Love Good Beer

Vij’s Restaurant and Vij’s Rangoli

Monday, June 22nd, 2009 | Beer | No Comments

As a present for her birthday, I bought my wife tickets to see Les Miserables, on Father’s Day, oops.  We managed to see our Father’s on different days and still take in Jean Valjean in all his glory.  We wanted to go out for a bite to eat after the show, and when looking for places nearby the Stanley Theatre, famed Vij’s seemed the logical choice. Our plans hit a snag when we found out that Vij’s doesn’t open until 5:30.  Our show was a matinee and ended at 4:45, so instead of waiting out front, we popped into the more casual Vij’s Rangoli next door.  Now I’d heard that people line up to get into Vij’s, but I had no idea how popular this place really seems to be.  Do people line up?  Do they ever!  By 5PM they were nearly fifty people lined up down the street, and not all of them made it in.  Some stayed to wait another hour or two for the first service to end, others joined us in Vij’s Rangoli.  I was impressed by the fanfare, but also feeling foolish at not seizing my chance to get in.  The food must be freaking good!

I wasn’t feeling too badly though, because Vij’s Rangoli was also quite good.  It is more of a deli style place, complete with market, than a restaurant.  The food was delicious, I had a lamb curry dish and Rachel had shredded pork, but I was particularly impressed with the beer menu.  Instead of the usual lineup of Canadian and American macro lagers, Vij’s Rangoli had Propeller ESB, Anchor Porter, Pilsner Urquell, and Rickards White.  These four beers are not similar and offer a variety of tastes, better suited to pairing with different dishes.  In this town, where beer is often overlooked, I was pleased to see they put some thought into the menu!  Checking online, I also note that Vij’s main restaurant has Storm Pilsner, IPA, and Scotch Ale on the menu, pretty solid.  What could be better than a well prepared curry dish paired with a well prepared IPA?  Not much, which is why I’ll be waiting in line next time.

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: anchor porter, curry, IPA, jean valjean, les miserable, pilsner urquell, Propeller ESB, rickards white, stanley theatre, storm brewing, vij's, vij's rangoli