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| - I really wanted to like this place because it so quaint and nice and the location is incredible. I had lunch here this past Saturday and I was pretty underwhelmed by the food and service. I loved the cosy atmosphere and the view but I would have been much happier if I'd packed a picnic instead (although I was taking my parents out for their birthdays and they're not quite the picnic'ing type). I regret spending as much money here as I did, for the quality of the food and the overall experience.
We had a reservation, and unfortunately the waiter sat the three of us at a little tiny bistro table next to a table set for a large group. It felt a little unfortunate. We were cramped and we had to deal with our group of neighbours turning out to be an excitable group of ladies hosting an engagement party. Worst luck.
[As a side note, I felt like it was pretty inconsiderate for this group of 20 or so ladies to have booked their event at this cafe because its a pretty little patio and people mostly come for the island atmosphere and the view of the lake. They showed up and quite loudly took all the cutlery and glasses off the table and decorated it and they were noisy talkers, with organized group sharing activities and speeches. Get a room. A private party room. Or go somewhere that caters more to parties. This is also an oversight of the restaurant, who should limit the size of the groups they book if they want to promote a charming, relaxing environment.]
The servers seemed a bit over-extended by the large party, and were a bit breezy and frazzled. With only about eight choices in total on the menu, we ordered a hummous plate as a starter to share and then ordered the grilled chicken panini, grilled calamari, and the pulled pork panini for lunch.
The hummous plate cost $10 and was a very small portion of under-seasoned hummous with 'sun blushed tomato' sundried tomato oil drizzled on top and two different kinds of olives, which were nice but generic. The dish is over-priced and the hummous was slightly-too-sour tasting like old lemons were used. This dish seems like an easy money-maker and break for the kitchen. Hm...
I ordered the chicken panini, which is actually a whole, butterflied grilled chicken breast on a grilled ciabatta. At first I was really pleased that there was so much chicken, i love thick juicy sandwiches. But the chicken was dry, so dry, and there was a hellova lot of bread. And I really dislike it when restaurants try to appeal to trendy/yuppie ideas of 'classy food' by calling their sandwiches paninis - seeing that on the menu should've been a warning to me but I was blindly enthusiastic and optimistic. I quickly became apathetic about finishing or even eating my meal. Then the wilted salad on my plate made me a bit sad- such a careless oversight for a $14 lunch!
My mom loved the pulled pork panini, and I had a bite and thought it was really nice but there was something kindof grotesque about the mound of sloppy pork, charred bread, and wilted salad combo.
Perhaps the only thing worth ordering was the calamari, which had a 14 spice blend rub on it. It was succulent and delicious. Pass on the soggy side of greens, though.
Pass on this restaurant. The food is very mediocre, the atmosphere isn't THAT great, and it's quite over-priced. Bring a picnic instead!
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