Review #70 - Prospectors' Pub

Prospectors' Pub & Eatery
Variety: Pub
Address: 75 Peakview Way
Date Visited: Thursday, April 21, 2016
Orders: Gold Nugget burger, Chicken Wings, Onion Rings

Taste: 4 + 7 = 11/20
Portion Size: 5 + 8 = 13/20
Presentation: 5 + 5 = 10/20
Value: 4 + 7 = 11/20
Service: 3 + 3 = 6/20
Bonus: -
Minus: 2
Final Grade: 49% (Poor)

(Scoring: 100% to 140% = Exceptional, 85% to 99% = Excellent, 67% to 84% = Good, 60% to 66% = Satisfactory, 50% to 59% = Marginal, 0% to 49% = Poor, -40% to -1% = Abysmal)

Notes: A couple of years ago, we visited a fairly new restaurant (opened about six months at that point) and had such a pitiful experience that we decided to pass on giving them a score and decided to return a year later, hoping they had their act together (which they had). Now, we had a bit of a dilemma on our hands when we visited Prospectors' 11 months to the day after they opened. Because, friends, this was a brutal dining experience. I mean, they MUST have had someone call in sick that day because there were literally only two people running the show so the service was horrible and the chef's culinary skills were questionable at best. To say this place has PROBLEMS is an understatement.

After much debate, we decided to proceed with the review. 11 months is more than enough time to iron out the kinks. They have such a golden opportunity, being one of the very few restaurants in a booming area of town (Bedford South), but if every experience is like this, we cannot in good faith recommend this establishment.

We arrived around 7pm on a Thursday evening and the place was packed. We were kind of impressed that it was so bumpin' at that hour. However, once we were seated, we quickly figured out why - it was because we only saw two staff on duty - we believe one was handling the food prep while the other handled the serving and bartending. Nobody in the joint looked overly impressed, and it quickly became clear that we'd be in for a long wait. We should have bailed, but we were so hungry that we must not have been thinking straight enough to make that call.

The menu was...ridiculous. It had everything from wings and burgers to pasta to stir fry to seafood. Based on what we saw at our table, and around the restaurant, it's the kind of place that tries to do everything and doesn't do anything particularly well. That might be harsh, but we really tried to give it a fair chance. We were just let down again and again and again. Honestly, the only thing we were impressed by was the beer special. That's it.

After what seemed like an eternity, our food was served. T's Gold Nugget burger (bacon, cheese, fried egg - see below) was served on a crappy store-bought bun and was "just ok." She wasn't able to finish it - not because she was full, but because she just gave up. It was served with "chippers" - basically heated Miss Vickie's chips. J's Dusted Dry Spiced Sriracha wings were minuscule, overcooked, and barely had any flavour. He seriously wondered if they came straight out of the freezer. The onion rings were most definitely straight out of the freezer and were sadly soggy and beyond bland. Our friends were equally unimpressed by their stir fry and fish & chips - we put a napkin on top of the fish batter when it arrived and the grease sopped through it in less than a second. Gross. We genuinely wished the meals had been served with a side order of TUMS, and J went straight for the medicine cabinet when he got home.

What was most disappointing was the service. We understood the server was run off their arse, but although that person was pleasant, they were beyond inattentive. Our water was never refilled. It took several tries for them to remember an ordered glass of pop. When our meal was finally ready, it took almost ten minutes to get everything delivered to the table. The server never asked how the meal was, and despite asking twice, we never received a takeaway box for one of our friends' order, so we had to wrap it in napkins. Worst of all, when the stir fry was delivered, the server brought the bottle of soy sauce to the table shoved into their arm pit. We're not even kidding.

A meal that would normally have taken 45 minutes to order, serve and eat should not take two hours, but that's exactly what happened. We left wondering if maybe we were on Just For Laughs Gags, but sadly nobody laughed at us and pointed to a hidden camera when we left.

Based on this experience, a score of 49 is really very generous for this establishment. And, only two minus points - one for the "soy sauce incident" and one for general neglect is, also, very generous, if we do say so ourselves. Again, maybe this was a bad night for them and it isn't indicative of their usual standards, but we daresay we won't be back anytime soon to see for ourselves.

Final Verdict: Mediocre at best. Someone call Gordon Ramsay!

Review #69 - La Piazza

La Piazza Resto Cafe
Variety: Pizzeria
Address: 6430 Chebucto Road
Date Visited: Friday, January 22, 2016
Orders: Spinach Pizza, Tuscan Pizza

Taste: 8 + 9 = 17/20
Portion Size: 8 + 10 = 18/20
Presentation: 8 + 8 = 16/20
Value: 7 + 7 = 14/20
Service: 8 + 8 = 16/20
Bonus: -
Minus: -
Final Grade: 81% (Good)

(Scoring: 100% to 140% = Exceptional, 85% to 99% = Excellent, 67% to 84% = Good, 60% to 66% = Satisfactory, 50% to 59% = Marginal, 0% to 49% = Poor, -40% to -1% = Abysmal)

Notes: This location has hosted numerous enterprises in recent years - a coffee shop, a BYO wine restaurant, and now a friendly neighborhood pizzeria. From the outside, it doesn't look like much, but on the inside, it kind of feels like dining in someone's home (that has a stone oven inside it - gosh, we wish we had friends with one of those!). That could be good or bad, depending on how you're feeling that day, but we rolled with it.

We were seated at a table directly under a heater, which was kind of uncomfortable, in that J's hair might have singed just a touch. But, whatever, it was a cold day at the end of a long week, so at least we weren't at work.

We each order pizzas - T picked the Spinach, J selected the Tuscan. The Spinach (see below) featured red pepper, goat cheese, mozzarella, chicken and, well, spinach. It was fine. The Tuscan had red pepper, arugula, sausage and mozzarella (he passed on the sauteed onions). It, too, was fine. The pizzas came out looking pretty huge, but in reality, it was just air. We both left the place in need of a pit stop for a snack on the way home, which is never a good thing - but it's a reality when you pay $17 apiece for a pizza that doesn't fill you up. So, in other words, it was good, but too expensive for what it was. Our dining companions, on the other hand, had the gourmet burger, which was huge and featured fried salami on top. That one looked like a winner (and sounded like one, too, based on their reviews).

Final Verdict: Ok pizza, but a little expensive for what it was.

Review #68 - The Lower Deck

The Lower Deck (Clayton Park)
Variety: Pub
Address: 278 Lacewood Drive
Date Visited: Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Orders: Pulled pork quesadilla, Donair egg rolls, Nachos

Taste: 7 + 8 = 15/20
Portion Size: 7 + 9 = 16/20
Presentation: 8 + 8 = 16/20
Value: 10 + 10 = 20/20
Service: 8 + 9 = 17/20
Bonus: -
Minus: -
Final Grade: 84% (Good)

(Scoring: 100% to 140% = Exceptional, 85% to 99% = Excellent, 67% to 84% = Good, 60% to 66% = Satisfactory, 50% to 59% = Marginal, 0% to 49% = Poor, -40% to -1% = Abysmal)

Notes: J had been to this venue a couple of times in its previous incarnations, but never really to eat. The Lower Deck downtown is known more for its beverages than for its food, and that's likely the case at this one as well - it was dinnertime and almost completely empty (and reeked of stale beer). The good news for us was that the service was really fast, and it was also half-off appetizer night - allowing us to try more than we normally would have.

J went for the pulled pork quesadilla, although that's not something he normally orders at restaurants - a tortilla with some cheese and maybe some meat and vegetables for around $10 and is never, ever even close to filling? No thanks. Due to the special, the selection was far more affordable. The pulled pork itself was good, but didn't really work with the diced peppers - chicken would have been a better choice. He was still hungry afterwards, so thankfully the Donair egg rolls were at hand. They were small and a little too crunchy, but full of meat. Both items combined made for an adequately filling meal.

T's nachos were big, the toppings were plentiful and the chips tasted kinda like Doritos. They weren't amazing, but they were pretty good.

We couldn't help but give this place 10/10 on value, but that's really only because of the special that happened to be on that night. We enjoyed our visit, but our order - and likely the score - would have been drastically different had we visited on another evening.

Final Verdict: It won't blow your mind but it's decent. Go on a Tuesday and hope the special is still on!

Review #67 - The Maxwell's Plum

The Maxwell's Plum
Variety: Pub
Address: 1600 Grafton Street
Date Visited: Friday, August 21, 2015
Orders: Burger Platter (breakfast style), Chicken Fingers & Fries

Taste: 7 + 8 = 15/20
Portion Size: 8 + 8 = 16/20
Presentation: 8 + 8 = 16/20
Value: 10 + 8 = 18/20
Service: 7 + 7 = 14/20
Bonus: 1
Minus: 1
Final Grade: 79% (Good)

(Scoring: 100% to 140% = Exceptional, 85% to 99% = Excellent, 67% to 84% = Good, 60% to 66% = Satisfactory, 50% to 59% = Marginal, 0% to 49% = Poor, -40% to -1% = Abysmal)

Notes: Back in J's university days, he frequented The Plum fairly often. Their current slogan "1% Fancy, 99% Beef" was true then, and it's true now. Although, to be fair, "1% Fancy" was generous back then, when you could have all the peanuts you wanted and were expected to dump the shells on the floor. He misses those days.

Anyway, the food was always pretty cheap and nothing special. Not much has changed on that front. J ordered the "Best Burger Platter in Town" (breakfast-style, meaning with a fried egg on top). The burger and fries were fine, but the bun was toasted a LITTLE too well (it was borderline burned), which took away from the taste a bit. It certainly wasn't the BEST burger platter in town, but for $7.99 (plus $1.95 for the egg), it was certainly good value.

T ordered the Chicken Fingers and Fries (a little more pricey at $12.95, but still reasonable) and almost instantly dropped a finger on the floor. Had there been peanut shells on the floor (and had she been a drunk frat boy), the lost finger might have been salvageable, but she's classy so it went to waste. Otherwise, it was a perfectly good pub meal, and the sweet & sour sauce came in a fancy little dish. On that note, our meals were served on cool branded plates - definitely worthy of a bonus point!

It felt as though the server was a little too eager to get our butts out of there, although our table ordered a fair portion of food and beverage. She kept clearing things the instant we were finished with them, and sometimes when we weren't - she inexplicably nabbed T's napkin three times, which was annoying. Minus point for that.

Although it had been years since our last visit, we weren't surprised by anything. It wasn't great, it wasn't bad, it was just fine. Nothing wrong with that.

Final Verdict: Still cheap and consistently ok!

Review #66 - Sunnyside Too

Sunnyside Too
Variety: Diner
Address: 1552 Bedford Highway
Date Visited: Monday, August 10, 2015
Orders: Monster Burger, Rise & Shine

Taste: 7 + 8 = 15/20
Portion Size: 8 + 8 = 16/20
Presentation: 8 + 8 = 16/20
Value: 8 + 8 = 16/20
Service: 8 + 8 = 16/20
Bonus: -
Minus: 1
Final Grade: 78% (Good)

(Scoring: 100% to 140% = Exceptional, 85% to 99% = Excellent, 67% to 84% = Good, 60% to 66% = Satisfactory, 50% to 59% = Marginal, 0% to 49% = Poor, -40% to -1% = Abysmal)

Notes: The Sunnyside (and Sunnyside Too) is one of those places we've driven past dozens if not hundreds of times over the years but have never visited. For whatever reason, we kind of assumed it was pretty much the same as Smitty's. We decided to give it a shot, and guess what: It looks like a Smitty's, feels like a Smitty's, the menu is just like Smitty's, the clientele looks like what you'd find at Smitty's (largely older folks with a smattering of people with young children), and the food tasted pretty much like a Smitty's.

We were confused as to why there was a Sunnyside and Sunnyside Too beside each other with the Sunnyside being closed and the Too being open, but the server explained the other one has pretty much the same menu cooked in the same kitchen. Ok, I guess?

As you walk in, you can't help but notice the pie fridge on the wall. You know instantly that you'd better save room for dessert, which we totally did. J was hungry, though, so he went for the Monster Burger (see below) - the menu accurately stated "Designed for the monstrous appetite! Two beef patties topped with bacon and cheddar." That, plus lettuce, tomato, pickles and red onion (even though he asked for no onion). It was virtually impossible to eat that thing without a knife and fork. The only issue was that the (huge) patties, obviously made from scratch were dry and didn't have a lot of seasoning, making the whole thing kinda bland, even with all of those toppings. Seriously, look at the photo below and you can almost tell how dry those things were.

T's Rise N' Shine breakfast plate was perfectly adequate. A couple of eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, homefries and a glass of OJ. It's kinda hard to screw that up, and they didn't. Nothing wrong, but nothing special, hence her 8s across the board.

The much-anticipated pies, on the other hand...the lemon meringue was tasty, but the crust was mushy and not at all flaky as one would have hoped. The coconut cream pie, on the other hand, was bland as could be. No flavour at all. One minus point for tempting us with wonderful pie and falling flat on delivery.

Final Verdict: It's basically Smitty's.

Review #65 - BOOMburger

BOOMburger
Variety: Gourmet Burger
Address: 64 Dellridge Lane
Date Visited: Monday, August 3, 2015
Orders: Little Boom Bacon Cheeseburger, Little Boom Cheeseburger

Taste: 7 + 5* = 12/20
Portion Size: 9 + 8 = 17/20
Presentation: 5 + 5 = 10/20
Value: 8 + 8 = 16/20
Service: 7 + 7 = 14/20
Bonus: 1
Minus: -
Final Grade: 70% (Good)

(Scoring: 100% to 140% = Exceptional, 85% to 99% = Excellent, 67% to 84% = Good, 60% to 66% = Satisfactory, 50% to 59% = Marginal, 0% to 49% = Poor, -40% to -1% = Abysmal)

Notes: We tried BOOMburger the first day it opened back in the spring of 2014 and were more than a little disappointment by their lack of action to our disappointed tweet commenting on their omission of the bacon on our Little Boom Bacon Cheeseburger. (They "favourited" the tweet but didn't actually do anything about it. Bizarre!) So, although this joint is in our neighbourhood, we decided to give it a miss for a good long while. Truth be told, it might be a while longer before we go back, especially with Relish having just opened up down the street.

On the plus side, the place is spotless. It feels hospital grade clean. You could probably eat off the floor and walk out of there healthier than if you chowed down on some pristine fare from some other local establishments. It's so clean that while we were there, an employee actually scrubbed down the already-clean picnic benches outside. Bonus point for cleanliness.

Ordering was a little weird. In short: there's no combo option, you have to buy your burger, your drink and your fries all separate, and they're not particularly cheap. Yes, refills of the slightly watered down fountain pop were free, but when you grab yourself a burger, if you're anything like us, you want to feel you're getting a deal.

Although the place wasn't particularly busy, it took almost 10 minutes to get our food, which is a little long given their assembly line formation. J ordered the Little Boom Bacon Cheeseburger (hooray, it came with bacon this time!) and T had the Little Boom Cheeseburger. (Little Boom = one patty, Big Boom = a double dose of beef). The burgers were very tasty, and the Cows cheese (this is a PEI establishment, after all!) was a winner.

The fries, on the other hand...T put it best when she said "There is a way to make tasty hand-cut fries, they just haven't found it yet." The fries were very greasy, overly crispy and borderline burned. Some of them actually tasted bitter. We wonder if perhaps the bitter taste came from the bag - although we ordered "eat in", our order came in a paper bag and although there was a very generous portion of fries, they were quite literally just dumped into the bag (see photo below). As such, the "presentation" category took a massive hit, and although T would have given the burger an 8, the fries were a 3, giving it a paltry 5/10 score for her (hence the asterisk above).

For a place that's been open almost 16 months, they still have a lot of work to do.

Final Verdict: Go for the burger, but definitely skip the fries.

Review #64 - The Arms Public House

The Arms Public House
Variety: Pub
Address: 1515 South Park Street
Date Visited: Friday, July 24, 2015
Orders: Shepherd's Pie, Nachos

Taste: 8 + 6 = 14/20
Portion Size: 9 + 10 = 19/20
Presentation: 8 + 8 = 16/20
Value: 9 + 8 = 17/20
Service: 8 + 9 = 17/20
Bonus: 1
Minus: 2
Final Grade: 82% (Good)

(Scoring: 100% to 140% = Exceptional, 85% to 99% = Excellent, 67% to 84% = Good, 60% to 66% = Satisfactory, 50% to 59% = Marginal, 0% to 49% = Poor, -40% to -1% = Abysmal)

Notes: The former Victory Arms Pub, located inside the Lord Nelson Hotel, recently received a significant renovation, both to its facilities and its menu. The menu before was "ok," but nothing to write home about. Now, it's filled with "comfort food" and other items you might expect to see on pub menus (and some...not so much).

Although it was a decently warm day in the middle of what passes for summer in Halifax, J opted for the Shepherd's Pie. It was hearty, meaty and filling, but perhaps not the best choice for a summer's night. Still, it was a solid meal. It was served with some strange pickled vegetables - onion, carrot, and some kind of Japanese turnip. An odd choice, but ok. For what it was, the price was reasonable, too.

T started off with the beer sampler - four small glasses of four craft beers for an exceptionally reasonable price (hence the bonus point). Off to a good start! She'd had the nachos before and was in the mood for some cheese and chips, covered with some vegetables to help her pretend she was eating something kinda healthy. Well, a cavernous mountain of cheese and chips arrived, but it seems they forgot about the vegetables. Without exaggeration, there were perhaps 20 small slivers of tomato, even fewer of the pickled banana peppers the menu had boasted, and that was about it. Further, after she broke through the peak of Mount Chipsncheez (tm), there was nothing but a pile of dry chips (see photo below). Again, the vegetables on top of the nachos are supposed to help take the guilt out of why you're really there, but she was utterly robbed of this feature, and had to dock the joint a couple of points for this failure. Again, she'd had the nachos before and would have rated them higher based on the previous presentation - it must have been an off night.

(As an aside, it was a good thing J and T didn't invite their good friend S to review his meal - his pathetically small lobster roll served on a crappy store-bought hot dog bun did not look at all impressive).

The server was fairly attentive and pleasant, though we did find it a little curious that J, the only one at the table who didn't also order the beer sample, was given a tiny glass of water while the others were offered pint glasses. She even commented on that, but didn't rectify the situation when the glass mysteriously ended up empty every 10 minutes or so.

Final Verdict: Shepherd's Pie a hit, Nachos a surprising miss, but worth revisiting another time.