Having had a small layover in Nanaimo waiting for my ferry, my wife and I decided to try Alexandra's Bistro. Given the positive reviews, we decided to check it out.
We just finished dining at Alexandra's Bistro, and I must say, I am left with a bad taste in my mouth. To begin, I ordered the Chicken Fettuccine. This dish lacked flavour, the sauce was watered down and definitely needed more Alfredo. The only redeeming item in my plate was the Garlic Bread. Good to know they managed not to screw that up. Good job Alexandra's Bistro, your garlic bread is okay.
My wife had the calamari served with tzatziki. Again, another disappointment. You would expect that a restaurant located in a harbour would know how to prepare seafood. But not here! The batter was flavourless and barely stimulated the palate. I've eaten raw potatoes that had more flavour than that calamari. But once again, our saving grace, the tzatziki sauce & lemon wedge was the light at the end of this dark tunnel of a meal, thank you Costco!!
I ordered a chocolate milk, and my wife had water. Who doesn't love chocolate milk? Yes, I'm a grown man, but chocolate milk is chocolate milk. Our server proceeds to the bar after taking our drink orders and tells a fellow staff member, while snickering, why a grown-ass man is ordering chocolate milk (verbatim). This was all taking place in my field of view and all within earshot.
Well, why not? It's on your menu, I am the customer and that is what I choose to have as my drink. To add further insult to injury, I didn't even get chocolate milk!!! I got Nestle Quik chocolate sauce mixed with milk. Ouch!!!!
Moving onto the service, we progress further into the abyss. Normally, in a restaurant, one is accustomed to be periodically visited by your server, generally inquiring how your meal is going. I completely understand if the restaurant was abnormally busy, that the visits may have suffered to some degree. In this situation, I suspect the server was well aware of the quality of the food and neglected us intentionally to avoid having to award us a complimentary meal. Which, by the way, I would have declined. You know the old saying "fool me once..." ;)
In closing, if you are thinking about dining at Alexandra's Bistro, I highly suggest you head over to the local Petsmart first. That's the only place in town with comparable food qualities, although the service there I assume would be much better. read more
