In February I said yes to every invite. I wouldn't have said no to my friend anyway! The plan was flawless, dinner at a steak house, a visit to the games room for darts and closing out the night with a session at The Fox. So, how did it go...
We show up, on time, for our reservation. Ric's Grill was not ready for us. The 10 of us had to sit on the 3 chairs in the waiting area while our table was prepared. We were not promptly greeted, nor offered beverages in a timely manor. When our lack luster server finally came to us I was starving, and when i get hungry, it's ugly. I ordered two beverages, one I requested with my meal and an appy while everyone decided what they wanted. The menu is great, lots of options and reasonable price points. We enjoyed the room while we waited for our drinks. Good thing its a nice room, the drinks took forever. So long in fact my appy arrived before any ones drinks. When our drinks did get to our table they were auctioned off in a cheap Pizza Hut "WHO HAD THE DIET?" style. Not the service you would expect. Both of mine showed up at the same time too, not as requested, brutal. The glass of sparkling was great ($7) and the Dancing Bull Red Zinfandel ($9) was, as always, adequate. My appy was delicious! Ahi Tuna Carpaccio ($13.95) seasoned with Cajun spices and a ginger wasabi butter. I couldn't identify the Cajun spice but the mild wasabi butter was great and complimented well with the capers. I would absolutely order this again. Eventually our mains showed up, you could see the servers counting seats as they brought the plates out. I was glad we had gotten passed the auction service. Sea Breeze's plate was delivered, upside down. Last time I checked the protein was served at six o'clock, not eleven forty five. Mine was presented as a Filet with Cognac Cream Sauce. I ordered a 6 oz Sirloin ($20.95) with Oscar Deluxe Topping ($9.95). The plate in front of me was obviously not a filet, they come wrapped in bacon. The lack of knowledge, enthusiasm and service standards was ridiculous. Glad to have what I ordered, even though it was delivered all wrong, I dug in. The scallops and prawns were great. The asparagus and other veg on the plate were undercooked. While I liked them that way I know some people like their veggies cooked, so just an FYI. The steak was small, and not medium rare, but rare. I like rare, so again, their screw up was fine by me! Our plates were cleared eventually by stacking them in one huge pile. I actually expected the server to scrape all the scraps onto one plate for the dog just like at Grandmas. I don't know about you, but plates should come off a table as they go on, one at a time! I have a Creme Brule fetish and when "super" server finally returned I requested some. He absolutely had no interest in selling us anything, there was not one offer of an additional drink so I was glad I ordered two right off the hop! The Creme Brule flavour was vanilla, while boring, I was looking very forward to it. About five minutes after ordering a random person we had never seen arrived asking who ordered the Creme Brule. I put up my hand, and he advised me they were all out of the Bailey's flavour and would it be ok if they served me Blueberry. Uh, NO!! First of all when did Bailey's happen?? And secondly, Blueberry? Ick. At this point I was thirsty, now annoyed and just wanted out anyway. Our bills took forever. We were very clear who was with who so it should not have been an issue, and they were all correct, when they eventually arrived. I filled out my service survey advising of my disappointment but I still tipped, hoping our server will now have enough to get on the ferry, move and go ruin someone elses night in another city. My total bill for myself was $68.15 taxes in plus tip. It would have been worth it had the service been remotely acceptable. Thanks "Matt". Ahhhh, moving on...
We Walked up to the Games Room at The Sticky Wicket at The Strathcona Hotel. It was so busy there was no getting a table! Saturday night in Victoria there really isn't much else to do so this was expected. Our attempt to play darts was dashed by the volume of people playing. We regrouped and made arrangements to head to The Fox for part three of the evening.
We found a table in the over full show room. The entertainment was good, company was better and over all I had a great time. I had the dogs in the truck so I left at a reasonable hour and went to meet TBM at the casino for a drink and some slot machine fun. This was my favorite part of the night. I was glad I went out, and I hope Sea Breeze had a fun Birthday.
I would go to Ric's Grill again, but in a smaller group. Maybe ten people was just too much for poor Matt. I'd like to spend a night in the games room too, it had a good vibe, so I'll have to make an effort to get there earlier one day. And every night at The Fox is a good one...so you know you'll see me there again! Happy Birthday Sea Breeze!! xo
