Tag Archives: food less than stellar

Pasta Factory, Penticton, B.C.

After we had our hair cuts, Don decided to take me for lunch. His usual treat following getting my hair done for the past 28 years. We had been to this establishment before and quite liked it. That was about a year ago.

Well, to be kind this restaurant is a little tired looking and not looking like an Italian restaurant. It does, however, smell like one and that is a good thing. A good carpet cleaning and a fresh paint on the walls would do wonders for this place. It is very, very dark inside and hard to see the stairs and changes in floor levels.

We ordered the spinach/parmesan dip and out it came, bubbly hot and with the saltiest wedge of bread I have ever tasted. I could not eat it, so I went to the doughy bread that was brought out with the oil and ?????? Don thought they should have less oil and used balsamic vinegar instead. Oh well, onward.

Don ordered the Mediterranean lasagna – which meant it had olives in it and, for me, tasted really briny. Don wasn’t thrilled but ate some. I, on the other hand, decided to stray from my two favourites and ordered the Teriyaki Linguine. I thought it would have been a white sauce with the linguine and a sprinkling of teriyaki on top. What I got was a very beige mound of linguine on the plate. The first mouthful was alright but the more you ate the sweeter it became. I could not eat more than 7-8 bites. It was very gaggy to say the least.

They either have a new Cook or don’t care anymore. It wasn’t busy and maybe that might be the reason. I love Italian food, I really do but absolutely hate it when it is less than even average.

Return? I would really have to think about it.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Restaurant blog

Smitty’s Restaurant, Osoyoos, B.C.

This is a hard one. We took a friend here on Friday night for a ‘get away’ dinner. She had just moved and, of course, was over whelmed with it all.

There were very few people here, I think 1 table on one side of the restaurant, and the 3 of us on the other. I think I know why…..

Our friend ordered the 7 grain-flax pancakes and wanted some fruit to go with it. She ordered the pancakes and I requested  a side of fruit to accompany her order. The server loudly exclaimed it didn’t come with fruit….where did you see that on the menu? She opened up the menu and pointed at a couple of things. I countered politely it didn’t matter, could she please have an order of fruit?

Don ordered the Western skillet. It was quite the conglomeration of ‘stuff’. The hollandaise sauce was nothing nmore than powder in a package. He ate most of it, saying nothing when asked if all was okay. He waited until we got home so not to upset our friend. (She had enough already).

I ordered the Belgian waffle with a side of crisp bacon.  Always a favourite of mine. The waffle came out almost cooked dry and hard as heck. The bacon appeared to be that already cooked-super thin stuff on the market. I will say, however, the coffee was good. I also said nothing. Shame on me!

The pancakes came out, and our friend said they were good, but she was looking for maple syrup….seemed to be missing. They did, however, have a apple cinnamon syrup, a black raspberry syrup and a ‘regular’ syrup. Translation: everything but maple syrup. The fruit plate came out and, again, to their credit, all fresh fruit…a couple of cherries, a strawberry, banana…I think a piece of melon.

A group of people came in and were seated across from us. One gentleman was well past being served  anymore liquor, but they all ordered wine, etc. They became really loud and disturbing. As we were finishing our coffee and paying our bill, the server came up to give them their bill and Mr. not-so-very-sober yells out “did you get it right this time or make a mistake”. I believe they heard him about a block away.

It could do with a pick me up. The establishment looks old and the menu definitely is. A little more care and, for sure, a server with a lot less attitude would certainly be helpful.

My question is: if a customer (diner) is willing to pay for a side dish, what does it matter to the server, if it shows on the menu that the requested something comes with that side or not?

Don said he would definitley not return here. His food was disgusting and the potatoes were not made Friday…they were old tasting. The price is good if that is your measuring stick, but the food was lacking, for us.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Restaurant blog, Reviews, What's New?