Review: Big River Brewing Co. (Richmond)

By Sherman Chan,
Special to The Post

All the warning signs were there... Bad reviews on Urbanspoon, Yelp and whatever else one could read on the Internet... But with one push of a button, I bought a Groupon for Big River Brewing Co. in Richmond. 
To begin, we got an order of Salt & Pepper Wings and Hot Wings each. Firmly crispy on the outside while still surprisingly moist on the inside, the salt & pepper wings should've been named naked wings. It was as if they forgot to season them. They were super bland where even the dip didn't help. 
The hot wings were better due to the toss in hot sauce. In that sense, these were decent since the meat was not dry (like the salt & pepper wings). Being a brew pub, I got a pint of the Pale Ale and it was on the lighter side and hoppy. It was okay and of course it went well with the wings.
My son ended up with the Big River Classic Burger with bacon, cheddar and all the fixins'. This garbled up and undercooked (as in not crispy at all) bacon was hard to eat. As for the burger patty, it was dense and overly smoky in flavour. 
Viv decided on the Blackened Cod Tacos with guacamole, lime cumin slaw, pea shoots and fresh lime. The fish was indeed smoky and seasoned, however, one piece was pretty overdone while the other was decent. 
The tacos were okay but the huge soft tortilla was hard to handle with things falling out constantly. Also, the pea shoots didn't seem to go with the mix of ingredients.
My daughter had the kid's meal consisting of Chicken Strips and Fries. 
Nothing much to comment about the Sysco/GFS-type chicken strips other than they were crispy and a bit dry in the middle. As for the fries, they were horrible. They were undercooked where the potato was dense and unappealing. Also, there was enough residual grease to moisturize her dry hands.
For myself, I had the 8 oz. Striploin Steak Teriyaki with rice pilaf and pan-fried veggies. I asked for medium-rare and it was done to my liking.
I liked the aggressive char, but for some reason, they managed to make a potentially flavourful steak completely bland. I had to resort to using salt.
Soggy and also tasteless, I ignored the rice while the veggies were doused in a offending amount of oil. Serves me right for buying that Groupon... 

Sherman Chan is the #1 ranked food blogger on the Vancouver portal of Urbanspoon.com. Read more of his reviews at www.shermansfoodadventures.com.

150-14200 Entertainment Blvd
604 271 2739

The Good:
• Um, its location for people at the bowling alley and/or theatre?
• People who want craft beer?

The Bad:
• Food is no good
• Service is inattentive (but friendly enough)
• Expensive for what you get