| rev:text
| - "Meh. I've experienced better."
I'm giving this a 2 star rating because the description is exactly how I feel "Meh. I've experienced better." and it wasn't quite a 3 star rating which is described as "A-OK."
If you don't want to read a rant, scroll down for a brief summary.
I've been to other O&B restaurants , such as Canoe, Bannock, and Auberge du Pommier. (canoe by far the best). Even at Bannock which is probably the closest to O&B bayview that can relate was much better, in taste service and quality.
The restaurant was beautiful in its décor, however was quite loud both because it was busy, and because of the radio playing, clearly trying to drown out the noise of customers.
My date and I made a 7pm reservation, we arrived and requested a booth, it was quite busy but they were able to accommodate. We decided to each order things off the Summerlicious menu.
Starters: Clam chowder / perogies
Main: haddock jambalaya / pork schnitzel
Dessert: O&Beaver Tail / Peach & Apple Pie
(STARTERS)
The clam chowder was alright, nothing special, they mixed some bacon on top with 2 crushed saltine crackers. I did enjoy it, and was a nice mix of salty and creamy. but all in all nothing really stood out.
The perogies were nice, the order came with 3 with a little side of sour cream, and bacon sprinkled on top. the perogies tasted distinctly like olive oil, and appeared drenched.
They were good and my date approved, however it was not up to the standard I had come to expect with O&B, aside from the bacon crumble and the overpowering taste of EVOO, they were quite bland.
(MAINS)
The haddock Jambalaya, if you can call it that, was just a whole lot of MEH. It was 3 pieces of haddock battered, on a bed of fried rice with red peppers and green onions. The menu mentioned sausage, but after examining the dish I could not find any whatsoever, maybe they fried it in sausage grease but clearly no sausage was to be found in this dish. The rice was half decent for fried rice, but no sauce whatsoever and hardly reminiscent of a Jambalaya. The rice showed black burn marks on much of it, as you would expect from a frying pan.
Now the Haddock, it wasn't Bad per say, but had absolutely no flavor. it was far to battered, and that was the only taste I could find, the fish was a good portion, but not even a lemon wedge, tartar sauce or balsamic vinegar to be had, with no sauce this was just bland dry and unoriginal. (O&B if you are reading this, add some sort of sauce or at least a lemon wedge with your fish and rice)
The haddock was bland unoriginal, Order something else if you see it on the menu.
The pork schnitzel was a pork cutlet on a bed of shredded cabbage with potatoes on top and lemon butter. This was my dates dish, though I did try it, best part was the lemony potatoes, my date was not impressed and nor was I. The pork was dry and overcooked, and the cabbage had little to no dressing. Basically this dish was a dry cutlet with a hint of lemon and crunchy undressed cabbage underneath defiantly not to the standards we have come to expect at O&B restaurants.
(Dessert)
Id like to start off by saying dessert was delayed, I guess it is no fault of the staff, but our waitress came by to apologies for the delay as receipts were not printing. Between finishing our main course and getting dessert it was about a half an hour to 45 minute wait.
After our wait we received desserts, after a little mix-up on delivering us the wrong ones it was quickly corrected.
I had the O&Beaver tail, which was somewhat dry and dense, they gave me a fork but it would not cut through, so I requested a knife as well. It was sugary, and good, however once again quite bland. The standout taste was the chocolate sauce, however it tasted commercial and not homemade, as though it came out of a premade bag.
My date ordered the Peach and apple pie, It was honestly quite good, it was a little square, center cut, with no crust and had a dollop of whip cream on top. I enjoyed it & so did my date. My only complaint would be that it wasn't warmed up, it was served room temperature, I just feel if it were served hot it would have been so much better.
(Summery)
In summery, this O&B restaurant does not meet the level of excellence I have come to expect from the O&B name. For $25 you get what you pay for in terms of the Summerlicious menu, however don't expect anything spectacular, It was a bland meal with no real charm, and the wait staff seemed over taxed due to the busyness of the location during Summerlicious.
If you are looking for a casual meal out while taking in some shopping at the mall, this is probably one of the better options in terms of restaurants offered. I would not go out of my way to come here again, and would instead opt for a higher end O&B restaurant. This is casual mall dining with a classy cover.
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