Hub Restaurant & Lounge in Yaletown, Vancouver

Hub Restaurant & Lounge on Mainland Street in Yaletown, Vancouver (Canada).

A fine opening party it was. Hub Restaurant & Lounge in Yaletown, Vancouver opened its doors a couple of weeks ago, but the official opening took place last week. I invited my friend James and we went to check out the old Brown’s Restaurant.

The same owners got rid of the corporate franchise and re-created Hub Restaurant & Lounge. What they took away from the space is the cookie cutter attitude that can run rampant in Yaletown; what they added is an English-style pub menu without forgetting the upscale vibe of the neighbourhood.

I wasn’t overjoyed with the cocktails I had (a raspberry lemonade and big red martini) but the food was fantastic. The wok squid and lobster wings were on the heavy side and delicious; the crab mac n’ cheese was a nice take on a now-trendy dish; James seemed delighted with the bruschetta, crispy chicken club sandwich and braised beef selections.

Chocolate Chip Pazookie Cookie at Hub Restaurant in Yaletown, Vancouver (Canada).

The highlight? Dessert. It blew us away. The Chocolate Chip Pazookie sounds confusing on paper but not in real life. A giant chocolate chip cookie comes steaming out of the oven, still gooey. A dollop of fresh vanilla gelato is plopped in the centre and the whole cast iron pan is brought out on a plate with a napkin wrapped around the handle.

This is a dessert to share and share we did. In fact, we polished that puppy off in no time, completely stuffed. It was a great finish to the evening. Did I mention the cookie was 7 oz?

Hub Restaurant & Lounge in Yaletown, Vancouver (Canada).

What I Liked:

• Although this isn’t a sports bar, you can still come here to watch the game. Which game? It doesn’t really matter. There are eight or nine flat screen TVs around the bar and they all have sports on them. Just choose your game and have a seat.
• An ingenious idea (and with the hopes of gathering the after work crowd) is the Monday to Friday $6 appies deal from 4-6 pm. The appie menu is actually quite large, for this very reason, and it’s a reasonably-priced way to meet up with friends après work and unwind before going home.
• After tasting the food, I asked to see the regular menu so I could see just how expensive this place was. I was surprised to see a very well-priced menu. I narrowed in on the $11 veggie burger and $14 salmon burger, and there’s prime rib Sunday night for $19.99 for those who salivate over meat. Not bad for Yaletown.

Tags: bc, braised beef, Brown’s Restaurant, bruschette, chicken club sandwich, chocolate chip chookie pazookie, cocktails, crab mac n' cheese, Hub Restaurant & Lounge, lobester wings, vancouver, wok squid, Yaletown