EXP Restaurant + Bar

Phone: (604) 558-1337
Address: 309 W. Pender St., Vancouver, BC
Hours: 5:00pm to 12:00am Daily
Website:  http://www.expbar.ca/
Date of Visit: Jan. 28, 2013

EXP Bar is a video-game themed restaurant, and one of the few themed restaurants in Vancouver. Despite being opened for about a year already, they’re still in their soft-opening phase. Their original vision was to create a social meeting place for gamers that also serves alcohol, basically an arcade and bar. However BC’s liquor board put a stop to this as EXP bar has a food primary liquor license, the video games would take away from the food. So now, instead of of game consoles hooked up to the flat screens, they just have gameplay footage showing on them. It seems to me they’ll be in their soft opening phase until this issue is resolved. Personally, I think this still works. Sure I would like the option to play some video games too, but would you really want alternate between holding the controllers that have been handled by other patrons and shoving some nachos or fries down your mouth?

 

SPECIAL NACHO STAGE

Super Smash Nachos 7.5/10

• Nachos topped with cheese, pulled-pork, Italian sausage, and sour cream.
• Pulled-pork was a little dry, but still good.
• The Italian sausage worked pretty well with the nachos.

Overall, the nachos were a pretty simple dish, great to to start with with some beer. However, the plate the nachos were served in made if difficult to evenly distribute some topping onto each individual nacho.

MAIN QUESTS

Chocobo Chicken BUrger 7.5/10

• Chicken could have been a bit moister and crunchier .
• Garlic sauce really tied all the ingredients together.
• Needed more bacon.

Ubi Poutine Burger 5.5/10

This burger wasn’t necessarily bad but, it’s a burger, topped with fries, and served with a side of fries. You’re basically ordering a hamburger with cheese curds and some gravy for sauce. I don't know why my buddy ordered it. If you really wanted gravy, I’d suggest you pay the small surcharge and upgrade your fries to a poutine.

Beyond Mac & Cheese Burger with Poutine Power-Up 6.5/10

Like the poutine burger, the mac-and-cheese burger is another interesting combination. The mushiness of the pasta doesn't work too well with the burger patty. The mac-and-cheese also lacked a distinct taste that was expected from being made with dark beer. The poutine needed more cheese curds.

Tri-Force Burger 8/10

• 6oz beef patty, fried chicken, & two thick slices of bacon.

This burger should be EXP Bar’s signature burger. There aren’t a lot of places that regularly serve a burger made from (at least) three different animals. The Tri-Force char mark on the burger added a cool cosmetic touch.

ATMOSPHERE

It’s a theme restaurant, so some effort on the decor was expected, after all, naming menu items after an item or character from a video game can only do so much. Throughout the restaurant are replicas of video game characters and items. Even the bathroom (which were relatively clean, safe for #2) was decorated with video game posters. Adorning the walls are flat screens playing video-game game play footage, and in one of the corners was a DJ station. I was surprise to find that the restaurant wasn’t as loud as expected.

SERVICE

There was only one waitress on duty during our visit, despite that service was still pretty quick and our food arrived within a reasonable amount of time. That said, they weren’t very busying during our visit, I would expect service to decline greatly if it was.

VERDICT

I thought their focus would be prioritized on the atmosphere over the food, however, the food here was pretty good. The portions and price were pretty reasonable and on par with a dive bar, except you get much better atmosphere. While it may seem EXP Restaurant + Bar is catered more towards a niche audience, I would recommend this restaurant even if you’re not a gamer and you’re just looking for a place to eat and have a drink with some friends.