Pub Night at Cascade Room

This wasn't my first visit to Cascade Room. It's become a solid "go-to" place on Main. It is a fantastic place to get together with a group of friends and a pretty awesome place for a date night. The restaurant is comfortably loud but not painfully so, you can still hold a conversation.  The decor is pretty cool, with some elements that make it feel like a updated version of a 1950s hotel lounge and some awesome modern elements. The menu is decent sized and focuses on local sourced products. The prices are reasonable, the portion sizes are great, and the service is always friendly and attentive.

In a nod to British Pub Culture, Monday nights have become quiz nights at Cascade. Questions are "general knowledge, " registration is between 6-7 for a prompt 7:00pm start. Maximum of four per team, $2 to take part, and the winning team scoops up the proceeds to go to the charity of their choice. This quiz was not easy!!!! Questions ranged from topics like world population, current events, geography, history, sports, language, current events....Our team, "Let's Get Quizzical" struggled through the first few rounds with a late surge in points and mad success in the Madonna name-that-tune section. All in all, even though we left feeling a little dumb, it was a really fun way to spend a night. Team "Let's Get Quizzical,"ordered a variety of tasty treats.

Beets & Butter Lettuce salad $12 roasted pecans, green apple, red grapes, celery, chantilly dressing
T-Mc ordered this and really liked it. It was a crisp,large and filling salad with a lot of different taste and textural elements. She noted that the beets could have been more dominating in flavour. The dressing was light with a bit of a citrus kick.

Saltspring Island Mussels $13 red curry, coconut milk, sesame flatbreadThis is a huge portion (it comes out in a bucket) and great for sharing. The mussels were huge, plump and meaty. The broth was nice and garlicky and rich but not too heavy. The curry flavour wasn't very strong or spicy- but still pretty damn tasty.

Mushroom Pizza $14 Roasted mushrooms, pesto, edam and goat's cheese, fresh spinach.
This a stand-out delicious dish at Cascade and it's hard to order anything else when I know how yummy this pizza is. It's a simple thin crust pizza with light flavours. The mushrooms and spinach add a rich, earthy flavour. Even with pesto and a few different types of cheese, this pizza isn't greasy or messy. The crust is chewy and light but not the star of the pizza...it's definitely about the toppings.

Crisp Polenta Fries and Curried Mayo Dip $6
This is another must-order dish for me at Cascade. They are creamy, warm, and fluffy on the inside and have an awesome light fried crispy exterior. They come out piping hot (wait a few minutes so you don't burn your tongue) and they are huge and pretty filling. The curry mayo dip is nice but felt pretty heavy at the end as I filled up....I started dipping them in the mussel broth which turned out to be a delicious combination.