Tag Archives: disappointing

The Keg, Nanaimo, B.C.

Anyone who has ever read my reviews, knows I have always raved about The Keg….until now. We moved here 8 months ago and have been there about 5 times. Each time I order the one and only steak I would ever eat and that is what they call ‘the baseball’ steak. Fine. Every time I tell them how I want it cooked, they run away, bring the Manager back so he/she can tell me “we don’t cook it that way”.

I have never asked for a steak to be well done EVER, but when I am the  one paying the bill, what business is it to a cook if I even wanted chocolate sprinkles on it? I don’t but that is what it amounts to. If the Keg wants to buy my meal, then they should be able to tell me that I can’t have it the way I would normally  eat it. They come to me still having a heart beat when you cut into it.

Never mind, last night was the real kicker.

I got a promo telling me about the Lobster specials they have now and not lasting a long time, so I decided to treat Don out. I ordered the Lobster Gratinee and Don ordered the scallops wrapped in bacon. For the entrée, we ordered what they called “to share”. It is 3 yorkies like you have never had.

The lobster gratinee was beyond swimming in butter. Once you removed a slightly over-cooked piece of lobster, there would have been a teaspoon of butter sitting in the small hole of the dish. Times that by 6. Then came the yorkie with a warning. “The yorkie is not warmed up and more bread-like than the normal yorkie”. Okay. When it did come out, it was almost cold to the touch and the gravy/sauce they used one would use in a chicken pot pie not to disguise the delicate flavours of the lobster.

Carrots, celery, chicken stock,  this didn’t go well.  We asked the server to please bring us one that is at least hot.  When it came out, it was hot but still tasted like chicken pot pie.

Sorry guys, when you get a new cook, please let us know and we will come back but not now.

 

1 Comment

Filed under Restaurant blog

Miradoro Restaurant, Oliver, B.C.

This was a total surprise. http://www.tinhorn.com/Restaurant/Menu/Dinner This was so disappointing last night, I cannot begin to comprehend what happened. It was a total meltdown. The manager and his wife really have no concept on how to manage a restaurant. When an establishment is that busy (and it was) they should be bringing the food to the table to help expedite things and not leave patrons waiting up to 2 hours to get food, between courses.

When discussing what had happened last night, they blamed the server…yes there was only one.  It took us almost 4 hours to get our food and bill. Two women sitting next to us, waited well over an hour for their entree and were getting  up to leave when  it was finally brought to their table. They were visitors to Oliver and I can assure you, from their conversation, they will not return.

Our friend ordered the octupus and it was tough. We all ordered something different and it was basically, wrong.  Let me begin….

They open for dinner at 5:30 p.m. Our reservations were for 6:30 p.m. I ordered the Strawberry gazpacho…..after waiting a considerable time, our server came and said they had run out, this, one hour after opening. It wasn’t really full at this time..so they either changed the menu or didn’t make enough.

My chicken dinner came out and looked like shake and bake. One piece was okay and the other, a thigh (really?) was cold in the center like it had been in the fridge. I had eaten the chicken entree previously and it was fabulous. Not tonight.

Our friends ordered lamb (medium) and one order came out almost to the rare-rare stage and the other was a medium. They just exchanged plates and continued on.

Don ordered a wild boar dish with spaghetti and a poached egg on top. Uh, he said it was like a bit of bacon and egg on spaghetti. Would give it a four out of ten. Then we ordered dessert.

My husband ordered the cheese/fruit plate. He asked for camenbert cheese. What came out were two slivers of cheese,  a couple of berries and some peanuts. He waited and asked if the crackers were coming. The lady told him it didn’t come with crackers. We assured her it did and she finally brought some. This was way over priced for what came out.

My question is did the chef have a melt down in the kitchen? It was not his usually good menu offered. It has changed so much, it was hard to make a choice. Are  the present management personnel new owners or working for Miradoro?  We also watched plate and after plate being returned to the kitchen.

Our server never offered suggestions for wine pairings, what was exceptional food wise. Our hosts made their decision after some pondering. He also had to read off a slip of paper what was the special of the evening. Trust me, it was only 3 things. They offer a 3 course meal. Again, the price has jumped considerably. A month ago it was $35.00 (as their menu on-line shows). Last night was was $55.00 for their 3 course offering.

No one came over to see if we needed anything…like food….or assure us it was indeed coming. We waited probably 45 minutes to catch someone to ask for the bill. The lady said she would go and get it. Well another 15-20 minutes passed and, finally,  we asked our server. He said no one told him we were waiting. Total confusion, please take stock and make it work. We loved going here but I think it will be a long while before we go back. Oh yes, they did give us 2 gift certificates to return. We gave them to our hosts to compensate for what could have been a fabulous evening. The company was great, the weather perfect…so it was not a total loss.

Oh yeah, don’t read their menu that is posted on the internet. It isn’t the same as what is offered when you get there. We  raved about this restaurant to our hosts but this left a really bad impression.

 

2 Comments

Filed under Restaurant blog, What's New?