By Sherman Chan,
Special to The Post

We had the classic Scotch Egg. The egg white was lightly cooked. Encasing this was a balanced layer of Guinness sausage that was moist. It was fairly mild. Underneath, the piccalilli sauce was slightly acidic and appealingly tart. Served on grilled sourdough, the Black Pudding Toasties were pleasant. 

The Maple Kale & Chicken Salad had fresh baby kale, roasted butternut squash, beer-brined chicken, dried cherries, almonds and sweet potato chips. The restrained usage of the maple mustard vinaigrette kept the kale from wilting and being drenched. The chicken as it was a bit dry.

The Steak & Guinness Pie was served bubbling hot. The crust was flaky and buttery while the filling featured chunks of succulent beef. It wasn’t too salty. The side of fries were hot and crispy. The Traditional Fry Up boasted two over-easy eggs, peameal bacon, two Rivers banger, Oyama black pudding, roasted tomato, fried potatoes, house-baked beans and sourdough toast.  The eggs were perfect for dunking the crispy sourdough. I enjoyed the black pudding, but the pea meal bacon was dry.
For dessert, we had the Central Sundae with Guinness, Bailey's, caramel ice cream layered with chocolate and caramel sauce topped with an Irish lace cookie, whipping cream, sprinkles and candied walnuts. Surprisingly, this was not as sweet as I thought. This was creamy, sweet with a caramelized depth and lightly kissed with alcohol.  Loved the crunch of the walnuts too. The Dubh Linn Gate didn’t try to stray too far from classic pub food. That is a good thing.

Sherman Chan is the #1 ranked food blogger on the Vancouver portal of Urbanspoon.com. Read more of his reviews at www.shermansfoodadventures.com.