Tonight we were at Cinema Public House to take in their monthly cocktail contest, which is also the best night out deal in town.
On the third Wednesday of the month this Barfight pits two Vancouver bartenders in a head-to-battle for mixing superiority.
Guests are able to witness and try each of the competing bartender’s contest entry cocktail, then vote for their favourite. During the event, the bartenders will also compete in a series of skill contests like Speed Shaking and Free Pour Finesse, which will either help or hinder their scores, thus determining the winner.
Tickets are $8 and includes two original cocktails and the ability to vote for the best.
We attended July’s Barfight at 8pm on July 19th. And this night’s contest pitted Jonny Latham and James Farrell of the Lamplighter against each other on their path to the Eastside Rumble (formerly Aprons for Gloves). This month’s cocktails featured Maker’s Mark Bourbon with all ticket and door proceeds from the night going to the Eastside Boxing Youth Program. This program helps at risk youth find structure in sport, giving them a space to study, and meet their food needs.
Contest number one was the “Fig Poppa. A jam-y and fruit-forward cocktail, inspired by fresh figs that ripen this season. Tart and tangy with a foamy sweet topping.
Its competition was the “Green Army Man” a green juice cocktail decorated with its name sake, that you could take home as a keepsake. It used a whole green apple juiced to order, and from this I got notes of apple and cinnamon.
We would try both and vote for our favourite at the front door by way of poker chip. You get two to redeem for one of each of the drinks and then another to vote for your favourite by placing it in a bin.
Seeing as we were here for the festivities already, we decided to have dinner and more drinks from Cinema’s classic bar style menu.
Starting with drinks we had several rounds of wine, beer, and shots. Most notable was the limited edition “Bright Lights”. A drink on all of Freehouse Collective’s regular menu made more seasonal, in time for and to help celebrate Vancouver Pride.
As taken from their website, “Freehouse Collective has partnered with Absolut Vodka to create a limited edition Bright Lights cocktail wrapped in celebratory artwork designed by artist Tim Singleton. For every cocktail sold they are donating $1 to not-for-profit organization, Rainbow Railroad, which helps at-risk LGTBQ+ people around the world find safety and freedom.”
It was an easy drinking made more fun, served in a sippy pack. Think a freezie with its slush-like consistency packed in a capri-sun wrapper.
Although they also do have actual spiked freezies. These are Calamansi Paloma Freezies that pack a punch. A mix of altos tequila, calamansi, grapefruit, and lime frozen and enjoyed with childhood nostalgia.
Stray Bullets is a mix of Olmeca Altos tequila, lemon, passion fruit, sugar, soda, and mint. And it is as easy drinking as it sounds.
We also had an Old fashioned with jim beam bourbon, sugar, angostura bitters, and orange zest. This one was strong, and it hits you upon first sip.
Tacos are $3 at happy hour, saving you $1.75 with your choice of spiced pork, chipotle braised chicken, or marinated steak.
We had the Carne Asada which was marinated steak, avo verde, cilantro, onion, and lime. Simple and effective, steak with a great bite and chew, paired with a brightening salsa.
Happy hour pizza is only $10, saving you from $7.50 – $9 in our case.
The Pancetta & Pineapple was like an elevated Hawaiian with sweet chili, tomato, and mozzarella. Sweet and spicy in all the right ways.
The Pesto Shrimp had toppings of feta, lemon, and sundried tomato. This gave you hints of citrus and lime to heightened the seafood and the fragrant herbs in the pesto sauce.
As for the regular menu, when at a bar, I find it hard to pass up nachos, and these were “Deluxe” as its name promised. A multiple layered tray of chips topped with jack cheese, chili beef, jalepeno, tomato, salsa, chipotle sour cream, cilantro, and green onion. As is the case with all nacho platters, eat fast because it gets cold fast. And I wish there were more toppings to go around. Plied high on top, the bottom chips went dry.
Another bar staple are Wings, these were dressed in a red chili sauce and served with sriracha parm dip. These were solid wings, juicy and meaty morsels coated it a sweet to spicy sauce.
Another good go-to for bar eats is a burger. Here, at Cinema they have a unique Chicken Katsu Burger. This is a large crispy fried piece of chicken topped with bulldog sauce, cabbage, and kewpie mayo. Sadly, the patty was on the drier side, luckily there was plenty of sauce and cream to help combat that.
And why have your burger with a side of regular fries when you can make them Rosemary Fries. These are some of my favourite fries. I love a good shoestring potato and these are perfectly cut and fried crispy, topped with padano and herbs. Served with a curry aioli, I prefer the classic ketchup.
In conclusion Cinema’s Barfight is the best drink offer out there. $8 for 2 premium cocktails is unheard of. So let this be your excuse to come out this Wednesday.
As this Wednesday August 16th marks Barfight Episode VIII, where two new Vancouver’s bartenders will compete in a head to head spirit based cocktail competition, where winer takes all. Link for tickets below.
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/barfight-episode-viii-tickets-691951334067?aff=erelexpmlt
Cinema Public House
901 Granville St, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1L3
604-694-0292
freehouse.co/locations/cinema
