Author: jean komatsu
Last saved by: GCS

Bon Rouge
611 Courtney St., Victoria BC, Canada
http://www.bonrouge.ca/dinner.php
Review date:  October, 2010

This is a French bistro, very modern with a black/red/gray décor with dark wood. There’s a large heated outdoor dining patio as well. Portions are generous, and the food is excellent...but sadly, the service was so bad it became a joke between the four of us.

Christie chose the three course pre fixe, selecting Andalusian prawns, steak frite, and a dessert crepe with vanilla ice cream and poached stone fruits (pluots, plums, and apricots).

Mel chose the French onion soup, and a stuffed pork chop in mushroom vermouth sauce with potato gratin.

I had a foretaste of what was coming when I questioned the waiter as to what the “maple foie gras” starter was. Instead of telling me how it was prepared, he launched into an explanation of what foie gras was. 

I interrupted him immediately and said, “I know what foie gras is – what I want to know is, what is ‘maple foie gras’?”

His answer was a mumbled, “It’s maple foie gras.” 

At that point I saw a losing battle ahead and picked something else. I chose two starters and an entree: the crispy pork belly appetizer with apple-fennel slaw to share, then a roasted vegetable salad with greens and the rack of lamb with rosti and smoked peppercorn sauce.

Carlos wanted three starters: a house salad, a bowl of bouillabaise offered as a starter, requesting another starter, a seafood crepe, as his entree. He specifically requested them served as three separate courses.

As some of you might remember, Carlos is a graduate of SF City College's very well regarded Hotel and Restaurant management program, and also worked as a banquet waiter during the two year program at various hotels and restaurants. He is therefore a severe critic to satisfy when it comes to service. I'm right behind him, with dining out being one of my favorite hobbies and major expenditures for the last forty years.

Our waiter had immense difficulty understanding not only what we were ordering, but in what progression of courses he was to bring the food. He kept questioning us, repeating the order but getting it incorrect, which was mildly irritating. 

As he brought us the food, it was clear he either didn't know what he was doing or didn't care, as courses were presented carelessly and out of the sequence they should have followed. It was if he had never heard of the concept of small plate dining, nor served a group where not everyone was ordering the same number of courses. My two starters were dumped on the table at the same time. 

Worse, Carlos’ seafood crepe never arrived at all. When questioned, the waiter told us he was going to bring it with everybody else’s desserts! 

This is taking the concept of separate courses to a whole new level – to the Twilight Zone, in fact.

It was quite sad because the food was very good. The pork belly was excellent, the salads and soup were delightful, all the meat entrees were top-notch and generously sized. Carlos fortunately wasn’t that hungry, and the bouillabaise was a good-sized bowl. But for the remainder of the trip, the four of us joked about having seafood crepes for dessert, of course.

This was less the waiter's fault than the bistro's fault, in Carlos' opinion. The situation led to a discussion at our table about the classic role of the maitre d', a position that has disappeared over the years to the detriment of consistent high-level training. The food was very good, but the service was so inept it detracted from the total experience.

Five starters, two entrees, one pre fixe, one beverage, with tip was $179.