I’ve been meaning to try Pourhouse in Gastown for ages. I really want to try their burger, but alas not this time. Just some beers and a snack!

Everything about Pourhouse evokes nostalgia, classy cocktails, roaring 20s, bowties and handlebar moustaches.

Even the names of some of their dishes evokes that feeling, like “Devils on Horseback”, which I was so intrigued with that I ordered.

But first, beers! My partner L. had her go-to apricot beer, Pyramid Apricot Ale. Great if you like wheat beers and apricots. To me it’s nicely balanced and drinkable and not too cloying.

I got a smooth, delicious Crannog Back Hand of God Stout. Not on nitro, but still very smooth, creamy and drinkable. Everyone should be drinking this instead of Guinness. A bit more layers of flavour than Guinness without being “too much”.

Pickles & Olives. Nice variety of pickled veggies and some firm green olives. Mason jar serving vessel made it a bit awkward to stab stuff with your fork, so maybe I should bring my Guu portable chopsticks next time 😉

Devils on Horseback. Cheese-stuffed prunes, wrapped in bacon and served with bbq sauce. Bacon-wrapped anything was already a cliche years ago but this is a damn tasty bite of food! I don’t like prunes at all but it really worked with the fatty, smoky, not-too-salty flavour of the bacon and creamy cheese and sweet bbq sauce. Almost like bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers except substitute the jalapenos with prunes! Recommended, so you can say you rode with The Devil.

One more for the road: Pourhouse had Gigantic’s Too Much Coffee Man beer as their sixth rotating tap today. Frankly, I wasn’t wowed that much with this one. After trying Brassneck’s Magic Beans coffee beer, this was way less exciting. I didn’t even bother to take notes…

I had a great time at Pourhouse and the friendly, knowledgeable bartenders made me feel positive about coming back. Famous Pourhouse Burger next time?