Tasting Journey #4 - Judas Goat

Judas Goat

Blood Alley, Gastown  

http://www.judasgoat.ca/


Despite of having lived in Vancouver for 20+ years, the first time of hearing of a street named Blood Alley was ironically introduced to me by a colleague of mine who's only been living in Vancouver for 6 months;  When I was living in Taichung, my coworkers would oftentimes ask me for recommendations on restaurants or places to visit.  I guess it is true that locals tend to stick to the few restaurants that they are familiar with, while visitors are more adventurous in venturing out interesting places.  Given the mentality that you will not be staying in the same city forever, you have the motivation to get as much out of it in as little time as possible.

Judas Goat is definitely one of those interesting places.  Although located in the beautiful area of Gastown, the restaurant is hidden away in the street behind.  Blood Alley does not have the same beautiful European street lights, nor red brick buildings.  Rather, it felt more like a back alley where homeless people find corners to rest.  We saw people walking through the street, but mostly in pairs, quickly with a destination in mind.  It's not a sketchy place, but I would not feel comfortable striding down this street everyday at night by myself.  The restaurant, however, is completely a different story.

Judas Goat fits approximately 20 people. The atmosphere is more like a deli than a restaurant where all tables are tall, and with high chairs.  Walking into the restaurant, the first thing you see is the counter where all the food is prepared.  Most of the seats were reserved (well, it is a Friday night), we were seated by the window.  Though this type of seating made it difficult to talk face-to-face, it was nice to be able to look out the window.  I've always liked sitting by the window and observing people as they walk by despite the minimal traffic in a back alley.

The weather has been extremely cold the last few days.  So to start off our meal, we each ordered a glass of wine to warm up. Looking at the selection, there weren't too many "warm" food.  They were mostly like hors d'oeuvres or 懷石料理, perfect for us to try many different dishes.  Portions are not huge, therefore we ended up sharing 9 dishes.  My favourite is the cacciatori (first image below);  The spanish cheese also well complimented the cured meat; Mussles were tasty, and so were the pork & chard empanada.

The crowd started picking up around 7pm, and by 8pm, the entire restaurant was packed.  Despite the popularity, I was surprised that there were no guests waiting in line for a table.  I guess considering the location of this restaurant, I wouldn't be surprised if all of these guests are frequent visitors who knew they had to make a reservation in advance to get a seat.  I liked the atmosphere of the restaurant - cozy yet contemporary.  However, one thing that did slightly bother me was the noise level.  As the evening progressed (and possibly after everyone had a few round of drinks), I had to talk louder and louder to be heard, and to also have to slightly read lips to hear.  Definitely not the place if you are looking for a deep conversation, but highly recommended as a place to start your weekend.

How much does it cost? Less the wine, I would say we are looking at an approximate $36/person. Definitely needed to order the Polenta dish as a filler.