The Galley Patio & Grill

After a bit of a travel ‘adventure’ I finally arrived back in Vancouver yesterday afternoon. I’ll spare you the details, but suffice it to say I was very happy to land, and even happier when my suitcase arrived. (It had been directed to Goose Bay by accident – YVR, YYR, whatever…) It was nearing 4 o’clock, and neither of us had eaten lunch, so Chris proposed that we go and grab something to eat. The suggested destination was the restaurant at Jericho beach. A fantastic idea on a beautiful Vancouver day.

The Galley (www.thegalley.ca) is the restaurant at the Jericho Sailing Centre (www.jsca.bc.ca). It is an order-at-the-counter self-serve place with plastic baskets instead of plates. The menu is pretty basic: burgers, sandwiches, salads, fries, things of that sort. They do have vegetarian options. Essentially, it’s a basic pub-style menu appropriate to the venue. It is licensed, and they have a small but decent selection of local beers and wines. [They even have the La Frenz viognier, something the winery itself if out of (www.lafrenzwinery.com)- see my earlier posts on our visit to the Naramata Bench.] But the real reason for going there is the patio. It has one of the best views out there. Not a people-watching view, a spectacular, remind-you-how-lucky-you-are-to-be-in-Vancouver sort of view. And no fancy furniture. Just plain old plastic patio chairs and tables, which, be warned, are often a little unstable. (So hold on to your beers!) It was just what I needed after my travel travails.

Although I said you don’t go there for the food, don’t take from my statement that the food isn’t worth eating. Most of it is quite good. Nothing spectacular, but better than many places with much less in the way of views. I ordered the basic Angus burger with cheese, and Chris had the Jamaican jerk chicken burger. Both come with fries and are around $10 each. We also each ordered a beer. They have 12 and a 16 oz sized beers, which I like, because 16 is too big for me. (Yesterday I forgot about the smaller size until after we already had our beers.) The angus burger was perfectly fine. Not the best burger I’ve ever had, but certainly something I’d order again. The fries were well cooked, possibly overcooked for some, but perfect for my tastes. Chris’s jerk chicken burger was disappointing. All heat and no flavor. The heat was not an issue, as he loves hot, but the lack of flavor was. There was a lot of mayo on the burgers, but I’m sure that you could order them without. (Something Chris often does but forgot about yesterday.) We usually have the buffalo burgers, which have always been good, so maybe the jerk was a little out of their wheelhouse. We’ve also had the nachos on a previous visit, which were OK. The onion rings at the next table looked amazing, and I plan to try them on our next visit.

In sum, it’s pretty much as advertised. A basic venue with a great view and more than decent food and drink. And you can feel good about supporting a great community resource (the Sailing Centre). Dress casual; it's on the beach.

3 thumbs up.