Sliders

*Restaurant is now closed* 

There I was on Broadway, on my way to meet some friends for dinner when I walked past a new spot called "Sliders".  I stopped right there in my tracks and was conflicted...  Should I go in and try a few things as an appetizer before dinner or should I just continue on to my destination?  The dilemma!  But, but I was going to be late and possibly too full to eat my actual dinner.  I gathered up all of my willpower and passed on by.  But the thought of something new kept bugging me, so when I got the chance, I gathered up Viv and my daughter for a random food adventure.  With over 16 different sliders at $4.00 each to choose from, we took our time ordering.

To start things off, we tried the Pulled Duck made from roasted 5-spice duck leg, pickled green onion and hoisin creme fraiche on soft brioche.  I found the duck to be well-seasoned while being a bit stringy and dry.  I did like the crunchy skin portions though.  I didn't notice the green onion too much, but the creme fraiche did exhibit the sweetness of hoisin.  Off to the sea, we had the Oyster Po' Boy next consisting of a fried cornmeal crusted BC oyster, pickled red onion, leaf lettuce and horseradish aioli.  The lightly crisp oyster was buttery and properly cooked.  We got the creaminess of the aioli with only the slightest hint of spicy sharpness from the horseradish.  The pickled red onion was a nice acidic addition.  

I was able to wrestle the Beef Dip (slow roasted prime rib, gouda, roasted garlic aioli and jus) from my daughter to give it a try.  After a bite, I could see why she didn't want to share as the meat was really moist and required very little effort to chew.  The gouda was nicely melted and creamy while the aioli added a nice garlic hit.  A bit sweet, the jus wasn't even necessary as the slider ate well on its own.  One of the more flavourful sliders was the Korean BBQ with marinated beef, red onion, spicy cabbage and garlic aioli.  There was this sweet, spicy and sharp taste to the concoction.  We didn't think the raw onion was necessary though as the cabbage provided the necessary crunch and tang already.

Next up, I bit into the Pork Belly consisting of beer & brown sugar glaze, leaf lettuce, tomato and cider sauce.  Meaty and only a bit fatty, the pork belly was more firm than melt-in-my-mouth soft.  I thought the sweetness of the glaze went well with the pork and the slight acidity from the cider was welcomed. We decided to combo it up by adding $2.00 for a drink and a side.  The first side was House Cut Kennebec Fries which were not as crispy as we would've liked.  It appeared that they were clumped together, hence, certain sides of the fries were not fried at all.  We liked the Tater Tots though as they were lightly crisp.

Since we were not exactly full from the small sliders, I added 2 more with the Original Beef (short-rib-chuck-brisket blend, aged cheddar, pickles, hickory sticks and slider sauce) and the Cod Nugget (crispy cod, tatar sauce and coleslaw).  With a nice crunch and saltiness from the hickory sticks, the beef slider was possibly too salty with the addition of the pickles.  The thin burger patty wasn't exactly dry, but not particularly juicy either.  It did taste meaty though.  We really liked the cod as it was really crunchy while moist inside.  The tartar sauce had a nice acidity which was further amped by the crunchy coleslaw.  For what it's worth, the food at Sliders was generally good and definitely more interesting than a regular burger joint.  The small size allows for mixing & matching to get a variety of tastes with premium ingredients.  Yet at the same time, it doesn't really offer up a stomach-filling experience.

The Good:
- Interesting and generally well-prepared eats
- Lots of choice
- Combo for $2.00 more is a good value

The Bad:
- Small sliders are not very filling, hence you may need 3 of them (3 x $4.00), but keep in mind that some of the ingredients aren't exactly cheap
- They might need a numbering system as it wasn't an issue with us, but when it gets busy, keeping track of the orders might be tough