Nestled near the corner of West Hastings and Carrall at 16 West Hastings Street, the Bitter Tasting Room balances industrial chic with warm pub-style informality. Bare brick walls, exposed beer kegs and open kitchen sit well with the simple but comfy furniture and the whole place doesn’t make you feel like you’ll need to stand on ceremony.
A quick glance over the menu and I feel like I’m back in London; pickled eggs, pork scratchings, beer nuts, and a host of other pub favorites are on offer. But Bitter is offering something beyond standard pub-grub; these are handmade, organic, high quality versions of pub favorites. Scotch eggs are a staple back home but I have to admit the one’s from Bitter are better than anything I’ve had in the UK; crispy and golden brown on the outside and the sausage meat is packed with flavor. The biggest surprise though are the pork scratchings. I imagined a coronary-waiting-to-happen in a sealed foil bag hanging on a hook behind the bar. These are light, chewy, without a hint of grease and dusted with just enough Cayenne Pepper to give them a kick. The closest I can think to compare are shrimp crackers in terms of texture, but the flavor is completely different.
The sausages can also come highly recommended – the Weisswurst we tried was a new one for me. When it arrives at our table our server explains how we remove the skin ourselves; this is hands on food and as I look around the room most of the guests have abandoned cutlery a few mouthfuls in. The Weistwurst is delicious – lightly spiced, soft with an almost pate texture – and it goes brilliantly with Bitter’s home-made sweet honey mustard.
The food is great, but the beer is better: the Bitter Tasting Room is a hopheads Mecca. Owner Sean Heather has clearly taken pains to make ensure that Bitter can offer a beer-tasting experience to rival anything else in Vancouver and the effort has paid off. From the moment you walk in you can’t miss the 12ft high beer coolers. I spot English ales, Asian lagers, German wheat beers, local craft porters and dozens of others.
I go for a selection of four samples – “The Islander” as it’s called – and I’m not disappointed. There’s a Dunkel (Dark German beer) by the name of Dr. Funk from Phillips, a Cream Ale from Lighthouse Breweries, the 9.5% ABV Eisbock style ‘Hermanator’ from V.I.B and “White Bark” a Wheat Ale by Driftwood.
The Hermanator is a pleasant surprise – 9.5% ABV beers often don’t turn out too well – but Vancouver Island brewery have cooked up something here that carries it off well. There are earthy malts on the taste along with grape juice and a hint of something that almost reminds me of soy sauce. You can taste that it’s a stronger beer but it’s not so overpowering that I’d be put off going for another.
The cream ale goes beautifully with the Weisswurst. It’s hoppy, slightly bitter and keeps a nice head. It’s 7% but you wouldn’t guess it from the flavor and it doesn’t overpower the Weisswurst but sits alongside it perfectly.
The stand-out beer for me though, in this selection, is the White Bark wheat ale by Driftwood. It pours nice and cloudy and has some amazing citrus smells coming off it. It’s got a low carbonation and though I tend to think of these as summer beers it’s goes down beautifully on a chilly Vancouver night.
Technically you’d probably call Bitter a gastropub, but only for want of a better word. I associate ‘gastropubs’ with restaurants that awkwardly dip a toe into the booze market without much enthusiasm or expertise, but Bitter seem to have the passion and the knowledge to create a genuinely novel experience. Devoted hop-heads will appreciate the chance to see what the local brewing scene has to offer, and the servers are happy to point you in the right direction if Bitter is your first foray outside the world of Bud Light (shame on you!).
Cheers!
For reservations, call 604-558-4658 or visit Bitter's website
You can also find them on Facebook & Twitter
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