I have a rule that I almost never break.
Writing reviews of cafes or restaurants shall never revert to stone age nit picking, whining or saber rattling rants.
Unless a couple of things come up during said cafe or restaurant visit.
And ironically, a restaurant I recently reviewed for EAT Magazine… Browns Social House, broke one of my golden rules in food service.
There are two such rules that cannot be broken.
Raw food that is dangerous when raw. Like chicken or pork.
And cold food that should be hot. That is colder than room temperature. Because that I cannot forgive.
While having a late lunch on Monday (after returning from a glorious weekend at Point No Point cabins), we stopped into Browns Social House for a quick bite; a blackened halibut burger (with fries) for me and a “flat bread” Pizza called the Royale with Cheese for Andrea.
The sandwich was good and as described: Blackened, spicy and thermally hot. The fries, on the other hand, were stone cold. Colder than room temperature… which was utterly remarkable and unacceptable.
Andrea’s flat bread was haphazardly thrown together – a flat bread with chunks of ground meat, sauce and cheese – a burned black on the bottom. Pity. It all could have been done right and these 2 offenses should have never left the kitchen.
Perhaps I have been watching Chef Ramsay and Hell’s Kitchen too much but really… when you think about it, if the chef does not care enough about the obvious details, like hot food, what the heck else is going on in the more subtle areas of preparation?
Anyway. In the end I got a plate of sizzling hot fries (that had not been fully drained of grease) and were way hotter than most people would get. There was no comp other than a “our fries are great and, by the way, sorry about that…”
Unacceptable.
Browns Social House in Victoria will now be on the blocked list for the next indefinite period until they can get their crap together.
Meantime, we now have the Atrium, Zambri’s, PIG BBQ and Al’s Organic Cafe to check out.
Comments please?
Comments
2 responses to “Fall fun Food and Follies in Victoria B.C. 2010 chapter 3 Stone Cold”
I had to Google it to find out where it was — clearly way off my radar — and now it will likely stay there.
If only you had waited until after this latest visit to Brown’s to pen your review for EAT Magazine! I thought your EAT review was awfully generous, especially in light of your latest declaration of “unacceptable” and placing of this eatery on your “blocked list.”
Brown’s is one of the first places I reviewed for YRS, and judging by other reviews and ratings since, it seems our concerns are not unique. Brown’s is liked by less then 50% of the 100-plus who have voted on the local Urbanspoon web site. The restaurant’s single biggest problem appears to be consistency.
I have my own rule I almost never break. If I get bad, unacceptable service or food upon first visit, I will not go back, especially if the bill exceeds 50 bucks for appys and beer. I have not been back to Brown’s since my first visit.