Jim and Anne (American friends from the Port Angeles area) invited us with a group of 9 for dinner last night. It was after the Oak Bay Light Up and it was very busy but we had a reservation and were seated quickly. Our server and other front line people were experienced and very pleasant and dealt well with the large crowds that night especially given they had only been open a couple of days.
Everyone enjoyed the food they ordered but it took all of us a while to figure out what to eat probably because it was more of a pub menu than what our group would expect for a dinner menu. There do need to be some seafood options and given the pub like atmosphere a steak sandwich at a reasonable price rather than just a $24 steak would be a good idea.
We began with a couple of orders of yam fries for the table....excellent and a nice sauce. Quite a few at the table had the short ribs, one had the blackened chicken (quite spicey apparently), Jim had a burger, and I had the garlic dry ribs appie with a side of mushy peas (excellent example!).
The downside are the three large screen TV's constantly flickering so that would make me hesitate to return. Anne did ask if you could request that the TV's be turned off if we returned and our server was very happy to ask the manager. The reply was that for lunch they might consider this if you made the request with a reservation. At night, it seems the TV's are essential. Going for more of a Sports Bar atmosphere I guess.
It was a fun evening and great to see Jim and Anne and Richard and Judith again and their other friends. And I really do wish the restaurant well and hope they are successful.
