We will always choose the restaurant with the clearly marked vegan options or vegan menu instead of the eatery where we have to guess or negotiate or discuss menu items with someone who doesn't understand or care about vegans. The Barley Merchant has a specific vegan menu on its website dropdown menu. So off we went!
Located adjacent to the Cineplex Cinemas in Langley north of the freeway (on 200th), I know this used to be something else but I just don't recall. We arrived Sunday just after noon and had no problem getting a table.
We started with the Santa Fe Fritters. These were crispy and not at all falafel like (they kind of look the part) being made mainly from corn, cauliflower, rice and white beans. They were nicely presented and came with a nice ranch type sauce. Very tasty!
We also tried the Nightshade Bisque. This was a rich soup of tomato and red piquillo peppers with a nice note of fresh herbs. Some of the items on the vegan menu indicate minor adjustments such as no butter or cheese on the toast on this one. I think they could have accompanied this with the unbuttered toast but for some reason, did not do so. 
I'm always drawn to a Veggie Burger that is not jus an Impossible or Beyond thing (although we like both these products) as it seems like a little more effort was made. The patty on this was made from rice and black beans etc. but we're pretty sure that it is not a house product. It was tasty enough. The vegan option here requires French bread instead of the hamburger bun but we had no problem with that. It came with Filthy Fries on the side (that was an upgrade) which were pretty great. Spicy with impressive toppings and a nice dip. One odd thing was a peculiar taste from the cast iron pan they came in (almost soapy) so my advice is don't lick it!
Finally we loved the Coriander Citrus Curry. I don't think we've had a curry with emphasis on the citrus but it worked very well! There was an nice selection of interesting mushrooms and veggies on rice in a wonderful sauce. We were very impressed with this!
Admittedly most people probably come for the beverages and not just the food. We saw many people enjoying flights of local beers but you may have noticed that we are more like water people. Still, we loved the atmosphere and surroundings. Our servers were very pleasant and were tuned in to our vegan preferences. Great place for before or after a movie or anytime! There are quite a few more vegan options to be tried.
Food 4 1/2 out of 5
Vegan Options 4 out of 5
Comfort 4 out of 5
Service 4 1/2 out of 5
Value 4 out of 5
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