Dining in Kamloops at the Noble Pig

Dining in Kamloops – The Noble Pig
On our most recent trip through Kamloops one of the nights was the night of a Canucks Game so we needed to find a place within walking distance of our hotel (see blog Hotel 540 blog) that had decent food and large TV’s. A friend recommended the Noble Pig which is located within the Thompson Hotel and Conference Center on Victoria Street. It was a few blocks from Hotel 540 and turned out to be a perfect spot for watching a game.

Noble Pig is a Great Place for Watching Sports
The Noble Pig is actually a brew house with large steel kegs visible at the back of the restaurant. Their tag line is “Inspired food. Unique brew” and their goal is to create 5 to 10 Noble brews on site and always on tap and to make as much of their food ‘from scratch’ and ‘in-house’. While this is not a unique concept for either food or beer in Vancouver I am guessing that it is fairly new for the Kamloops area. The layout is good for both those who want to watch the game and those who do not. In the front part of the space is a long bar with several TV’s and a high top table with stools adjacent to it. There are also tables and booths with more TV’s on the other wall. This section is divided from the back area by a partial glass and wood divider which makes the space seem more open but allows other diners to be separated from the louder TV area. A very good layout for a brew pub that also wants to attract diners.

Food and Service
The menu is typical pub fare with a few twists and had a good selection of pizzas. We tried the pepperoni, mushroom, pepper and onion pizza and an order of fish and chips. The pizza crust was somewhere between thin and thick. The pizza was good but did not crack our top pizza list (favorite pizza). The fish and chips were good as well but again not top five. The chips were actually the best part; made of real potatoes and looked like they were sliced in house. The dip was also very good. But I think we are a bit spoiled when it comes to fish. How many places outside of the Lower Mainland can top fish and chips made from fresh (really fresh) halibut? The service was quite good until the game ended and everyone wanted to settle their tabs at the same time. But that is not unusual when dining out during a game, especially when in over-time like this one.