I have no doubt that people have had great experiences here but our experience on this evening was definitely meh, I've had much better, very disappointing to say the least.
And it started with such promise. We made reservations and arrived on time. A man, I'll call our "host" seated us in the screened in porch with a nice view of Historic Fort Anne. There were 2 or three other tables occupied. The woman who came by and introduced herself as our hostess, I will call our server. She was lovely, we exchanged pleasantries, we seemed off to a good start.
I ordered the "Traditional Caesar Salad" to start and the special that evening, scallops with pasta, sun-dried tomatoes & feta cheese. B ordered the tenderloin steak which was unavailable this evening but the alternative ribeye would do. Our server came with a basket of bread which I left to B to enjoy. He said it was very good.
When my salad arrived I squeezed the provided lemon wedge over the lettuce and proceeded to eat. There was grated parmesan, smokey bacon and what looked like store bought croutons. But that was it, no garlicky goodness, no oil or egg, not even an essence of anchovy (our server said the chef used anchovy in his traditional dressing). It was only after I finished it that I realized they must have forgot to dress the salad. I didn't say anything since the salad was finished.
By this time all the tables were full, a second server was in the room.We waited and waited. our server came by and said our meals would be out soon, was there anything she could get us, B asked for more bread. She dropped some off and disappeared - for a long time - as we waited some more. People who came in after us were getting food, the table of 4 next to us who ordered only a short time before us had long finished their meal when the "host" came by and refilled their water glasses, his back to us, he walked away without acknowledging our existence. At that point I knew they knew this was not going well for us.
At last our meals arrived with no apology as to the wait but an "enjoy your meal". I have to admit, the scallops were exactly as described. Scallops, tri-coloured fuisilli pasta, sun-dried tomatoes and small crumbs of feta cheese, full stop. Gordon Ramsey would have released a round of expletives, no perfect sear on the scallops, no seasoning, not even a hint of salt or pepper. The whole dish could best be described as watery. The scallops seamed like they were poached in tap water, admittedly they were fresh. But the weirdest part of all, each scallop was cut in half, the mystery was why. I have never seen that done before. Brian said his steak was fine, at least it was sort of done to his request of medium rare, though I believe he left about a third of it on the plate as gristle and fat.
About a minute into our meal, our server stopped by to ask how it tasted "It's Okay" replied B. "That's great" she said, "Enjoy the rest of your meal" and off she bounced. At that point we felt defeated. If she was great with us having an okay meal, what's the point of saying anything else. We finished our meal, declined dessert and got our bill.
B took the bill to the small bar where the host took his payment. No question of "How was everything?" He knew. Honestly the hot hamburger sandwiches we had at the diner the night before made for a far more satisfying experience at less than a third of the price. read more