[bcrdukes]

EXP Restaurant + Bar
309 W. Pender in Vancouver

I only knew of this bar/restaurant because my friend did the electrical work at this place. This isn't your typical restaurant as it has a "video game" theme to it, kind of like Playdium (for those of you wold enough to remember.) It definitely has its audience for sure (I'm not part of the demographic) and they've been open since last Friday.

Seeing as what they call it their "beta" phase, we were invited to come down to try their food out. We had some chicken bits as an appetizer, some burgers, fries, salad and dessert. All in all, the food wasn't bad. Their head chef there took care of preparing the food. I didn't expect much but was pretty impressed. For what it's worth, we were comped dessert so I'm not trying to favour them.

Service was a little lacking but whatever. Had to forgive them seeing as it's their pre-grand opening so they need some time to work out the bugs. Don't be surprised if you see geeks, freaks, nerds and dweebs coming to a place like this. Complete niche market if you ask me and the place was packed with lineups.

Give it a shot if you're in the area and looking to experiment with something new. Otherwise, don't expect too much out of this place.

8/10

Edit: Photos added. Appetizer and pulled pork sliders.