SORRY! CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!

$100 Giveaway to The Heather Hospitality Group Restaurants!

What a week it’s been, and it’s only just begun too! With the new release of another Follow Me Foodie Quickie in Las Vegas (video) and the announcement of Vancouver’s 1st Annual Foodie Feast all yesterday, it only made sense to continue the fun! I really appreciate the support and I want you to enjoy the ride along with me. So, here’s another contest for yours and my enjoyment!

I’m hosting a contest for your chance to win a $100 gift certificate to any one of the following The Heather Hospitality Group Restaurants: The Irish Heather, Salt Tasting Room, Judas Goat, The Salty Tongue Cafe, and Everything Cafe all located in Gastown in Vancouver, BC. Sorry guys, but this contest is only for Twitter users. Hurry up! Go get your account, you’re missing out!

How to enter:

Copy and paste one of the following on Twitter to win:

• RT & Follow @EverythingCafe to win $100 GC to any @TheHeatherGroup resto via @followmefoodie #FMF http://bit.ly/ff6U4X #HHGBigBadGiveaway

• RT & Follow @TheIrishHeather to win $100 GC to any @TheHeatherGroup resto via @followmefoodie #FMF http://bit.ly/ff6U4X #HHGBigBadGiveaway

• RT & Follow @SaltTastingRoom to win $100 GC to any @TheHeatherGroup resto via @followmefoodie #FMF http://bit.ly/ff6U4X #HHGBigBadGiveaway

• RT & Follow @Judas_Goat to win $100 GC to any @TheHeatherGroup resto via @followmefoodie #FMF http://bit.ly/ff6U4X #HHGBigBadGiveaway

• RT & Follow @SaltyTongueCafe to win a $100 GC to any @TheHeatherGroup resto via @followmefoodie #FMF http://bit.ly/ff6U4X #HHGBigBadGiveaway

Contest starts Tuesday March 8, 2011 until Friday March 11, 2011 at 8pm. The winner will be selected by random number generator and announced Saturday March 12, 2011 at 10am.

To be honest guys, I’ve only tried the Long Table Series at The Irish Heather, so I can’t make recommendations for any of their other restaurants. However if you win, then maybe I can follow YOU foodie! (Update! I’ve now tried Judas Goat – see here)

The Long Table Series (LTS) is an event that happens a few times a week. It’s a casual “dinner party” situated around a long 40 foot communal table where people can socialize, mix, and pick up, *ahem*… I mean mingle, with friends and randoms. All this happens with a hearty home cooked meal and a beer for only $16. It’s a good deal if you’re not too picky and enjoy beer, however they do offer a non-alcoholic drink and a wine option sometimes. For the weekly menu see here.

So the upside to winning the $100, besides winning, is that you don’t have to “budget eat” and do a Long Table Series, although they’re still very fun and I do like the concept. And the upside to not winning, is hey, you can always do a Long Table Series!

I actually tried 2 Long Table Series on my own with some friends just over a year ago see here and here, but since then they’ve changed chefs and of course the menu. It also used to be only $15, so that’s increased as well… but it’s only by a buck, and you still get quite the bang. I was invited to the Long Table Series last night, so here is my experience. In regards to the food, I’ve enjoyed better LTS meals than this one, although this one was still good. It also helps if you enjoy beer, in which case it’s a wicked deal.

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

On the LONG TABLE:

Pork Schnitzel, Spaetzle, Sautéed Mushrooms & Mustard Cream Sauce – 3/6

• $16 + beer
• It was a big portion and you’ll get full for sure, and you won’t be stuffed… well I wasn’t stuffed. It’s good, but I’ve enjoyed better Long Table Series meals – see here and here.
• The pork schnitzel was pounded nice and thin and then breaded with cornmeal and flour, which was a bit thick for me. It was pretty crispy, nicely fried and not greasy, but at times the pork was a bit dry and chewy.
• It was a tangy whole grain mustard cream sauce and the spaetzle was also a mustard spaetzle, so it was all quite mustardy and tangy in flavour.
• The spaetzle (type of Eastern European pasta or egg noodle) was kind of a lazy spaetzle, so if you’ve never tried it this is a good place to start, but also not the standard you should set for spaetzle.
• This spaetzle was more like flat balls of chewy dough that were panfried so they were quite crispy as well, which that part I liked. The technique for making it was off, but that doesn’t really bother me considering the price.
• It was just enough sauce and nothing was too complex about this dish, not even onion or garlic flavours.
• The cream sauce wasn’t too creamy and it held up nicely with the spaetzle and mushroom mixture, but it didn’t hold onto the pork as well. However the speatzle and mushroom used as a “sauce” for the pork did end up working well. Much better eaten all together.
• It was good, I’m glad I tried it, but I wouldn’t care to try it again.

16 oz Pint Of Driftwood Ale

• I’m not really a beer drinker, so I don’t know much about them. They also have this on tap.
• It was sweet in the beginning so it was a nice balance to the tangy mustard sauce, but then it had this really bitter aftertaste that was a bit like dandelions. Yes, I’ve actually tried dandelions… when I was kid… and I remember the flavour for the wrong reasons.
• All the other beer drinkers seemed to be drinking it though, so hey what do I know? Like I said, I don’t really know…

Vanilla Pot de Creme with Blueberry Compote – 3.5/6

• This is something I do know about! Dessert!
• I think this is an extra $5 and it’s optional. It’s big enough to be shared especially since it’s pot de creme.
• I don’t normally order pot de creme, but this one was quite good and I liked it. It’s pretty much creme brulee without the brulee crust.
• There were no real vanilla beans used in the custard though. The custard itself was creamy, rich and almost pudding like in flavour.
• It was topped with a blueberry compote that wasn’t sweetened which was fine since the pot de creme was sweet enough to balance it out.
• I loved the addition of almonds on top because it added a contrasting nutty crunch to the creamy pot de creme. That’s what made the difference for me, although the texture of the creme was great.
• After this I head to Bella Gelateria for some Mixed Fruit and Nut, Hazelnut and Earl Grey Tea gelato… not a bad sign, but back to back desserts are quite the Follow Me Foodie way of doing things .

Restaurant: The Irish Heather GastroPub – Long Table Series 2
Cuisine: Pub food/Irish/West Coast
Last visited: January 24, 2010
Area: Vancouver, BC (West End/Downtown)
210 Carrall Street

Price range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: n/a – only came for LTS
Service: 3.5 – for Long Table Series event
Ambiance: 5 – for Long Table Series event
Overall: 5 – for Long Table Series event
Additional comments:

• Irish cooking in Irish house with Irish people working
• Sister restaurant to Salt Tasting Room, Shebeen, & Salty Tongue
• Since 1997
• Classy pub with affordable food
• Homemade comfort food w/twist
• Handmade sausages
• Some fusion items or globally inspired twists
• Sandwiches made with bread from Vancouver’s local Terra Bakery
• Fine tuned menu
• Extensive beer and wine list
• Very popular Long Table Series offered – reservations required
• Vegetarian options available
• Casual, yet sophisticated
• Lively atmosphere
• 2 rooms – one brighter lighting the other darker
• Serves lunch and dinner

Recommendation: Long Table Series

It was my first TwEAT-up for Follow Me Foodie and I decided to host it at The Irish Heather for their Long Table Series. The 1st time I tried the Long Table Series was back in Christmas for their Roast Duck Leg. The event and food made a lasting impression so it was no doubt I would come back for seconds.

This time I was joined by some close friends, new faces as well as Vancouver bloggers Kim (I’m Only Here for the Food), Nicole (Le Mode Du Jour), Kathy (Kathygko), Michelle (2010 Cheap Eats), Adela (On the Fringe) and Elaine and Chris (Parker Pages). Thank you for coming guys! Everyone is welcome to these TwEAT-ups so if you’re interested just e-mail me! (Check my About… page for contact information)

This time I wasn’t late and was able to see how the whole event goes down. While dinner starts promptly at 6pm, people are invited at 5pm-6pm for pre-dinner drinks in the Shebeen (a private room/lounge) in the back of the restaurant. At 6pm they open the doors to the dining room where there’s a mad rush of hungry people and a game of “musical chairs” at a 40 foot long wooden communal table. (I still felt like Oliver Twist getting a meal from the Upper East Side.) Next Chef Lee Humphries comes out and explains the menu and paired drink for the evening. All this happens for only $15 (tax + services included).

It’s good food, a fun time, and more than a fair deal so I have nothing to complain about. They also offer homemade desserts at $5 for those that are interested, but I wasn’t too impressed by them.

Note: The portions are a bit inconsistent and late arrivals tend to get bigger plates!

On the table

Smoked Pork Chop – 4.5/6

• Smoked Pork Chop with Bacon Braised Cabbage, Crisp Potatoes and Roasted Apple-Raisin Gastrique with 16 oz – Pint Orchard Hill Cider $15
• I liked the Roast Duck Leg better than this dish, although this one was still good.
• I was actually expecting a pork loin chop, but I guess at $15 I can’t expect that. I should have clued in when it said “smoked pork chop” because that means it was slowly cooked….which is usually a cheaper cut.
• The pork chop was I’m pretty sure a chump chop which tastes more like a ham than it does a pork chop. This was mainly due to the fact hat it was smoked as well. It was quite tender, relatively lean with some fat around the edges and cooked with the bone to retain juices and flavour.

• It’s a big slab of it and it’s a pretty cheap cut, but they didn’t do a bad job with it. By slowly smoking it they were able to get a nice smokey flavour with a slight sweetness throughout the meat.

• The apple-raisin gastrique was very hickory in flavour but they needed much more of it. The raisins needed to be cooked longer because they weren’t as plump and juicy as I would like. It matched the pork chop really well, I just wish there was more of it or even if it was a bit more saucy than compote like.

• The bacon braised cabbage was the best thing on the plate! I could have eaten a whole bowl of it. It was almost like creamy garlic mashed potato cole slaw. It was sweet, salty and tasted like a scallop potato mash with braised cabbage and carrots. They definitely thickened this braised cabbage with some creamy mashed potatoes, it was so excellent!
• I think it was braised with a touch of vinegar and maybe even sour cream because there was a savoury tang to it. I mixed my apple-raisin gastrique into it and it was even better! The only thing is the bacon wasn’t crispy or cooked to enhance all the flavour it had to offer.

• The crisp potatoes were very crisp and dry. They were almost like crackers and they could have used more salt. I dipped these into my braised cabbage and that worked really well.

• The cider was a great match for the dish. It really brought out the apple flavour and enhanced the sweetness of the meat and their was a slight bitterness that was welcoming and not overpowering.

Dessert

• The available homemade desserts for the evening:
  • Lemon Trifle
  • Boston Cream Pie
  • Chocolate Mousse

• To be honest, nothing seemed appealing except maybe the lemon trifle. I didn’t get to try it but I did get to try the Mud Pie.

Boston Cream Pie – 1.5/6

• It didn’t look good and it also didn’t taste good.
• It was a very dry Boston cream cake with a very light and thin custard layer.

• It was more sponge cake then cream and looked like it had been sitting there.
• The chocolate glaze was hard and looked/tasted artificial.

Lemon Trifle

• Didn’t try it, bit Nicole liked it!

Restaurant: The Irish Heather GastroPub – Long Table Series
Cuisine: Pub food/Irish/West Coast
Last visited: December 22, 09
Area: Vancouver, BC (West End/Downtown)
Address: 210 Carrall Street
Price range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: N/A – Only tried one thing
Service: 3 – For Long Table Series event
Ambiance: 5 – For Long Table Series event
Overall: 5 – For Long Table Series event

Additional comments:

• Irish cooking in Irish house with Irish people working
• Sister restaurant to Salt Tasting Room, Shebeen, & Salty Tongue
• Since 1997
• Classy pub with affordable food
• Homemade comfort food w/twist
• Handmade sausages
• Some fusion items or globally inspired twists
• Sandwiches made with bread from Vancouver’s local Terra Bakery
• Fine tuned menu
• Extensive beer and wine list
• Very popular Long Table Series offered – reservations required
• Vegetarian options available
• Casual, yet sophisticated
• Lively atmosphere
• 2 rooms – one brighter lighting the other darker
• Serves lunch and dinner

Recommendation: Long Table Series

So I finally made it! I’ve wanted to try the Long Table Series at The Irish Heather for so long but it’s always sold out. Kim (I’m Only Here for the Food) planned another Vancouver food blogger social and this was the first one I attended. I’m also one of the newest “members” to join this community so I was really excited. At the Long Table Series with Kim and Anita (La Petite Foodie) whom I’ve dined with before, I was also introduced to Sherman (Sherman’s Food Adventures) and Jessica (Yum-O-Rama).

This review will only focus on The Irish Heather GastroPub’s Long Table Series. It was my first time visiting, so my review will be based on this event, as well as my roasted duck!

The Long Table Series is a concept The Irish Heather started in early June 09. It is a dinner event that runs throughout the year on every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday night. People are seated at a 40 ft communal wooden table and Chef Lee Humphries prepares a special dish for each night. It used to be $12 (taxes and gratuities not included) for a main course + alcoholic beverage (sponsored) but since then they have increased their pricing to $15 offering the same thing. It hasn’t affected them one bit and this ever so popular event is a guaranteed sell out every time. I would definitely do it again. For $15 and what you get… I’m game!

The Irish Heather kind of reminds me of The Hub, but fancier and more gourmet and more sophisticated. I only tried one thing, but the menu at The Irish Heather feels more creative just by looking at it. On a taste level, I would actually compare the dish to something from Les Faux Bourgeois nd I love that restaurant. Of course Les Faux Bourgeois is French and therefore finer tuned, but The Irish Heather was heartier and a bit more affordable. I still prefer Les Faux Bourgeois though.

Overall the Long Table Series felt like a gourmet cafeteria with the communal table and mass produced gourmet meal. That doesn’t sound very good, but it was very good. Very relaxed and casual, but you’ll probably still end up talking to the people you go with. I felt like Oliver Twist getting a meal from the Upper East Side.

On the table

Roast Duck Leg – 5/6

• Roast Duck Leg With Colcannon Potatoes, Mushroom & Foie Gras Jus & 16 oz -Pint R&B Cream Ale $15
• This was pretty great. I mean for $15 I really won’t be too picky about it. It’s not fine dining, but it had the quality of casual fine dining.

• I don’t want to start off with a negative, but the first thing I noticed was that the duck didn’t have crispy skin. It was flavourful though with a simple seasoning of salt, pepper and some dried herbs.

• It was a whole duck leg and it was quite flavourful. It was quite tender and shredded away like dark meat chicken. I do prefer duck breast over the leg though, but I’d probably need to pay $5 more for that.

• Another thing I noticed was that it looked like everything was swimming in a pool of soup or ‘jus’. However not to worry, because at then end the cocannon potato mash soaks up everything. You won’t have a drop of au jus left.

• I could definitely taste the foie gras in the jus, but I could taste it more in the beginning. It kind of got lost as I kept eating it. They had cut up piece of foie gras, but I didn’t get many in mine. Maybe 4 small cubes, however the flavour was cooked into the jus. I would have preferred the foie gras to be seared too. It was soft and it should have had a crispy exterior… sounds like a small thing but it would have made a world of difference. The size and texture of it made it come off as an oyster mushroom, especially since they were cut to the same size… kind of a waste of foie gras.

• The mushrooms used were oysters, buttons, crimini and very few potobellos. It was mainly crimini mushrooms and they were all really plump and juicy and very sautéed and caramelized. The sweetness worked great with the natural sweetness duck has.
• The Colcannon potato is a really traditional Irish dish and I love that they used it as the side. It gave it that Irish flare I wanted from a traditional Irish pub. It’s basically and Irish version of mashed potatoes except they add roughly chopped sautéed cabbage to it and maybe some bacon. This one had no bacon though. It didn’t need it because there was already enough going on and it would have taken away from the foie gras taste.If anything it could have used more garlic and onions. I couldn’t taste any.

• The colcannon potato was very starchy rather than creamy and I think he used a combination of Russet (baking) potatoes and maybe some Yukon Gold… .but mainly Russet. I would have preferred all Yukon Gold potatoes or a combination of Yukon Gold and sweet potato because it would have went better with the duck. It was quite creamy and acted like a sponge for the au jus, but the texture was just very starchy. I liked the crunchiness of the cabbage to give the dish some texture. I could taste the foie gras flavour with the mushrooms, but when I ate it with the potato it got lost.

• Together everything was delicious. You just wanted to mix it all up. How can you really go wrong with mashed potatoes, duck, mushrooms, and foie gras jus? They also added some sautéed spinach to give it some colour. It was a gourmet version of meat and potatoes…and delicious sauteed veggies all in one. It’s a very hearty and meaty dish. One of those dishes you could pair with beer or wine. It was soft, creamy, feel good gourmet comfort food… for $15!

Restaurant: The Irish Heather GastroPub – Long Table Series
Cuisine: Pub food/Irish/West Coast
Last visited: December 22, 09
Area: Vancouver, BC (West End/Downtown)
Address: 210 Carrall Street
Price range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: N/A – Only tried one thing
Service: 3 – For Long Table Series event
Ambiance: 5 – For Long Table Series event
Overall: 5 – For Long Table Series event

Additional comments:

• Irish cooking in Irish house with Irish people working
• Sister restaurant to Salt Tasting Room, Shebeen, & Salty Tongue
• Since 1997
• Classy pub with affordable food
• Homemade comfort food w/twist
• Handmade sausages
• Some fusion items or globally inspired twists
• Sandwiches made with bread from Vancouver’s local Terra Bakery
• Fine tuned menu
• Extensive beer and wine list
• Very popular Long Table Series offered – reservations required
• Vegetarian options available
• Casual, yet sophisticated
• Lively atmosphere
• 2 rooms – one brighter lighting the other darker
• Serves lunch and dinner

Recommendation: Long Table Series

So I finally made it! I’ve wanted to try the Long Table Series at The Irish Heather for so long but it’s always sold out. Kim (I’m Only Here for the Food) planned another Vancouver food blogger social and this was the first one I attended. I’m also one of the newest “members” to join this community so I was really excited. At the Long Table Series with Kim and Anita (La Petite Foodie) whom I’ve dined with before, I was also introduced to Sherman (Sherman’s Food Adventures) and Jessica (Yum-O-Rama).

This review will only focus on The Irish Heather GastroPub’s Long Table Series. It was my first time visiting, so my review will be based on this event, as well as my roasted duck!

The Long Table Series is a concept The Irish Heather started in early June 09. It is a dinner event that runs throughout the year on every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday night. People are seated at a 40 ft communal wooden table and Chef Lee Humphries prepares a special dish for each night. It used to be $12 (taxes and gratuities not included) for a main course + alcoholic beverage (sponsored) but since then they have increased their pricing to $15 offering the same thing. It hasn’t affected them one bit and this ever so popular event is a guaranteed sell out every time. I would definitely do it again. For $15 and what you get… I’m game!

The Irish Heather kind of reminds me of The Hub, but fancier and more gourmet and more sophisticated. I only tried one thing, but the menu at The Irish Heather feels more creative just by looking at it. On a taste level, I would actually compare the dish to something from Les Faux Bourgeois nd I love that restaurant. Of course Les Faux Bourgeois is French and therefore finer tuned, but The Irish Heather was heartier and a bit more affordable. I still prefer Les Faux Bourgeois though.

Overall the Long Table Series felt like a gourmet cafeteria with the communal table and mass produced gourmet meal. That doesn’t sound very good, but it was very good. Very relaxed and casual, but you’ll probably still end up talking to the people you go with. I felt like Oliver Twist getting a meal from the Upper East Side.

On the table

Roast Duck Leg – 5/6

• Roast Duck Leg With Colcannon Potatoes, Mushroom & Foie Gras Jus & 16 oz -Pint R&B Cream Ale $15
• This was pretty great. I mean for $15 I really won’t be too picky about it. It’s not fine dining, but it had the quality of casual fine dining.

• I don’t want to start off with a negative, but the first thing I noticed was that the duck didn’t have crispy skin. It was flavourful though with a simple seasoning of salt, pepper and some dried herbs.

• It was a whole duck leg and it was quite flavourful. It was quite tender and shredded away like dark meat chicken. I do prefer duck breast over the leg though, but I’d probably need to pay $5 more for that.

• Another thing I noticed was that it looked like everything was swimming in a pool of soup or ‘jus’. However not to worry, because at then end the cocannon potato mash soaks up everything. You won’t have a drop of au jus left.

• I could definitely taste the foie gras in the jus, but I could taste it more in the beginning. It kind of got lost as I kept eating it. They had cut up piece of foie gras, but I didn’t get many in mine. Maybe 4 small cubes, however the flavour was cooked into the jus. I would have preferred the foie gras to be seared too. It was soft and it should have had a crispy exterior… sounds like a small thing but it would have made a world of difference. The size and texture of it made it come off as an oyster mushroom, especially since they were cut to the same size… kind of a waste of foie gras.

• The mushrooms used were oysters, buttons, crimini and very few potobellos. It was mainly crimini mushrooms and they were all really plump and juicy and very sautéed and caramelized. The sweetness worked great with the natural sweetness duck has.
• The Colcannon potato is a really traditional Irish dish and I love that they used it as the side. It gave it that Irish flare I wanted from a traditional Irish pub. It’s basically and Irish version of mashed potatoes except they add roughly chopped sautéed cabbage to it and maybe some bacon. This one had no bacon though. It didn’t need it because there was already enough going on and it would have taken away from the foie gras taste.If anything it could have used more garlic and onions. I couldn’t taste any.

• The colcannon potato was very starchy rather than creamy and I think he used a combination of Russet (baking) potatoes and maybe some Yukon Gold… .but mainly Russet. I would have preferred all Yukon Gold potatoes or a combination of Yukon Gold and sweet potato because it would have went better with the duck. It was quite creamy and acted like a sponge for the au jus, but the texture was just very starchy. I liked the crunchiness of the cabbage to give the dish some texture. I could taste the foie gras flavour with the mushrooms, but when I ate it with the potato it got lost.

• Together everything was delicious. You just wanted to mix it all up. How can you really go wrong with mashed potatoes, duck, mushrooms, and foie gras jus? They also added some sautéed spinach to give it some colour. It was a gourmet version of meat and potatoes…and delicious sauteed veggies all in one. It’s a very hearty and meaty dish. One of those dishes you could pair with beer or wine. It was soft, creamy, feel good gourmet comfort food… for $15!

Restaurant: Ceili’s Irish Pub & Restaurant

Cuisine: American
Last visited: December 15, 09
Area: Vancouver, BC (Downtown)
670 Smithe
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 3 (based on 2 appetizers I tried)
Service: 2.5
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 2.5
Additional comments:

• Canadian mini chain pub & restaurant
• New menu
• Traditional UK/Irish pub food w/a couple BC influences
• Pub atmosphere, good for watching spots
• Good for drinks & appetizers
• Every Thursday 7pm “Irish Dinner Party” (appie + entrée + beer $20)
• Daily specials
• Late night
• Live music – dance floor
• M-T 4pm-late
• Friday 4pm-3am
• Saturday 3pm-3am
• Sunday 3pm-late

**Recommendation: Bushmill’s Whiskey Ribs, Shepherd’s pie and nachos are most popular, but I haven’t tried them.

I would never think to come to Ceili’s Irish Pub and Restaurant for the food. I know a few of my friends come here on the weekend, but this was my first visit. It’s a great place for socializing, late night snacking, drinking, and watching the game. I rarely do the later 2 activities, but I definitely participate in the first 2.

Browsing their menu, I found that a lot of items were suitable for lunch. They offer standard soups, sandwiches and burgers…now too bad they’re not open for lunch. The mains are more or less traditional UK pub items. The only thing missing was the mushy peas, beans and black pudding – which I guess is more England than Ireland. In that case the only thing missing was the soda bread and Coddle!

I guess the chef (who has been there for 6 months) heard through the grapevine that I was a “food reviewer/blogger” so he came out to introduce himself. However it doesn’t affect my review because I’m literally copying and pasting the notes I wrote for the food before I met the chef. I have only tried 2 appetizers, but apparently they were 2 of the most popular appetizers. Therefore this review doesn’t give a good idea of what the food is like overall. However I can always review the items I did try…and these Bushmill’s Whiskey Ribs are worth a mention.

On the table:

Bushmill’s Whiskey Ribs 5.5/6

• One pound of slow-cooked baby back ribs tossed in Bushmill’s Whiskey BBQ sauce. Ribs also available in wing sauce choices. $12.75
• These ribs were falling off the bones tender! All I really wanted was to try a bite because I had just come from dinner. (Surprise surprise) Anyways I literally tried ripping off a piece from one rib and the entire piece of meat slipped off it. As soon as that happened it wa s over – I knew I was in for a wicked good rib. The meat was so tender I barely needed to chew it. They were nice big ribs that had a lot of meat on them too.
• It came with this thick sticky and bold barbeque sauce or glaze. The barbeque sauce isn’t made completely in house because they have a contract with ___________ BBQ sauce, which I don’t remember the name of it right now. However the chef adds his own spices to make the sauce better.I ding them .5 because nothing beats homemade barbeque sauce.
• Part of his add-ins is the Bushmill’s Whiskey. This is a really traditional Irish whiskey and it gave the sauce this malted flavour and a nice tangy kick. It was sweet and tangy and he also cooked the sauce with some red onions. The onions got so caramelized and stringy and were disguised in the sauce. I didn’t even see them until I bit into one of the ribs with an onion latching on…it was awesome!

Cork Country Calamari 2.5/6

• Tender squid, light lemon pepper batter, garlic tzatziki, diced green and red onions $11.75
• The seasoning on the calamari tasted like the seasoning you would put on Buffalo wings. It was similar to (or was) a Cajun spice and reminded me of that orange spice they would season a crispy chicken sandwich with. I could taste salt, cayenne, paprika, and some garlic powder and maybe a dash of hot sauce in the batter. I have sensitive taste buds It wasn’t really spicy for me, but it did carry some heat.
• What I didn’t like about this dish was that the calamari pieces were really small, so they got too heavily battered. They had a few decent pieces, but most of the time it was almost like eating popcorn shrimp.
• The dip was a tzataiki yogurt dip but with no herbs and seasonings. It tasted more like yogurt to me.