I visited Lickerish Lounge on Davie for the first time recently after a group of us wanted to unwind a bit after attending Vancouver Foodster’s Tasting Plates West End. We had found Lickerish Lounge quite soon after we had our final tasting at Tartine Bakery & Pies. What appealed to us about Lickerish was their patio which had numerous cozy booths. And it seemed like a reasonable place to have a few drinks on that warm summer evening before heading home for the night. As it was too dark to take photos of the restaurant at that time, I went back to take some exterior shots during the daytime.
With me at Lickerish Lounge was Kirstina of Drunken Noms, David of Picky Diner and my friend, Alice. We were attended to quite quickly by a server soon after we sat down. The others went for cocktails: Alice had a negroni; Kristina had an Old Fashioned; and David had a Gin Tailfeatha. As for myself who is not much of an alcohol drinker, I went looking for the mocktail options. Lickerish Lounge didn’t seem to have any listed on their menu. At that moment, our resident wine and spirits connoisseur, Kristina, suggested that I get a Shirley Temple. We asked the server if a Shirley Temple could be made, and there wasn’t an issue (as expected) since it was well-known.
In all honesty, while I have heard of a Shirley Temple drink and it is known in the “bartending world”, I wasn’t familiar with what this drink was made up of exactly. A bit of research allowed me to learn that it is made with ginger ale, a splash of grenadine and garnished with a maraschino cherry based in gelatin. In more modern preparations, the ginger ale can be substituted with lemon-lime soda or lemonade and orange juice.
It was all quite amusing really, particularly when Kristina reminisced about enjoying a Shirley Temple as a youngster. After all, Shirley Temples are served to children dining with adults instead of real cocktails. As for my Shirley Temple at Lickerish, it tasted quite like cherry syrup. Something I didn’t mind trying once, but probably wouldn’t order again. And for the real Shirley Temple herself, did she enjoy the namesake drink? Well, apparently she hated it because it was too sweet.
Overall, the experience at Lickerish Lounge was just okay. Their patio was a nice, cozy place to enjoy drinks. The service we received was reasonable. However, the others didn’t seem that impressed with their drinks. In fact, my friend had noted that her negroni was too sweet. After sampling everyone’s drinks, Kristina noted that the Shirley Temple tasted the best. Perhaps that isn’t saying much about the place when the non-alcoholic drink tasted better than the alcoholic ones. Rating: 3/5
Website: lickerishlounge.com
Nosh and Nibble
Wednesday 31st of August 2016
This explains all the shirley temples I got from Swiss Chalet as a kid
foodgressing
Wednesday 31st of August 2016
A Shirley Temple expert, you are!
Food Wench
Wednesday 31st of August 2016
Bahaha! I love that you did an entire post on Shirley Temples! :D
foodgressing
Wednesday 31st of August 2016
Thanks to you!