Posted by This time it’s different
We think we can all agree that Piper’s Pub has been lousy for years now. Around 15 years ago, when it was first rebuilt, it quickly established itself as a good neighbourhood pub and great place for sports. Then, with each owner change came a worse menu, lousier service, and and fewer reasons to visit. The recent iteration lasted only a short time and the building – the only pub in walking distance for much of the Hammond Bay area – has sat derelict for months.
So along comes yet another tenant, except this time it’s not a pub.
“The Piper’s” has just opened at the site and we had a chance to visit it with friends during its soft opening, which as of this writing is still underway. The nature of a soft opening is that certain elements of the experience, be it menu, décor, opening hours, etc. may be limited, so we have to keep that in mind while judging.
To be frank, our first impressions were not particularly good. The website is a bit hard to find (here you go), and even now, it doesn’t show the lunch or dinner menu despite dining being open until 9pm. From the website alone, you might think The Piper’s was a brunch-only restaurant. Upon arrival we noted the building doesn’t even have a sign on it. Inside wasn’t particularly encouraging either. It’s a big space and felt dusty and empty. There was almost no décor except the tired leavings from the pub days. Again, soft opening, so these are the things that we’d expect to be improved in the near future.
The menus we were handed for dinner were hard to navigate. The descriptions were so minimal that we really didn’t understand what half of the entrees even were. Just what does “seafood inspired” mean, anyway? Is it actual seafood, or just “inspired”? Yeesh. Also, we weren’t sure if the Piper’s was trying to be a fish and chips shop, a Korean BBQ, or a fancy seafood restaurant. The menu covered all of those. More bad news came when we learned that the restaurant was not yet licensed, so our options for drinks with dinner were basically water, coffee, or fancy juice.
Soft opening, soft opening, soft opening. Maybe we could look past all of this if the food was any good.
Because we couldn’t really make sense of the menu, and because we were team eating with friends, we decided to throw caution to the wind and just order a bunch of stuff. And thank goodness we did. The food was great. Let’s get into it.
From the appies menu we ordered the calamari and the fried scallops and shrimp. Not exactly a healthy start, but we weren’t drinking so we felt entitled. The calamari was served in a basket and the other appy in a small bowl. Both were great – well cooked and juicy and the breading was crispy and not too oily. The calamari came with tartar sauce that we particularly liked.
For mains we shared the lettuce wraps, salmon carpaccio, and the spicy chicken burger. The wraps came with glazed chicken bits, onions, fried yam strings and a couple choices of sauce. These were tasty and fun to eat. The salmon carpaccio was a pleasant surprise, nicely presented but also delicious (although putting capers on food is like a cheat code to get our approval).
The chicken burger (pictured above) was mostly a hit too. It wasn’t particularly spicy, but still tasted great. The bun was completely inadequate at containing the mess of juicy meat, shredded veg, and sticky sauces and this thing really needed to come with extra napkins (or better yet, finger bowls). The fries were great.
Now that we knew that the food at The Piper’s was better than initial impressions suggested, we decided to gamble on desert too. Fried cheese balls? Sounds good, please bring it. WTF is “snowy snow”? Don’t care, YOLO.
Fried cheese balls are amazing. Like, amazing. It’s a semi-soft cheese (maybe mozza), breaded and fried. What more could you want? They were hot, gooey, and crispy on the outside.
The real winner here was was the “snowy snow”. What this actually was was a sort of cross between ice cream and shaved ice – shaved milk? Imagine ice cream, but fluffy as air. This was then covered in fruit jellies, mango, whipped cream, and boba/tapioca pearls. This was so, so delicious it was a hit with each of us and a clear highlight of the meal. We looked it up afterward and think it’s a Korean dish called “bingsu“. We want this again, pronto.
Service during our visit was inconsistent, ranging from bored disinterest to highly cordial and hospitable. We assume the latter servers were owners or family.
The price we paid for all four of us to eat, including taxes and a modest tip, was $148. Remember, there were no drinks included (except one fancy juice). We consider this fair value. The food was absolutely great, but you’ll pay for it.
Conclusion
There’s no question the food at The Piper’s is great. All the other issues – the facility itself, the service, the indecipherable menu – are kinks which we expect will be worked out as the restaurant figures out its identity and moves to its full grand opening. Based just on the food we had on our visit, we are excited to revisit once that happens. Perhaps we’ll see you there!