Pourhouse

Last week, a few of my co-workers and I checked out the new Gastown restaurant and drinking spot, Pourhouse. Of course, we couldn't try any of their drinks because we had to go back to work, so we just opted for a nice lunch.

The restaurant is a little hard to find; there isn't a huge sign to indicate that a restaurant is there, and only recently has its name been on the door. The restaurant feels cozy and posh, with tablecloths, cushy booths, and has an old timey feel with it's exposed bricks, radiators, and shiny dark wood.

I ordered their crispy cheese sandwich, with the house tomato soup ($12). The grilled cheese itself was good, though I'd say that Burgoo's version is better (and my husband's version quite a bit better than that). It was very classic, with regular bread, but it was a little too overdone (the other side of the sandwich was black). There really wasn't anything to distinguish it from any other grilled cheese. However, the tomato soup was excellent. It had a very concentrated, tart, tomato flavour, and really went well with the greasy cheese. Some people might find the soup to be a tad strong and vinegary, but I loved it.

Now, the following are pictures (some very bad) of my co-worker's dishes. Of course, I can't say much about the taste, but they all seemed to like the food.

The sloppy joe ($16). Brigid liked this, though it wasn't very sloppy joe-like.

Another crispy cheese, but with the fish soup. The fish soup apparently was excellent.

Beef Brisket sandwich with mushroom soup

Pork and beans

Halibut. We all tried the bean puree, which was very good

After the meal, we settled down with some Americanos. Overall, we had a great time. The prices are a bit high for lunch, and the servings are on the small side, but we all left satisfied.