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As of late, I haven't been heading out to Langley for eats for some reason or another. Yes, I do not live in Langley and in fact, I'm on the other side of the Port Mann. A more important factor is that I haven't made it out to visit friends out that way either. They are still my friends... I hope... Whatever the case, I made it a point to meet up with Hot Mama and some friends at the Fort Pub & Grill located near the train tracks in historic Fort Langley. Yah, we really went that far to meet up with Hot Mama... She'd better appreciate this!
I decided to get a the classic Salt & Pepper Wings which ranged from small pieces to really large ones. Despite the variance in size, they did a good job with the deep-fry as the exterior was uniformly crispy while the inside was still juicy. This was rather impressive since the wings didn't seemed to be the beneficiary of any brine. All the flavour was from the toss of salt and pepper after-the-fact. For my main, I had the Bedford Burger with an Angus beef patty, sunny side fried egg, sauteed mushrooms, onions, smoky bacon, apple wood smoked cheddar, house mayo, lettuce, tomato, red onion and pickles. This was definitely a 6-napkin burger if not more. The egg was perfectly runny while the meat was moist and well-charred. I loved the soft brioche bun that was still able to hold in all of the ingredients. The side of fries were crispy and well-salted.
Miss Y had the Steamed Mussels in a creamy white wine broth. They were fairly large and plump while cooked just enough. The modest amount of sauce was impactful where it was well-seasoned and lightly creamy. The wine was rather mild and had been completely cooked down. For a pub, this was completely unexpected, but impressive nonetheless.
On another visit (also meeting up with Hot Mama), I decided to start with the Poutine. It was a rather large portion doused in a considerable amount of thick, meaty gravy. It didn't taste particularly typical, rather it was more like a gravy one would find with a veal cutlet. No matter, I liked it as well as the legit cheese curds. The fries were pretty pedestrian though being thin, not crispy enough and dry. But the gravy solved that problem. I also had the Cottage Pie which was also well-portioned. The beef, carrot, peas and onion mixture was pretty tasty with tender meat and well-developed flavours. I found the mash potato topping to be a bit plain where some more cream and/or butter would've made it fluffier.
CeeCee (formerly known as DeeDee...) went for the Roast Poblano & Crab Dip featuring roasted poblano pepper, mascarpone cheese and crab served warm with fresh baguette and Parmesan crusted naan bread. We found the dip to be thick, creamy and a bit salty. The lemon wedge on top was really necessary in brightening up the heaviness. Although hardly a real naan bread, it was cheesy and soft though. It was a Bacon Cheeseburger for Zamboni Guy as he has doesn't venture far from the regular. Unlike my Bedford Burger, this one was overdone and dry. Bacon was crispy though. From these 2 visits, it appears that consistency might be an issue, but if you hit it on the right day, Fort Pub offers up decent eats in Fort Langley.
The Good:
- The solarium portion of the restaurant is great for a sunny day
- Food is decent
- Service is not bad
The Bad:
- Inconsistency
- Lack of parking
After my initial visit to the original location of Smokehouse Sandwich Co. out in Richmond, I came away indifferent. The sammies weren't terrible, in fact, they were "okay". However, I felt the portion size was smallish while the flavours were far too mild. So I was a bit surprised to find out that they expanded into Downtown within Cathedral Place. With all of the sandwich options in Downtown Vancouver, I thought it would be in tough with the competition. Grace and I decided to check out the place for lunch armed with a couple of Social Shopper coupons.
We decided to go for all of the available meat options including the Wilbur with cumin-spiced pulled pork with aioli & coleslaw. Let's get this out-of-the-way first - I liked the light, airy and crusty toasted bun. Some people might find it boring, but in general, it is pretty versatile and does hold up to the wet ingredients without being dense and hard like the one found at Hubub. As for the pulled pork, it was appreciably more moist and tender than the first time I had it in Richmond. However, for some odd reason, the flavours were less apparent this time around with the cumin being rather faint. Tart with a zing, the pulled tamarind chicken in the Sarah was dry and mealy. That was partly alleviated by the abundance of sesame ginger oil dressed carrots and daikon. This tasted almost like a Banh Mi because of it.
My favourite protein of the bunch was found in the Billie. It featured fatty and tender slices of salt-cured pork belly. Rounded out by the same aioli as well as salsa and lettuce, this was a pleasant sandwich, if not a bit sparse (in both ingredients and texture). However, it didn't take away from the buttery and meatiness of the mild-flavoured pork which wasn't necessarily accented properly by the salsa. I would've preferred something brighter and acidic like pickled fennel or onions. Lastly, we had the Samson with coffee-crusted strawberry glazed beef with aioli, red bell peppers and lettuce. The meat itself was money being melt-in-our-mouths tender with a sweet and smoky flavour. However, the raw red peppers would've been better if they were roasted to bring out more of the intense sweetness rather than having a raw taste. So the verdict with this location? Indifference again. Meats were on point, but the flavours were not quite there while the sides were woefully weak.
The Good:
- On point meats
- I liked the bun
- At least when we went there, it was peaceful (not sure it that is good for them though)
The Bad:
- Flavours were not quite right
- Sides are terrible except for the chips
Although we don't catch every new movie that are in the theatres, we usually see all the blockbusters and of course many of the animated flicks (for the kiddies). That usually takes us to either Silvercity Coquitlam or Metropolis. Both get pretty busy where parking is at a premium and if we do not preorder tickets online (with seat reservations), the crowds are crazy. So for once, we headed over to the generally quieter Park & Tilford in North Van. Afterwards, we made thing easy and ate next door at Golden Pearl Chinese where we decided to do the dinner for 4 (yes, that type of Chinese food...).
Okay, we are pretty well-versed with Americanized Chinese food, so we weren't expecting much out of the Wonton Soup. Of course there wasn't any shrimp involved, so the all pork wontons were fine for what they were. We found the meat to be aggressively processed to the point where there was not much texture left. However, it also meant that it was tender and almost airy. The soup itself was rather mild-tasting. We were not huge fans of the Deep Fried Shrimp though as the batter was heavily applied and hence, was doughy and thick (more baking powder perhaps?). However, the exterior was crispy and the shrimp inside was meaty.
When the Sweet & Sour Pork hit the table, it looked like pieces were going to fall off the plate. The portion size was easily enough to be for 2 at many other establishments. Meaty and consisting of not one piece of fatty pork, the meat was tender and fairly crispy on the outside. We would've preferred that they eased up on the tenderization of the meat though. As for the sauce, it was in a pleasing dark hue (food colouring) where it was a bit sweet and only modestly tangy. Glistening with oil, the Chicken Fried Rice was actually quite good. Each grain of rice was chewy and nutty while well-seasoned. The same could be said about the chicken as it tasted pretty good. There was plenty of it and we found the pieces of meat rather tender.
Equally large as the Sweet & Sour Pork, the Broccoli Beef was wok fried properly. Each broccoli floret was crunchy and vibrant while cooked all-the-way-through. The entire dish was well-seasoned with garlic and salt whereas the moisture content was minimal. The slices of beef were rather soft being over-tenderized. Therefore, they broke apart during the stir-fry. Our last dish was the House Special Chow Mein that featured crispy noodles topped with a plethora of toppings. The sauce itself was not overly salty, which was fine by us as we doused the noodles with red vinegar. Amazingly, the kiddies loved the food (yah, probably to the horror of my parents) and we thought it was good for what it was. Prices were fair and portions were large.
The Good:
- Large portions
- Good Westernized Chinese food
- Attentive service
The Bad:
- Prices are a bit higher (but portion size makes up for it)
- Restaurant could use a few updates
Posts
As of late, I haven't been heading out to Langley for eats for some reason or another. Yes, I do not live in Langley and in fact, I'm on the other side of the Port Mann. A more important factor is that I haven't made it out to visit friends out that way either. They are still my friends... I hope... Whatever the case, I made it a point to meet up with Hot Mama and some friends at the Fort Pub & Grill located near the train tracks in historic Fort Langley. Yah, we really went that far to meet up with Hot Mama... She'd better appreciate this! 
I decided to get a the classic Salt & Pepper Wings which ranged from small pieces to really large ones. Despite the variance in size, they did a good job with the deep-fry as the exterior was uniformly crispy while the inside was still juicy. This was rather impressive since the wings didn't seemed to be the beneficiary of any brine. All the flavour was from the toss of salt and pepper after-the-fact. For my main, I had the Bedford Burger with an Angus beef patty, sunny side fried egg, sauteed mushrooms, onions, smoky bacon, apple wood smoked cheddar, house mayo, lettuce, tomato, red onion and pickles. This was definitely a 6-napkin burger if not more. The egg was perfectly runny while the meat was moist and well-charred. I loved the soft brioche bun that was still able to hold in all of the ingredients. The side of fries were crispy and well-salted.
Miss Y had the Steamed Mussels in a creamy white wine broth. They were fairly large and plump while cooked just enough. The modest amount of sauce was impactful where it was well-seasoned and lightly creamy. The wine was rather mild and had been completely cooked down. For a pub, this was completely unexpected, but impressive nonetheless.
On another visit (also meeting up with Hot Mama), I decided to start with the Poutine. It was a rather large portion doused in a considerable amount of thick, meaty gravy. It didn't taste particularly typical, rather it was more like a gravy one would find with a veal cutlet. No matter, I liked it as well as the legit cheese curds. The fries were pretty pedestrian though being thin, not crispy enough and dry. But the gravy solved that problem. I also had the Cottage Pie which was also well-portioned. The beef, carrot, peas and onion mixture was pretty tasty with tender meat and well-developed flavours. I found the mash potato topping to be a bit plain where some more cream and/or butter would've made it fluffier.
CeeCee (formerly known as DeeDee...) went for the Roast Poblano & Crab Dip featuring roasted poblano pepper, mascarpone cheese and crab served warm with fresh baguette and Parmesan crusted naan bread. We found the dip to be thick, creamy and a bit salty. The lemon wedge on top was really necessary in brightening up the heaviness. Although hardly a real naan bread, it was cheesy and soft though. It was a Bacon Cheeseburger for Zamboni Guy as he has doesn't venture far from the regular. Unlike my Bedford Burger, this one was overdone and dry. Bacon was crispy though. From these 2 visits, it appears that consistency might be an issue, but if you hit it on the right day, Fort Pub offers up decent eats in Fort Langley.
