This was our 2nd time eating here, but it's been many years since the first time. We went for date night while visiting family in the area for a few days. Overall the experience was really good. We ate upstairs, as the bistro downstairs was closed. It was a quiet evening on a weeknight and therefore very intimate. The waitress was very friendly and prompt. We both enjoyed our meals a lot. I ordered the beet salad to start and hubby had the sweet potato fries as a starter. My salad was one of the tastiest salads I've ever eaten. The combo of spinach, goat cheese, toasted almonds, sundried tomatoes, and of course beets, topped with dijonnaise dressing was superb. I loved the dressing so much I was trying to analyze the ingredients by eating the leftovers right out of the container with my fork! The sweet potato fries were good, although ordinary, but they were accompanied by a side of chipotle mayo which was especially delicious and had a unique taste, and they were served in a cute cone shaped fry holder, which was a nice touch.
For entrees, I ordered the Chicken Cozumel, which is a chicken breast seasoned and topped with cheese, salsa, and sour cream and served on a pretzel bun. I had it with a caesar salad on the side. The chicken burger was really delicious. The pretzel bun was a nice touch. The chicken was maybe just slightly overdone but I still enjoyed it. It was messy and had to be eaten with a knife and fork for sure. The caesar salad was a bit below average. I believe the meal must have sat under a warmer for a while as the lettuce was wilted and the dressing was warm. It was not tossed either, which is strange for a caesar salad. The croutons appeared to be homemade which was a nice touch.
Hubby had one of the specials which was filet mignon brochettes served with roasted potatoes, gravy, and grilled veggies. He was pleased with his meal and his meat was cooked to a perfect medium-well as requested. The veggies were majority zucchini, which he doesn't like, so he was disappointed about that, but you can't fault the menu for his personal preference.
We ordered dessert and hot drinks, which we rarely do, but their dessert menu caught our eye. We shared a slice of chocolate cake, hubby had coffee and I had a green tea. The cake was really yummy. I loved the loose-leaf sencha I was served, steeped at just the right temperature, which impressed me as a tea snob. The black coffee was also supposedly good although hubby was hoping for an almond milk latte but they didn't have almond milk.
The one small detail that I noticed could use improvement is the menu. The selections were fine, but the menu itself was 2 tattered loose sheets inside 3 hole page protectors (not even matching), and each page was a different format/font/layout. It seemed very disjointed and a bit trashy. The waitress spent a couple of minutes pointing out changes, substitutions, a number of things they didn't have, and a handful of specials, which made the ordering and decision process more difficult. It seemed like a good chunk of the menu had changed. For a high end restaurant I would suggest printing new menus each day or week to reflect the actual choices available, even if they are just done on printer paper each morning. It wouldn't be terribly difficult or costly and less confusing for customers and for the waitresses.
Overall we felt we got our money's worth and had a nice evening. I think there is room for a higher end dining experience in Bathurst and we were glad to be able to visit Nectar again. We will be back next time we're in town. read more
