We are at Brentwood tonight, with a plethora of options for dinner.
Since I was at the Tap and Barrel just last week we are going to give Earl’s a try. Haven’t been at this location before.
It’s a great vibe, busy, but still warm and intimate inside. Looks like it would be a great patio to sit and people watch during nice weather. A bit chilly for me for that tonight though, so we sat at the bar.
Which does have a good array of televisions, should you be sports inclined.
I started with a Strathcona Brewing Lemon Mandarin Raddler.
This one almost went back.
The server removed that glass way to quickly from the dishwasher to serve beer in it. It was still warm when I picked it up. If I was in a worse mood she would have heard it from me.
Regardless, the beer was very good. The mandarin really came through, even over the lemon. Not too sour though, a perfect amount of pucker. But could have been colder. A bartender should know better.
I will give her kudos though for splitting our meal.
We often share one entree, we aren’t big eaters.
When we mentioned we were sharing the Kung Pao she offered it to us in two portions. Something I’ve noticed more restaurants offering and it’s great for diners like us.
As often is the case, I found it a little scarce on the protein.
But it was delicious. We didn’t go too spicy, only 3 peppers. The kick from those peppers were nicely offset with a slight sweetness from the sauce. I found the vegetables to have a nice crunch, Merilynn was less enthused by this though and many of them found their way onto my plate. There was no shortage of peanuts though, giving a great textural component to the dish. That’s a Asian inspired meal I’d happily order anytime. Even with what may be the best Chinese food in Vancouver directly above us.
While Earl’s isn’t the best of the lot for this class of restaurant, this particular location is great.
The atmosphere is fantastic, the food was very good and you cannot beat the accessibility.
9/10