What's The Big Deal?

by CJ
(Steveston, BC Canada)

This is an okay restaurant, but hey, what IS the big deal here?

THE BOTTOM LINE: Our server was attentive, very nice and knew what she was talking about. The entree was good and nicely plated, but really nothing so outstanding I wouldn't miss it. Long bits of things sticking out of the plate in a sort of faux floral arrangement does not mean great taste. The portions were nice, but again, no great shakes. We were in a corner and the room was crowded - can we TAKE A FEW TABLES OUT so we aren't (nearly) sitting in our neighbors' laps AND hearing their conversations?

The WORST of the lot was the house or plain salad. A hunk (yes, a hunk) of lettuce with the worst dressing we have ever encountered in any restaurant - it was truly something strange that combined a lack of taste with a taste that was not good. The rest of the salad looked and tasted as though it came from a bag - the usual side-kicks to lettuce. We also had something that looked and tasted like Cooking 101 - tasteless small shrimp with a binder that was put in a mold, upended and served. The seafood salad I had as an entree, and what a chore to eat this stuff - very ordinary green salad, some shrimp, and NO dressing to speak of (maybe this was a good thing - I wouldn't want the house dressing on a bet). It was so plain, so TASTELESS I wonder how it got on the menu. In looking around at the other diners, we saw lots of flash on their plates, lots of wine and not much getting down to eating. A lot of yelling, hooting and hollering - not the place for a quiet, lovely dinner and relaxation. I am glad other folks were happy, however, because I really was unhappy with the food and the crowding.

This dinner was to be a special event, a birthday celebration. The best time we had was among ourselves and a brief conversation with a solo patron, a delightful man. We got a huge bill, followed by irritation that so many people seemed to be fooled by this joint, us included.