January 19, 2014

Evedar's, Langford

Back in December, I ran a 10 mile race over Stewart Mountain and came in last.  For my efforts, I got a $50 voucher for Evedar's Bistro in Langford.  My friends have commented it was very Canadian to give a prize to last place.  I almost gave it away to the lady four seconds in front of me, but thought again that it would be material for blogging, so why not head out to Langford for a change.

So invited the lovely Brunette of my acquaintance for a Tuesday night meal out Langford.  My first worry was that the answer phone message was still referencing the Christmas hours when I tried to call for a reservation.  But they called back, and booked me in for a 7pm seating.  Need not have worried, the place was empty, apart from a family finishing up their meal. Uh-oh... why so quiet? I've heard good things on Urbanspoon and about their lunch meals... then as I get seated, Billy-Ray Cyrus's 'Achey Breaky Heart' comes on.  What have I let myself in for?

A cracking good meal, as it turns out.  Best give the spoiler now, in case you only read so far, and think this will be a piece by piece deconstruction.

We ordered a sharing plate to start, which came with the world's biggest caper, some excellent tapenade, a beautiful smoked piece of salmon, creamy cheese, crisp apples and some bits of bread to spread 'em on.  Or you could use the pickled beans and asparagus. The down note on the spread was the slices of pepperoni, they seemed a little greasy and dry to me.

For mains, there's a decent spread of choices.  Just enough to be interesting, without being too many to decide on.  I went for the Parmesan Chicken.  I didn't need the starter.  It was a huge cut, crusted perfectly with cheese and breading, but still moist inside.  Presented on a big pile of risotto, that had a lovely silky texture, with just enough flavour to complement the chicken, and not over power it.

The Brunette (of my acquaintance) went for the beef short rib.  The chicken was good.  This was brilliant.  Cooked to that point of tenderness and flavour, it came apart in strings with a fork.  Covered in a thick, dark sauce which had a hint of BBQ that married it with the beef.  A good pile of mash and greens came with it, and there was tomorrows lunch left-overs sorted, even after I took a good three fork fulls to try it out.

The music choices faded away into the background, and lets us talk over the meal without being overheard, which is just how it should be. There's space for a date night meal or a larger family/friends gathering.  The service was good, and even though we were the only people there, no hurry to get us out so they could close up.  I appreciated that, as it'd would have been easy enough to rush us out and save on the lighting bill.

I'm not drinking this month, but why I decide O'Douls amber was a good compromise should lead my readers to question my sense in matters of taste.  Perhaps I shouldn't have admitted to it, but I won't be repeating that mistake. It was like someone had heard about the taste of beer, possibly by accident. They tried to make something that matched that misheard description, but not done a very good job.  Then decided to sell it anyway. My bad choice there is hardly the Bistro's fault.

The meal came to $80, with a glass of wine and a bottle beer, the taxes and a tip.

Evedar's Bistro on Urbanspoon

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