Celebrating my parents' anniversary, our family headed to an idyllic spot overlooking Lake Bonavista in the South of Calgary. We'd been here before, but it had been a few years. My parents quite enjoyed that meal the previous time, so we were hoping for more of the same.
The restaurant itself feels a bit hidden among the other buildings around, namely a small strip mall, but inside the ambiance is more of a fine dining restaurant, albeit much older and dated than the current crop in Calgary's downtown restaurant scene. This suits my parents fine, as they don't feel quite so intimidated by the less-modern decor. It does however share space with what looks to be a community centre, as well.
Some bloggers on Urbanspoon and Yelp have mentioned poor service, but we had quite attentive and friendly greeters and wait staff helping us out tonight. One highlight right off the top has to be their fresh bread basket, that includes not only a warm and fresh crusty french baguette, but popcorn.
Our family ordered almost everything on the menu, starting with a spring greens salad, an order of crab cakes, grilled Bay scallops, and a goat cheese croquette. The mains included beef tenderloin, rack of lamb, braised lamb shank, a grilled cajun catfish, and the game feature, with bison short rib, pheasant leg, and boar sausages.
With all this food in front of us, we played musical plates and sampled from each of the dinners. I found the scallops had quite a good flavour, though I found the risotto very slightly undercooked. The tenderloin was excellent, while the rack of lamb was a bit sweet due to a cherry demi-glace. The lamb shank I found needed more seasoning, while the catfish was well prepared, but a bit small in portion size. The game meats were all excellent, with only the pheasant leg being a bit overcooked.
Of course, we couldn't leave without topping the meal with desserts, so we once again tried to order nearly everything on the dessert menu, including the key lime custard tart, a cherry creme brulee, a peach panna cotta, and a wild berry tart.
Again, our family shared all of them, and I'd have to say my personal favourite was the wild berry tart. The crust on both tarts were decent, not too hard, but I'd prefer it less of a graham crust vs a standard pie crust myself, and the key lime custard was a bit sweet for me. The cherry creme brulee wasn't bad, but I found the cherry flavour took away from the creme brulee, and the peach panna cotta was really not all that peachy - but it was quite creamy and tasty nonetheless.
In the end, we found the food and service up to snuff with its competitors, and would definitely come back, if for nothing else than the amazing view over the lake on a warm summer's night.
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