Eating Edmonton: State and Main

Jasper Ave is bustling with niche restaurants and bars — one of these restaurants is State and Main, a common stomping ground for many university students. Despite its popularity, I found State and Main to not be deserving of its praise.

The service was good; my friend and I were seated quickly and the restaurant itself is massive. Even if it’s extremely busy, it can still feel intimate and it is brightly lit, unlike other hipster places where it’s completely dark.

We didn’t have any drinks, but they do have a large variety of alcoholic drinks. However, they do not offer any non-alcoholic drinks, besides water, so if you’re looking for a place that’s friendly for non-alcohol drinkers, this may not be for you.

For appetizers, we shared the Korean fried chicken, which is lightly battered chicken and cauliflower glazed with a gochujang sauce, sesame seeds, green onions. It wasn’t exactly what I expected. It wasn’t bad, but the taste reminded me of those frozen General Tso chicken packs from Safeway. I don’t hate frozen General Tso, but I wouldn’t spend $14 to have a restaurant make them, and they’re not something I would eat if I had other food available. Frozen food is something you eat when you’re hungry but too lazy to cook, so it’s rather disappointing to receive a dish similar to that.

My friend ordered fried chicken tenders and, of course they’re good. They’re chicken fingers — nobody can mess up chicken tenders. It’s a safe meal option for people who are less daring and just want to eat something while they drink. 

I ordered the pistachio-crusted salmon. The dish comes with jalapeño cheddar mashed potatoes and asparagus, and the pistachio-crusted salmon is placed on the asparagus with maple butter drizzled on top of the little tower. I really enjoyed the salmon, it was tender and sweet. The pistachio added a nice texture and flavour to the meal. The mashed potato was exceptional, but the jalapeños were not detectable, so it wasn’t spicy at all.

For me, State and Main could hit or miss with their meals — some are great, while others are bland, to say the least. Similar to Moxie’s or Earls, I wouldn’t crave anything at State and Main, but it’s not the worst place to go. If you’re hungry and need something quick, State and Main might be your thing.