The Keg disappointed me like I had just broken up with my boyfriend

Okay so I am exaggerating slightly, it wasn't that traumatic but it was close. (Disclaimer you should know: I absolutely love a medium rare steak with red wine and the Keg had yet to disappoint me... until now [yes I know, melodramatic, cue the music, dum dum dum]). We frequent the Keg quite often, more often than the normal human being should and yes, there were the odd times (like once in a blue moon)the steak wasn't cooked quite to perfection but they've always been excellent at making up for it so I can't hold it against them for it (never mind the fact we had a server who was absolutely awesome when we sat down at a table in the lounge only to have an irate woman tell us we butted in line when we honestly didn't know there was a line to begin with and thought people were just milling around the entrance after being fulfilled from a massive supper and enjoyable company - that is another story for a different time [if she had been nicer we would have no problem giving up the table to her but the server said not to bother]).

However, at a time where I was craving a medium rare blue cheese fillet, I chose to go to the Key instead of the opening of Folkfest where a variety of food was offered up for the taking, never mind it holds fond memories. My husband and I like to sit at the bar which probably was our first mistake but we've never run into a problem before doing so and like to reserve larger tables for bigger groups instead of just the two of us. We chose seating at the bar that was on the other end close to the transaction machine. After settling in, we were greeted by one of the 3 bartenders who asked us what we would like and if we would like a beverage. After ordering a martini that contained basil, he left promptly only to come back to state they were out of basil. No big deal. We then ordered vodka martinis and off he went to make them. While he was off making our concoctions, another bartender came up and asked if we had been served. We proceeded to say yes but asked for menus which he promptly gave us. Our martinis came shortly after and that was the last we received any service.

At the time, we thought nothing of it and decided what delectable meal we wanted out of the vast selection. We closed our menus and enjoyed our delicious martinis and wonderful company. It was soon after we realized that we weren't going to be served as numerous drinks were served (and don't get us wrong, we realize we were sitting at the bar). However after seeing a bartender open a box of new wine glasses and polish them while another one glanced at our closed menus and checked his phone in front of us, it was obvious we were not going to be served. Normally this wouldn't bother us but let's face it, we arrived shortly after 7 and after 40 minutes I was starving. I could understand that the bar was busy serving drinks but in the end, not a single drink ticket came in for a good 5 minutes and I am fully aware of how long of a wait it is to be served a succulent steak once ordered. I was heartbroken.

Finally after much discussion, as I hate to give up on my favorite restaurant that serves my #1 meal and my husband hates conflict, I asked for the bill for our martinis. I stated that since we weren't getting served, I would like our bill and that we were going elsewhere. Without hesitation and NO effort to try to save us as customers we got our bill with a minute apology and left to a place that served a very delicious meal, one I would almost consider to be a competitor of theirs with a smaller steak selection (but seeing as it's not about the competitor I won't say where we went). I would like to blame this on new bartenders or even a busy restaurant but seriously, if the first reason is the issue, train your staff better and it definitely can't be the second as they were polishing new wine glasses and checking their phones. Overall I am truly disappointed in the Keg and may have to reconsider my choices when craving a steak even though I was once a loyal Keg fan.

Joey's Only Seafood Restaurant

I am a big fan of seafood, especially lobster and King/Snow crab.  A BIG fan.  So big I like seafood as much as I love steaks, that is how much I love seafood.

Anyway, I think I am a pretty adventurous person when it comes to trying out restaurants and after listening to the numerous radio ads for 'Joey's Only Seafood' and seeing their 'All you can eat King crab' everytime I drove down 8th street, I decided to try it out.  So goes the adventure...

We arrived at the restaurant shortly after 7 to be greeted by the only waitress on staff serving approximately 15-ish tables.  The restaurant was quite busy and after having the waitress tell us she would clean a table right away, we waited for a good 30 minutes before being seated (good thing I had my itouch).  The food had better be good.

The restaurant itself reminded me of a toned down Red Lobster with lobster traps and fake fish hanging off the walls.  The most impressive thing about the restaurant decor was the chalk drawings depicting an octopus and a fish.  The seating are is nothing to write home about.

After being seated, we found out they did not have any beer on tap which wasn't surprising as it had a family atmosphere.  Their menu did have a wide selection of items, where each day was all you can eat shrimp for $19 and all you can eat king crab for $35 on Wednesdays.  Unfortunately the day we went was not Wednesday.

Having selected the 1 pound Snow Crab with my 2 side dishes of garlic toast and ceasar salad, John went with their salmon and rice pilaf and the vegetable of the day (peas - gross).  We proceeded to play checkers on my itouch while we waited and just as I was about to make a game winning move, our food came.

The food itself was medicore.  The crab was definitely boiled and if their goal was to boil the flavor out of the crab they definitely succeeded.  I accommodated this by drenching my snow crab in butter which my stomach later told me was not a good idea.  The garlic toast was the standard garlic toast you could find in other restaurants while the ceasar salad was overly creamy.  John's salmon was well-cooked which probably suited the majority of clientele that ate there but it definitely could have been cooked less.  He did manage to eat all of his rice pilaf and vegetables, mainly because he had to wait for me to finish my meal.  When asked what he would rate the restaurant/meal he said 7 only to retract it when I said I would have rated it a 6.  All in all, if you are craving seafood, I would not recommend Joey's Only Seafood Restaurant.

For all new riders out there

So apparently I wanted my next post to be about my experience thus far in learning how to drive a motorbike and I couldn't post about anything else until I did so. I thought about blogging as soon as our license expired in September but as luck would have it, it was still nice enough to drive a motorbike until late October and I didn't want to think about all I was missing out on by blogging about it. However that was back in Oct 2008 and it is now Jan 2009 where the temp. is -29. What can I say, I just procrastinated.

So back to the subject of what I wanted to blog about, learning how to drive a motorbike is quite the experience. It is both thrilling, exciting and scary, all rolled into one "hang-onto-the-handle-bars-for-dear-life" experience. I've wanted to drive a motorbike for as long as I can remember and it definitely is a dream come true. The bike I learned how to drive on is a 2008 Ducati Monster and it is a beauty. Some of the things I wished I had known when I first got my bike are:

1. Have the patience to wait until I took the motorcycle course first so I would know how to handle a bike properly and what to expect.
2. Have 2 different types of gear to accommodate for the weather (I have the full leather jacket with padding but it completely distracted me when it was really hot out to the point where I drove less)
3. Definitely find a location where you can practice your driving skills without having to worry about traffic. I found driving around the neighborhood I concentrated too much on the traffic and not enough on my technique. The exhibition grounds was awesome to practice on until we got kicked out due to it being a private area
   

Things that I can improve on for next season are:

1. I would probably lower the bike seat somewhat; currently I can sit flat footed when not in motion but I lose some distance when I am driving as I sit closer to the gas tank. Lowering the bike would help in both parking the bike as well as boost my confidence.
   
2. Practice gearing both up and down so it is smoother. Gearing up is not that much of an issue. When I first started driving, I practiced around the University area on a Sunday which was awesome as there were few cars but I still had to make it to the University grounds. Gearing down is trickier and I would like to get to the point where it is second nature for me and I don't even have to think about it.
   
3. Practice hard stops. I never put myself in a situation where I had to do a hard stop but I can definitely see the benefits of doing so.

There is definitely lots to learn still as it is a never ending process but I thought I would only list the most significant ones I ran across in my experience. I am sure as the years goes on, the list will grow.

The Hole in the Wall Restaurant Review

So last weekend (Aug. 29, 2008) we were in the mood to celebrate so we decided to venture out and try The Hole in the Wall restaurant. We had heard from a couple of people that the food was great and worth the drive. Now to get to this restaurant you have to drive out to Blackstrap as the restaurant was situated in the townsite of Shields.

Upon arriving you are greeted by the original gas station sign in front of the Mexican style restaurant. After being greeted by a middle aged waiter with a ponytail, we were seated in a secluded 2 seater table. He went through his spiel of how the restaurant was converted from the gas station that it originally was and to expect a 3-4 hour meal as everything is prepared from scratch. We were told from others of the long meal time so that came as no shock to us. However looking at the menu prices you would think they would have spent a bit more money fixing up the place as the walls were missing paint in a few areas, our table was squeaky and the lighting kept on flickering (this was a bit of an annoyance). Oh well, here's to a first in trying out this restaurant.

After reviewing their scrumptious sounding menu, we decided to go for the combo meal that was priced at $60/person. It included 3 appetizers, soup, salad, 3 entrees, coffee/tea, and dessert. We ended up choosing scallops, mussels and oysters for our appetizers and lamb, duck and ribs for the entrees. To drink we ordered sangrias which was very tasty due to the tiny morsels of apples, pears, lime and oranges they place in it.

The service started out quite well, having spent 20ish minutes pouring over the menu and placing our order shortly after. Our reservations were for 6:30 and we received our sangrias and appetizers shortly after 7. The appetizers were fairly tasty - the raw scallops were definitely the highlight, complimented by a tomato sauce (which surprisingly tasted like a hot sauce that I've made in the past). After finishing off the appetizers we had an hour wait until we received their house salad. It consisted of fresh greens and an orange vinaigrette dressing - definitely a nice, light salad that I loved and will try to reproduce. Shortly after came a chilled Buttermilk Apple puree soup that had tomatoes, corn and cucumbers in it. I am not one for chilled soup but this one was definitely tasty.

After a short wait our entrees came. The duck was slightly under cooked but still tasty, the lamb was slightly over cooked and the ribs were good. I was a tad disappointed in the lamb as I love lamb and was looking forward to this dish and it definitely did not meet up to my standards. All in all, it was a lot of food topped off with a pudding type dessert and coffee.

Overall I would have to say the explanation of the 3-4 hour waiting time for the entire dining experience due to everything prepared fresh was over exaggerated as it seemed like it was just an excuse to only have one server for the entire place with one cook (or so it seemed). Usually I like to give the restaurant the benefit of the doubt but when there is an hour wait between appetizers and chilled soup and salad, I cannot justify that by saying everything is prepared fresh so it'll be a longer wait. Also the decor was under par for the prices of the meals they served. However the food was pretty tasty and I am always up for trying new things. The restaurant is the type you should try at least once even if you don't go back.

What music represents...

As I was sitting in rush hour today a song came on the radio that brought back memories (I was too lazy to change the cds that have been in the cd player for ages). Listening to the song, my mind wandered away from the memory it represented and made me think of other songs and its related memories. It's amazing how certain songs can evoke memories, good and bad and how they seem so fresh in your mind. I know no matter how many times I hear certain songs it will always be tied to certain memories, memories as simple as tied to a movie or a tv show. Other memories are of course more significant which I cherish. What amazes me are the genres of the songs, they range from metal to even country (which I normally do not listen to). Are there songs out there that just pull at your heart strings or evoke memories you cherish?

Saskatoon becoming more violent?

Is it me or is Saskatoon becoming more prone to random acts of violence. Just today in the news there are numerous reports and updates of random shootings, and people being stabbed. Is Saskatoon becoming a more dangerous place to live or am I just becoming more aware of local news? I suppose it is also due to the fact that Saskatoon is growing at an extremely fast rate and it could all be relative. For those living in Saskatoon, do you still feel this is a safe place?

Hummers - To drive or not to drive

The other weekend I was out driving and couldn't believe the number of Hummers I saw driving around. As one was pulling out of the gas station I could only wonder how much it costs to fill up a Hummer with gas prices ranging around $1.34 and threatening to rise. I mean no disrespect to any owners driving a Hummer but can anyone tell me what is so great about a Hummer, especially in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan? If it is a status thing would it not be better to import a fuel efficient car where everyone will look at you and say, boy that car must have cost a lot as it is brand new to the car industry but is great on the environment. People would surely admire you for your thoughtfulness and intelligence to say with the times and think of the environment. Again if it is a status thing, is there really no other means of showing your status but drive a gas guzzling vehicle? I wonder if people who drive Hummers realize the adverse conversations people have instead of one of admiration. Or maybe that is their goal.

I shouldn't be so hard on people who own Hummers. Each to their own I say. It's not like gas prices were skyrocketing when they first bought their Hummers and what are they supposed to do when gas prices do rise, stop driving Hummers and not enjoy the Hummer for whatever reason they chose to buy it in the first place?? However I will say that I remain puzzled over the reasons why anyone would purchase a Hummer. Hummer lovers out there, please feel free to enlighten me and tell me why you love your Hummer.