| rev:text
| - ***Dining Room Review Only***
Came to Old Mill with Mum B. for my birthday dinner and thought it would be a classy place for two sophisticated ladies to enjoy intellectual conversation over a glass of wine. Well - the sophistication started and ended with us. The neighbourhood was where you would find "Old Money."
Upon arriving, we noticed that there was apparently a wedding going on. Just as I was about to pull into the parking lot, the attendant said that it was full and directed me towards a side road which I later found out was street parking along a park. Again, there was no space. We are starting to panic a bit because how can you not have parking for your customers? I come back out to the parking lot where the attendant is, and he is now pointing us in another direction, towards a bridge. I let Mum B. off first and find myself at another park. As I pull up to the park, it says No Parking. I also noticed a lot of people just parked illegally on the streets. Great - so now I would have to sit through dinner with the thought of getting towed looming over my head. We later found out that there were about 5 weddings that were simultaneously being hosted at the Old Mill which is why we were all scrounging around like the apocalypse was among us for parking spots.
Logistically, to get to the restaurant, you have to walk through a maze to arrive at the front desk. My first thought upon entering was how big this place was. The dance floor and band stage were the focal points of the restaurant. We were seated promptly next to a girl who was ranting loudly in Italian - picture the way an Italian mother rants at her kids. Some people just have no grasp of what an indoor voice is, nor any idea as to what appropriate social etiquette is. We are not at a flea market bargaining for goods lady!
I took it upon myself to be reseated as I am not going to compete with an amplifier over dinner and the band that would be coming on later. It just seemed like we were jinxed that night as nothing seemed to go right.
The server that was responsible for our table seemed so out of his element. I am going to call him Slowy Gonzalez as he was obviously of Latin American descent. Otherwise I could've called him Jabba the Hutt he sludged around as such for the entire evening. When we spoke to him, he heard the words we uttered but didn't truly listen to what we were saying and we felt shrugged off.
First of all, he was the most inattentive server ever! It took him a good 10-15 minutes before he even greeted us and took down our drink orders. We ordered a bottle of Jackson Triggs Sauvignon Blanc. In the meantime, our water glasses were left empty and it wasn't until we asked that water was brought to the table.
Our appetizers and bread basket arrived at exactly the same time. We both got the Quail & Pig which was a grilled quail and roast pork belly with sour yellow plum birch syrup. The food was cold. The quail looked so promising as it had a nice brown colour to it, but was rather bland and some parts were not cooked. The sauce that accompanied it was equally bland. The only part of that dish that was remotely good was the roast pork belly - reminded me of Chinese BBQ Pork minus the crispy skin.
For mains I ordered the Double Beef Pairing - roast sirloin, oxtail Daube, celery top and root, in a Niagara Port reduction. The oxtail was quite tender and the reduction was quite savoury as were the vegetables. The roast sirloin came in a roast beef-like fashion as it was sliced very thin. Mum B. got the RockHen Barbeque - served with apple cider sweetbreads, collard and kale greens, sweet potato and finished in a MillHouse Barbeque Glaze. From the remnants on her plate, I would conclude that it wasn't very good.
The best part of the meal was dessert which was accompanied by coffee and tea respectively. We both opted for the Bloody Napoleon - served with a blood orange cream, salty sweet citrus crust and basil syrup. The puff pastry was airy and sweet. The blood orange cream was also nice and light. If there was any basil syrup - I missed it altogether!
Verdict:
The Old Mill is riding off its old reputation and has an old school "charm" to it. It is the sort of place where you find retired couples who want some sort of recreational activity and some nice live jazz music to dine to on a Friday night that would otherwise be spent at home. Other characters you will encounter at the Old Mill are the cougars. I saw all sorts of age-inappropriate pieces of cloth being slapped onto out of shape silhouettes parading around throughout the evening.
The service is terrible, and the food is visually appealing deceiving. I wouldn't come anywhere near this place - even if I'm paying discounted Summerlicious prices. Their menu sounds so promising but I definitely felt deceived!
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