Drinkz at Strykerz! - A Zeke Tasteem Review©
As the STEEM BEEROLOGIST, you have to know I am all about Beverages with Friends! Sometimes, it is hosting company at home, others, it is a grand tour of a brewery or night on the town. Sometimes, you just wanna go where everybody knows your name.......the local pub.
So, I take you inside a local sports pub you will probably never discover as it is in a small part of a small city, in a small corner of a strip mall. Lets see if it is bigger than I make it out to be!
How did such an accomplished food and beverage reviewer come to find this unlikely place? Surely there has to be an interesting story there!
Actually no. I was doing daddy duty for one of my little ones who had a girl guides trip to an indoor rock climbing place as an outing. I was taxi man and decided to run a few errands with my other little one. I planned it perfectly that we would have time for a 45-minute meal and I was determined to find someplace completely unique, and hopefully showing the hockey game.
A little Google Searching for a local sports pub lead me straight to Strykers Kitchen & Bar https://www.facebook.com/strykerzkitchen/ As a digital marketer, I find it bizarre to discover a restaurant that has almost 300 Google reviews and no web page. Perhaps they are just happy to attract the people in the surrounding neighbourhood and keep it simple?
As you might expect, it was rather dimly lit but not dingy. Well decorated not to the point of being tasteful, but rather homey. Kind of like my man cave except with servers.
There were well-worn seats at the bar where I could imagine wasting time enjoying a pint and watching the game. The seats were filled and I would wager each of the occupants had occupied their seat on other days.
Can I start you with a Drink?
You know just what I like!
In smaller townie places like this, I am a little afraid I will have to settle with a pedestrian beer because there is very little craft on the menu. I did see a Flying Monkeys sign on the wall so I asked for an IPA on tap anyway. To my surprise, they had one, and I had never tasted before in Hespeler Village IPA https://hespelerbrewing.com/ It was a nice surprise, and ended up being another tasty notch in the belt of a beer adventurer looking to taste every beer once before the end.
Let's Get to the Menu
The appetizers are socially branded as sharables and are accompanied by a good variety of salads for a small place, and a subsection dedicated just for wings. This variety is not at all bad and even has the typical Canadian Salad (AKA Poutine.)
The flip side of the menu with the main courses has a rather large selection of sandwiches and wraps. A friend once told me, "If it is on a bun, it AIN'T fine dining" which is fine with me.
The Mains section has another good variety ranging from steak dinner to pub curry, chicken to meatloaf and even some pasta. Surely I and my little one can find something delectable.
We definitely did.....and stop calling me Shirley. She opted to take my suggestion GASP!! and give the butter chicken a try as pub curries are generally pretty good. I have strayed long enough from the burger path to please my readers with variety and opted for the Smokey Blue Burger. As is my healthy habit (not really) I upgraded the fries to Sweet Potato fries.
Patented Dramatic Extreme Close-up!
It wouldn't be a Zeke Tasteem Review© without the shot where I jam the camera onto my plate, make you feel like you are right there, and imagining the townies looking sideways at the hipster photographing his food. The lengths I go to please legions of followers...These fries were as good as they appear! Lightly but nicely breaded and the thin fries were crispy and tasty! Burger was great too.
As we were ordering and talking, I noticed a PA and guitar stand that made me wonder whether we would get some entertainment during our meal. Sure enough, a troubadour stepped up and played a bunch of songs ranging from Smashmouth to Beatles. A nice touch for a Thursday night dinner.
Looking around while enjoying our visit and meal, you can see the sports pub legitimacy with not only the televisions, but the banners and signed jerseys of the local Ontario Hockey League home team Kitchener Rangers. I was hunting for the hockey game but they had the Toronto Raptors and Houston Rockets on the tube which was fine with me and the others there.
Some find it satisfying to see what I was dinged for my meal during Tasteem reviews.....and compare it to the prices in their neck of the woods. So, you can pay for my meal with your generous upvote but it may take a few of the curating whale accounts to cover the bill of $45 plus 15% tip.
All in all...
For a wild card picked from Google, you really can't go wrong with this place. Good beer on tap, pub curry, live music, sports on the television and a good experience. My little one loved the butter chicken so much, she has asked to go back. Though I may find another pub with curry for her to compare her great experience with, I would hit this place again if I was in the area.....doing taxi duty....with time to kill. Doesn't sound like a glowing review but this gem might just remain a secret to googlers and the happy locals.
Thanks for coming along with me for Beverages with Friends at the Pub!
Restaurant Information
Strykers Kitchen & Bar
120 Ottawa St N, Kitchener, ON N2H 3K5, Canada
This post participated in the Tasteem contest Beverages with friends
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thanks for sharing beautiful place and beverages
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