Ah, where to start..
Our first real date out since having our little girl (4.5 months old now) and we were super excited to be heading to Redwater with gift card in hand. A near-free evening of wining and dining and enjoying what we heard was a great food experience! If only you could see the disappointment in our faces as we left the restaurant.
To begin with, a reservation was made via Open Table for two people for 6:30 pm on a Friday night. Brilliant, right? Well, after dropping my wife off and finding a parking spot, I was surprised and dumbfounded to find her sitting at a 19th Century stage-coach-sized table for four complete with captains chairs that, honestly, made me, a 6 foot tall guy, feel like a Lilliputian.
So, the next time our server stopped by I told her I wasn't too keen on sitting at the four-person table and if there was a table for two available, we would greatly appreciate it. That didn't go over very well. Apparently, a customer's request for a different table, a table more suited to the actual number of people in the party, is grossly overstepping the boundaries of the server's willingness to make a customer feel welcome. "You want a different table"? she asks with a furrowed brow. "I'll have to go see."
Just as she turned to walk away I exclaimed that "it's only if there's another table available" and that "in the mean time, I'd like to order our drinks." Her response was, "well there's no point in getting your drinks if you're just going to move tables." Right, well, I had a feeling we were in for a good night.
Next thing we know, a front house staff member shows up at our table. "Is it you who wants a new table"? she asks.
I had just started to explain again that "only if there's another table available," when I was rudely cut off with a roll of the eyes and the response: "just come with me."
Wow, at this point I'm starting to wonder whether I've been completely out of line, but remember that I too was once a server and this was why I was asking in the way that I was - with polite candor. But enough was said and our new table was perfect for us and we weren't going to let it ruin the evening.
Our expectations of the food were relatively high. But let's face it, when one is paying $10 per glass of wine, $33 for a steak and $29 for a seafood medley, one would expect very good quality.
If I may...
The wine was free hand poured and barely touched the middle of the roundest part of the wine glass. Now I fully understand portion control, but for $10 per glass that thing better be at mid point or, better yet, just over. You can't tell me the 150% margin on each bottle is going to get sucked up by adding an extra ounce per glass. Poor form in my opinion.
My $33 New York sirloin was cooked perfectly, and it would have tasted perfectly had it not been dry, leathery and not the melt-in-your-mouth steak one usually gets for $33. The veggies were fine.
My wife's prawn and scallop medley was probably the best part of our evening. It was cooked perfectly, tasted great and portioned to the point of being satisfyingly full. All good here. Also great was our bison meatball appetizer.
Total bill by the way, with an appetizer, three glasses of wine, two entrees and a shared dessert, was $114.
The ultimate question is whether the experience we had at the Redwater will make us go back. That answer is easy. No. It's just not worth it. Especially since The Keg is right across the street.