Queens Cross Pub: No one was cross after this meal!

Last day of clinical of the year! To celebrate both our clinical groups gathered at a nearby pub for some grub, good times, and bittersweet farewells. Everyone want a few drinks to celebrate the end of the term, and they offered a good selection of alcoholic drinks =)











Restaurant: Queens Cross Pub (visit their website here)

Location: 2899 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver
Cuisine: Pub food, American
Price range: $15-$ 20 for food, drinks not included




Date of visit: November 28, 2014
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4/5
Food variety: 3/5
Food quality: 4/5
Buck worthy? 4/5

I must say, their menu was not the most extensive, but their drinks menu WAS. Everyone got a good few drinks in as I scarfed down food instead =D We were seated upstairs and it was a cute place-- very British and old, homey feeling. Besides the sun reflecting into our eyes and blinding us, it was spacious and comfortable for a group like ours. Sun Bean ordered their Queens Deluxe Beef Burger ($16.00) and look at the size of that monster! I believe she said it was quite tasty. The fries had everyone mesmerized though, because they had a bit of batter on them which made them extra crispy?

I ordered a Seafood Linguine ($16.00) which came with garlic bread. It was delicious, crispy, moist, chewy garlic bread. Or I was really hungry. Either way, the highlight was the pasta. It was a bit on the oily side, but pasta was cooked al dente and the sauce stuck to the pasta perfectly. Seasoned well, I found the flavors complimented each other well with the sunflower seed pesto and sundried tomatoes. It contained cod, salmon, mussels, and prawns. The cod was probably frozen for too long, it was quite tough. Salmon was scattered here and there. Two mussels and two prawns. The prawns were the best =) Crunchy and fresh. Mussels were fresh too, however, one was undercooked =(

They also have a special, if you check in on Yelp, you get a free dessert! I took advantage of this opportunity of course, being the glutton I am xD Sadly, they didn't have the Chocolate Coffee Cheesecake ($7.00) because the cheesecake was apparently too frozen. It sounded succulent. I settled for their Ice Cream Sandwich ($6.00) instead. This was vanilla ice cream nestled between two freshly baked cookies, topped with whipped cream and drizzled with chocolate syrup. Sun Bean had 1/6 of it and thought it was way too sweet and rich. I finished the rest, all the while wishing there was more ice cream between the cookies. The cookies were soft and moist, a bit messy with the chocolate sauce. I felt the chocolate chips were a nuisance though because they were so hard.

Overall I enjoyed my visit here, the food prices are reasonable for the quantity and quality you get. The waitress was also very helpful and friendly. Spacious but homey feeling-- they even had an old video game machine =D JW had their Yorkshire pudding, it was gigantic and looked delicious! Might try it if I'm in the area again!

The Factory: Great quality for $4.95!

Planned to go somewhere for dinner before a movie, turned out they didn't have their specials anymore and The Factory was closer than The Famous Warehouse, so I walked in to grab seats!

Restaurant: The Factory

Location: 1017 Granville Street, Vancouver
Cuisine: Pub food, international, tapas
Price range: $10-15





Date of visit: October 28, 2014
Atmosphere: 3/5
Staff/service: 4/5
Food variety: 3/5
Food quality: 4/5
Buck worthy? 5/5

Not very busy for 5pm on a Tuesday night but the staff were attentive and helpful. I remember they used to have all food items for $5.95, guess they changed it? It's now $4.95! I sat alone eating three dishes (thinking others would arrive earlier), looked like a girl who just got dumped and was binge eating haha =P Anyhow! I got their Pesto Linguine ($4.95) which was quite large. I enjoyed the creamy pesto they chose to use topped with some fresh tomatoes, bacon, and Parmesan cheese. It was nice and herby but didn't feel oily. Pasta was al dente too!

Next on my table was their Poutine ($4.95). Basically a lot of fries topped with gravy, cheese, and bacon (bacon makes everything better). The fries were crispy and hot, moist on the inside. Cheese was softer than I like (not the squeaky eraser cheese in traditional poutines) and the bacon was just there. However the gravy was nice and light, complimented the dish well.

Finally, as I continued to eat alone with my table of food, their Factory Burger ($4.95) arrived. Waiter was totally understanding and actually informed me I could get them to reheat the food when others arrived and didn't discriminate that loner girl in the corner was binging on three dishes. The burger patty was all beef, thickness of a quarter-pounder at McDonald's. Typical burger with lettuce, cheese, bun, and tomato (plus sauce), it was quite wholesome. Came with a side of fries.




Overall I enjoyed my visit, I feel the food is at par or even better than The Famous Warehouse down the street, more variety and yummier fries =P So if you're looking for cheap eats, this is a good option!

The Morrissey Pub, Vancouver: Burger week contestant!

Tried to be a good foodie and join in on the festivities! Burger week 2013 is Sept 1-7, hopefully some of you got to try some amazing burgers on discount this week! =D

Restaurant: The Morrissey Pub (visit their website here)
Location: 1227 Granville Street, Vancouver
Cuisine: Pub Food, Burgers, Drinks
Price range: $15-20

Date of visit: September 6, 2013
Atmosphere: 4.5/5
Staff/service: 5/5
Food variety: 2/5
Food quality: 4.75/5
Buck worthy? 4/5

The burger they entered for the burger week contest is the Lamb Royal ($10). It came with either fries or a salad, and I chose the salad option, since SexyNapkins ordered fries =P. First off, I must say the burger was ginormous. I couldn't fit it in my mouth! The deep fried eggplant added another layer to the whole burger, but it was a great addition! The lamb was so fragrant and lamby I loved it. The eggplant added some crisp and juice to make it less dry, without being overwhelming with the flavor. The bun itself was quite chewy (which I really like) and moist (not in a bad way). The salad itself was pretty good too, pieces were a bit large to fit nicely, would've been better if they had chopped it into smaller pieces =) It was smothered in a zesty vinaigrette.

SexyNapkins ordered their Morrissey Burger ($13) and it too, was HUGE! It looked super juicy and she said it was delicious. A bit more messy than mines because of the sauces, but worth it =) The fries were crispy and packed full of potatoey goodness. Nothing super exceptional, but they were made well.

I felt the ambiance and feel of the pub was very cozy and a great place for a relaxing evening of girl talk ;) Waitresses were very friendly, and I felt really comfortable there (even though I was messily eating a burger).

So adorable how she drew hearts around our totals <3 May try to get a foodie event to happen here! -- Sorry for the bad quality of pics, it was sort of dark in there! However, it didn't give me a dirty feeling as do many dimly lit establishments, which is a pro! =D

Munchie Adventure: Professor Mugs (BCIT), Burnaby

Having a long lunch break today, decided to pop in here to try their lunch =) Also brought my shadow student, PK, along, hopefully she enjoyed the tour of BCIT =D

Restaurant: Professor Mugs Pub (visit their website here)
Location: 3700 Willingdon Ave, Burnaby (in the Grand Hall building of BCIT)
Cuisine: Pub food, burgers, salads, pasta
Price range: $15+

Date of visit: March 28, 2013
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4.5/5
Food variety: 3/5
Food quality: 3/5
Buck worthy? 2/5

Not being a bread person, I veered away from the burgers and ordered a Mediterranean Linguini ($10.75). This is what PK ordered too ^^ The linguini itself was al dente, and the sauce was nicely seasoned, a good portion size to boot =) Too many olives for my liking, but they're good for me, so I finished them off. However, that chicken WAS SO DRY. I felt like I was eating cardboard, literally. Thankfully there was so much sauce I dipped the chicken to help moisten it a bit. Chicken was definitely disappointing, too charred as well =(
Garlic bread was very good, not too buttery/oily =D

AL got a half order of Caesar Salad ($4.50) with the dressing on the side, and it was big! Wonder what the size of the normal is =O Looked fresh and had the right ingredients, good choice to have the dressing on the side, so it's not overwhelming and to your personal taste!

She also ordered a 1/2 lbs of sweet chili wings ($5.00). These looked like a decent size, but sadly I was too full to stuff any in me to try =(

Overall my experience was good, but I'm not quite satisfied with their quality of food. Or perhaps its just not to my tastes. I'd come here for games of pool, but no more of that dry chicken please xD

Munchie Adventure: St. James' Well, Port Moody

After an early morning shift at the hospital with my lovely clinical mates, we decided to go out for a fannncy nice lunch =) When we got there it was around 2, not many people inside...

Restaurant: St. James' Well (visit their website here)
Location: 248 Newport Drive, Port Moody
Cuisine: Pub, Western
Price range: $10+




Date of visit: March 26, 2013
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4/5
Food variety: 4.5/5
Food quality: 3.5/5
Buck worthy? 3/5

I was  excited to try their ginormous platter of food that AL and KS mentioned  about sharing during their last visit! Glad I split this with DM and ADi, cuz I was really stuffed after =)

It was called the St. James' Well Platter ($28.00). Although it looks small in the picture, the diameter of that platter was around 16 inches! Just gonna break down this platter into smaller bits (except for the carrot and celery sticks, those were just cut up and put on the platter):

Chicken wings (1 lbs): We got the sweet chili, and it was quite chili! But delicious =) Although I must say, these wings are quite average, they've just met the standard.

Lamb sliders (x3): Quite good, sauces were too overwhelming, ruined the texture. Otherwise good bun-to-patty ratio. Props for the nice assembly, I was happy =)

Chicken strips (x3): These were pretty good, very fresh for sure. Tender, but average juiciness levels. Accompanied by honey mustard sauce (which had some curry in it) and a ranch sauce I think? (I don't like sauces, so I just skipped out on them)

Stuffed potato skins (x4): Not bad, 5mm of potato on the skin, so it wasn't all skin, which I like. Topped with bacon and cheese, they were a bit cold and dry though.

Yorkshire pudding (x4) with dipping sauce: I've never had yorkshire pudding before, so nothing to compare it to. Just gotta say, don't like it that much. It was topped with this mustardy sauce, beef slices inside didn't seem to go well with the whole pastry, which in itself was sickening after the first few bites. But me being me, of course I finished it. The dipping sauce didn't help much either =(

KS ordered their St. James' Wells burger ($13.00) which came with yam fries. He said the burger was average, nothing special. The yam fries weren't bad, I had a few, again, just average.

Actually AL and KS ordered the platter and Poutine ($7.00), which ADe also ordered. The fries were soggy and the cheese was too melted, which isn't how we liked it. We like the cheese curds to be slightly melted with the gravy, not re-baked, which made the fries too overcooked and dry =(

Overall, the prices are decent, considering many pubs charge much more for their food. I didn't expect too much from them, so I wasn't that disappointed. I paid $13 for lunch-- and since it's a pub, that's not too bad. On the bright side, at least the food didn't taste too greasy (although I know it's just fat-loaded). I was full for the rest of the day! Probably won't see me back here again. Until next time!