A Whister dining experience of the unusual kind

Unusual, because it was poor. Perhaps we hit Ric’s Grill on a bad night – I hope so – but it was a stinker. Least bad, it took nearly two hours to get one course. Tolerable perhaps, but when you get halibut that tastes like a basketball, salmon that is more like jerky that fresh fish, a cold steak, all accompanied by a some very average vegetables and a choice of mostly tasteless ‘starch’, it’s all very ordinary.

Our waiter did his best, bringing out a slightly better chunk of salmon, and removing the bouncy halibut from the bill. But in reality, if we hadn’t been so hungry, he’d have replaced 4 dishes. There’s little a waiter can do when the supplies from the kitchen are so poor.

The upside was decent wine list and a fine Burrowing Owl 2004 Merlot. Smokey, liqourice and chocolate, fine fruit, balancing acidity and a long finish, it was a lovely wine. If only the food approached this standard. It’ll be difficult not to do better tomorrow night.