Boxing Day week took a friend and me over the bridge to the North Shore to shop and enjoy the beautiful sea, sun and snow peaked mountains. After spending time in North and West Vancouver, we decided to stop for lunch. Instead of the same old lunch-haunts though, I used my Blackberry and found described: The Red Lion Bar and Grill, “Bringing authentic pub food and experience from across the pond to West Vancouver.” We headed towards Dundarave.

The disappointment started when we entered the bar. Feeling that all too familiar sense of a place trying too hard to be an authentic type British Pub. (I should have known something was wrong as soon as I spotted "Cobb Salad with Teriyaki Chicken" on the menu..huh?)

The waitress came in a timely manner and told us one of the specials was Toad in the Hole. For those who don't know, it's Yorkshire pudding with bangers, and this particular entrée, she informed us, came with vegetables, mashed potatoes and gravy.

We ordered. I had a hamburger with mushrooms and sautéed onions, my British friend decided on the Toad in the Hole.

The food arrived. My hamburger was mediocre at best but in fairness to the Brits, not one of their traditional staples. The Toad in the Hole was far less convincing. Two sprigs of asparagus, three slices of beetroot, accompanied by a pudding the size of a small muffin, two bangers, a scoop of mash, and watery gravy.

Have you ever seen “National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation” when Chevy Chase carves into the turkey and dust billows out of it? This was the same with the Yorkshire pudding. Not only was it completely dried out, it was burnt black. The lump of coal we’d managed to dodge all Christmas had finally arrived. The bangers, I was told, were good. The rest of the meal was meager portions, perhaps to remind us of another British classic, Oliver Twist.

When I pointed out to the waitress the Yorkshire was inedible, she made no apologies, no suggestion of returning it to the kitchen for a suitable replacement, and no offer to reduce the price on our bill. She simply took the plate away and that was the end of the matter.

I debated bringing it up with the manager but in the end decided I didn’t want to bother as the whole experience was not worth repeating.

It was not only disappointing to be met with such unabashed indifference to food quality, but I can’t imagine a chef having much pride in their product to ever let something so black and vile leave the kitchen.

We won’t be returning.