On Monday, Don and I witnessed the death of a restaurant in Nanaimo. Let me explain….
There used to be a restaurant called ‘Two Chefs”. Always full. We used to go there for breakfast on Sundays after Church and it was always full and most times had a line up at the door. The food was great and the service was exceptional. Then they lost their lease and went all in to a restaurant they had also owned for the last three years called the Modern Café.
When we first came to Nanaimo looking for a place to live, we would go here and have lunch as our Realtor was just up the street. We said back then we wouldn’t go back because the food was not great and the service…well you had to go get them just to retrieve your bill.
The weather on Monday was pleasant, not hot so we ate on the street section of the restaurant. Outside there are about 6-8 little tables and three had been joined to accommodate about 6 diners from the Courthouse and Don and I. There was 1 gentleman inside the restaurant and that was it.
We both ordered the special of the day, Beef Stroganoff and black coffee as I had an appointment in a hour and thought this would be the best. Well, it wasn’t.
The food, when it finally came out, was cold. Simple as that. The server was too busy talking with the other servers to bring it out and when we asked if it would be much longer, she said she would go check and immediately brought it out. I debated and then took the plates back inside and told a young man behind the counter politely that it was cold and he told me he would tell our server.
She came out and said they would warm it up in the nuker and it would take 2 minutes. Out it came and it was barely warm but certainly better than it was. There was no seasoning in this food and they don’t have salt and pepper on the tables. To be fair, there was no sour cream, no cream whatsoever but had the taste of oil.
I am not being unfair here…we LOVED the 2 Chefs Restaurant but whatever happened when they moved up the street to be combined with the older restaurant, was a shame. They do not have the business but I wish they did. They have a catering service (2 Chefs) and they are pretty good still.
Sorry people, but the Modern Café hasn’t changed in 17 months so I don’t know………
