Moxie's Classic Grill

Because it was my friend's birthday we had to have somewhere special to eat. But since we had just arrived in Vancouver, had no money after a long stint of not working (hooray though for 10 weeks of no work) and we didn't really know of anywhere the options werent overwhelming. The Sunday before her birthday my friend, lets call her Tracey - because that's her name, walked past Moxies Classic Grill on Broadway and was intrigued so the next night off we went.

What was it that intrigued her so? Out of the front was an outdoor seating area, and in that outdoor seating area was a river rock fireplace. Not that it would probably keep you warm much if it was needed but boy it looks cool! (as in funky, not cold). Inside there are dark wood interiors with an interesting and eye catching selection of lamps and plants. Though you can sit at the granite-topped bar, we chose to go straight to a booth. The section we were in didn't have a fire place, but a smaller room on the other side of the restaurant did have a fireplace.

But of course it doesn't matter how stylish a place is, it's the food that counts and as I am writing this and thinking about what I ate, my lunch seems so much less appealing. It was pretty tasty food, for lunch I am thinking of going to Subway - it just doesn't compare. The menu is varied enough (at Moxies, not Subway) with seafood, steaks, burgers, pasta, pizza, noodles enchiladas and salads - with some impressive combinations.

To start we ordered the three dip med bread set to share. Oven-baked flat bread brushed with garlic butter, sprinkled with rosemary and pepper, served with three dips. One of the dips was very garlicky so we all avoided that one. For three of us it was plenty of dip with three pieces of bread each.

For a main I ordered the madras penne which was chicken with mango chutney, red peppers, fresh garlic, ginger, red onions, coconut and sliced apples in a cream sauce with a light touch of curry. You can also get that with prawns, as I hate all kinds of seafood I figured chicken was my best bet. It was such a big meal that they ended up packing it up for me. They do that in Canada without you even asking so when they came back to the table with a package for me I got all excited, I wasn't that disappointed to find the food inside, it was very delicious!

Since I was so full from dinner I unfortunately didn't make it to dessert. But with items on the menu like mini mocha mud pie and a mocha kahlua cheesecake I'm sorry that I missed out.

There is also a kiddies menu which has things like a grilled cheese sandwich or a junior burger.

The drinks menu features a special each night, for our night it was cheaper beer which one of us was happy about!! Not me as I headed to the wine menu.. Birthday girl took to the cocktail menu and happily tried out a few martinis, and got happier as the night went on. For Vancouver the prices were pretty standard. Which is on a par with London generally, though wine tends to be pricier for some reason, even Canadian wines.

The staff were very pleasant and helpful. I have yet to work out if Canadians are friendly because they know they are working for a tip, or just because in general Canadians are friendly. I like to believe its because they are just friendly people.

Being newbie's to Vancouver we had thought this was a one off place but quickly discovered, to our disappointment, it's actually a chain restaurant. Even though I do eat at a lot of chain restaurants, in my mind I prefer the idea of a one off place, something about fear of all places spreading like the McDonalds disease (not that I don't give into the tastiness of McDonalds grease from time to time) and going to a new city and finding it just the same as the one I left. Moxies is certainly starting its world domination in Canada - there are four locations in Vancouver, Davie, Robson, West Georgia and the one I'm commenting on is on West Broadway. Outside of BC Moxies can also be found in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.

In case you are wondering what to wear Moxies describe themselves as "Upper tier Casual", so your best flip flops are in order.

We didn't book but we went on a Monday night and it was still pretty full. They do take reservations though and I would expect for a weekend you would have to book or wait. Even on Monday the outdoor seating area was full up.

I didn't use the bathrooms but my friends did and came back with excited babbles about mirrors with seats in front of them and nice décor.

There was no special wheelchair access but there wasnt much in the way of steps in the main section so i would imagine there would be no problems.

While we were there they were playing 80's music in the background, quietly but enough so you could hear it. 80's music seems very popular over here! One of the songs they were playing was driving us nuts, what was it? Who sang it. It took us hours to remember what it was! (it was Free your Mind by En Vogue).

The bill came to about $30 each, which was split for us, without us asking and included the drinks.

Im trying to think of a disadvantage for Moxies, its not that it was the best place in the world i have been to, but it was great food, friendly staff, well located, decently priced.. theres nothing wrong with it really. I would happily go back.

For that special someone you can even give a Moxies gift card as a present, though if you order online its $9 or $15 for delivery, make sure they are in Canada though!

You can check them out at : http://www.moxies.ca/index2.htm.. The website offers the menu, locations, employment applications, gift card purchasing and franchising options.

The address for West Broadway is 1759 West Broadway, Vancouver BC. Its easily accessible by bus as Broadway is a pretty popular bus route. The cross street is Burrard.