Hiatus from wordpress ends, but another dining experience ensues…
Yaletown is known for its Yuppies!
Cactus Club is known for its Signature dishes…or not.
Sunday night at Yaletown’s CC location was odd from the start. Upon entering the alleyway, I noticed no entry way from the patio seating area to the indoors. This may be common for downtown Vancouver, but not Yaletown, as most restaurants allow entry through the patio area into the restaurant. Upon finding a sign which stated entry was from Davie St. my friend and I entered and were seated at once since we had made a reservation. Oddly, no mention of an option of seating in the patio area was mentioned on the phone. Is it summer or what? I noted that there were a few tables open in the patio area beforehand and asked the hostess if we had a chance to take in the small amount of vitamin D us Vancouverites try to consume in various ways. She exclaimed that there were 3 people on the waiting list before me, and “no, we do not take reservations.” She was trying to seat us in the last booth next to the kitchen until I to move forward (she placed us one booth ahead!). Understandable patio situation, until we sat down. The lights were dimmed, music was loud almost directly above to my left were 4 speakers blaring, along with dark black columns and black shades covering the windows against Davie St. It was so claustrophobic and dark, dreary that I honestly felt like I was inside a coffin.
I decided against having wine since earlier that afternoon I had treated myself to a nice glass of chilled ‘Barefoot 2007 Award winning Chardonnay.’ The week before we had served another award winner by Marcus James, only it was a bold Merlot. Sadly, both instances resulted in a bloated stomach along with aches and pains and a mild foggy headache. I don’t think you as a reader have to be told all the in’s and out’s of today’s wine makings, however you should know that they add sulfites up to 30ppm which actually may cause not only these symptoms above, but even more serious and deadly allergic reactions. The liquor stores all claim that if one wants nothing added, then one has to buy organic wines! What has happened to this country? The mighty dollar wins again as capitalistic ideals from the USA are filtering their way through Canada. Anyone noticed the extreme amounts of sugar and salt in ALL our foods? ie. salt in coke, juice, HD ice cream. I actually emailed HD people and they told me that consumers request this salt content. I asked the large grocery stores about this and they exclaimed that the companies can sell more of their products b.c they have an EVEN LONGER shelf life. Really? I think its disgusting and disturbing that our foods are becoming more and more unhealthy and fake. When was the last time you saw real butter (not lard, veggie oils), eggs (not eggs reconstituted or parts of) and milk (not milk solids) in pastry?
I digress…
After reading the menus, I ordered for a third time a “bowl” which in this case was Jambalaya and also a Signature Dish. I always order it (well for the last 3 times I have gone to CC). Unfortunately, my friend also ordered the same being it was his first experience with this restaurant and this dish was an embarrassment for me to say the least! I had picked the restaurant, but it was my first time at this location. Unfortunately, the baby shrimp were an ”o” shape, for “overcooked” and yet they were translucent and slimy? I ate a few to set my imagination to ease, but my friend conferred as well. The sausage in the meal was not of the chorizo kind, but a cheap imitation kind and unfortunately even the sauce had drenched the few vegetables beyond recognition. I mentioned the shrimp issue to server by stating: “how do you prepare and cook the shrimp in this dish?” After a brief explanation and offer to replace both dishes, recook the shrimp or one free dessert/appetizer (mind you, both of our dishes had this issue), this ended up going straight to the manager who did not identify herself after approaching us. We decided to use the dessert card (although replacing the dishes would have been smarter, I ended up eating around the shrimp while my male friend ate it all since he felt they convinced him it was pre-cooked) . Of course yet again, some men can’t see past their stomach while they don’t fight for the honor of their female friends…whilst fibbing and telling me that he had left all but two shrimp he had not eaten in protest). Actually it worked out for the restaurant, one $ 11.50 dessert in place of two $15.50 meals is called business acumen!
I do have to say that while their desserts are not a chump change, they are of higher quality and seemingly fresh–we ordered the Dessert Trio. Lovely Unfortunately, the slimy shrimp unsettled my stomach till morning.
