Sunday May 15th 2011
Sorry in advance for poor photo quality!
As I said in my intro, DH leaves the planning of our trips entirely down to me which is just as well as I am a total control freak
This means that he generally doesn’t know where we will be eating until we check in for our reservation.
What it also means is that he has no pre-conceived ideas about a restaurant; he isn’t influenced by any hype or good or bad reviews; he has no idea how easy or difficult it is to get a reservation at any particular restaurant
I am telling you all this as dinner this evening was to be at Le Cellier and we all know that’s not an easy ADR to get and it has a superb reputation.
I liked the idea that DH knew very little about any of the restaurants before we ate there as his comments would be completely un-biased
We had never eaten at Le Cellier before and as DH loves a good steak I thought he would really enjoy it.
I’d booked several two credit dinners for this trip as we had received free dining as part of an early booking offer in the UK and as we were heading off for a three day cruise in the middle of out vacation, we actually had an excess of credits so I am not judging this restaurant in terms of value or the fact that it had recently gone from one credit to two for dinner
Once we had checked in we were seated within 10 minutes.
One of the first things I noticed was that there were several unoccupied tables near to where we were seated that had not been cleared and were covered in half eaten plates of food (these were still not cleared by the time we left)
In general the place looked really untidy with discarded silver wear and napkins under some of the tables
Our server introduced herself to us and although pleasant she really seemed to be just going through the motions and talked us through the menu in what can only be described as a ‘robotic manner’
I ordered a drink whilst looking through the menu
Torontopolitan - Iceberg Vodka, Chambord and Cranberry and Orange Juices
A really nice cocktail, very refreshing and a good kick to it
DH stuck to water (he is always the sensible one
)
Once we had placed our orders the infamous bread was served
OK I know this might upset some people but the pretzel bread left me cold
it just seemed really dry to me, we both quite liked the multi-grain stick though
DH was particularly hungry so he decided to have an appetiser
Steakhouse Caesar Salad, Crisp Romaine, Aged Parmesan and Pretzel Croutons
He said it was ‘OK’ but could have used more Parmesan
He was only about half way through his appetiser when the entrees arrived.
As he tried to move the plate out of the way to make space for the entrees another server picked up the unfinished salad and removed it without asking if he had finished
For his entrée he chose the signature dish
Le Cellier Mushroom Filet Mignon - 8 oz. Canadian AAA Beef Tenderloin with wild mushroom risotto, white truffle butter sauce and micro chervil
He really didn’t enjoy this dish, the risotto was far too salty and the steak was certainly not what could be described as tender (I watched as he forcibly sawed through it with his knife
)
There wasn’t too much choice on the menu for a non-meat eater so I went for the salmon
Pacific King Salmon - with parsnip puree, braised greens, pickled pearl onions and mustard sauce
This dish was barely warm but the fish was totally overcooked
It's a real shame that the dish wasn't prepared or served correctly as I could tell by the small amount that I ate that if it was hot and not over cooked it would have been the kind of meal I would really have enjoyed
We had also ordered a side dish
Maple-glazed Rainbow Carrots in maple butter
These were stone cold
Our server came over to ask if everything was OK and I pointed out that the food wasn’t warm and that my husband’s appetiser had been taken away before he had finished.
She asked me if I would like her to take the food away and
‘get it re-heated’
Errrr No ….. what are you going to do, pop it in the microwave for me
I politely told her that she didn’t need to do that and we would just stick with what we have.
We both wanted to be finished in time for illuminations so neither of us wanted to hang around
To be honest we were really enjoying our night despite the food and were joking that if the rest of the week’s ADRs were as bad as this we should stick to counter service
DH asked me if I had ever read any reviews of this place and was it one of the less popular restaurants
I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I had made the reservation 6 months ago at the very second the phone lines opened!!
A few minutes later a manager came over to see us to apologise as he had heard that we weren’t entirely happy with our meal and what could he do to rectify it.
We really didn’t want to make a fuss and bizarrely were having a really great night so insisted that we didn’t expect him to do anything.
Having left most of our food we decided to give dessert a go
Maple Crème Brûlée for me
Lemon Cheesecake with a Citrus Salad and Mandarin Orange Gelèe for DH
The Crème Brulee had a really strange texture, it was watery in the centre and hard at the edges, basically it was yuk!
DH’s Lemon Cheesecake may have had a lemon wafted past it at some point in its creation but they certainly hadn’t been intimately acquainted!
I tried a little bit and it didn’t even have the faintest taste of lemon
So Le Cellier was a total bust as far as food was concerned but it was actually so bad that it became a strangely entertaining experience
When it came time to settle the bill the manager had taken off everything not covered on the dining plan which was good of him and unexpected
Perhaps they were just having a bad night? I certainly wouldn’t consider going there again for a very very long time
Coming Up Next ........... Yee Ha!! ....... Whispering Canyon Cafe