Brix & Mortar: Birthday happy hour and dinner
For my birthday this year, we decided to have a nice dinner at Brix & Mortar. Brix & Mortar is a Canadian restaurant located in Yaletown. This review is based on an in-dining experience.
Patio
Due to covid, in-dining is currently not allowed in Vancouver so I chose this restaurant because it has a really pretty courtyard area that is open for patio dining. People even hold weddings in the courtyard.
When I called to make my reso, I requested for the courtyard. The man on the phone said he’ll add that note in and that chances are I will probably get seated in courtyard because Sundays are not too busy. I reminded him that Sunday was Mother’s Day, so it might be busy. Sure enough, on the day of, we were not seated in the courtyard. Instead, we had a corner table on their outdoor patio which wasn’t bad, but I was kind of bummed about not sitting in the courtyard like I had requested over the phone.
Their patio is heated and has a roof so it’s pretty well equipped for rainy weather.
Happy hour
We arrived at the restaurant at 5:30pm and we were able to order some items from their happy hour menu before it ended at 6pm.
Moscow mule ($7)
I really liked their moscow mule. It was in the standard moscow mule copper cup, which kept the drink nice and cold. It had quite a spicy kick so it was addicting in that sense and it tasted sweet and sour. The only note is that they added a lot of ice to it.
We also ordered 2 glass of red wine for $6 each to pair with our dinner entree.
Seasonal arancini ($10)
The seasonal arancini came with 5 pieces and a housemade aioli. It was really good! The risotto balls were battered and fried lightly and the inside was cheesy and very savoury.
Spiced braised beef croquettes ($10)
You know it’s hard for me to pass on a croquette! Unfortunately, I wasn’t the biggest fan of these croquettes. The good thing about them is that they are fully loaded with spiced braised beef. I found the taste to be overly salty and I didn’t like the truffled parmesan aioli paired with it (overwhelming).
Dinner
We ordered 1 appetizer from their regular dinner menu and we also ordered the same entree.
Sea scallops ($18)
This appetizer seemed the most enticing so we ordered it even though it was not part of the happy hour menu. It features barbequed duck fried risotto, radish sprouts and chili oil.
The scallops were cooked well and tasted good. They were not big scallops by any means.
The duck fried risotto was unlike any other risotto we’ve ever tried. We are more used to pasta risotto so we were surprised to see the dry texture of the risotto rice. It closely resembled the look and taste of a crispy fried rice.
Yarrow meadows duck breast ($30)
The duck breast dish is pastrami spiced, comes with corned beef brisket ‘rueben’ hash and cave aged gruyere. The portion for this is quite big and the 2 duck breasts slices are thick and nicely pink. The dish felt a little dry though so maybe more sauce or a jus would be good for the duck breast.
The hash was very interesting as it had a bit of sourness to it with some type of pickled vegetable thrown in there. We were actually feeling quite full so we left most of the hash to take home. The next day, we stir-fried it again and added a fried egg and it tasted so good as a breakfast hash! Compared to having it as a breakfast dish, I found the hash to be kind of a strange pairing with duck breast.
Lemon panna cotta ($10)
My boyfriend is a sucker for panna cotta! This one comes with roasted pineapple on top, fruit pearls & torn mint.
I liked this dessert because we were really full by dessert time. The sourness of the lemon in the panna cotta was refreshing and light. I also really liked the fruit pearls! I thought those were so interesting. They looked like ikura (fish eggs) and had a pop of juicy flavour.
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: ⭐⭐⭐
I had an enjoyable dinner at Brix & Mortar. I found their happy hour menu to have some really nice appetizers and good deals for drinks. Their regular menu is also quite affordable for Yaletown and there are options for vegetarians and vegans. Our total bill came to around $143.
In terms of food, I’ve had better duck breast at other restaurants but for a higher price. Out of everything I tasted, I liked the arancini the most. I don’t think I would order the scallops again because of how much the risotto resembled fried rice and I preferred eating the Rueben hash from my duck dish for breakfast. But overall, the food was tasty and worth its price point, especially with how pretty the restaurant is.
Service was good as our servers were all friendly and nice. Only note is that again I didn’t get the courtyard seating and they also didn’t prepare anything for a birthday guest (no candles, complimentary dessert, wish me a happy birthday, etc.).
Sincerely, Loewe