Here's Hoping the Stove Overheats

When you are spending $50 a plate for dinner, even if that is $50 Canadian, you expect a certain level of quality, taste, service, and amenities. You expect, for example, that the wine list would be more than basic wines that could be procured at Costco or the local grocery store and you certainly do not expect the wine to be marked up over three times its retail value. You do expect some level of thought to go into the wines chosen by the sommelier. And if the house brews its own, you would expect it to have a passable nose and taste.

What is sad, is that I had dinner the other night at a restaurant that is not only supposed to be one of the finest in Ontario, but is owned and operated by a Canadian chef who has a TV show up here, cook books etc. Think a Canadian Emeril or Bobby Flay. Sadly, someone was not minding the store last night. In fact, if I had been a food critic, which I think I am becoming, I would have ruined them with a review. The coconut shrimp where bland and no better than any I have had at Outback. In fact, the ones at Outback had more flavor. My wife had a soup that was apparently good, but flat, needing salt. The steak was not exactly top quality even though it was listed as a AAA steak (top choice up here). It was not tough but it was not exactly melt in my mouth. The potatoes were tasty though.

In the end, the bill was a little less than $100. The food was not remarkable, the service was OK, summer help really and she did her best, but even after I sent back the wine, a manager never showed up. After I said the shrimp were only OK, while she seemed dissatisfied, again there was no manager. I certainly would not eat there again. I certainly would not recommend that you eat there. In the end, I can only hope that the owner comes back and improves his food, or closes up shop before more people are defrauded of their hard earned money.