Lemon Trifle
• Boston Cream Pie
  
• Chocolate Mousse
• To be honest, nothing seemed appealing except maybe the lemon trifle. I didn’t get to try it but I did get to try the Mud Pie.

Boston Cream Pie 1.5/6

• It didn’t look good and it also didn’t taste good.
• It was a very dry Boston cream cake with a very light and thin custard layer.
• It was more sponge cake then cream and looked like it had been sitting there.
• The chocolate glaze was hard and looked/tasted artificial.

Lemon Trifle

• Didn’t try it, bit Nicole liked it!

The Irish Heather GastroPub – Long Table Series

Restaurant: The Irish Heather GastroPub – Long Table Series

Cuisine: Pub food/Irish/West Coast
Last visited: December 22, 09
Area: Vancouver, BC (West End/Downtown)
210 Carrall Street

Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: n/a (only tried one thing)
Service: 3 (for Long Table Series event)
Ambiance: 5 (for Long Table Series event)
Overall: 5 (for Long Table Series event)

Additional comments:

• Irish cooking in Irish house with Irish people working
• Sister restaurant to Salt Tasting Room, Shebeen, & Salty Tongue
• Since 1997
• Classy pub with affordable food
• Homemade comfort food w/twist
• Handmade sausages
• Some fusion items or globally inspired twists
• Sandwiches made with bread from Vancouver’s local Terra Bakery
• Fine tuned menu
• Extensive beer and wine list
• Very popular Long Table Series offered – reservations required
• Vegetarian options available
• Casual, yet sophisticated
• Lively atmosphere
• 2 rooms – one brighter lighting the other darker
• Serves lunch and dinner

**Recommendation: Long Table Series

So I finally made it! I’ve wanted to try the Long Table Series at The Irish Heather for so long but it’s always sold out. Kim (I’m Only Here for the Food) planned another Vancouver food blogger social and this was the first one I attended. I’m also one of the newest “members” to join this community so I was really excited. At the Long Table Series with Kim and Anita (La Petite Foodie) whom I’ve dined with before, I was also introduced to Sherman (Sherman’s Food Adventures) and Jessica (Yum-O-Rama).

This review will only focus on The Irish Heather GastroPub’s Long Table Series. It was my first time visiting, so my review will be based on this event, as well as my roasted duck!

The Long Table Series is a concept The Irish Heather started in early June 09. It is a dinner event that runs throughout the year on every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday night. People are seated at a 40 ft communal wooden table and Chef Lee Humphries prepares a special dish for each night. It used to be $12 (taxes and gratuities not included) for a main course + alcoholic beverage (sponsored) but since then they have increased their pricing to $15 offering the same thing. It hasn’t affected them one bit and this ever so popular event is a guaranteed sell out every time. I would definitely do it again. For $15 and what you get…I’m game!

The Irish Heather kind of reminds me of The Hub, but fancier and more gourmet and more sophisticated. I only tried one thing, but the menu at The Irish Heather feels more creative just by looking at it. On a taste level, I would actually compare the dish to something from Les Faux Bourgeois…and I love that restaurant. Of course Les Faux Bourgeois is French and therefore finer tuned, but The Irish Heather was heartier and a bit more affordable. I still prefer Les Faux Bourgeois though.

Overall the Long Table Series felt like a gourmet cafeteria with the communal table and mass produced gourmet meal. That doesn’t sound very good, but it was very good. Very relaxed and casual, but you’ll probably still end up talking to the people you go with. I felt like Oliver Twist getting a meal from the Upper East Side.

On the table:

**Roast Duck Leg 5/6

• Roast Duck Leg With Colcannon Potatoes, Mushroom & Foie Gras Jus & 16 oz -Pint R&B Cream Ale $15
• This was pretty great. I mean for $15 I really won’t be too picky about it. It’s not fine dining, but it had the quality of casual fine dining.
• I don’t want to start off with a negative, but the first thing I noticed was that the duck didn’t have crispy skin. It was flavourful though with a simple seasoning of salt, pepper and some dried herbs.
• It was a whole duck leg and it was quite flavourful. It was quite tender and shredded away like dark meat chicken. I do prefer duck breast over the leg though, but I’d probably need to pay $5 more for that.
• Another thing I noticed was that it looked like everything was swimming in a pool of soup or ‘jus’. However not to worry, because at then end the cocannon potato mash soaks up everything. You won’t have a drop of au jus left.
• I could definitely taste the foie gras in the jus, but I could taste it more in the beginning. It kind of got lost as I kept eating it. They had cut up piece of foie gras, but I didn’t get many in mine. Maybe 4 small cubes, however the flavour was cooked into the jus. I would have preferred the foie gras to be seared too. It was soft and it should have had a crispy exterior…sounds like a small thing but it would have made a world of difference. The size and texture of it made it come off as an oyster mushroom, especially since they were cut to the same size...kind of a waste of foie gras.
• The mushrooms used were oysters, buttons, crimini and very few potobellos. It was mainly crimini mushrooms and they were all really plump and juicy and very sautéed and caramelized. The sweetness worked great with the natural sweetness duck has.
  
• The Colcannon potato is a really traditional Irish dish and I love that they used it as the side. It gave it that Irish flare I wanted from a traditional Irish pub. It’s basically and Irish version of mashed potatoes except they add roughly chopped sautéed cabbage to it and maybe some bacon. This one had no bacon though. It didn’t need it because there was already enough going on and it would have taken away from the foie gras taste.If anything it could have used more garlic and onions. I couldn't taste any.
• The colcannon potato was very starchy rather than creamy and I think he used a combination of Russet (baking) potatoes and maybe some Yukon Gold….but mainly Russet. I would have preferred all Yukon Gold potatoes or a combination of Yukon Gold and sweet potato becuase it would have went better with the duck. It was quite creamy and acted like a sponge for the au jus, but the texture was just very starchy. I liked the crunchiness of the cabbage to give the dish some texture. I could taste the foie gras flavour with the mushrooms, but when I ate it with the potato it got lost.
• Together everything was delicious. You just wanted to mix it all up. How can you really go wrong with mashed potatoes, duck, mushrooms, and foie gras jus? They also added some sautéed spinach to give it some colour. It was a gourmet version of meat and potatoes...and delicious sauteed veggies all in one. It's a very hearty and meaty dish. One of those dishes you could pair with beer or wine. It was soft, creamy, feel good gourmet comfort food…for $15!