December 24, 2009

The Canoe Club

I've always been slightly underwhelmed by the Canoe Club. In my past trips, the brewpub beer has been poor to average, the food passable and the service bordering on the lousy. But one trip with a good group of friends redeemed a bit when we had a great night out. So, when I was looking for a bar to meet a dozen or so friends, we went for the Canoe Club to see if it was a lucky shot.

The Canoe Brew Pub is a big barn of building, an original Victoria heritage build on the gorge, overlooking a marina, and the Inner Harbour boat works. The patio is always busy during the summer, not least because it's one of the few sunny patios in the downtown core (I can only think of the Swiftsure as a rival as having any decent amount of evening sun, and that's limited). But it was winter, and we headed inside. Only managing to grab a couple of small tables at the start, as our group expanded, we over took a few more spots and took up one side of the bar area.

This probably gave our server fits, as everyone was there to drink, chat and catch up just before Christmas, and the normal trick of numbering the table wasn't going to help. Still the first pints came along rapidly enough, and I sampled the joy of the Winter Gale Strong Ale. A rich, strong spicy beer, with a nice malty sweetness. Very drinkable, and while not matching some of the craft breweries winter special, better than I had expected. At 8%, I couldn't drink it all night, though.

A variety of other beers and wines were ordered, and after the first round, the service slowed down. Getting the server to our table wasn't a case of him checking if we were okay, but having to signal, wave or lean over as he ran past. The service hadn't improved much, maybe excusable that our area was three times busier than they'd expect, but the head server should then realise this and make life easier somehow. I ended up getting served at the bar. And to the server's credit, no final bill was screwed up.

I also drank the Beaver Brown Ale. A thick, dark, beer, with plenty of body, but not a smooth pint, it has a slightly chewy mouth feel. Drinkable, enjoyable, but there's better local brew in Victoria. I tried the Siren's Song Pale Ale and this was definitely a pass. Overly bittered, with an astringent taste rather than a more pleasant hoppy character.

We did order some food. The poutine got the thumbs up, the gyoza were average as was the rest of the fare I tried. Except the Calamari. Crisply battered and almost, but not quite under cooked. Perfectly quivering hoops of squidy goodness tasting of squid, slightly akin to crabsticks but much more subtle and sweeter.

The DJ was playing deep house beats, but this was low enough to carry on talking all night across and around the tables, but loud enough to fill in the edges of the conversation. Being advertised as Deep House Beats did scare me, but it was chilled rather than trance. And nobody was dancing. The group swelled to 20 plus at one point, but there was space, and plenty of ability to move the tables and chairs around to mingle and catch up. As far as I know, there's few places in Victoria where we could have done this unannounced and unbooked. And have a good, social time.

So the service is still poor, the beer is better and the food either good or indifferent; but if the company is good and large, place to have beer that's not my front room. Which means less empties and clean up.

Final Bill :
Winter Gale Strong Ale (140z) - $6.10
Beaver Brown Ale (20oz) - $6.10
Calamari - $12.00
Gyoza - $10.00

Location : 450 Swift Street
Telephone : (250) - 361 - 1940
Website : http://www.canoebrewpub.com/

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