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The Pony Espresso
Categories: Restaurants Pizza Restaurants Breakfast & Brunch Restaurants Canadian (New) Pizza, Breakfast & Brunch, Canadian (New) [Edit]
1392 Portage RdPemberton, BC V0N 2L0
(604) 894-5700
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Loud
- Caters:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
12 reviews for The Pony Espresso
12 reviews in English
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Review from silver s.
Vancouver, BC
9/10/2011
My husband and I ventured here late one night after we were unable to get into our first choice of restaurant in town, and we were pleasantly wowed! From reading other reviews, I got the impression that the food here was pretty basic, but our experience was rather exceptional (new menu perhaps?).
After polishing off a basket of freshly basked bread, I had herb-encrusted local halibut, served with gold and purple Pemberton potatoes, mussels, and shrimp -- food euphoria! My hubby had the bavette (steak) with blue cheese, prawns, and spicy potatoes (a tad too spicy), which he was also raving about.
The atmosphere is very casual -- almost incongruous with the fine food, but it conveyed a genuine, local feeling. The service was a tad slow (I'd take off half a star for that), but very friendly. -
Review from Louise G.
5/14/2012 1 Check-in Here
A-OK place to stop for coffee or a meal.
Hard to know what this place is trying to be as it looks like a bar, with restaurant seating, a coffee shop on the side and a pizza parlour as well. Lots of options!
Service ok -
Review from Crystal H.
Vancouver, BC
5/8/2010 1 photo
With slim pickings in a town of 2500, I was happy to find the Pony. In fact, driving into town my "ah ha, that's where it's at" spidy senses went off and there was no stopping me!
It was alive and kicking on a Friday night, with playoff hockey (we lost) and their One Year Anniversary party. Service was a kind of efficient, but not as friendly as one would like, but I would guess that it's harder to find good servers in a small town. Beers were $3.25 a pint, for Howe Sound or Whistler Brewery and a small, but well appointed, menu of tapas was $5. Pizza was the only other thing that we could order, and while I wished a salad or two would have been offered, I couldn't complain about the pizza selection.
The Cow Tipper pizza was full of blue cheese and sweet tasting beef flavour, and depending on what slice you bit into you got a heavy dose of either or. The price was a little steep at $16 but the pizza was filling and the crust was flat and crispy.
From the tapas menu we ordered the pork belly. Now, I've had a few bellies in my life, and I have to say, this goes down as one of the best. Like a creme brulee in Buenos Aires, Argentina or a tortilla soup in Tulum, Mexico -- Pemberton, BC's Pork Belly might just be the new measuring stick for all future bellies I put into my belly. -
Review from Jenn W.
7/16/2009
The Pony Espresso is still alive and well (John C. thought that it would be closed by now). I was excited to check this place out after spending an obscene amount of money on breakfast the previous day in Whistler.
My stomach was rumbling as we rolled into Pemberton & I was excited to see that the in person menu was much more exciting than what was posted on their website. They had multiple delicious sounding variations on eggs benny, all priced at $12. I opted for the Pemberton Edge - two poached eggs in hollandaise served over potato rosti with sauteed asparagus. We were only one of two tables in the place, but the service was really slow, I hungrily awaited my delicious sounding breakfast treat as I sipped on my not-so-fresh-squeezed orange juice with ice in it.
I used the extensive wait to observe my surroundings, The Pony Espresso serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner with all three menus having vegetarian options that sound delicious. It also seems to double as bakery, ice cream parlor, and deli (smart business practice in a small town, I'm sure). They have a good sized patio along the main street; sitting inside the floor to ceiling glass windows allow for awesome mountain views.
Finally an employee (not our server) approaches with two plates of food, she sets them down, mumbles something, and scurries away. I look down at the plate I have been given, and am confused. This is an english muffin, not a potato cake, and these are peppers not asparagus! I don't even think this was on the menu, and I'm allergic to peppers!
Upon further examination, there were no peppers on the menu anywhere, not even on the lunch or dinner menus. It was . . . weird. I decided to scrape the peppers off and hope for the best as it had already taken so long to get our food in the first place, we really needed to get back on the road and didn't want to wait even longer to have the order corrected.
Our server finally appeared when we were halfway through our meal. She had no idea why I had received the wrong thing and comped it when we explained that we didn't have time for it to be replaced.
Three stars despite the slow service, mix up, and crappy orange juice because my husbot's salmon eggs benny was reportedly delicious, the home fries were excellent, and the menu items sounded so good that I'm still disappointed that I didn't get to eat what I ordered! -
Review from Kimberley B.
Vancouver, BC
8/23/2010
My family cabin is near Pemberton and one day I finally ventured into the Pony, curious and famished. I was attended to immediately and not made to feel at all weird that I was by myself.
The menu featured many locally inspired and grown dishes. There was not a lot for vegetarians beyond the standard salad/grilled vegetable salad but the goat cheese tart piqued my interest. It was delicious and just the ride portion size. The atmosphere was friendly and genuine and my service was impeccable.
I've since been back many times and have never been disappointed. I even brought some meat-eater friends and they assured me that the Pemberton rump steak was succulent, flavorful and perfectly prepared.
My only complaint: the menus are riddled with grammatical and spelling errors (dumb but irksome). I mentioned it casually to my server and she laughed and said the chef was French and he'd put it together.Listed in: sea to sky specials
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Review from John C.
9/6/2008
(Original review)
This is easily the best place in all of Pemberton for breakfast, lunch or dinner. During the day, the room is split into half restaurant serving breakfast or lunch items and half coffee shop featuring fresh baked goods and espresso drinks. At night, the place turns into a casual dinner restaurant with a higher end menu. The owner specializes in fresh ingredients, healthy choices and an interesting variety in choices from pizza to pasta to fish, steak and chicken entrees.
The atmosphere is very relaxed and friendly. The staff is quite fun, making the place feel like the local's hangout, particularly on Thursday nights, which is Pizza & Pint Night. The place is packed.
Although the dinner menu is a tad pricey, the Pony Espresso is one of the very best places to eat in the Pemberton/Whistler area. In fact, for those who would like to avoid Whistler snootiness, it's worth the drive north to eat here. In fact, I think I'll be going in for lunch today.
Edit (Review #2): The restaurant was taken over in 2009 by the owners of the Fat Duck, who have dropped the Espresso portion of the name to call it simply The Pony. Unfortunately, I've been rather unimpressed with the place ever since and in fact have only gone in a couple times. One of the two times almost doesn't count.
It was 11 AM and their lunch menu didn't start until 11:30. I was hoping for a sandwich as I don't like the egg-abundant breakfast menu and certainly wasn't in the mood for a waffle or toast. The waitress asked the cook if he could do a sandwich early and he instantly shot it down, not even a hint of flexibility. She suggested we could wait, but the cook (who is always within view of the dining room) was so unwilling to show any willingness to please a paying customer that we left and went to the Wildwood instead.
The second time was better and the food was pretty good, but generally speaking it lacks the same atmosphere and quirkiness that made the old Pony so enjoyable. Considering there's the Black Squirrel at the Pemberton Meadows golf course offering really good dinners in a much nicer dining room, I can't picture going to the Pony much anymore. The old Pony under Mike Richman was a five star place, but I've lowered my rating to 2 stars based on more recent experiences. -
Review from Vanessa G.
5/25/2011
After a weekend of camping and eating outdoors, my boyfriend was telling me about this place that only uses local potatoes and bakes their own bread. We stopped in at the end of the brunch rush to find a flustered floor staff. Service was excellent apart from the waitors high stress load, but it quickly passed. I ordered the veggie benny, and my boyfriend had the smoked salmon benny. It was delicous. I saw other meals being served and it all looked amazing. Oh and there coffee is delicous and conscious free.
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Review from Pete S.
6/9/2010
The Pony makes good food, pretty good coffee and is in a great location for Pemby. my beef with the pony is consistency. i've had a few great meals here but i've also had terrible service and the feeling that the whole restaurant staff has just given up on work for the day.
there's not a whole lot of other places to eat in pemby, so this will probably be your best bet -
Review from Peter S.
5/10/2010
I was hoping for a couple more beers on tap other than Whistler and a Howe Sound, but oh well. It is good for Pemberton I guess. The Howe Sound Copper Ale ended up being a perfect choice with my dinner.
Thursday nights sound like the best time to stop by for the Pizza & Pint special. Although, I am sure it is quite busy.
Pretty good pizza with so so service. Hey... It's Pemberton! -
Review from Felicia C.
2/22/2011
We were looking for a restaurant close to our hotel in Pemberton. The Pony was the only thing that was open for miles and we were hungry. Initial impression was a your typical tavern serving beer and probably greasy burgers. However it was a delightful surprise, very tasty menu prepared in a very gourmet style. For example, the ceasar salad had a tender hardboiled egg, delicate dressing, large pieces of shaved prosciutto and Parmesan cheese. We also had the porkbelly with spiced apple compote appetizer and the brickoven pizza. The burger was not so good, too much pepper. Service is very good, the waiter was very interesting, personable and attentive. Wait time was a little long for food but I think we felt it more because we were hungry from skiing all day. We definitely will be back!
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Review from Katrina T.
2/20/2010
I wish there was a zero star option.
We were the only ones in the place and ordered a salad, a pizza and a calzone. After 45 minutes, we'd had the salad, but there was no pizza or calzone in sight. We asked our server what was going on, she said it would be out shortly. After no sign of our server or the food we left.
They saw us get up and leave, but couldn't be bothered to at least say "sorry". -
Review from Shirley C.
Burnaby, BC
For a small eatery, well any eatery really, this place is quite good! The place looks like a converted old barn from the gold rush days, but with new walls on the inside...word of caution, don't sit next to the dividing walls, one of them toppled over and nearly hit a patron in the head!!
Happily surprised the food is great and they use 'fancy' cheese in their sandwiches and their version of mac n' cheese! I had the grilled veggie salad, it came with grilled artichokes, eggplant, red peppers, mushrooms, mixed greens, feta cheese and it was fantastic. The pulled pork on thick toasted baguette like bread was also very good and a favorite from what we could see, definitely a must have for meat eaters and came with fries. The grilled panini with Prosciutto, provolone, gruyere and salami was very good and came with a caesar salad that had prosciutto and half an egg. Portions very generous and fresh. I also had a coffee because a few people mentioned it was really good, but I can't agree, it tasted like old stale coffee, bland and had an after taste...sorry.
