Memphis Blues

Howdy blues brothers and sisters, it's been awhile since Michael and I have gone out to dine because we feel that our restaurant ideas are becoming  real stale lately. We past by Memphis Blues on the busy streets of Granville and Broadway. I have heard of this place once from a gal pal of mine, they claim they have gotten a lot of recognition for their meaty goodness.

Memphis Blues is located at 1465 West Broadway in Vancouver. When we walked in there was a strong smell of barbecue sauce, I think that would be a good thing since Im sure down south people really love their barbecue ribs. There was a lot of blues music type of theme happening in the restaurant, a lot of Southern pride thats for sure. Michael and I was really confused when we were ready to order, it turns out that we had to walk up to the counter to order and pay and someone will bring our food to the table afterwards.
 

BBQ Pit Wings

I wasn't sure I think maybe because everything was just smoked or barbecued. I think Michael was a little torn with choices as well. He started off with the BBQ Pit wings ($8.50) , which I also munched from of course. We both agree that the chicken wings were fried too long, leaving little amounts of juice in the chicken, but the the bright side was that the seasoning for the wings were pretty nice.  It had a herby, salty, and sugary sweetness which I thought it was unique taste to fried wings.

Oyster Po'Boy with fries

 I have been craving for an oyster burger so I decided to get the oyster po'boy ($9.95), it was suppose to be served with beans and coleslaw, but I'm not a beans kind of gal, so I substituted for fries instead. My thoughts on the po'boy is pretty mixed. I think the cook didn't go far enough with pimping out the sandwich with a lot of rowdy ingredients in there because the main focus is the oyster. So it was just tomatoes and lettuce and I believe some sort of ranch dressing sauce. My first few bites in to the oyster I thought, hey this sandwich isn't all that bad, the oyster was lightly battered and fried and the bun was soft. But when I got to the core of the oyster,  it was too much oyster flavour  for me to handle, lets just say I can still taste the sea. It was a little too much. My fries, on the other hand, was probably the best highlight of my dish. It was seasoned nicely exactly how the fried chicken were but towards the I think the seasoning got to heavy with heat that my lips were going to burn off. But other than that very strong flavours!

Rib Ends Sandwich with salad

Michael on the hand got the rib ends sandwich with greens ($9.95). He substituted his side for a salad which I also got to taste, it was accompanied with a vinaigrette, I for one love my vinegar, for those who don't me I LOVE vinegar, but this vinaigrette was too strong for me. I just cringed when I tried and I got that unappealing scratchy feeling on my teeth. Yikes! Michael thought his sandwich was a little too dry as well. He thought the BBQ flavour was overpowering and he finished his coke and another glass of water before he was halfway done his sandwich.

On an unrelated note, Michael and I think Memphis Blues need a better ventilation system in the restaurant. It got so smokey in there I felt like I couldn't breath. We left the restaurant with that unappealing smokey after smell of the restaurant on our clothes. Both Michael and I are pretty sure we won't be returning to Memphis Blues anytime soon, there is nothing too special to their menu and we're not sure where all its recognition comes from. 


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Lickerish

Whip that whip, that Lickerish whip! It was our last Dine Out restaurant and we ended up going to Lickerish located at 903 Davie St. in downtown Vancouver. I always go past this place and I thought it looked like a fancy restaurant. When Michael and I went in, my first thoughts was "did I just end up on Sunset Strip?"

The lounge/restaurant was rather small and felt very cramped since there were only a few seats laid out on the first level. It had a bar appeal to it with sports channel playing in the corner. I did enjoy the funky and colourful pictures of Michael Jackson and Tupac. There was an upstairs to the place as well, with maybe six or small eight tables from what we saw.

Shanghai meatballs

Michael and I were drawn to the restaurant because their Dine Out menu seemed fun, casual, and of course it was part of the $18 menu. I must say I was pretty hungry when I got to Lickerish and I just wanted to order my food. For appetizers, I was contemplating between the Shanghai meatballs, which was dressed with their signature sweet and savoury Shanghai sauce, or the pistachio crusted brie with a crusted baguette with a strawberry butter sauce. Since I already had my eye on something cheesy for my entree, I went with the meatballs and Michael went with the brie and baguette. I thought the meatballs were just slightly dry and I needed more sauce to moisturize the meatball.

Brie and baguette

As for the sauce, I felt that it wasn't anything "signature" about it because it tasted exactly like Hong Kong barbecue pork. Michael also felt the same about the sauce as well. Michael the kind boyfriend he is, let me try the wonderful brie and baguette. I thought the baguette was lightly toasted and was perfect because I hate it when baguettes scratch the roof of my mouth. As for the pistachio crusted brie, I thought the brie tasted fine but a tad on the bland side. The pistachio crust wasn't very crunchy I felt, but the creaminess of the cheese had a really nice pairing surprisingly with the strawberry butter, with the creaminess and sweet tang from the strawberry was a pairing I never thought I would have liked. Michael loved every bite of it.

Mac & cheese

Entrees, as I mentioned earlier, I was saving myself for something cheesy of course it was mac and cheese. I just couldn't resist it, this cheesy dish was made pretty traditionally but there were tomato bits in there. I thought it was very interesting to have a touch of diced tomatoes with the cheesy pasta. It was a nice surprise. The dish was sprinkled with panco and parmesan on top. It was additionally perfect because it was oven baked and made the panco extra crunchy. I feel overall with the mac and cheese, even though there was so much cheese happening, the sauce underneath the baked panco and parmesan was a lighter cheese sauce and wasn't overwhelming at all. I would love to eat this cheesy delight again.

Cajun chicken taco pizza

Michael got the Cajun chicken taco pizza, just like a regular would be there was lettuce tomatoes, sour cream, onions, cheese, with a house made chipotle sauce and chicken. Michael thought the pizza had a nice crunchy crust and that there was plenty of chicken to enjoy. He especially liked dipping the pizza in the sour cream.

Cookies and cream

For dessert, I chose the cookies and cream option. I thought the cookie was very chocolatey and soft like a brownie. It was nice and chewy and it balanced out with the creaminess of the vanilla ice cream. But I did think the cookie was a bit hot, so it actually melted some of the ice cream. They also added whipped cream on the side, that was a nice bonus.

Deep fried Mars Bar

Michael thought the deep fried Mars Bar was a little too sweet for his liking. He didn't expect the ice cream and thought that was a good alternative. He only had a few bites of his Mars Bar though.

Now that I've finally experienced Lickerish, I feel that it doesn't deviate much from the standard bar and lounge food, like a place to drink beer and eat some wings. It would be fun to go when your wanting a good time with your friends, but if your looking for a place to spend a good Valentine's Day with a loved one, this is somewhere I wouldn't want to go.

On a side note, last week I had mentioned that I'm going to another Dine Out with a gal pal, we went to The Fishhouse tucked in the famous Stanley Park. I just had to mention this. The Fishhouse was on the $38 menu, I ordered the halibut with a pomme croquette served on the side. I felt since it is frowned upon for me to talk about my dining experiences that I didn't share with Michael, this pomme croquette needed a good recognition. The fried crunchy on the house and fluffy potatoes on the inside, it wasn't heavily seasoned the chef just let the natural flavours of the potatoes comes through. A toast to that!

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Burnaby Riverway Clubhouse

It's that time year again friends, Vancouver Dine out! Michael and I both think we have a love-hate relationship with Dine Out. We love it because we get to discover other restaurants in the city we didn't know existed. But we sometimes feel that not all the restaurants are giving the "great deal" as they make it seem. Some people automatically go for the $38 menu and don't give the little unknown guy a chance, because they instantly feel their getting a bargain deal with the name brands. But I hate to break it to those people, you're not necessarily getting great food for the money you're paying.

Michael and I are doing two $18 menu and our first stop was Burnaby River Clubhouse. I love going to Burnaby other than just going to Metrotown, it reminds me of the good old days when I use to hang out at my fabulous wonderful aunt's apartment. The restaurant was at a golf course and when we first arrived we weren't sure what to do because no one came to greet us. When we finally sat down at our table, their menu was a little confusing at first because there was a three course meal with individual prices but the bottom said $18 for the tasting menu. Seemed strange it wasn't a completely separate Dine Out menu.

The dining area was pretty big with a gorgeous chandelier hanging in the middle room. There were big windows that you could see the golf field, or so I think since we there in the night time. But I am sure it would have been a nice view to dine to. They were also playing black and white movies which I loved.

Braised short rib poutine

For starters I had the root beer braised short rib poutine with white cheddar curds and beef gravy. My first bite in the french fries was fantastic. The fries were seasoned with salt and pepper and topped with a coat of light gravy to help everything go down smoothly. The cheddar was of course cheesy but I have to say I don't think there was enough of those bad boys. As for the short rib, at least one of us liked it,  I gave everything to Michael, I felt there was too much of a strong taste of the beef and I just couldn't handle it. Michael thought the short rib tasted like a pot roast and it was very juicy and tender. He thought the flavours were strong but it wasn't too overpowering.

Watermelon carpaccio with crispy chicken

For Michael's appetizer, he got the watermelon carpaccio with crispy chicken, sesame seed, with a sweet and sour chilli glaze. Michael thought the chicken was reminded him of Taiwanese style fried chicken but tasted better and a lot less greasy than the chicken we usually order at bubble tea cafes in Richmond. It was definitely done professionally.

Arctic char

For entrees I got the Pan seared arctic char with roasted red peppers risotto cake, served with spinach on the side and a citrus infused honey and cilantro coulis for a little pizzaz on the plate decor. I thought the Arctic char may have been left on the stove for a little too long. I thought the fish was on the rather dry side. But I did manage to get in a few juicy parts of the fish but not too much. The risotto cakes were roasted alright, it was rather chewy and hard than soft and I didn't taste any peppers despite the red colour of the entire cake.

Filet mignon

Michael had the bacon wrapped filet mignon with pan seared polenta, I had a taste of Michael's polenta and I thought it was very chewy and not crispy at all, like as if it was had been sitting out for awhile. But Michael thought his filet mignon was perfectly cooked. Every bite was delicious and he said he felt that he got a lot of value with this restaurant. On the menu it said the regular price for the filet mignon was only $16. It comes with two pieces and a small serving of veggies. The meat was perfectly cooked, he enjoyed every bite.

Marshmallow bread pudding

Last but not least we had dessert. I had the marshmallow bread pudding served with a hazelnut chocolate sauce and vanilla gelato, I have actually never had bread pudding, and it tasted exactly like what I thought it would be. Tasted like sweet clumpy bread. I'm not sure if that is what bread pudding should taste like but I didn't like it but I didn't hate it. I thought the sweet factor was just right. It went really nice together with the ice cream because it balanced out with hot and cold and the vanilla added some creamy texture to the bread.

White chocolate panna cotta

Michael had the white chocolate panna cotta, it was his first time eating a panna cotta as well, I for one isn't a fan of panna cotta. Michael thought the panna cotta was a little too sweet for his liking with the white chocolate but the portion was perfect.

I would love to come back to the Riverway clubhouse, it seems like its a casual chic place to dine out, the environment is very laid back. Michael and I really enjoyed ourselves when we were there. I am excited to do take 2 with Michael and see what the other restaurant has to offer. But a part from Michael, I am going with a fellow gal pal of mine at a restaurant that Michael and I visited awhile back thats tucked in Stanley park.

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