Thursday 7 June 2018

'Appy Hour at The Flying Pig (Olympic Village)

B and I have been on a Happy Hour binge lately. Our latest visit was to The Flying Pig, where we've been for brunch and dinner before. It's always been solid: good service and good food.


It's amazing how different food is when served at Happy Hour and at Dinner. When we visited during Dinner, the Truffled Jumbo Macaroni was delicious and left you wanting more. During Happy Hour, it was bland and average. There was a good amount of it though, so you'll definitely be full.


B liked the Beef Carpaccio, but I thought the greens on top made it too bitter and overpowered the flavour from the beef.


I don't know why I keep doing this, but it's never a good deal to order a Meat & Cheese Board at a restaurant unless you know they cure their own meats. Based on the selection, I would've been better off going to Costco and getting a variety pack.


The Beef Short Rib Croquette was fine. I actually thought we ordered the Mac n' Cheese Bites from Dubh Linn Gate because the texture of the Croquettes were gooey and not meaty at all.


When these P.E.I. Mussels arrived, B's first words were "This must be the smallest serving of mussels I've ever seen." One of them was closed too, so we couldn't eat it. But we got 2-3 each. They were fine, we were just disappointed that they didn't catch the closed (dead) one.

Overall, we think Brunch and Dinner is good at The Flying Pig, but wouldn't return for Happy Hour.


The Flying Pig Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Monday 4 June 2018

Rustique Bistro

For dinner on the second night, we were originally going to go to Tuscany, but was told nothing was available for two people. I didn't really want to eat pasta anyway, so we decided to go to Rustique.

As we've been drinking beer all day, we weren't really hungry, so we ordered an appetizer and a main dish to share.


For appetizer, we ordered the French Paté. As you can see, it's quite obvious that they had store-bought paté, which is kind of disappointing. Don't get me wrong, I love the Freybe paté that you can find at local grocery stores, but if you're going to be an upscale restaurant, you should make your own paté.


For the main, we ordered the Bouillabaisse. I would never normally order Bouillabaisse because I'm not a fan of tomato soup. But we saw another couple eating mussels and clams and really enjoying the sauce, so I thought they ordered the Bouillabaisse and was really enjoying it. I was wrong. They ordered the daily special, was which a seafood salad.

The Bouillabaisse was not a good dish at all. The tomato broth was bland, the vegetables undercooked, the potatoes overcooked, the shellfish gritty, and the cod was so rubbery neither of us got past the first bite. The only thing I liked was the bread on top. This restaurant has a 4.5/5 star rating on Google, but if it weren't on Bowen Island, it'd probably be more like a 1/5 star rating.


Rustique Bistro Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Doc Morgan's Pub & Restaurant

For lunch on the second day, we were still quite full from the breakfast, so first we went to Bowen Island Pub to get a couple pints then, we went to Doc Morgan's for another beer and appetizers if we felt like eating.

One thing we noticed about Doc Morgan's is that it's the only restaurant so far that had good service. The server was attentive and on the ball. If you make eye contact, they will acknowledge you. We went to the Bowen Island Pub, the service was horrendous. You try to make eye contact with the server, and you do, but then she just walks off and you can't order or ask for anything.

We started with two beers and then we noticed all the other guests ordering the Famous Wings. We decided we also had to try it, if everyone else was. We ordered the Honey Garlic wings.


B was skeptical at first - just because you call something famous, doesn't make it good. But he admitted he was wrong after taking a bite. We think it must have been cooked over a flame, because the skin had that crispy exterior of a flame-cooked wing. The sauce was real honey and garlic, not some pre-made sauce. There were also huge chunks of blue cheese in the sauce. We were quite impressed.

Loved the service and the wings. We will definitely return if we ever come back to Bowen Island.


Doc Morgan's Restaurant & Pub Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

The Snug Café

For breakfast the morning after we arrived we went to The Snug Café, again because of the good ratings and the because it was actually open for breakfast. It was really busy, full of people who are trying to catch a bite before the ferry. We were told we would wait 20 minutes for our breakfast.


After all the meat I've been eating, I thought I'd go with the Buttered Spinach Eggs Benedict. That was a mistake. Hollandaise sauce is buttery to begin with, so spinach drenched in butter shouldn't be offered as an option. The butter in the spinach was very overwhelming, to the point I couldn't even taste the lemon juice in the sauce. Everything just tasted like butter.

The potatoes on the side were kind of mushy and didn't have the crispy edges that you look for in hashbrowns. The egg was cooked well though, and still runny.

B ordered the Full English Breakfast, which included two eggs, hashbrowns, toast, and a choice of sausage, bacon, ham or roasted tomato & mushrooms. B asked for his eggs cooked sunny side up and chose bacon. B didn't like his breakfast at all. He said the toast was not toasted, the bacon overcooked, and the eggs not cooked consistently (one was runny, one was not).

Overall, it did the job, but we didn't want to return the next day. We decided we'd rather wait and go to Starbucks after taking the ferry back to Vancouver.


The Snug Cafe Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Barcelona Tapas & Wine Bar

This past weekend, we went to Bowen Island for a weekend getaway. We decided to go to Barcelona because it was well reviewed and opened late. We tried a couple Spanish beers, a few of the tapas, and one large plate.


I had the Alhambra, which is a pale lager, and B had the Estrella Damm Barcelona, which is also a lager. Both were fine lagers and solid house beers.


The Lengua de Res (beef tongue) came first. The beef itself wasn't very flavourful but was tender and had good mouth feel. The alioli had strong onion flavour, but not in a bad way. The toast was a little burnt and very noticeably bitter.


Next came the Chipirones a la Plancha (baby squid), which was fine. The squid didn't have the crunch that fresh squid normally has and the peppers lacked flavour, but the dish as a whole worked well together and B really enjoyed it.


The last tapas we ordered was the Atún y Romesco en Pan (albacore tuna), which was pretty good. If we had to be picky, we would ask that the bread be toasted.


For the large plate, we ordered the Filete de Flanco con Mojo Verde (flank steak). I didn't research what mojo verde was, and just assumed it was some kind of green herby sauce. It was minty, which threw me off. I'm not a big fan of mint in anything except for cocktails or toothpaste, so I didn't really like the sauce, but B liked it. Once I scraped the sauce off, the steak itself was cooked to a perfect medium rare. It was tender for a flank steak and well seasoned. The accompanying brussel sprouts and potatoes were very buttery and salty, but I couldn't stop eating them.

Overall, we had a good experience. With the limited choice on the island, we would return if we're in Snug Cove again.


Barcelona Tapas & Wine Bar Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato