Monday, July 15, 2013

Laughing Oyster Again

We went to the Laughing Oyster for dinner the other night. Chef Dave wasn't there so the sous chef was in charge.  We had a new waitress this time as our usual table had a large party. When she came to the table she remarked, "Oh, and you're the gourmet?"

"I hadn't thought of myself that way, but yes, I guess I am a gourmet."
I gave her our order for dinner and off she went.

The calamari was cooked properly but the coating was mushy. I'm not sure if the batter was too wet or the oil not hot enough or some other problem, but it wasn't up to scratch.  Everyone else was happy with it so I didn't complain, but I've never had decent calamari when the sous chef is in charge.  My entrée arrived, halibut and spicy Thai prawns. The prawns had obvious freezer burn on the shells, I don't think fresh prawns can be had here so I use frozen prawns as well, but I take the shells off. The vegetables were unseasoned and bland.  The halibut was also bland.  I ordered halibut with spicy Thai prawns and the Thai sauce was the same one used at the buffet with the battered cod.  It's good, I like it, but I'd had it before.  I was hoping for a new experience. I think there was rice on the plate but if so, it wasn't remarkable enough to remember.

Wow! I never anticipated getting to the point that my food is better than the sous chef at my favourite restaurant, but that appears to be where I'm at. Everyone else was completely happy with their meal so it was just my better trained palette that noticed the deficiencies. Considering the sous chef was told this plate was for me and we are the best customers at this restaurant, I really expected better. Now I understand why Chef Gordon Ramsey gets so upset when the cooks don't turn out their best. I did give the waitress my run down of the meal and she told the sous chef, so hopefully next time it will be better. If not I'll tell Chef Dave he needs someone to expedite when he's away to keep the quality up. When I started down this learning to cook road I told Chef Dave that since no one else

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