SUNDAY, 9 DECEMBER 2012
Scallops again - but service is the key!
I was in Vancouver a few weeks ago and had a food encounter that kind of made my day. We had gone to this restaurant as a second choice, the original destination had an hour long wait time. We had walked 15 minutes to this one in the rain and cold and was told it could be half an hour. After looking at the menu, we decided to stay and wait it out. When we turned down offers from the bar, we were very graciously served with water while taking up space at the bar. Score one. As it turned out, a table was ready for us in 15 minutes. Score two.
It was hard to make a decision on the menu, things that jumped out were braised lamb shank, duck breast and scallops. After I ordered the lamb (because of the cold and the rain) and finished my first course of delicious mushroom soup, the server delivered a plate of super-sized scallops to the diner at the neighbouring table. The four jumbo scallops looked so good I couldn't resist. I took my chances and asked the server if it's too late to change my order. He thought so and I wouldn't have insisted (I should be embarrassed to even ask but I had nothing to lose). But he very good-humouredly said he'd check with the kitchen. I was surprised when he came back and asked me what I wanted to change it to. When I said "scallops!", he said, "Ï knew it!" and proceeded to let the kitchen know. He had obviously noticed our stares at the scallops when he brought it to the next table. Score three!
It was worth the wait! The scallops were perfectly done, fresh and delicious! And especially so because of the circumstances. (Score four) Two of my dining companions had the duck breast - also superbly prepared and the meat tender and flavourful. (Score five) It was one of the best dinners I've had for a while and I would say - it's in good part because of the service!
The restaurant is Crave on Main and I gave it a four star on TripAdvisor, only because one of us did stick with the lamb shank and it was a little dry. That's one out of four, so it's less than perfect. But the service made up for it!
It was hard to make a decision on the menu, things that jumped out were braised lamb shank, duck breast and scallops. After I ordered the lamb (because of the cold and the rain) and finished my first course of delicious mushroom soup, the server delivered a plate of super-sized scallops to the diner at the neighbouring table. The four jumbo scallops looked so good I couldn't resist. I took my chances and asked the server if it's too late to change my order. He thought so and I wouldn't have insisted (I should be embarrassed to even ask but I had nothing to lose). But he very good-humouredly said he'd check with the kitchen. I was surprised when he came back and asked me what I wanted to change it to. When I said "scallops!", he said, "Ï knew it!" and proceeded to let the kitchen know. He had obviously noticed our stares at the scallops when he brought it to the next table. Score three!
It was worth the wait! The scallops were perfectly done, fresh and delicious! And especially so because of the circumstances. (Score four) Two of my dining companions had the duck breast - also superbly prepared and the meat tender and flavourful. (Score five) It was one of the best dinners I've had for a while and I would say - it's in good part because of the service!
The restaurant is Crave on Main and I gave it a four star on TripAdvisor, only because one of us did stick with the lamb shank and it was a little dry. That's one out of four, so it's less than perfect. But the service made up for it!
No comments:
Post a Comment