Match Eatery & Public House (Delta)

Here I am at the Delta location Match Eatery & Public House again.  Sure this was in celebration of its 1st anniversary along with the Cascades Casino and Delta Hotels.  They have really injected a bit of excitement into sleepy Ladner with some pizazz and also delicious food.  I believe Match is one of the most underrated chain restaurants in the Lower Mainland.  It is reasonably-priced and way better than places such as White Spot and Boston Pizza.  That is why I spend my own money coming back over and over again.  However, I would never turn down an invite from them either!

So the thing to have here is their wings.  I think of all the chains out there, they have some of the best.  I also find them consistent as I've never had a bad batch.  We went ahead and ordered the Game Day Salt & Pepper Wings as well as the Hot Wings.  We wanted to have their awesome Nashville Wings, but they are only available on NFL game nights.  Just like all of the other times, the wings featured rendered crispy skin.  At the same time, the meat was still moist.  The hot wings did have a vinegary kick to them.

So we actually ordered the No Bib Dry Ribs after all our food had arrived, but I'll put them here since it is an appie.  Much like the wings, the dry ribs were uniformly crispy on the outside.  While on the inside, they were almost juicy and not chewy at all.  Loved that most pieces were rather meaty with only a bit of bone.  Also like the wings, the amount of salt & pepper was on point providing flavour without going overboard.

Normally, we would order a full-sized burger, but since we wanted to get some things we've never had before, it was the Twin Car Hop Burgers this time around.  It was an excellent decision as the patties were much larger than the soft & toasted buns.  Hence, the charred crispy edges of the meat was very noticeable.  These little burgers were very good and I would say they give the regular-sized ones a run for their money.  Patties were also meaty and not dry at all.

Continuing on with the smaller items, we had the Food Truck Blackened Halibut Tacos & Tots.  Although the halibut was cooked right being moist and not dry, it was a bit lacking in terms of blackening spices.  However, the side of pico de gallo helped things along with tangy spice.  This complimented the other ingredients, which included coleslaw, fresh avocado, honey-lime crema, pickled onion and cotija cheese.

Another item I've never had before is their pizzas, so we decided on the You Had Me At Pepperoni sporting double pepperoni, roasted garlic, pepperoncini peppers and mozzarella on a honey-sesame crust.  Oh wow.  Why did it take me so long to try this???  It was #)$*$)#$* good!  The crust was crunchy and aromatic while nicely sweet.  It worked really well with the pepperoni and the peppers.  One of the better chain restaurant pizzas I've had!

Originally, when I was invited to try out their Little Italy promotion, I really enjoyed their Garlic Shrimp Alfredo.  Naturally, I ordered this time around and it didn't disappoint.  The pasta was al dente and remained as such until the end.  It was tossed in just enough creamy alfredo sauce to coat the pasta without being too saucy.  The shrimp was definitely garlicky and buttery tender.

I've always been intrigued with the New York State of Mind on the menu and finally went for it.  Turns out that they know how to grill steaks too!  The 8z NY Steak was perfectly medium-rare.  Look at it!  Well-rested, the steak was juicy and flavourful while being tender.  It was also properly seasoned and sported some smokiness from the char.  It came with perfectly prepared veggies which were still firm.  Mashed potatoes were good too being well-seasoned.

Onto dessert, we shared the 4-Layer Chocolate Cake.  Oh this was good too!  The rich and chocolatey sponge cake was layered with equally rich chocolate butter cream which was purposefully sweet.  I didn't think we would eat all of it, but we did!  So as you can see, the food at Match is solid across the board and offers up something for everyone.  This is why I come here on my own coin in between invites from them.  I especially love this location in the Cascades Casino as it sits in a lovely and spacious dining room while being attached to the equally beautiful casino and Delta Hotel.  Congrats on their 1st anniversary!

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this post

The Good:
- Solid eats across the board
- Nice dining space
- Lots of parking

The Bad:
- Maybe the blackened halibut could've used more spice