Revel Room in Gastown
Someone tweeted that Revel Room had an amazing Macaroni and Cheese, so on our quest to find an unbelievably good Mac and Cheese we had to check it out. We have yet to find a Macaroni and Cheese that is packed with cheesy goodness that suits our tastes.
The place wasn’t very busy at 6PM on a Tuesday night, but for some reason it took a while to actually order our food. There weren’t that many people there. We got a few drinks to start. Sadly, although on the menu, they didn’t have the ingredients to make a sazerac, so I had to settle for a Mexican Herb Garden. My friends ordered the Southern Belle, and Secret Garden. Mine was definitely the worst, as the tequila was way too strong and overwhelming, and there was way too much salt on the rim. Pretty disgusting actually. My friends enjoyed each of their drinks.
We started off with the Chicken Wings, and the Grilled Baguette. For our entrees, Beipas ordered the Fried Chicken because it came with the Mac n Cheese, I ordered the Flat Iron Steak, and our friend got the Salmon. I probably shouldn’t have ordered the wings because it had the same corn meal breading as Beipas’ fried chicken. It was really crisp and not too oily. The wings came with a little bit of spice in the breading, but overall under seasoned. It came with a Revel Hot Sauce, which actually just tasted like a lighter and sweeter ketchup. Not much spice at all. The Grilled Baguette was really good though. It would have been better if it was just a little less toasted. It was a bit too crisp. The bread came with with a chipotle butter already spread on, with brie, and roasted red peppers on the side. All of the flavours and textures went very well together. A nice amount of salt and spice from the chipotle butter, creaminess from the soft brie, and bit of sweetness from the roasted red peppers. I’m going to try to make this at home.
Now onto our mains. My steak was a 7 oz. flat iron. I didn’t notice at the time, but after looking at the pictures, there was a cut in my steak, and quite a bit of blood that bled onto my mashed potatoes. Did they cut into my steak to check for the doneness? Well the they did cook it to medium rare, but noticed that the steak was still a bit tough, maybe due to the cut of the meat. It came with a red wine reduction sauce, and some grilled zucchini. Although I don’t normally like sauce with my steak, the sauce had a bit of BBQ flavour.
Beipas’ fried chicken had the same corn meal crust as the wings, but being that it was a chicken breast, it was a bit overcooked and dry in some places. We were excited when we saw the mac and cheese because it was a really big side. They used cavatappi for the pasta, and had a nice crust in the middle. The mac and cheese was very some reason a bit inconsistent. Some bites had some spice some didn’t. I probably took a 3-4 forkfulls before I felt any of the spice that Beipas and our friend tasted on their first bite. Also one time I picked up some pasta, and there was a lot of sauce dripping, very watery. As I ate more and more though, I enjoyed it more, but it still isn’t as cheesy as I really want mac and cheese to be. It was just better than the first few bites. It also came with some bacon-braised greens which she enjoyed the most. This was seriously intended to be a comfort food dish. The salmon was a overcooked in parts of the filet. The best part of it was the tropical fruit and chili salsa which was very fresh.
Revel Room has some good ideas on their menu, but it lacked proper execution. Our hunt for the perfect mac and cheese is still going. Maybe it doesn’t exist?
Revel Room
238 Abbott St
Vancouver, BC
(604) 687-4088
