The Round-up:
- Food - 3.5 out of 5
- Service - 3 out of 5
- Decor - 4 out of 5
- Total - 10.5 out of 15
$15 for lunch, $30 for supper. Open 7 days a week for lunch and supper.
3255 Quance Street, Regina, SK.
Phone: 306-586-7625
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I have to admit, Regina's East End isn't a part of town I visit all that often. I make the long drive down Victoria Street East once every week or two, usually to pay a visit to Costco. The rest of the time, I prefer doing my shopping in other parts of town where the traffic is a little less likely to cause a headache and a little more likely to support local business.
As a result, I often forget about one of our city's best casual restaurants. Rock Creek Tap and Grill opened about three years ago. The sight of a locally owned restaurant among the many chains that line the East End's streets was a welcome one. To boot, the food was great and the decor was classy, without being all uppity.
I've made several more trips to Rock Creek for good appetizers and great meals since then, but my last trip was almost a year ago. Until yesterday.
We arrived around 1 o'clock and the parking lot was almost totally full. A pretty good sign for a Saturday afternoon. As usual, we sat in the lounge where a table for six was easier to come by. We made ourselves comfortable and managed to score a couple of menus (literally two). Like I said, it was busy. Drinks were a bit slow to come by, as was the waitress to take our order, but thankfully we weren't in any hurry.
When it came time to order, we stuck mainly to pub-food classics, or Comfort Food, as the menu calls it: Chicken Fingers with fries; the Hickory Barbecue Chicken Burger; the Black and Blue Burger (a Cajun-style sirloin burger with blue cheese, bacon, lettuce and tomato); and the Quance Street Club (grilled chicken breast, smoked bacon, pea shoots, tomato, avocado, jack cheese and pesto aioli).
The food hit our table in good time and we dug in with gusto. Things suddenly got very quiet. Only the sound of chewing and the odd, "Mmm, this is good," broke the silence. The portions were hearty, as were the sides. I had a spicy cup of Chicken Vegetable with my Club. With four or five slices of jalapeno pepper floating in the broth, it was an interesting soup. I'll leave it at that.
Big Poppa, my dad, was making short work of his burger with yam fries next to me. Across the table my sister, normally an adventurous diner, was munching on the chicken fingers. It was a choice she didn't regret. The Calgary Boys also had no complaints about their sandwiches. Actually, they ate them so fast that I'm not totally sure what one of them ordered.
Rock Creek's menu is a savvy one -- there's the right mix of classic standbys and new inventions to keep you interested, and to keep you coming back. On the appetizer menu, you'll find everything from Cajun Blackened Guac Scallops to good-'ole nachos (with bacon and banana peppers). The lounge has food and drink specials almost every night of the week, and a bevy of fancy TVs. Can't get tickets to the next Rider game? Try hanging out here. If you can get a parking spot, that is.
www.rockcreekgrill.com
