Arthur's St. Moritz

I was surprised that the parking lot was full when we got there on Saturday, around 6:45. Popular place, I thought, which must be a good sign. There's no valet parking, so we waited for a spot. When we got into the restaurant, the maitre d' took my name and told us we'd have a twenty minute wait. I was again surprised, but we sat at the bar while I tried to convince my date to have an Irish coffee. Though the bar wasn't all that busy, it took a bit of time for one of the two bartenders to actually come over and take an order and quite some time to take my money. I'm not sure why the service was this way since there were only glasses to put away. The bartender was pleasant, though the on-tap Bass was slightly flat.

After we sat down, our server came by right away just to let us know that we were noticed. We had nachos as an appetizer and they were disappointing since they used marinara sauce in place of salsa and Cheez Whiz, apparently. The well-done steak was still pink in the middle but rather dry, chewy and not very tasty, served with three standard-issue onion rings. I had some kind of "Country Chicken" dish which was a chicken breast stuffed with sausage and sage and wrapped in applewood smoked bacon. It sure sounded good, but the stuffing was bland and the chicken was kind of gamey, probably due to the over-greasy smoke flavour of the bacon. It was served with canned cranberry sauce, cold, and flavourless whipped potatoes. For dessert, there was a super-cocoa-y lava cake that was pudding-like and mushy to the touch, served with canned whip cream and a couple of strawberries. Yow. The coffee was watery. So, all in all, not exactly a taste treat and with a bill topping up at $60 for two, at least double than what I would expect from a diner for below-diner-par food.

The environment was pleasant though plain. Many families were eating there since it's the one place in the area with a substantial dining room, I'm guessing. The server was very pleasant but busy enough to forget bringing water after she had suggested it and harried enough to forget lighting our candle. Being on wait staff is hard work, to be sure and never is it the server's fault when they're overwhelmed by waiting a dozen tables at a time: you try it. At least it was warm and comfortable and the acoustics were good so that although the place was packed, it was easy to have a normal conversation without feeling that one was intruding on other tables. We were there late enough on a Saturday night to here a little bit of the band, which was a ridiculously-sized 14-piece affair stuffed into the tiny dance-floor space beyond the bar.

I definitely don't mind paying a fair price for a good meal but I get the impression that Arthur's St. Moritz isn't firing on all cylinders. The food attempts to reach but definitely doesn't make it and paying a premium for worn-out ambience doesn't appeal, either. So, it's a "meh" experience that I'd avoid repeating. Too bad, really, too bad.