Last weekend I was over in Vancouver for a Cask Beer event (see more details elsewhere in this blog), and we headed down to the Alibi Room for a post-fest meal and drink.
The Alibi room is towards the seedy end of Vancouver, down near Main and Hastings, but just about clings to the more trendy Gastown fringes. An old warehouse has been converted into a big drinking space with a slightly more intimate downstairs cellar. The Vancouverites I know swear by it's selection of beers, both bottled and on pump, and reverent tones have been uttered about it by many of the CAMRA-fans I know.
So, we got seated at the end of a long row of tables (no cosy little booths upstairs, you'll probably share your table unless you have a lot of friends) handed a beer menu and a food menu. The beer menu was two sides of relatively closely scrawled A4 graph paper. Not the easiest to read, and didn't seem in any logical order. But a great selection, and we were also referred to the chalk board. Which had recently been scrubbed and had just two specials on... and not the Driftwood Satori IPA that had been tapped just two days ago. Damn.
Still, I ordered a pint of Central City's Red Racer IPA, my go to IPA when I want a bunch of hops jammed up my nose and not much fuss. And the Bison Cheese steak. My friends ordered up a pair Yaletown Oud Bruin Sour Ale and a big fat hamburger and falafel. They also serve a frat-pack of four sampler sized beers, but after a beer fest I was done with experimenting the menu.
Food came soon enough, and a big plated was covered with a large pile of fries, a wonderfully crunchy coleslaw and a fresh bun crammed full of meat'n'cheese. Cheese-steak can be greasy and lardy and rather unpleasant. This wasn't. Nice bite to the cheese, lovely meaty bison, soft bun. Life was reaching a lovely glow of good food and a pleasant amount of beer. The Red Racer IPA was served and just what the doctor ordered. My friends were rather happy with the food as well, and conversation carried on happily and merrily about the relative merits of the island, how to sleep in the cold and Christmas. And probably other topics. It was one of those rambling evenings.
I can see why people make the longish walk from downtown to the Alibi Room. Good beer, good food, plenty of space, knowledgeable and mostly pleasant staff. One of the servers seemed to not be happy with us being joined by a couple of friends at a spare slot at the long, uncrowded table, but that was the only sour note that wasn't intentionally placed in beer or food.
Final Bill :
Bison Cheese Steak - $14
Central City Red Racer IPA (pint) - $6
Location : 157 Alexander Street, Vancouver
Telephone : (604)-624-3383
Website : http://www.alibi.ca/
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