Ok, so I'm moving over to wordpress to a wackier and more wordy style. Instead of straight reviews it'll be a little more random and beer-y. Savvy? Go check it out at http://brendansbeeradventures.wordpress.com/
Also, I have a twitter account for it too!
https://twitter.com/BrendansBeerAdv
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Thursday, August 20, 2009
A split
I'm considering a split up and writing 2 blogs, one on beer in general, and one on Victoria Pubs. Would anyone read this if I were a little mire diligent on content?
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Bleh!
Hey, for all those out there in tube land. Reviews from Toronto and Langford are forthcoming once I regain internet health standards as set by myself. In other words, I'm a little under the weather and don't relish the thought of writing log pieces right now, but I know I should ince I have material.
BK
BK
Sunday, June 14, 2009
The Local Kitchen, Bar, Grill...food place in general, with beer...
The Local Kitchen is going to have to work hard to overcome the rep of the sites former tenet. The Garlic Rose was not a well respected joint, simply put.
However, under a totally different management team and owner, the only thing that seems to be the same is the location, which has always been awesome. At the bottom of Bastion Square, the Local Kitchen has a summer patio ripe for sunny days. Therefore it must be properly reviewed.
Don, of the Victoria Burger Blog and I checked out the sunshine soaked seats and went in on some pints and burgers for this one.
Overall, it has a fairly expected feel to it. It's one of those stereotypical west coast patios. There's a selection of local beers and domestics, but not a lot. The patio has no distinctive features other than it's location, which is the real selling point. The food was good and fresh. The service attractive and friendly. Everything is so...so normal. Outside it lacks that character that older places get.
To look at things a little more in depth is difficult. First off, we decided to sit outside, which was the obvious choice on a beautiful warm day. Traffic was a loud in nearby, but that's the trade off for the rays and people watching.
The music was good, no complaints there, a fun, selection while still being fairly chill.
The crowd was middle aged, and a couple families were even spotted.
It just lacked that certain something, but it's got a shot of being great.
So it has it's bases covered, but it needs to grow. Hopefully it passes the 4 year mark and continues on to gain some of that missing "it" factor, because right now it's just a nice place. Yeah, that's a bit of a backhanded compliment, but that's what it is.
The tourists probably love it.
Service - Friendly and Professional...and a little business like - 3.5
Beer Quality - All the standards, none of the flare - 3.5
Beer Price - Location has it's cost - 2.5
Food - It was good! - 4
Character - Maybe inside has more - 2
To be honest, it's hard to complain about a place that does things well, but...meh.
However, under a totally different management team and owner, the only thing that seems to be the same is the location, which has always been awesome. At the bottom of Bastion Square, the Local Kitchen has a summer patio ripe for sunny days. Therefore it must be properly reviewed.
Don, of the Victoria Burger Blog and I checked out the sunshine soaked seats and went in on some pints and burgers for this one.
Overall, it has a fairly expected feel to it. It's one of those stereotypical west coast patios. There's a selection of local beers and domestics, but not a lot. The patio has no distinctive features other than it's location, which is the real selling point. The food was good and fresh. The service attractive and friendly. Everything is so...so normal. Outside it lacks that character that older places get.
To look at things a little more in depth is difficult. First off, we decided to sit outside, which was the obvious choice on a beautiful warm day. Traffic was a loud in nearby, but that's the trade off for the rays and people watching.
The music was good, no complaints there, a fun, selection while still being fairly chill.
The crowd was middle aged, and a couple families were even spotted.
It just lacked that certain something, but it's got a shot of being great.
So it has it's bases covered, but it needs to grow. Hopefully it passes the 4 year mark and continues on to gain some of that missing "it" factor, because right now it's just a nice place. Yeah, that's a bit of a backhanded compliment, but that's what it is.
The tourists probably love it.
Service - Friendly and Professional...and a little business like - 3.5
Beer Quality - All the standards, none of the flare - 3.5
Beer Price - Location has it's cost - 2.5
Food - It was good! - 4
Character - Maybe inside has more - 2
To be honest, it's hard to complain about a place that does things well, but...meh.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Crap Beer
A few of my posts refer to crap beer. It's not to be mean, but some beer is just boring piss-water with a little ethanol to make you tipsy after awhile.
The main reason I don't like these beers is that they only serve to get a person drunk. There's no real enjoyment of a crafted drink, it's just a means to an end, and that's not what beer has been for thousands of years. It's been a too of culture generally. Yes, sometimes people got drunk and did stupid things, but most of the time it's a social thing.
Then you have these massive corporations take over the industry and change the game, making beer a vice, and on top of that, offer a low quality product.
Therefor, I call they're products crap beer, like Coors, Labatts and the others. They all have the same general properties. Light gold colour, weak bitter flavour and massive ad campaigns convincing people that COLDER beer is a good quality and UNIQUE beer is a non-issue.
So hopefully you'll now go out and convince your friends that they might actually like beer if they try something other than the genric tin can brands.
Yes I know there aluminium, but it rhymed.
The main reason I don't like these beers is that they only serve to get a person drunk. There's no real enjoyment of a crafted drink, it's just a means to an end, and that's not what beer has been for thousands of years. It's been a too of culture generally. Yes, sometimes people got drunk and did stupid things, but most of the time it's a social thing.
Then you have these massive corporations take over the industry and change the game, making beer a vice, and on top of that, offer a low quality product.
Therefor, I call they're products crap beer, like Coors, Labatts and the others. They all have the same general properties. Light gold colour, weak bitter flavour and massive ad campaigns convincing people that COLDER beer is a good quality and UNIQUE beer is a non-issue.
So hopefully you'll now go out and convince your friends that they might actually like beer if they try something other than the genric tin can brands.
Yes I know there aluminium, but it rhymed.
Ross Bay Pub: Inadvertent Free Beer
A family night at a pub across town is maybe not the most traditional of dinner plans, but it is by no means a bad idea.
The Ross Bay Pub is located across the road from the Ross Bay Cemetery, so you know they've got spirits! Oh snap.
Anywho, it's actually a decent place, bigger than expected, and much like the Country Rose, it reflects the locals. However, since it's in Fairfield, it's a higher class joint with architecture and decorations appearing more modern. The music matches the relaxed modern feel with a mix of blues and jazz styled numbers.
Behind the counter a large lit bar hold a wall of alcohol. It's apparent that beer isn't the specialty here, though I'm not sure what is since I never got close enough to see what bottle were up there.
While the style of the pub is modern, the decor is a little odd, with beer paraphernalia from Lighthouse, Molson Canadian, and other breweries on the walls. It seems a little cliched to put that up and makes it more like other pubs and less unique.
The clientele are older in general, but keeping the place busy. It doesn't look like it would get too raucous in here, especially as the clock edges past 9 and tables start leaving. There are a few TVs on, and they seem to cater to the older crowd as well, with golf on more than a couple.
The service is younger though, all college age. They seem friendly enough, though a little frazzeled when we first arrived in the middle of the rush.
The food was an issue for us. It wasn't crap or anything, but t was poorly timed. Our nachos didn't seem to rush over, but the burgers were right after and we ended up having an over crowded table.
The food itself was decent. The burgers were solid, the fires not overdone. I think I'll Don's opinion at the burger blog to better judge these burgers, I'm never sure how good whatever I'm eating is.
The beer selection is the usual. A few local brews, a couple of crap taps, Stella Artois I think, etc. Nothing too special, but enough to kepp everyone happy.
We did score FREE BEER though. I don't think it was a restaurant sponsored event though. Alexander Keith's has developed it's own wheat beer, I think, and we got sample pints. Always a bonus, although someone accepted a pint and then left it behind. Blasphemy!
All in all it's another solid locals bar. I wouldn't go out of my way to come here again, but if I'm nearby I'd suggest it.
Service - It's a 3.5, even though there was the food snafu, I'm putting that on the kitchen.
Food - It was good, but nothing special - 3.5
Beer - A 3.
Price - A pretty standard pricing set up - 3.5
Character - A nice balance of modern and relaxed, though a little cliche - 4
The Ross Bay Pub is located across the road from the Ross Bay Cemetery, so you know they've got spirits! Oh snap.Anywho, it's actually a decent place, bigger than expected, and much like the Country Rose, it reflects the locals. However, since it's in Fairfield, it's a higher class joint with architecture and decorations appearing more modern. The music matches the relaxed modern feel with a mix of blues and jazz styled numbers.
Behind the counter a large lit bar hold a wall of alcohol. It's apparent that beer isn't the specialty here, though I'm not sure what is since I never got close enough to see what bottle were up there.
While the style of the pub is modern, the decor is a little odd, with beer paraphernalia from Lighthouse, Molson Canadian, and other breweries on the walls. It seems a little cliched to put that up and makes it more like other pubs and less unique.
The clientele are older in general, but keeping the place busy. It doesn't look like it would get too raucous in here, especially as the clock edges past 9 and tables start leaving. There are a few TVs on, and they seem to cater to the older crowd as well, with golf on more than a couple.
The service is younger though, all college age. They seem friendly enough, though a little frazzeled when we first arrived in the middle of the rush.
The food was an issue for us. It wasn't crap or anything, but t was poorly timed. Our nachos didn't seem to rush over, but the burgers were right after and we ended up having an over crowded table.
The food itself was decent. The burgers were solid, the fires not overdone. I think I'll Don's opinion at the burger blog to better judge these burgers, I'm never sure how good whatever I'm eating is.
The beer selection is the usual. A few local brews, a couple of crap taps, Stella Artois I think, etc. Nothing too special, but enough to kepp everyone happy.
We did score FREE BEER though. I don't think it was a restaurant sponsored event though. Alexander Keith's has developed it's own wheat beer, I think, and we got sample pints. Always a bonus, although someone accepted a pint and then left it behind. Blasphemy!
All in all it's another solid locals bar. I wouldn't go out of my way to come here again, but if I'm nearby I'd suggest it.
Service - It's a 3.5, even though there was the food snafu, I'm putting that on the kitchen.
Food - It was good, but nothing special - 3.5
Beer - A 3.
Price - A pretty standard pricing set up - 3.5
Character - A nice balance of modern and relaxed, though a little cliche - 4
Friday, May 29, 2009
Pub Pics!
Hey,
If anyone IS reading this, sorry about the lack of photos. I can't seem to get my camera and 'puter to live in harmony. As soon as I do I'll have photos phollow.
BK
If anyone IS reading this, sorry about the lack of photos. I can't seem to get my camera and 'puter to live in harmony. As soon as I do I'll have photos phollow.
BK
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