A Very Happy Hour at Joe Fortes

Just when I thought my summer/fall vacationing was coming to an end, a spontaneous trip back to Vancouver occurred! Yes, stay tuned for some more co-blog posts with Amy and Steven!

One night, after eating at the must-visit Ebisu,  I mentioned my craving for oysters and a friend offered to research oyster bars in Vancouver (Thanks, Dom!). After some discussion, we decided on Joe Fortes Seafood and Chop House, mainly for its  $1 fresh local oysters and half price appetizers (who can say no that?!). 

In order to enjoy the happy hour offer (4-6pm, Monday-Friday), you have to sit at the bar. As you can see, we could barely fit everything on our table, but we definitely took full advantage of the sweet deal. 

(Left to Right) Fortes Punch $4.25, Peach Fuzz $4.50, Raspberry Lemonade $4.25 

To start off, we ordered fruity cocktails. My drink was the Fortes Punch, which I thought tasted the best out of the three. The punch was good balance of sweet and sour with some fizz, whereas the raspberry lemonade was too sour and the peach fuzz rather bitter.

Oysters  $1 each!!

A perk of living in Vancouver is the access to fresh and local seafood. I've heard that Joe Fortes has one of the best oysters in town and I don't doubt that. The oysters were indeed very fresh. We ended up having 4 dozens of these. 

Beef Carpaccio  $7.48

Although known for their fresh seafood, Joe Fortes also offers plenty of other options if seafood isn't your thing. I didn't think the beef carpaccio was anything special but I did like the sauce and salad on top. This dish actually made me miss the similar dish at Koyoi in Toronto..

Joe's Onion Rings  $4.48

When the onion rings arrived, we were all very surprised by its size. The onion rings were jumbo size and were almost as big as my fist width wise. Accompanying them were ketchup and a blue cheese dip, which I thought was quite special.

Crisp Calamari $7.48, Sweet Potato Fries $3.98, Oyster Rockefeller $7.98

Last but not least, our big platter of pure fattiness! The calamari were crisp and the sundried tomato aioli that came with it was very well received. The sweet potato fries also had aioli for dipping, but was chipotle flavoured. The oyster rockefeller, which was oyster covered with spinach and hollandaise, was probably my favorite of the three.

What was supposed to be a late afternoon munch turned into a full blown meal for us. We really enjoyed our visit as the ambience was great and the service was pleasant. Plus, need I say more about the delicious food? If you haven't already, I would definitely recommend spending happy hour at Joe Fortes!

Hopefully one day I'll come back and try their regular menu!



Taste:★★★★★
Environment:★★★★★
Service:★★★★★
Price: $ (For Happy Hour)


Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House
777 Thurlow St.
Vancouver, BC