Story: Ian Boothby
Inks/Pencils: Toren Atkinson
Colour: Tanya Lehoux
Letters: Christopher Barrett
Toren's Resto Rants vol 7: Tap & Barrel
They have so many beers here! Are the beers good? I’ll never know because I don’t drink beer.
“The Original” Tap & Barrel
Their blurb: “Our commitment to creating our food from scratch is also paramount to our food philosophy. From the tartar sauce to the craft beer cheddar sauce, to the red wine and onion gravy our cooks make these ingredients daily to help us create dishes that taste authentic and not out of the box.”
Address: 1 Athletes Way, Olympic Village, Vancouver
Phone: 604.685.2223
Open 7 days a week 11am to “Late”
Weekend & Holiday Brunch: 10am – 3pm
When I visited: weekday lunch
Booths? No
Noisy? Yes but mostly human noise rather than music.
Lives up to its name? Yes, our server tapped out and had us over a barrel.
Candies with your bill? Damn I forget.
They have two patios! Whoopee for them! They serve most of their food on those wooden pizza boards which I’m sure have a name but who cares? Are they more sanitary than ceramic plates? I’ll never know. I had the cobb salad and it was so-so. The chicken especially was chewy and lackluster. I’ve eaten other things here once or twice in the past – probably a burger – and don’t remember it being stellar so I have to say that the food is okay but slightly overpriced. Also the tables are a bit rickety.
Lastly, their website is a chore to navigate. Less is more “TO”T&B! Less is more.
Biggest Rave: They have some ocean wise seafood options and proper desserts.
Biggest Rant: Of all the many tables open, the server seated us at a table that was half in the sun and half in the shade. As the sunlight began to consume the entire table and we had been left to our own devices for some time (it wasn’t busy so I had to wonder what he was up to) we tried to move a giant umbrella over our table ourselves. No luck with that so when the server finally came back he moved us to another table. Then we got to watch him and two other staff members try to move an umbrella over that previous table, with limited success, and obviously inconveniencing the neighboring table. Also – open 11am to “Late?” What the damn is “late?” Is it 11pm? is it 1am? Is it 3am? What happens if I try to schedule my life with actual numerical time? I guess I shouldn’t count on you.
Enjoyed this review? Check out all my Vancouver restaurant reviews at http://www.thickets.net/toren/category/resto-rants/
Toren's Resto Rants vol 6: Caffe Barney
This seems like a decent place to go to drink alcohol. I don’t really drink alcohol.
Caffe Barney
Their blurb: No website = no blurb. Sad for them.
Address: 2526 Main St, Vancouver, BC
Phone: (604) 568-0426
Sunday through Monday: 9am to midnight
Friday and Saturday: 9am to 1am
When I visited: Lunch
Booths? No
Noisy? Kind of.
Lives up to its name? I did not see Barney.
Candies with your bill? No!
I have been here at least two times. Despite the fact that it’s not a large joint I have never had a problem getting seated – maybe I just arrived at opportune times (like on a Wednesday at 11:45am). I have ordered the nachos which were decent and I have ordered the “Bobb Cobb.” I don’t know why it’s called the Bobb Cobb. Did Bobb make it? Does Bobb really have an extra ‘b’ at the end? Does it stand for ‘bargain?’ Anyway, the food is decent enough. The prices aren’t bad. The ambience is fine and I didn’t recall any loud or horrible music so that’s a plus. They have a front patio. I saw on another review they have a back patio but I never went back there. The servers were friendly enough but they were not very attentive – this seems to be a common complaint here.
Biggest Rave: Brunch until 4pm! Yeah!
Biggest Rant: The server didn’t ask if we wanted the bill split before she brought it, then had to take it back to split it. Then when she came back she let half of my party pay for the bill (me) but then walked away for several minutes leaving my associate waiting and wondering if she would be back. I took the opportunity to pet a dog. The dog was nice-looking but could have been friendlier. 3/5 for the dog.
Enjoyed this review? Check out all my Vancouver restaurant reviews at http://www.thickets.net/toren/category/resto-rants/
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