Luke’s Corner Bar & Grill

If you stick to pub fare you likely wont be disappointed at Luke’s Corner Bar and Grill. Prices are what you would expect for the neighborhood, but weekly specials will keep your wallet happy. Service and food have been inconsistent overall, yet I continue to  find myself coming back again in the hopes that maybe this time, everything will be perfect.

The Fried Pickles and Peppers are my favourite item at Luke’s. They used to have a $5 Anytime menu with these on it, sadly that menu is no more. Still, at $5.99 the P & P are the perfect share item, spicy and sour with the right amount of kick to it.

The Veggie Burger is a fantastic value at $13.99. The hearty black bean and quinoa patty was accompanied by wild mushrooms, arugula, tomato, and aged white cheddar on a whole wheat bun. Bring your appetite, this burger is filling.

The Salt Spring Island Mussels in a chorizo, garlic, and white wine sauce didn’t wow me. The menu was misleading, it didn’t indicate the sauce was cream based (not a bad thing, but on a hot summer day it wasn’t what I wanted). The chorizo was too tough for my tastes, so overall this dish was a bit heavy.With the garlic filon bread it’s $15.99, add fries for an additional $3 if you want an overpriced meal.

Avoid the Ahi Tuna Poke.

When done right, this dish can be sensational. Although the tuna and avocado were fresh, I wasn’t a fan of the almonds or fruit salad so for me this missed the mark. It didn’t help that the wonton crisps were inedible, sharp and utterly tasteless (possibly undercooked?) The server was kind enough to bring out crostinis when she finally got around to doing a quality check, by then I was already let down.

On a brighter note, the drinks at Luke’s have been consistently great. On Sundays, caesars and mimosas are $5, can’t go wrong with that! We once ordered their wings to-go and were quiet pleased with them. 

Mediterranean Couscous Salad with Arugula and Spinach

Lately I’ve seen couscous take a back seat on the quinoa bandwagon, so I thought it was about time to bring it to the foreground again. Mixing the couscous with arugula and spinach stretched out the ingredients and we were able to get two delicious meals of it.

This was a great meal for a hot summer night, and was even better the next day after the flavours had soaked in. Add some sliced avocado for a little extra umph and put it into a whole wheat pita with humus for lunch the next day. Yummers.

Mediterranean Couscous Salad

1 cup couscous
1 big clove garlic, minced
1 roma tomato, finely chopped
1/2 cup each of cucumber, red, yellow, and orange peppers, finely chopped
red onion, finely chopped (to your taste)
4-5 depitted olives and a splash of olive juice
a big handful each of arugula and spinach
juice from half a lemon. Garnish with extra lemon slices and/or zest
fresh feta, to your taste.
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
2-3 tbsp olive oil

Pour 1 cup uncooked couscous into 1 cup salted boiling water. Remove from heat and let stand for 3 minutes. When cooked, drizzle with olive oil and fluff with a fork.

Chop tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, olives, and onion to similarly sized pieces. Add vegetables to couscous along with minced garlic, parsley, crumbled feta, and the juice from half a lemon. If you’ve bought bottled olives, adding a splash of the juices extends the flavour without having to use a lot of olives.

In a large salad bowl pour two tablespoons olive oil over arugula and spinach. Add couscous and mix. Salt and pepper to taste, garnish with lemon zest or additional lemon wedges.

I had every intention of making my own rosemary/garlic/thyme/lemon chicken, even bought all the ingredients… then I stumbled upon Jackson’s Rotisserie at The Public Market and everything smelt so good and it was all ready to eat … so I caved a bought a pre-made chicken. It was delicious, but next time I will make my own.