Last summer, Rogue Wet Bar moved into Waterfront station replacing Transcontinental.  Rogue offers a more casual menu; Transcontinental’s hipper, younger cousin.  The interior is spacious with two dining levels and large windows, and the patio provides views of passersby in the summer.  It’s just out of Gastown, on a main transit route, dictating the crowd is a varied one.

Owned by Eli Gershkovitch, who also owns Steamworks and the liquor store there, the original menu featured a pay what you want feature, but although the special is over, prices remain quite reasonable.

The drink list here is what first drew me in with plenty of local craft beers such as Tree Brewing, R and B, Driftwood and Central City and most wines under $10 a glass; many of them also local.  Cocktail fans could traipse through the past and present menu and enjoy anything from an old school Sidecar (remy martin vs, cointreau, fresh lemon juice) to the Cougar Juice (smirnoff red label vodka, peach schnapps, triple sec, fresh orange juice, raspberry), by the glass or pitcher, a risky choice for any female around my age.  There’s a drink special every day such as $4.50 mojito’s and $14 jugs of 1516 lager Monday and everyday $2.50 makes any highball a double.

I’d eaten there last summer for lunch and enjoyed the Baja fish tacos and a crispy chicken sandwich, and recently we returned for dinner on a cool fall night.

Feeling rather starved, we order some wine and got to menu decisions rather quickly.  Vietnamese tacos ($10.99) and Albacore tuna tataki ($13.49) were easily agreed upon. The “tacos” were actually pillowy soft steam buns filled with flavourful pork, and tasted authentic and fresh.  The tuna was seared with a mango miso coulis and a citrus soy marinade and was fresh and flavourful; an edamame salad made a nice textural contrast.

Onto mains, the macadamia-crusted halibut ($23.99) was a generous and tasty portion served alongside some steamed seasonal veggies and our steak was cooked medium rare as per order and was a flavourful example of what beef should taste like.  The peppercorn sauce was almost, but not quite, superfluous.

My dining companions have to be dessert eaters, because I usually end it a dinner, or continue on with perhaps one more drink, but the Chocolate Peanut Butter Explosion ($7.49) had me begging for another bite.  This decadent layering of espresso chocolate cake, chocolate peanut butter ganache, peanut butter mousse, and peanut praline, was too tantalizing to resist.