Undercover Gourmet

Now, I’m not one to hold grudges, and everything deserves a second chance. Especially poutine. My second trip to La Poutine was an improvement. I flew solo and took my poutine to-go in order to avoid fighting for a seat. I went with my original gut feeling and ordered the Poutine Supreme – beef gravy, fresh cheese curds, real bacon bits, sour cream, and chopped green onions. Now that was a much better poutine. There was more flavor, more pizzaz, but also, unmistakably more grease.  Ironically my previous infatuation with the squeaky cheese curds have dissipated, and now created an awkward mouth-feel when chewed. Progress was made from the last visit, but it still did not sweep me off my feet. The hours of operation are great, and very suitable for the location and type of clientele. And although neither experiences were fabulous, I admire the owners for their entrepreneurship in launching this new and unique idea in Edmonton.

The Traditional

Poutine Supreme

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Food, service, price, atmosphere. These are the typical deciding factors for your average diner. Some factors are more important than others, while some are more of a preference. It varies per person. I personally rank food as #1. If it’s delicious I don’t’ care who serves it to me, how much it costs, or whether I had to eat it standing in a crowded room. Taste always prevails. I seldom let a negative service experience dictate my choice of restaurant. The exact same server who provided top notch service one night can quickly turn foul the following shift. Sometimes though, exceptions can be made.

It’s a slow and snowy Sunday morning when we enter Local Public Eatery. The interior is dark and rugged, quite the opposite to its predecessor OPM. After a quick glance through the menu, I am ready to order. My only mission here is the banana pancakes with toffee syrup and truffled yam fries. Half an hour after we order, our table still sits empty, stomachs growling, hands starting to shake from the volume of consumed coffee. When our plates finally arrive, we dig in furiously, only stopping for a moment to notice the toffee syrup was missing. We ask the waitress about the missing condiment. “We don’t have any today”, she replied. Not a big deal we thought, although it would have been nice to be informed when we ordered. The pancakes were decent, but nothing amazing. Sliced bananas scattered on top a stack of 4 cakes, some with mashed bananas mixed into the batter. I was hoping there would have been more caramelization involved. Maybe the toffee syrup would have been the icing on the cake? Several bites in, the manager stops to ask if it was ok that they didn’t have toffee syrup. “Sure” we reply awkwardly, not much can be done even if it wasn’t ok. A couple more bites. We comment on how the berry smoothie presented in a shot glass made a nice touch. Then, another manager stops by our table, again to apologize for the syrup. “We don’t get it in very often, when we get it, it comes in a huge order, and then some days we don’t get any at all.”

… We sat there dumbfounded. That was the last straw. What started as a miniscule set back ended up being an irritating experience. If you don’t have an item readily stocked, don’t put it on your menu, and especially don’t tell your guests’ that! Better yet, put a sticker over-top the item with “sorry not available” OR communicate to your servers so they can inform the guests when they place their order. The fact we were approached by so many people just added insult to injury. I also forgot to mention the server who retorted “I’ll tell your server to get it” when we asked for more aioli. This is an example of when bad service would prevent me from returning. When this happens with one staff member it’s an isolated incident, but when it happens with many, it’s a problem.

The only thing that remotely saved the day was the yam fries. Crispy all around, piping hot, freshly fried, cut to the perfect size and paired with a mouth watering truffle aioli. After a little customer service 101, I may consider returning for those.

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I was pretty upset when during my last visit to NYC I forgot to stop at Dylan’s Candy Bar. When Dylan’s did a special Valentine’s candy suite for the Renaissance Hotel, it was a good enough excuse for me to place an order.

From the beginning, I had a feeling there would be problems. My first contact with the candy Shoppe was via email, where I inquired about international shipping costs. No response. That’s ok I thought, email questions are usually a hit and miss. My second attempt was by telephone. The agent I spoke with said someone would email the shipping costs to me, as their international orders agent was gone for the day. Again, no response. Being the persistent, sweet toothed individual that I was, I called again several days later. Finally somebody with answers. Decisions were made, cute candy bins were admired, and a $70 group candy order was placed. All I asked for was an invoice with tracking number, so I could divvy up the costs between friends. Nothing came by email. By then I was starting to get frustrated. It’s only candy people, how hard can it be! To make a long story short, Dylan’s is extremely disorganized. There was confusion about whether I had placed my order with the warehouse, or at their NYC location. That alone took multiple phone calls to clarify. When the candy arrived days later, I was sad to see it was not what I ordered. The mini colorful gummy frogs I saw on the internet where just regular sized green frogs. My Swedish fish aqua life was only Swedish fish, and one of the two mini plastic bins was cracked and damaged during transportation.

When I called to voice my concerns, the repetitive answer I received was “I’m sorry, I wasn’t the one taking your order”. Hoping that this would be the last and final time I had to call the store, I asked to speak to the manager. After several more minutes of playing the blame game, I was offered a new bin to “call it even”. I was accused of not communicating clearly, when in fact Dylan’s website was confusing, without product codes, and the agent taking my order did not clarify the items with me. Shouldn’t your own staff know the products better than your customer? Is that not called customer service and product knowledge?!?!

I don’t mind paying extravagant dollars for products, but a good level of customer service better balance out the costs. It took half a dozen phone calls before an order of candy was placed and somewhat properly received. Has working in the hospitality industry set my standards too high? Or is good customer service more difficult to come by? Regardless, Dylan’s has made it onto my blacklist.

I have to admit, Cora’s is the only restaurant where their menu pictures come out exactly the same in real life. The fruit arrangement, the colors, the plating, it’s pretty much spot on when your breakfast arrives! There is a rumour to clarify when dining at Cora’s: yes, the wait is long on the weekend. I have been told by several people to go early on Sunday and Saturday’s, like 8am or earlier. I was extremely skeptical of that (I mean it’s the weekend… doesn’t everybody sleep in?!), but after Sunday morning, watching all the hungry patrons sandwich into the entranceway like sardines, I accepted the truth. By 9am, the line started to grow at the hostess stand, and by 10 when we were done our meal, the line looked rather uncomfortable.

However, once inside and seated comfortably, the scenery changes for the better. The decor is cheerful and bright, with oversized cartoon drawings of food scattered across the walls. For those who don’t fall under the morning person category, this restaurant will definitely ease you into your day. The food on the other hand, was slightly over rated. I do admit the selection is way more sophisticated than Denny’s or Smitty’s, and the presentation is beautiful. My first choice, Raspberry 4 Lucie, a crepe dish with raspberries and cream cheese, sadly was not available, so I settled for an April 89. The crepe was monstrous! Filled with custard and fresh fruits, this enormous crepe stretched the entire length of a 12” plate. Disappointingly, I only managed to eat half (I thought I could do at least ¾’s!). Two guests in our party opted for Benedict’s, while my husband intriguingly ordered the crepomelette, a crepe and omelette rolled neatly together. While it was innovative, we thought the hollandaise sauce looked rather orange, a red flag for sauce from a package. Other than that, the overall meal was good. I enjoyed my gigantic crepe with fruits, but honestly couldn’t say I would brave the line up for it. Service is on the slow side, both for table service and food; two hours for breakfast would cause any restaurant to back-log. The fruits for each plate are cut to order, which, while benefit in freshness, does affect other factors. Things might have ended differently if they hadn’t 86’d my first choice. Maybe there will be a next time…we’ll see how early I get up.

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