Big Rig Brewery

 So the last week of my summer vacation Marlene and I headed out to check out the new brewery "Big Rig" which opened near Ikea in the old Le Bifteque Ottawa location.  This place is owned by an Ottawa Senator (hockey player not member of the Senate) and don't ask me which one because I don't know and I don't care.  Look it up if you want to know!  Its a good location with a HUGE patio and it was a sunny day (prior to our arrival) so we decided to sit outside.  Oh, and being a week day, it seems the patio is a business man's luncheon spot.  Marlene & I were the only table of women; there were two tables of couples and every other table on this massive patio were all mans!  We didn't mind that!

They have a beer sampler, which we chose to get a good overview of the beers they make.  I mean it's beer ... of course I loved them ... some more than others and ironically the ones I preferred were Marlene's least favourite and vice-versa, so that worked out perfectly.

Marlene decided on the club sandwich. 

All the sammies are served with cole slaw and your choice of a variety of sides.  Marlene and I both had the fries which are hand cut and crispy.  Really good, homemade fries.  And the cole slaw is fresh and zesty with a hint of cilantro which, of course, I really loved.

Marlene said the club house sandwich was good.  It looked pretty good and it certainly is massive ...

 

witness:

I had the Philly's Grilled Cheese and Beef.  The description of this really intrigued me:  slow roasted beef and mushroom gravy between a grilled cheese sandwich.  The menu suggests that you are going to need a knife and fork to eat it ... oh its gonna be messy!  Now there is a huge trend in the States (at least on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives) to serve 'anything' between a grilled cheese:  burgers, grilled chicken, westerns, etc., so I thought I better check this trend out and see if it's worth all the hoopla.

 

In fact, the beef is not sandwiched between the grilled cheese.  It is sitting in a pile on the plate with the sandwich arranged around it.  There is no connection between the sandwich and the beef - it seems as if you've ordered two entrees.  The beef, although the menu claims to be slow roasted, it tasted to me like deli sliced beef.  There was very little flavour.  The mushroom gravy (what little there was of it) had a decent flavour but it was over-reduced and was thick and verging on gelatinous.  And the grilled cheese:  the menu states that it is made with aged cheddar.  In fact it was some sort of herbed cheese ... if I were to guess I would say it was herb and vegetable Havarti, which would have been totally fine with me had there been more than a one millimetre thin slice on the sandwich so you could actually taste it.  This was a definite rip off, for the price and poor description in the menu, and really ... it didn't taste good.

 

As we proceeded to eat it began to drizzle lightly.  We were able to snuggle under the patio umbrella and the waitress was perfectly happy (and very pleasant through our whole meal) to let us stay on the patio in the rain (unlike the Barley Mow!).  We appreciated that, and especially because very shortly the rain blew over and the sun was back out.

 

 

There is no question despite the food and a bit of unpleasant weather Marlene and I had a great time together, as we always do.  There is barely time for eating when we are together because we (well admittedly mostly me) never stop talking!  If you want some beer and good fries you can check out Big Rig, but otherwise, don't bother.  Marlene and Issie went one other time and Issie had the burger which he said was terrible.  In fact, when he questioned the waitress she admitted that they get their burgers in frozen; they don't make them in-house.  Fail.  Seriously, don't bother with Big Rig.  It's not worth it.