Chewies Kitslano – Oyster Happy Hour on Sunny Patio

The Happy Hour with Food Wench

After a couple quite enjoyable visits to Chewies’ Coal Harbour location, I gladly accept Food Wench (Drunken Noms)’s invitation to the happy hour at restaurant’s original location in Kitslano.

The patio is a lot smaller here, fitting only 5 to 6 small tables, and it felt a little too  intimate with the people at the tables next to ours. However, being only steps away from the beach,   I was enjoying the sun, the hip dark wooden deck, and the young and vibrant crowd.  And I am ready to join Food Wench for one of her great Drunken Noms experiences.

The Awesome Wine Deal on Mondays

Although the happy hour food menu is slightly different, the Kitslano spot has the same half-priced deal on wine bottles on Mondays. And how can we not take advantage of that? The first bottle we picked from the list, Lock & Worth Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon ($35), costs only $17 on Mondays. The white wine tasted sweeter than I expected, giving that Sauvignon Blanc is on the dryer side and semillon is somewhat similar but with a fuller body. But I prefer a cleaner taste of white wine to go with oyster usually. So the 2nd bottle, (yes, we had to order a 2nd bottle since we were enjoying each other’s company so much), Lake Breeze Pinot Blanc, definitely provided the crisp and brighter taste to wake up my palate for the the delicious oysters. Unfortunately we ordered this bottle after we finished the oysters. So this oyster-wine pairing just has to wait.

Lock & Worth Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon
Lock & Worth Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon
Lake Breeze Pinot Blanc, Naramata Bench, BC
Lake Breeze Pinot Blanc, Naramata Bench, BC

The Oysters

The oysters were awesome. The Chefs Creek oyster, the buck-a-shuck feature of the day, were those creamy little jewels great for your bucks. Like the Coal Harbour location, they also offered the $2 premium oyster of the day, the Village Bay oyster from New Brunswick, beautifully shaped and succulent in texture. The East Coast oyster reminded me of Kusshi, one of my favourite from the West Coast, but its flavour seemed more subtle and I tasted some notes of cucumber. As it went well with the cucumber vinaigrette, I quite liked the habanero sauce for a little kick and enhancer as well.

Chef's Creek (BC) and Village Bay (NB)
Chef’s Creek (BC) and Village Bay (NB)
Chef's Creek Oyster
Chef’s Creek Oyster
Sauces for Oysters @ Chewies Kitslano
Sauces for Oysters @ Chewies Kitslano

The Happy Hour Food Menu

The happy hour food menu here is much smaller, and my favourite items from the Coal Harbour restaurant, such as the Crocs and Hush Puppies, the Fried Green Tomatoes and the Crab Cakes were missing on it. The dishes we ended up getting here were just okay. The Pork Belly Crackin’ ($8) could be a tab bit crispier on the skin. The Pan Seared Calamari was little dry, giving a chewy texture. And they seemed to hold back the spices and seasonings on the All Dressed Cajun Fries and the Chewies’ Wings as I was expecting much bigger southern flavours.

Pork Belly Crackin'
Pork Belly Crackin’
All Dressed Cajun Fries
All Dressed Cajun Fries
Pan Seared Calamari
Pan Seared Calamari
Chewies' Wings
Chewies’ Wings

Overall

The happy hour experience here was quite enjoyable with the great Monday wine deal, the tasty oysters, the sunny patio and the great company, although less choices could be found on their happy hour food menu than the one from their Downtown location. And the cooking seemed slightly underwhelming as well – maybe because it was on a Monday? But I would definitely stick to the Coal Harbour location as it’s only one block from my office in Downtown and has more choices on food.

Website:
http://www.chewies.ca

Menu:
http://www.chewies.ca/kits-happy-hour-menu/

More reviews:
Chewies Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Location:

3 Comments

  1. Pfft. You made it sound like we stopped at just two bottles of wine… 😉

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