French Creek Pub (Burrard)

Despite my recent obsession with doing some of the top restaurants wherever I've been travelling, I'm always down for casual comfort eats.  Everything has a place and time where they can all be equally delicious.  This takes me to the newly opened French Creek Pub on Burrard across from the soon-to-be-closed St. Paul's Hospital.  If the name sounds familiar to you, the original location is in Parksville on Vancouver Island.  One look at the menu and it is clear they go hard into the classic pub favourites as well as some interesting spins on some dishes too.  We came here to mainly try their viral Party Boat! 

So let's get to that Party Boat shall we???  This monstrosity goes for $119.99 but can feed 4-8 people.  From my experience, this  can easily feed 4 hungry people and comfortably feed 6.  If you aren't big eaters, then it can feed 8.  Underneath at floor of the boat, we had a good helping of Calamari, Popcorn Shrimp, Fries and Onion Rings.  These were all fried just right where the calamari was crispy with nicely seasoned batter.  The squid itself was tender with a bite.  Although I'm usually not a fan of tempura-battered onion rings, these were quite good with a uniform crunch and tender onion in the middle.  The popcorn shrimp were more like fried shrimp as they were large enough to be detectable beyond the crunchy breading.  Fries were crispy with plenty of potato texture within.  The one last item sitting in the middle was a big bowl of Coleslaw.  Sporting big pieces of cabbage and carrots, this was crunchy, fresh and pleasantly tangy, but just a bit watery.

Moving onto the top part of the boat, we had 3 pieces each of Fried Cod and Fried Halibut.  These were legit where the cod was flaky and moist with a crunchy batter that was fully cooked through.  However, the halibut was even better where it was thick-cut and buttery soft.  This indicates that the fish was fresh and cooked perfectly.  We found 3 Shrimp Skewers that were grilled just enough that the shrimp still had a juicy bounciness.  Lastly, we had 3 Lobster & Shrimp Rolls at the aft of the boat.  The mix was appealingly textured with bits of onions to add crunch and brightness.

Of course we needed beverages to go with all that fried goodness right?  We had it all under control with the Mimosa Tower.  Yes, this is enough for as many people that are sharing the Party Boat!  We went for grapefruit and it was plenty refreshing and perfect with our food.  Another bevie came in a cute fish cup in the Limoncello Puffer Fish Drink.  As expected, this was also refreshing very easy going down.  Great summer cocktail!

To get a better feel of the menu other than what was included in the boat, we had to get an order of their Lemon Pepper Wings (because wings are some of the most important things on a bar menu!).  Good thing we tried these because they were great!  These were gigantic with crispy, well-rendered skin (without any breading).  There was more than enough lemon pepper seasoning for a great tang while the meat inside was juicy and tender.

Another prominent item on the menu is their mac n' cheese.  Hence, we went for one of the many choices with the Hot Chick Mac n' Cheese.  This was served in a large bread bowl and it was totally overflowing with saucy cheese.  Therefore, the whole thing was completed coated and plenty satisfiying.  There was a combination of real cheesiness and saltiness.  We found the noodles to be decently firm while the chicken was crispy and mildly spicy.

Finally, a pub is not a pub without a burger.  But this was no ordinary burger though.  It was the Surf n' Turf Burger with house sauce, bacon, shredded lobster roll mix, cheddar cheese and topped with a garlic aioli shrimp skewer.  Beyond all the festivities of the other components, the actual burger patty was lean and bit firm while being evenly seared on both sides.  Bacon was crispy while the lobster roll mix added creaminess and more texture.  Burger was huge and more than enough for one person.  In fact, everything at French Creek Pub is huge and you will definitely get your money's worth.  However, the most important thing is the food itself is well-prepared.  I most certainly will be back to share some food with my friends and/or sport teams.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Large portions

- Well-prepared comfort food

- Oh that mimosa tower...

The Bad:

- Yes, there are some gimmicks here, but for me, the food itself is still good

- Parking in the area can be challenging