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.   

Montreal Smoked Meat Vancouver Challenge: Dunn's Famous BC

Hello Vancity Girlfriends,

I have to say that after one year of being Vancity Girlfriends, we have talked and floated around so many ideas.  Too many to actually do.  Now tonight we finally got around to going to a place that's been on our "list" for a LONG time.  We wanted to try montreal smoked meat in Vancouver.   

That place is Dunn's Famous BC.  I remember that in the summer when they put out the giant pickle in front of Dunn's Famous restaurant, Carolyn texted me the photo of the funny pickle.  HINT HINT. 

When it was Dine Out Vancouver, Carolyn listed Dunn's Famous BC as one of the places we could go for the $18 Dine Out menu.  HINT HINT. 

Now it's March 2014 and we've FINALLY went to Dunn's Famous BC to try it out.  It's the first restaurant in our "Montreal Smoked Meat Vancouver Challenge" where we will try the different restaurants in Vancouver who serve Montreal smoked meats. 

When we walked in, we were greeted and quickly seated in the diner/pub style casual restaurant.  The server was quick to take our drink order and get us started.  We ordered the deep fried pickles as an appetizer which was a must-have for Carolyn.  She ordered the Smoked Meat Reuben sandwich with a Caesar salad and I ordered the Smoked Meat sandwich served with Dunn's poutine.  Both sandwiches came with a pickle and cole slaw on the side.

Deep Fried Pickles

Dunn's Poutine with Smoked Meat

Smoked Meat Reuben Sandwich

Smoked Meat Sandwich

I should always listen to Carolyn because after a year of longing to go to Dunn's Famous BC, she definitely knew what menu to select.  The deep friend pickles with the tangy sauce were excellent.  At first the idea may surprise you but the taste of the deep friend pickles were perfect, not too greasy, and a nice pickle crunch.  The tangy sauce also added to the flavor. 

The Dunn's poutine which was not bad but I thought the smoked meat would be fresh instead of fried.  Even though the fried smoked meat on top of the poutine gave it a different texture, it didn't add much to the flavor.  Next time, I would order the poutine Quebecois style without the crunchy smoked meat.

My smoked meat sandwich had nice tender hearty smoked meat.  It was a good sandwich but since I was sitting across Carolyn and her smoked Reuben sandwich which looked like a triple decker smoked meat sandwich, I really wish I had ordered the Reuben sandwich. 

Of course, Carolyn did her homework the Smoked Reuben sandwich is what Dunn's Famous BC is famous for.  It was so hearty that she could only finish half a sandwich and brought the other half home. 

Overall, the food was good with a nice casual atmosphere and good service.  I would return again but I'd listen to Vancity Girlfriend Carolyn and order the deep fried pickles with the Smoked Reuben Sandwich. 

Dunn's Famous BC Website

Enjoy!  We'll be back with another Montreal Smoked Meat Vancouver Challenge hopefully sometime in 2014.  No promises though since it took us a year to get to Dunn's Famous BC and I want to return to taste the Smoked Meat Reuben!