S+L Kitchen & Bar

My husband and I went there with our (adult) daughter for an early dinner on a Saturday to beat the dinner crowd. We were seated right away.
We heard and read so much hype about the place and some of the menu items that I expected the food to be consistently good, but it wasn’t the case.
GOOD DISHES:
Scallops (appetizer) For 19.99 we got 5 pan seared scallops on a bed of butternut squash purée which was garnished with a few sprinkles of bacon. The scallops were done just right and were tender and the butternut squash purée added a touch of sweetness and complimented the dish.
Gnudi: This was one of the appetizers our daughter had as part of her dinner. She got about half a dozen pieces of gnudi sprinked on top of a sauce brown butter/​mushroom sauce with a bit of balsamic reduction. She said it was tender and she liked the flavours.
NOT SO MEMORABLE DISHES:
Deep Fried Mac and Cheese sticks: My daughter and I shared this appetizer. Four pieces came with a tomato based sauce on the side. My daughter and I both found the Mac and Cheese sticks to be flavourless. They were not cheesy enough and under seasoned. The sauce improved the taste somewhat, but they were not worth the $ 11 charged. And where was the White truffle oil the menu mentioned? If they did use any, there was probably such a small amount used that it didn’t make any difference to the blandness of the dish.
Master Chicken: My husband had to try this dish as this is supposed to be the dish that won a chef his Masterchef Canada title. He got two pieces of chicken: a piece of white and a piece of dark which were coated in batter and fried. He said that the dark meat was moist but the light meat was a tad on the dry side. The chicken was just average. All you could taste was the salt. My husband said that the chicken was the right saltiness for him, but I tried a small piece and found it on the verge of being too salty for me. The mashed potatoes that came with it was just average. Nothing special. The only good thing on the plate was bourbon bacon corn.
Seafood pasta: This was the dish I had. It was supposed to be noodles with a rose sauce lobster and heirloom tomatoes. The noodles were overcooked so the pasta, with the sauce mixed in, was sticky. I could only find a few small pieces of lobster meat, and one small cherry tomato cut in half on top. The sauce tasted just like any rose sauce you get at the supermarket — just okay. No added herbs.
The quality of the food here is inconsistent and the service okay. Server was efficient but didn’t seem as friendly as those at some other restaurants. Hubby and daughter want to go back another time to try out other dishes. Just have to stay away from the Master Chicken, Mac and Cheese and the seafood pasta.

Party of 5 all of our steaks were brought out cold. Would not go back there for food.

Second time coming here. First time was a week after they opened and the place was PACKED. There were about 40 servers working, no joke so there was a lot of chaos when trying to walk around
Came back for a second time for Mothers Day dinner. We arrived at 5 and left at 7:30 and the restaurant was about ²⁄₃ full only. To start I LOVED the fact that we were told no when asking for a high chair or booster seat. Seriously? Haven’t you learned from Earls? Pretty sure this is discrimination against families with young kids. Can you imagine the backlash if there were no handicapped washroom too!!! So while the rest of the group of 6 sat and had drinks/​appies, I had to make the 20 minute trip back home with my son to grab a booster seat. When I walked back through the front door I was greeted with a «oh you found one, that’s great!» Ya, just great.
Nothing to complain about the appies, except the calamari. My wife and I usually default to calamari for appetizers and this one is probably the worst we’ve had, twice. The squid is cut so thin but seems fried for the regular time which makes them VERY overcooked, tough and dried out. Not even the delicious sauce could save them
I had the wagyu steak last time so I wanted to try something new. By wagyu steak I mean NOT wagyu. Just because you cross breed a wagyu cow with an American one doesn’t mean it’s still wagyu. It’s just not. If you’ve ever had real wagyu, not American or Australian you’d know what I’m talking about. I mean the real stuff from Japan prefectures. I’ve spent $ 200 on real wagyu in Vegas, flown in from Japan and it is not comparable to what almost all restaurants try to pawn off as the same. No American/​Australian wagyu (usually from Snake River), kobe, kobe-​style, wagyu blend. Whatever they call it, unless it’s from specific prefectures in Japan, don’t waste your money. Get Canadian or American Prime steak instead, cheaper and better IMO. Now that I’ve rambled on about wagyu and gotten off-​topic I’ll get back to my main. The MASTER chicken. This is the supposed dish that won Master Chef Canada. I’m pretty sure if the winner served up what I got, he’d be laughed off the show. It WAS the best fried chicken I’ve ever had, but is that saying much with a history of only KFC, Churches and Lee’s? This chicken was crispy, juicy but WAY WAY too salty. I had 2 of the 3 pieces and then thought to myself that I didn’t want the 3^rd as I already just had my weeks quota of salt in 2 pieces of chicken. I love salty /​savoury foods but this was too much for me. I will give the benefit of doubt to the teenager who didn’t follow the recipe for the chicken coating that morning but if I put my reputation on ONE dish on my menu… I’d PERSONALLY ensure it was to exact specs every time.
Desserts, 2 of the 5 we were told weren’t available as they had none left? It’s Mothers Day and the restaurant isn’t busy on a Sunday, how do you not have 40% of your desserts in stock? Maybe forecast that after the lunch rush and make some more? What an idea.
Well I DO like the idea of a nice steakhouse close to home to save a trip downtown… I don’t like the execution which is probably why prices are higher downtown and come with a more consistent product. I will instead turn to the Keg or Cactus Club for a similar experience. I’ve been to those places dozens of times and have never complained about the food (and I do if warranted). I’ve been here twice and had issues both times.

I booked this restaurant for my friend’s birthday dinner. I have a great time dining here. I really enjoyed their on tap selection, and they have wine on tap: D
Food doesn’t have the best presentation, but everything is just mouth-​watering delicious. I think I had the BEST fried chicken here. I will be back again!

I rarely write reviews but this restaurant is absolutely worth leaving a good review!!! My girl friend and I came here for my birthday. We all watched Canada Master Chef and of course were fans of David, so when I found that he was actually running the kitchen, I bookmarked this restaurant right a way! Due to some mix reviews, I did come a little skeptical and hoping for the best that this won’t be the dark side of it. In the contrary, I have had GREAT FOOD here! We ordered a bottle of red wine, two appes, and two entre. The apps were bone marrow and lamb popsicle, entrees are Zabuton (waygu) with maple bacon brussels sprouts And «Master chicken» the award winning fried chicken of David’s work during the Master Chef competition. I’m not a foodie in general but every bite of food really «wow» me! The bone marrow was delicious and just totally opened up our appetite. The lamb popsticles were a little less competitors but they didn’t taste bad at all. The entries were absolutely amazing! The fried chicken were absolutely mouthwatering that every bite made me say «this is Sooo good»!!! The bacon Brussels sprouts were soooooo good! And I would recommend medium instead of medium rare for the waygyu so the oil can be burned more and makes the rich flavor come out more! (I ordered a medium rare so it was a little off…)
Our waitress was not overly friendly but she was observant enough to realize the sun came through the blind was bothering my friend and offered to helped it out there.
Everything was absolutely right to the point.
And I hope all these are not just a one time experience!!! Definitely recommend this restaurant!

Service was fantastic, greeted right away. Got sat fairly quickly, but was busy for a Thursday night. All the waitstaff seemed fairly happy which is nice to see. Decent winelist and drink specials.
The food was fantastic. I can’t say enough good things about it. The wagyu beef melted in my mouth, the scallops were fresh and delightful, the asparagus tender, and the fried cauliflower superbly cooked.
Two things that annoyed me about the dining experience.
Firstly, I have no problem paying $ 50 for a steak, however for that $ 50, I want more than 3 forkfuls of corn. Yes I had a bowl of shoestring fries on the side, but my entrée plate had a piece of beef, and some corn. Far too much empty space.
Which leads me to my second complaint. The plating. Personally I’m not a fan of negative space plating, but in the right conditions, it can look beautiful. They’ve taken it too far, and it looks more like they’ve given you an empty plate. The flipside to this is how they serve the sides in their own little cooking dish or bowl. This isn’t a bad thing, but it is when your tables get so cluttered there isn’t enough room.
All in all, can’t wait to eat here again.

My wife and I, as fans of MasterChef Canada, naturally wanted to check this place out. We went in with a party of 7. Going in, the place was almost empty, but that soon changed as the place quickly filled up.
My daughter was hungry, so we got her a plate of the shoestring fries, which blew me away. So good. I ordered the New York strip and my wife ordered the Wagyu burger, and the others ordered a variety of other stuff, can’t really recall what. Everybody was happy with the food, and my wife loved the burger. My steak was slightly overcooked, though I did ask for it to be done mid-​well.
The servers were very friendly and knowledgeable about the menu and the atmosphere was great. Not really what I expected given the seemingly out of place location. The prices are very reasonable as well, and I’m definitely up for another visit.

My experience at this restaurant was exceptional. Service was great, attentive and appropriate. More important to me however was the food. Had the scallops as an appie and this alone made the dinner, but the sablefish entrée was equally exceptional. Amazing food in the burbs (and yes I would put this on par with some of the better restaurants found in Vancouver). Not cheap and not overly pricey either — for what you get, worth it and great value in my opinion.

So we are batting two for two. Again the food here is amazing. I had the lobster, husband had the steak and potatoes so naturally, after a half hour wait they brought him steak and mushrooms. We asked for salads beforehand. Mine came with my lobster, which meant, after eating the salad, the lobster was cool. Husbands salad arrived ten minutes after his steak. At least the steak was awesome. He says there is an incredible decent selection of whiskey but nobody knew what a whiskey glass was. I didn’t appreciate the knife being dropped on my foot, no acknowledgement of this until someone asked how the food was. All in all, I would say the group that owns this makes amazing food but they need to work on staff training. Better ambience than last though.

Nice atmosphere but found a live worm attached to our oyster and the manager was too casual about it for my liking and only comp’d our oysters which to me doesn’t make up for being put off your whole dinner.

Great food and service! The London flower martini is delish, and the Brussels sprouts are to die for!

We heard about Chef David Jorge partnering up with the Joseph Richard Group to open this restaurant in a location that hadn’t been successful in the past for other restaurants. We were intrigued as we followed Chef David through the MasterChef Canada competition which he won and decided to go check it out.
A busy parking lot and a short wait while we admired the cool and funky décor were good signs that the restaurant was doing well going into week 3 after opening.
We got a nice table close to the fireplace and had a charismatic, knowledgeable server. She was fast, but not intrusive and quickly got us drinks.
We ordered the scallops and the bacon prawn cocktail and they were both absolutely fantastic. The scallops were cooked perfectly and served on a bed of butternut squash purée that added the perfect sweetness to the dish. The bacon prawn cocktail had a delicate smokiness to it and the cocktail sauce was not simply out of the jar, but had it’s own personality. Impressive appetizers to start. We followed with the Eye of the Rib Eye for my husband with shoestring fries that he loved and asparagus. I chose the New York steak which was cooked medium rare just perfectly and accompanied with my favourite of the night, the lobster mashed potatoes. Our server suggested the maple bacon brussel sprouts and they were remarkable! In between courses, we tried a cocktail from their travelling cocktail cart and got a chance to meet Chef David who is as charming and down to earth as he appeared on TV. We had a nice chat with him and wished him much success. With the quality and creativity of the food, I don’t doubt that he’ll have it! We didn’t finish out steaks but took them home, however we couldn’t resist getting a dessert to share as they have crème brûlée on the menu. A traditional crème brûlée, «bruleed» to perfection (I love breaking the caramel on top!) and we finished our meal with delight. Price-​wise it is a reasonable place, different from the many franchise restaurants in Langley and if they keep up the quality in every aspect, hopefully the first successful venue in that location. We’ll be back!

We stopped in for lunch last weekend on a whim to check the new place in town. It was virtually empty, with what appeared to be a staff meeting going on in the lounge area. The décor is excellent. It has a comfortable but modern feel. We were seated promptly, and greeted immediately for a drink order, which was nice. The same went for our food order. Then the waiting began. I waited quite a while for fresh oysters, which was fine as they were excellent and very fresh. But then it was over 30 minutes more for a burger and a sandwich. When they arrived the burger was fair, not bad, but certainly not worth the price they charge for wagyu. The prime rib sandwich was tasty, but very stingy with the beef to focaccia ratio. The fries were underdone, unseasoned, and cold.
We have dinner reservations with friends here soon. Hopefully the experience is better.

Busy Saturday night before Valentine’s Day. Food was acceptable, not awesome. The service was impeccable. Will try again for lunch hour.

We were told the waiting was an hour ish. Then we still decide to wait. Maybe good thing worth to wait for. But yet, after an hour i was told there will be still 45mins wait. I m leaving

Went to this place with the lovely K about a week after their soft opening for a late lunch. The space itself has had a few tenants during its time with little success. The location is not the best on 200^th where most people are on their way to or from somewhere.
We were impressed upon entry with the knives imbedded in the wall, the décor itself and our initial greet. Our waitress was experienced and knew the menu back to front and had tried all the food offered. Pretty impressive for a brand new place.
The food was good, if a bit unusual. The deep fried cauliflower was new to us and very tasty. We foolishly ordered three fried appy’s which is just too much fried food in the afternoon. Our fault of course, but over all the food was quite good and our waitress made the entire experience very good.
They had Peroni beer on tap which was quite the find for me. A very nice Italian beer that you usually find in Canada in a bottle only. Enough to bring me back again and again.
The space itself is open and warm, with some edge to it that should appeal to a wide range of diners.
Our first impression was so good we decided to go back today, and were very dismayed that they had no Peroni on tap. Seems strange to us that a virtually new restaurant has not secured ample supply of their beverages. None of the other 13 beers on tap intrigued and the craft beer offering is quite expensive to be trying a new beer.
To compound my unhappiness, our server was the polar opposite to our first one. She had to read the daily drink special off the card she fetched on our table which was in stark contrast to our well versed server the first time. I also watched her do the same thing to a table that was sat only a few minutes after us, you would have thought she would have had it down at that point. When she told me that they were OUT of Peroni she offered no alternative, nor did she check at the bar as to what they may have had that was similar. We did not order off the menu, K finished her wine and we sought out another place to have lunch.
We will go back because of our first experience and hope that this latest visit was an aberration and not their typical offering. If the first experience is replicated we will of course share, if not, our third visit will be our last.

Tried the new steakhouse in town and was for the most part impressed.
Funky vibe with hip music and a bigscreen to keep an eye on the Canucks.
The service was a little slow but friendly. Head Chef came by to check on the food which was a nice touch.
We were a group of 8 and everyone enjoyed their food. I had the scallops which were good and the prime rib which came cold. Once a new piece was brought it was delicious and much better than anything I’ve had at the keg.
Once they get their service issues sorted it will be the place to go in Langley.

This place just opened in Langley and thank goodness it did. A casual restaurant with awesome high-​end food at a really reasonable prices. And that goes before even mentioning that the chef is Surrey-​based Masterchef Canada winner David George.
We shared a bunch of plates to give the place a go. The biggest highlight was (of course) the steaks. But the sides — bacon and maple syrup Brussel sprouts and spicy fried cauliflower were ridiculous.
Honestly, I travel and eat a lot and it is so good to have a place that respects the need to provide a casual atmosphere but offer super high end food
Oh and the service was top notch, which is always hard when you first open, but they nailed it!
I will be back repeatedly.

With funky, urban décor paired with top-​notch dining, S&L Kitchen is sure to do well for themselves. I knew going into dinner that they wanted to bring a «Downtown» expedience to the valley and they didn’t disappoint. I ordered the Scallop appetizer with a half dozen oysters followed by an 8oz Zabuton (waygu steak) cooked rare.
Going into dinner I knew I wanted to try the scallops. When I ordered and when they were brought out everyone that passed the table told me how great they were… they lived up to their reputation. They were large scallops, not quite as big as the Icelandic verity but with the same flavour. Perfectly seasoned and not overcooked. I really appreciated this dish. The oysters were lovely as well. I will be heading back for «Buck a Shuck» afternoons.
The waygu main was also well executed. In all seriousness the meat was seasoned to perfection and although I asked for the steak to be cooked rare and it came out medium rare, I wasn’t put off by it. The sides left something to be desired and the presentation did not do the meal any justice (in comparison, the presentation was actually an insult to the quality of food). Perhaps this will change as the restaurant sets it’s roots.
I enjoyed two drinks from the bar, both of witch were superb. I spoke with Dave from the bar both before dinner and at me seat as he gave me a quick rundown of the cocktail selection and his recommendations. The Sozzel Cart is such a great idea and I am sure they’ll prefect navigating around diners as time goes on.
The major bummer for me in the experience was the staff’s lack of knowledge of the products they were serving. The bar staff really showed their passion in explaining what they were doing and making recommendations, to which I applaud them. The dining staff, although attentive, were yet to have a good grasp of the menu. In particular the oysters; when asked my waitress really didn’t know what she served me, and that was a shame. It was the only component missing when comparing S&L Kitchen to an equal establishment.
Overall, I will absolutely return. I am excited to try other items and better aquatint myself with the menu!

They will be successful because the food is awesome. The service is great even on opening night.