Last night after the conference, Megan and I met up with Kelsey for some dinner and drinks. I think the girls were hoping for sushi, but I put the kibosh on those plans! Not such a fan of the raw fish. So we asked Kelsey what kinds of restaurants were nearby, and she suggested burgoo bistro.
As you can tell from the picture above, I had to use the flash. That’s because like most little bistros, burgoo is really dark, with a single candle on each table providing most of the light. It was also quite small, with maybe a dozen tables and a tiny bar. We only had to wait about ten minutes for a table, however.
They more than make up for their lack of physical size with the menu! Even their harvest takeout menu is really impressive. Burgoo offers a wide range of dishes, from Mac and Cheese (which is what I had, for $8) to Ratatouille and Laksah and Pacific Chowder. Megan had a really hard time deciding what to order, eventually deciding on the Kentucky Burgoo for $14 (slow cooked meats with lima beans, corn, tomatoes, cabbage and okra served over garlic mashed potatoes).
We had White Sangria to drink. The $16 pitcher was impressively gigantic, though it did include quite a bit of ice. Kelsey enjoyed the oversized spoon they gave us for stirring!
When the waitress brought my Mac and Cheese out I was both surprised and a little worried. Surprised because I really liked the presentation – tiny white pot on a wooden plate – and worried because it didn’t look very big. It turned out to be quite filling though, so my worry was thankfully unnecessary!
It may not be the fanciest restaurant in the world, but I really liked burgoo. It would take you quite a while to get bored with the menu, and with the reasonable prices you wouldn’t break the bank trying everything either. Give it a shot if you’re in the area!
MasterMaq's Blog 
Love that you are making food blog type posts. Sharon and I were talking about food blogs last night.
Well I had some inspiration 🙂
Good call on the Sushi. Animal products were never intended to be eaten raw.
If you don’t want to do the photo-geeky papering over of the flash, try stepping away from the subject when taking pictures with flash, and then crop to the bit you want.
Cheers from another NV08 participant (I’ve decided to boycott the term “attendee” for this conference as it doesn’t express the interactivity of Northern Voice)
That’s a good tip, I’m going to have to remember that…sometimes it’s just too tempting to point and shoot without thinking!
Ended up here after reading your feedback re NV08 – sorry I didn’t get a chance to meet and talk to you there.
Burgoo is one of my favourite restaurants in Vancouver. It’s reasonably priced, but it’s also the kind of food you’d get if you went to a dinner party at a friend’s home – simple, unpretentious, and satisfying.
Likewise Ruth – hopefully we’ll meet next year! That’s a great description of burgoo IMO…food you’d get at a dinner party with friends.