Pourhouse: The Perfect Rainy Day Pub

Pourhouse
162 Water Street, Vancouver

On another rainy Vancouver day, I met up with my lunch buddies, @DennisPang, @Miss_MayC and @jvoon at Pourhouse in Gastown. I’ve always wanted to try this place, and no better time than on a blustering, cold day to tuck into a warm, homey pub!

Pourhouse has a special lunch menu and slips of paper are offered to each table so diners can check off their selections. The lunch includes one sandwich, a side and a beer. We each got something different (these guys are used to dining with snap happy food bloggers), which covers everything on the checklist except for the portobello mushroom sandwich, can you tell we don’t like vegetables?

Admittedly, I am not much of a beer drinker but since we were in a pub, I couldn’t very well not order one! I went with the lightest one on the list, the White Bark Wheat Ale, which turned out to be quite refreshing, with some floral, fruity notes and a sweet, nutty aftertaste.

I ordered the tuna melt with a side of fries. The tuna was tender and delicate, even though there were some parts of my sandwich that was a tad heavy on the celery. I also wish that the bread was softer. I’m spoiled by the incredibly pillowy ciabatta bread from Meat and Bread. All in all, the tuna melt was a great pairing with the light White Bark Wheat Ale.

The fries were nice and crispy with the perfect amount of salt. Even though, I had thought that little cup was too small when it came to the table, it was actually a pretty hefty serving and we shared it amongst us.

I also tried half of the beef brisket sandwich. Watch out for the strong hits of horseradish mustard in this sandwich! There must have been some pretty large squirts on my half, and the hot spicy taste went straight to my nose. I loved that they really piled on the beef brisket though; this was a hearty sandwich! The beef was delicious, moist and tender.

The pulled pork and meatloaf sandwiches also got good reviews from our table. The mozzarella really amped up the comfort food factor with its gooey goodness. The pulled pork was a little bit on the moist side and we are divided on whether or not we like that, texture-wise. The taste was totally on par.

Pourhouse is definitely on our list of delectable eateries!