Restaurant review: Rock Tavern

New tavern has cozy atmosphere, big portions, and ROCKin’ fish n’ chips

I’m one of those people who loves going out for a meal by myself. After a long, tiring week, I like to go out someplace cozy, order a drink and some comfort food, and more often than not I’ll take a book along to get some light reading done. Sometimes, I might even take my work along with me. On more than one occasion, I have solved something I was stuck with for hours as soon as I sat down with the same problem at a local diner.

All of which are reasons why I was glad to see the newest neighborhood restaurant open on south Albert, just a moderately distanced walk from my place. Two doors down from Dandy’s Ice Cream at 4550 Albert Street, Rock Tavern is the latest neighborhood gathering spot serving delicious food, local craft beer, cocktails, and a variety of wines in a cozy, welcoming atmosphere. Open every day from 11:30 a.m. to at least 10:30 p.m., their menu offers a wide selection of appetizers, soups and salads, burgers, pizzas, and a number of other main courses. For dessert, you can actually order a scoop of the vanilla ice cream from Dandy’s. It can even come along with a warm chocolate brownie, made in house, if you like.

The restaurant has been in operation for just under a month, and has a growing social media presence on Facebook (Rock Tavern) and Instagram (@rocktavernyqr). Be warned if you follow their pages, though! Sometimes photos of delicious burgers or sandwiches pop up at times when you are supposed to be working or sleeping, and this has posed a slight inconvenience for this writer more than a few times.

Some of us had the opportunity to go down there for dinner this past week, and I for one will definitely be going back. It was the evening of Remembrance Day, and the place was not too busy or loud, something I was thankful for. Chef Braitman was in fact able to come out for a chat with our party of around 10 people, and highly recommended the fish and chips. While I had originally intended to go with the Southern Heat Smash Burger (it was the perfect weather for it that evening), a number of us took his recommendation and had no regrets.

Made with rockfish, which is a variety of the pacific snapper, the fish and chips were flavorful, soft, and flaky – and at 12 ounces of fish, more than enough for someone with a healthy appetite. In fact, some members of our group eventually had to get takeaway boxes for theirs. When sharing this tidbit with the chef, he mentioned that the fish and chips is one of their fastest moving items, and they have a 6-ounce fish burger on the menu also made with rockfish.

After 12 ounces of lightly battered and delicious fish and chips, I didn’t have room for dessert. However, I have found myself staring at the burger section of the menu multiple times since on their website. I figure if I do a weekly visit for the next little while it will still be two months before I have tried one of each, four months if I want to alternate with the fish and chips. If you take a look at their menu and think it looks pricey, I definitely want to point out that the portions are huge. In fact, two members of our group were able to share one. Personally, I would never do such a thing, but I also used to eat two dinners daily for a big chunk of my life!

Be that as it may, I highly recommend the Rock Tavern! Go down there the next time there’s a Riders game, enjoy it on their big screens along with some drinks, and, if you are feeling peckish, get the fish and chips!