Restaurant Review: The Buckingham

THE BUCKINGHAM 10439 Whyte Avenue ~ thebuckingham.ca Instagram: @thebuckonwhyte Co-Diners: The Husband

Imagine a cool punk-style pub that has just the right amount of grime on it... But the food that they serve is entirely vegan. It sounds like a bit of a bizarre thing to imagine for some reason! (Contradictory, even.) Welp. Such a place exists and it's right here in Edmonton. Crazier still is that The Buckingham has been voted #1 Best Chicken Wings 2018, #1 Best French Fries 2018 and #1 Best Pub 2018 by VUE Weekly. Yes, chicken wings. Let me remind you again that this place serves only vegan food. I had to check it out for myself. Open since 2013, "The Buck" has been around for quite a while at this point. I remember that prior to their opening the location turned over several times, all failed attempts at various pub/bar businesses. Enter The Buckingham and something has stuck. It turns out that all the Old Strathcona scene wanted was an eclectic, alternative nightspot that hosts live music and serves all-vegan pub food. You might remember the vegan food truck called Sailin' On - well the truck is no longer but they are the people behind the food at The Buckingham. So you're on Whyte Ave and you roll up to The Buck and head up the stairs to the to their second level location perched over the avenue. The space is large and pretty dark, with just a hint of dive bar to it. There's a lot of deep-coloured wood, a long bar, plenty of booths and tables, and a seat-yourself policy. You'll spot all sorts of crazy knickknacks around the room, including some awesome arcade and pinball machines toward the back. Unpretentious, it feels like a pub in every sense of the word and is very welcoming. This is a place where you gather with friends to have a few drinks and a good time. I grabbed a booth, situated myself, and began to look over the extensive beer menu. Microbrews galore, they feature a lot of local names, which is nice to see. I went for a tall can of Collective Arts Blood Orange & Cranberry Cider ($9.00), a brewery in Hamilton.

First of all, this was the most beautiful can that I have ever seen! I loved the design and think it's so cool that this company features different artists on their cans. Very awesome. The cider was really nice as well! A great combination of tart and sweet that really tasted like fragrant candied blood orange with a slight apple twist. Plus tart cranberries. Enjoyable and refreshing, this was a perfect summertime cider. I was certainly the most excited about the Buffalo Wings ($16.00), especially since they are supposed to be some of the best wings in the city AND they were able to achieve that designation without even being real chicken. They must really be something special.

Buffalo wings just the way you remember them. Comes with house-made ranch & fresh veggies.

The order comes with six wings and you get to choose from; hot, BBQ, Cajun, sweet chili heat, maple sriracha, salt 'n' pepper, or teriyaki. I asked if we could have half one flavour and half another and were told that we could! In that case, I got half hot and half maple sriracha. The wings themselves are super intriguing. It's faux chicken wrapped around a wooden stick and the stick totally provides the illusion of a bone. The "meat" is ultra juicy and tender, crispy on the outside, and truly does have the same texture as chicken. It's almost like having all of the best parts of eating a chicken wing without all of the worst parts. I loved the hot flavour because it's a total classic and matched perfectly with the tasty housemade ranch dip. Hot sauce and ranch is the whole quintessential buffalo experience right there! But I extra loved the maple sriracha flavour because it was spicy-sweet and the maple really came through. I really loved these. I didn't miss "real chicken" one bit. If you gave me these wings for the rest of my life I'd be happy. They also serve entire fried chicken baskets (*not chicken) and I would be incredibly interested to see how they pull that one off! Although the menu is full of burgers, sandwiches, and even corn dogs and donairs, I was pretty interested to try the Buffalo Chicken Mac N' Cheese ($11.00) because I remain a huge sucker for anything buffalo.

This ain't your mom's mac 'n cheese. Elbow macaroni, vegan cheese blend, buffalo chicken, onion 'n celery, topped off with green onion & panko bac'n crumble.

This take on mac & cheese was unique and I liked that it was almost a whole new version of the dish. It wasn't as gooey-cheesy as traditional mac & cheese but I honestly enjoyed the consistency in a different way. I liked really being able to experience the saucy macaroni pasta without it all turning into one big mushy, cheesy mass. More of the buffalo chicken was absolutely welcome since I loved it in wing form. And the panko "bacon" on top added great texture and crunch. If you don't go into this expecting a completely familiar mac & cheese it's really quite good. Lastly, I had to try some fries because the fries are supposed to be wonderful at The Buck as well! There are several fry situations to choose from and the fries are hand cut every day. These aren't frozen bagged fries - and that's why they're good. I needed to try the Macca Fries ($10.00) because everyone who's anyone is doing a riff on the Big Mac these days.

Fresh hand cut fries topped with veggie ground round, diced red onions, pickles, iceberg lettuce, and smothered in our house made maccas sauce. Topped with shredded cheese and toasted sesame cheese.

I thought that they did a great job of capturing the Big Mac flavour experience - which is the whole point. I dug underneath so that I could taste a fry on its own, without the toppings, and it was very good. I like that the potato peels are still on and they were nicely golden. I enjoyed all of the toppings, especially the pickles, lettuce and sauce. Everything was very fresh. For a fun and more interesting take on fries, these ones totally fit the bill. Personally, I am not vegan. But I LOVE vegan food. I am more concerned with food that is delicious and less concerned whether there is meat in a dish or not. The food at The Buckingham is delicious, which means that I liked it and will happily visit again. It should be noted that minors are not allowed in this establishment (it's a bar) but let's face it, this is a selling feature sometimes. I love that Edmonton has a restaurant like this but at the same time, I'm not surprised. This city has always been weird, quirky, and accommodating to all tastes. It's a reason to love living here.