The Keg (Burnaby)

I'm sure some of you are wondering why I'm posting on The Keg of all places.  Well I've said it many times over - I don't mind dining at chain restaurants (and apparently the Edmonton Oilers management team too).  I'm certainly no food snob and really, not all of my meals are necessarily a hole-in-the-wall or fine dining.  Sometimes, we just have to hit up the ol' standbys and be content.  This was partly not my decision anyways as my son wanted steak and sorry, we aren't going to Elisa (although I love the place).  So we headed over to our local Keg instead.

Now everyone knows that their Sourdough Bread is pretty good and also the 3-cheese butter that goes with it.  Normally, that butter is a "secret", but apparently, they are serving that by default now (so you don't actually have to ask for it anymore).  Served warm, the bread was soft and lightly chewy inside with a slightly crunchy exterior.  With the melted butter and cheese, we had to be careful not to eat too much of it, so we had enough appetite for dinner.

We started with some appies first including the Spinach & Crab Dip served with tortilla chips.  Don't let the seemingly small amount of dip fool you.  It was actually more than enough for the chips on the plate.  It was cheesy and creamy with enough crab that we noticed it.  Chips were not overly thick and crunchy.  Not the best crab dip I've ever had (that would be the one at the shuttered Coquille), but it was still good.

Next, we went with the classic Tuna Tartare with seasoned ahi tuna and fresh avocado.  Strangely, I always order this but every time I find it underseasoned.  I mean it isn't necessarily a bad thing as I can taste the natural flavours of the fresh tuna, but just a bit more oomph would go a long way with this.  The light and airy crisps were the perfect vessel for the delicate tuna and avocado.

We also had the Scallops and Bacon because my son absolutely loves both scallops and bacon.  Perfect dish right?  Well, this was prepared quite well with slightly crisped up bacon (mostly the edges) and plump buttery scallops wrapped within.  This would've been flawless if the bacon was a bit less fatty, yet that is really hard to control and I'm not pinning it on the restaurant.  Served on the side was some cocktail sauce.

For myself, I had the Iceberg Wedge Salad with tomato, crispy smoked bacon and blue cheese dressing.  As you can clearly see, they didn't hold back with the blue cheese as there was a big chunk on top.  Hence, this made for a very sharp-tasting experience.  If you like blue cheese, this would be more than satisfying.  The iceberg was fresh and crisp while the bacon was crunchy and smoky.

Onto the mains, I went for one of my favs - the 12oz Baseball Top Sirloin prepared medium-rare.  Since the steak is so thick, it can only be ordered medium-rare or rarer.  I found this to be perfect because it was between rare and medium-rare, which is my preference.  Hence, it was juicy and mostly tender.  Being top sirloin, it had a bit more chew.  The nicely charred steak was seasoned properly as well.  I have never been a fan of Keg fries and this didn't change my mind.  I would prefer them to be thicker and much crunchier (these were soggy).

Both Viv & my mom ended up with the 10oz Prime Rib with baked potato, horseradish, au jus and fried onions.  Personally, I would've ordered the 18oz size because I like it thick cut, but they don't have the appetite that I have!  Even though it was fairly thin, the meat was still juicy (despite what the picture shows) and tender.  It was dry-brined enough that the flavours penetrated the meat.  Baked potato was soft and tender with all the fixins'.

My son had his favourite cut being the 12oz Peppercorn New York Striploin with twice-baked potato.  Usually, he just gets the regular striploin, but for some reason, he went peppercorn this time.  Good choice because this meant more flavour with a smoky pepperiness.  The steak itself was thick and prepared perfectly medium-rare.  On the side was the classic twice-baked potato which was crispy on the top and soft in the middle with plenty of bacon bits.

My dad didn't have any red meat and went for his usual fish dish being the Salmon Neptune.  This was actually quite good as the fish was flaky and moist.  We found cream cheese, crab and green onion topping rather rich, but it helped seal the moisture in the salmon as well as providing a firm "sauce" of sorts.  It was served with asparagus and extra veggies in lieu of mashed potatoes.  They were vibrant and barely cooked through.

For dessert, there was no doubt as to what we were ordering for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, the Billy Miner Pie is "the" dessert to have at The Keg.  Secondly, it is complimentary to the birthday person (it was my son's bday).  So here it is, the full Keg experience.  No, it really isn't that fancy, but it is fancy enough that we were happy with the food, price point, ambiance and service.  Not bad for a chain restaurant and since it was packed, other people must have the same opinion too.

The Good:
- Well prepared steaks
- Okay pricing with all things considered
- That sourdough with 3-cheese butter

The Bad:
- Pricing is reasonable, but you will still spend some $$$ there