Social Modern Pub Food is Polished

Brown Cow

I’d never heard of Social Modern Pub until Rishi Patel, asking yours truly to come try out their food gratis with a dinner companion. Naturally I asked @thepolishviking to join me and off we went one weekday evening.

The manager, Ian Carriere had arranged for us to identify ourselves to him when we arrived via a secret code word, “Snuffleupagus”. Ian was an excited, exuberant, passionate, and extremely enthusiastic person. He spent a considerable amount of time going through the menu with us to let us know what his favorites were, what items were new, and what items were carried over from the previous incarnation of Social Modern Pub.

Bacon Wrapped Bacon

He was very proud of the pub and had previously worked in Winnipeg managing an Irish Pub. He said 80% of the menu items were made in house, including the hamburgers. The pub had wanted to use store bought chicken strips but he was passionate about using fresh ingredients and had told them if they weren’t going to make their own chicken strips, it wouldn’t be going on the menu. He wanted to ensure that they made as much in house as possible. Now their chicken strips are made from a chicken breast, cut into 3, drenched in cream, and flour, then fried

Bacon deserves more than one picture

The space itself looked like a cross between a sports bar with a multitude of flat screen TV’s hung on the walls playing TSN and various sporting events. The furnishings screamed chic lounge, and the loud pounding music that one could hardly talk over without shouting made the place seem more like a nightclub. Very little about the décor or the environment seemed to convey it was what one would think of as a pub, a casual place that you could hang out, talk, eat, and drink. On that particular evening, it was quite busy as there was a Grant MacEwan University speed dating night happening in half of the space.

Yam Fries

We ordered a number of items that Ian had suggested including the bacon wrapped bacon that wasn’t on the menu and they were in the process of reworking. The current incarnation consisted of strips of side bacon that had been coated with brown sugar, encasing back bacon that had been baked in the oven and caramelized. You could smell the sweetness of the caramelized sugar when it hit the table. The taste was a delicate interplay between sweet and salty. The only qualm we had as we polished it off was that the size of the back bacon was slightly too large, making it difficult to eat in a single bite. Also due to its sheer size, the back bacon wasn’t as caramelized as it could have been and therefore tasted more like ham than bacon.

Chicken Alfredo

Next were the yam fries, which were very thin, and had a great crispiness to it, although could have benefited from a tad more salt. The aioli had a slightly chunky texture and was nicely balanced between mildly spicy and sweet. Even though it was a large dish and we knew there was more food coming, we found the yam fries to be strangely addictive and irresistible, and polished off the whole order before we realized it.

For the entrée, we ordered the chicken Italiano that had an extremely flavorful layer of pesto coating the bread. The chicken within was juicy and tender, while the amount of goat cheese was perfect to give the sandwich a hint of gooey cheese without overwhelming it.

Chicken Italiano

Lastly the chicken alfredo, which Ian informed us, was the Chef’s specialty prior to the space becoming Social Modern Pub. The alfredo sauce could have used something to elevate it to something more than a plain Jane cream sauce, such as more salt, pepper or even garlic. The pasta and chicken were cooked to perfection, and the chicken had a bit of kick to it.

Overall, neither @thepolishviking nor I went in with very high expectations and were pleasantly surprised with the enjoyable meal we had. It is definitely a place I’d return to for a solid meal at reasonable prices.

For another take, read @thepolishviking's blog post - The Social [Modern] Network.

(Note: There was no financial compensation from Social Modern Pub for this blog post, although they did cover the cost of our meals and drinks. Prior to agreeing to the offer of a free meal, restaurants must agree that any review provided by me will completely reflect my thoughts and opinions - good or bad, and will not be swayed by having a free meal provided.)

Social Modern Pub
10807 106 Ave NW
Edmonton, AB  T5H 4A7
780-701-9091
Twitter: @SocialModernPub