Poseidon in Langley BC (restaurant review)
This place is open Mondays and the sushi place next to it isn’t. Indeed, this place is open 7 days a week. That’s so anachronistic lately, they must be lowkey hot shit; An Institution. Any Langleyites want to leave a comment explaining the local lore surrounding the old location?
I’m enchanted by the way it’s across the street from the new location? What happened here?
Mesmerizing.
It’s not exactly the spot to be on a blazing hot mid-August day when all you really wanted was a cheap miso soup and a couple small maki. However, it was significantly more refreshing as a place to eat lunch than I was expecting from the (lbr) crusty 20th century style exterior branding. The signage reminded me of the old Filet O’Fish mascot, I thought the place would be a kind of greasy, kitschy, maritime-aesthethic dungeon inside. The migration from one location to another right across the street implied a certain resiliency (eg, the place might functionally be an interesting indicator of local tastes/ sensibilities) but also a certain level of firm resistance to change.
This? Isn’t that. It’s only a little silly. Mostly it’s boring, it’s so much the “upscale” version of what I expected that there’s virtually nothing going on in here aesthetically. Tastefully spotlit faux-classical busts? Sheesh, okay, fine, give me nothing to work with. I wanted a stuffed marlin caught in a net and linty with dust and ambient airborne fryer oils.
The above wasn’t even the least barfy aesthetic choice, the area around the door looked basically like a woman-owned tattoo parlor or weed store:
Well, fuck. Isn’t that pleasant. Have another angle:
So the place is actually kind of nice. How’s the food, you might ask.
I just got the soup of the day, and my gf got…wait for it…chicken strips 😆
I had been drinking cheap beer all morning so, I thought this peasant stew was crazy good. My little lady found her chicken acceptable: nothing wrong with it but ultimately underwhelming and unseasoned. We really need to start packing in hot sauces when we eat out.
Here’s the happyhour info:
A $15 burger these days is enough to sell me on most places. But I honestly found the ambiance so stultifying that I don’t have a strong desire to go back. I wouldn’t recommend it for a date spot unless your partner is obsessed with places that feel like waiting rooms. Like, I got lasik last year and this place reminded me of the office, crossed with a public art gallery.
I still want to know more, especially any former employee stories.