Vancouver Restaurants: Tap and Barrel Pub

Hello Vancity Girlfriends,

Our night began with getting free tickets to the Christmas Market at Queen Elizabeth Park since I'm an Arts Club member.  The free tickets are only good for admission on Monday or Tuesday nights.  As I vaguely recall, last year when we was busy and we didn't know that we were VIP members.  This year I knew that we were VIP members and could go straight to the front of the line.  I forgot what it was like inside.  So I happily invited Carolyn to the Christmas Market this year because it was free and she agreed because she's a Vancity Girlfriend.  This year it seemed like everyone was waiting for this same exact day to go to the Christmas Market.   Imagine being on a cramped skytrain with nowhere to go but instead it's an outdoor cage.  There are lineups not just outside but inside as well.  It was at least twice as busy as last year.  I'm not sure if that's because it was the last Monday before Christmas.  We were like sardines in a can at the market the whole time we were there.  It was too packed to buy any tickets, food, or even walk.  That was enough for me to try to get through from the entrance to the exit door.  Phew!  How did I escape the zoo.  What a relief when we exited and were back on the street.  

Monday Sangaria Special - Red or White for $6 each

Luckily that was just the start of the night and we had also planned to go to Tap and Barrel Pub at the Vancouver Convention Center.  This truly was our main attraction of the night.  I had looked at Tap and Barrel's website before when I was researching wine flights but this time we went because of Carolyn's holiday gift card.  I love a good deal!  Even better when we are surprised with specials of the night.  Monday nights at Tap and Barrel have Sangarias on special for $6.  I got a white Sangaria and Carolyn got a red Sangaria.  Forget about wine flights when you can have Sangaria night.  The second special of the night was $10 pizzas because a football game was on TV (of course I'm not a sports fan so I didn't even know football was playing).  These specials made our ordering much easier.  Great!  We could share appetizers and pizza with our sangaria specials.  We ordered deep fried pickles and salmon tacos.  Perfect for the two of us!  

Tap and Barrel Lois Lake Steelhead Salmon Tacos

Tap and Barrel Appetizers - Deep Fried Pickles

Tap and Barrel Pizza - Pork Belly and Soft Egg

I loved our combination of drinks, appetizers, and pizza.  We were able to try a little bit of everything.  The shared tapas life of Tap and Barrel.  Tap and Barrel Daily drink specials are something to watch out for!  Wednesday Wine Flights are on special and Thursday Dark and Stormy Cocktails are on special.  The food specials occur when there are sports games such as football and hockey games.  In addition every night they have Happy Hour from 3-6pm.  With all of these great deals, Vancity Girlfriends will be sure to return to Tap and Barrel.