We were invited by the VANEATS team to try its latest dining package, FalconettisFix, at Falconetti’s East Side Grill. Interestingly, this restaurant has been on my list thanks to another episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. What caught my attention wasn’t the sausage, but the bun (insert jokes here). The curvy bun that is made specially for Falconetti’s.
Falconetti’s special curvy bun
Food
This is a four-item package, which starts with two 4oz glasses of Blue Buck. It’s a pale ale — light, crisp with a slight hoppy finish. An easy-drinking beer that would be great for warmer weather.
Two 4oz glasses of Phillips Beer’s Blue Buck
The next three items come together as a platter.
The platter
First, the Mini Poutine was not bad. A savoury gravy drizzles over fries and cheese curds, which nicely melted the cheese (you will be surprised how many times we’ve had poutine where the cheese curds weren’t melted properly). We would’ve liked the fries to be a thicker cut but that’s really personal preference.
Mini Poutine – freshly made pepper gravy drizzled over real Quebec cheese curds
I really liked the house BBQ sauce on the Slow Smoked Pork Ribs. It has a nice tang to it. Some of the ribs were a bit too charred and dry on the outside, but the meat was moist and flavourful, and fell right off the bone.
Slow Smoked Pork Ribs – smoked in-house with our special rub then slathered in our Tequila BBQ sauce
Lastly, what I’ve been waiting for, the bun! A sucker for spicy meat, I chose the Hot Italian. It had a nice heat and not too greasy, but the sausage itself was a bit too dry for my liking. And there was too little house sauce (it’s like a spicy mayo) to bind everything together. Just keep in mind that this could become a little messy to eat.
Hot Italian – Topped with parmesan, tomatoes, onions and house sauce
In addition to what we got for our complimentary tasting, we also ordered a Honey Bratwurst for another perspective of Falconetti’s Famous Sausages. This is definitely our favourite of the two. The sausage was juicy and moist, with plenty of honey mustard sauce to go around. The caramelized onions added even more sweetness to it — overall the combination of ingredients and flavours makes sense and was delicious. Because this is a regular order it also comes up with a salad on the side (you can choose fries, mixed green or Caesar salad on the side).
Honey Bratwurst – Old world flavor, dressed with our honey mustard, and caramelized onions.
Service
I was a little bit disappointed about the hot dog being cut in half when the platter arrived; so disappointed that I made it known to our server. Ooops. Thankfully our server remembered to keep the Honey Bratwurst in one piece so I could do my picture 
Final Thoughts
For $16, the FalconettisFix was of great value, considering the sausage itself would cost $12 (yes it comes with a salad, but the poutine makes up for it. And you still have an extra 4 pieces of ribs and 8oz of beer). Keep in mind this package may not have enough food for 2 people, so I would recommend ordering an appy or another sausage to go with it.
Falconetti’s East Side Grill
1812 Commercial Drive, Vancouver
604-251-7287
www.falconettis.com
Cheese curds shouldn’t melt! In fact, they should be a little squeaky when you bite into it – that’s the sign that they are at their freshest. Sometimes they’re kept at room temperature to retain their ‘fresh squeak’. Ask any true Quebecer and they’ll tell you that most people in Vancouver are doing it “wrong” or untraditionally. (My boyfriend is from Quebec) But really, they’re probably just doing it to please the Western palate…after all you, and many others, think that it’s supposed to be and like it melted.
Really? I know about the squeaky cheese curds but I had assumed that they would still melt into gooey, stringy cheese with the heat of the hot gravy. Thanks for the clarifications!