BLACK + BLUE ON ALBERNI
For The Ultimate Prime Rib Experience

by Jacqui Birchall
(click images to enlarge)

The sumptuous, lively Black + Blue Restaurant on Alberni is offering a 12-ounce Happy Hour Canadian Prime Rib meal, served from 2 to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday.

It is huge and delicious.

**slow roasted canadian prime rib with all the trimmings.** *(Jacqui Birchall Photos)*

Black + Blue invites us to “savour this perfectly prepared, slow-roasted Canadian Prime Rib served with Yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, and seasonal vegetables.” The cost is $45.

The good news is the meal is big enough to share. Sharing the meal and ordering happy hour beverages makes the prime rib lunch special affordable.

On Sundays, also from 2 to 5 p.m., Black + Blue offers their Prime Rib Dinner, with Caesar salad, 12-ounce slow-roasted Canadian Prime Rib, Yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables, and their signature Butter Cake for $59.

For reservations, check the restaurant’s web page and click on Canadian Prime Rib Happy Hour. This will take you to the times that are available. It is possible to reserve a table for 5 p.m., but the happy hour drinks menu ends at 5.

House wines are available at $8, and cocktails are $7 to $10. We enjoyed the margarita, the spicy pineapple mule, and the Poplar Grove Merlot.

The to-share dishes include oysters at $2.50 each, steakhouse nachos at $14, beef sliders at $5, and several more delicious plates.

Black + Blue, a part of the Glowbal Group, is three stories high, with the roof level being a very attractive happy hour spot. The first and second floors offer a delightful mix of low lighting and luxurious decor.

**black + Blue - a highly visible presence on alberni.**

The prime rib afternoon special is served only on the first and second floors, where the happy hour menu isn’t as extensive as the roof’s menu.

The limited happy hour food choices are a moot point, since the prime rib is so large that it is hard to imagine ordering happy hour plates, though the mac and cheese sticks are to die for.

The prime rib special coincides with the restaurant’s happy hours; diners can combine their prime rib special with happy hour-priced beverages. A win-win situation, especially if you share the prime rib with a friend. My dining companion, a hearty eater, confided that the very large serving would be perfect to share.

We took a lot home, and the takeout bag and recyclable containers are a credit to Black + Blue; they even look good as you carry them home.

We saw the affable owner and CEO of the Glowbal Group, Emad Yacoub, greeting guests, and a charming manager refreshed our water. Our server, Sasha, was a delight.

Black + Blue has a variety of affordable specials.

**“our favourite table with a view” says jacqui. table 33.**

Monday to Thursday, they offer the Lunch 45 Menu and express lunch for $20, designed to get you out in 45 minutes. One dish is offered daily:

Monday - Rigatoni Bolognese: house ground aged beef, Parmigiano Reggiano.
Tuesday - Jerk Chicken Cobb: romaine, avocado, egg, gem tomatoes, blue cheese, maple smoked bacon, honey-dijon vinaigrette.
Wednesday - Spring Salmon Tacos: blackened salmon, pico de gallo, fennel slaw, spicy Japanese tartare, sauce, flour tortilla.
Thursday - Prime Beef Schnitzel: golden fried panko-parmesan beef, brown butter & lemon, fresh herb salad, shaved fennel, gem tomatoes, olives, confit potatoes.
Friday - Burger and Beer Friday lunch for $25 until 2 p.m.

Feeling flush? Try their Land and Sea Mondays. $145 for two; the menu is three courses with steak and seafood as the main dish: lobster, Creole tiger prawns, or jumbo sea scallops.

Black + Blue is definitely worth a visit. The Happy Hour offerings are affordable delights, while dinner prices are up there!

Black + Blue
1032 Alberni Street
604.637.0777
Website
Hours: Monday to Sunday 11.30 a.m. to 12 a.m.