Pourhouse
St. Patrick’s Day was a really busy night downtown, and not a place to be for a party of 11 with no reservations. Our party grew throughout the night, and what started as 8 turned into 11. There was no way we were going to get a place together at a reasonable time. That being said, Pourhouse was able to accommodate us, although way later than we had hoped. They did their best to fit us all together though.
I first learned about Pourhouse from a Van Food Tour. Ever since them, I love to visit this place for a quick sazerac when I’m out in Gastown. This is the first time I was actually able to try the food (besides having a charcuterie plate). Sure we waited a long time, but waits were long everywhere, and they were actually able to seat us in the main dining area – with all 11 of us together.
I ordered the bacon mac and cheese to start, and the braised beef as my main. My friends ordered a bunch of different things – burgers, steak frites, grilled cheese and cauliflower soup, duck terrine, spaghetti and meatballs, and ling cod.
The bacon mac and cheese was pretty good. They used a really different kind of pasta, which was really good at holding the really creamy sauce. It was nice and rich the way I liked it, and the bacon added a nice smokiness. One of the better mac & cheese dishes I’ve had. The braised beef was really tender, and served with an egg noodle with sour cream and mushrooms. The egg noodles were kind of soft. Not that much texture to them, but very nice and creamy, a bit sour, with some earthy mushrooms in there. Very rich and a good accompaniment to the braised beef.
Most of the food looked really good. The Grilled Cheese was really buttery, definitely something I would have liked, and the soup was really creamy. The Duck Terrine was delicious, and something my friend wasn’t expecting. He also enjoyed the ling cod, but wasn’t a big fan of the white beans, but everyone else loved them. I heard the Steak Frites wasn’t that good though. It was swimming in a lot of sauce, and was quite fatty.
We also got a few desserts – the cookies, brownie, and a tart. The cookies were really warm, soft, and moist. Really good. Didn’t get to try the others.
Sadly no green beer or Guinness can be found here.
Pourhouse
162 Water St
Vancouver, BC
(604) 568-7022
http://www.pourhousevancouver.com/
