I have to say I really wanted to love this place. The prices are ridiculously cheap. And they specialize in seafood - in Alberta - how bad can it be? Well, it wasn't bad but it was just okay. Granted, when I arrived I was a little flustered. The drive from Edmonton consisted of constant strong pouring rain and lightening - not a relaxing drive to say the least (the drive home was in beautiful sunshine though so made up for it). Then when I arrived in Red Deer I had a very hard time finding the restaurant (my GPS told me I was 26.6 km away when I was actually driving in front of the restaurant and missing it's somewhat hard to see sign). So I arrived late and not at all relaxed. Our server immediately attended our table looking to take my drink order. While normally a would appreciate that, I needed a few minutes to say hello to my friends and check out the wine list and she was wearing a lot of perfume (who does that these days?) I'm allergic so I got sick which I admit likely impacted my overall experience.
The ambiance was just okay. The restaurant encompasses a large room with somewhat odd decorations that don't quite fit and odd seating. We were seated at a very small round table. For three of us it was really tight. Four would have been very uncomfortable. The do have a nice brick oven though.
As for the food, again it was just okay. My friend's starter salad looked very nice and the blue cheese dressing was nice and chunky with blue cheese chunks.
The seafood chowder was highly recommended so I had to try a cup. It was chocked full of great seafood. It was a little salty (and I love salt) and spicy (chili flakes I believe) but overall was good.
I also tried a couple of Oysters Rockefeller. You can buy them individually so I got two. They were just okay.
They have an interesting menu with lots of variety and unique dishes. This is a chicken dish with a great sauce - maybe chipotle, maybe tequila, can't quite remember but something Mexican-ish.
My girlfriend ordered the trout with honey and nuts. It looked dry to me but my girlfriend said she enjoyed it.
I had the duck and was a little scared when our server said that they prepare it well done. I asked if it could be prepared medium rare and she said she would check with the Chef. She returned to say that the Chef said that if they cook it any less than medium it will be too tough?? I said I would try it but I was worried. It actually was quite tasty with a nice orange brandy sauce and a nice crispy skin. Not bad for $24.
My girlfriend then ordered the Chocolate Utopia for dessert, not expecting it to be a cake. It was good but she was disappointed because it was not exactly what she wanted. I tried the generous Bavarian Cream that was served with it which was good.
Buck Oysters on Mondays!
And for a funny story - cuz Cathy wanted to make the blog (she is the Cathy of Mazatlan blog fame!! Below is a picture of Cathy's necklace which I commented on as being very nice. Both her and her husband started laughing. Turns out that Cathy had forgotten to bring any jewelry for their weekend trip. So they went to the Dollar Store to find something for her to wear. She found the necklace below and bought it but when she went to put it on she realized that the centre piece was actually missing a white stone like the ones on the side. She actually had to pick off the extra glue left on the centre piece before she could wear it. I think it looks really nice and looks like she paid more than the $3 she did!
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