The location has been home to at least two failed restaurants while I've lived here, including one that offered 'steak, sushi, italian, chinese'. Which in my book is at least three things too many to try at once. The Office doesn't claim any specialism at all, instead has a short menu of small plates, build your own salad, pizza and pasta, and a variety of burgers/sandwiches. Gordon Ramsay doesn't approve of build your menus as it makes the offerings to complicated. The Office has made it a simple 1-2-3 selection. I can't vouch for the ability of the chef as we didn't eat any of these options, but it there was a nice mix of variety with out being overwhelming.
They also have duck poutine. Anywhere selling good poutine is an instant hit with my friend, so a bowl was on the way by the time I walked in from the rain.
We sat in the glass front, which was was chilly, but the heating fans were doing their best to remove the frost from the air. Not sure this sort of arrangement is a good idea on a cold day, and sitting in one of the small two person booths would have been more comfortable. Especially as the glass from is opaqued off, so you can't sit and watch people as they pass by.
Not that the booths looked enjoyable. They were parked next to the bar, so lots of foot traffic, and in direct site of the big flat screen TV's showing the sports channels. Not exactly a cosy booth for a date, and if there's a group your going to be moving on to the big sofa areas, or the booths which are a bit more away from the main traffic. So wasn't quite sure what they were meant to achieve.
The poutine however, was good. Squeaky curds, beautiful duck gravy and a nice crispy flakes of duck meat. The frites could have been a tad more cooked, but for the price it filled a good hole, and set us for braving the night. There was also a free appy on Friday night. It was a tempura fried salmon and brown grain sushi roll thing. Overly fussy, and not very interesting to taste. Still a free bonus is nice. And added to air of being a well run, customer focused place, the sort of vibe I'd more expect at a good restaurant.
The beer selection is good, though not extensive. The four local breweries are all represented, as is Saltspring Island. I'm not sure if they'd approved of their beer being served in a frozen pint glass though. The Saltspring Golden Ale lost some of the flavour in being too cold. I assume all the rest of the selection is also served the same way, and the beer list is missing an IPA to round out the selections. There's also a good dozen 'import' beers and national brews like Sleeman's Honey and Okanagan Spring.
My friend enjoyed the wine list and that seems to be a mix of BC wines and imports from South America, Europe and Australia. What I know about wine is about extensive as my knowledge of agricultural systems during the Incan period, so that's as far as I can judge.
The service was spot on. No fuss, professional but friendly. And the wait staff are cute (my companion's vote, not mine... though she was right, they were all attractive). The vibe they are going for is definitely being hit. It'd be a good place to grab a drink or two after work (or later) with a mid-sized group. Space to stretch out, no loud music to drown out the chat, reasonable prices and relaxed air. There was several after work groups in there, a mid-20's to early 40's crowd. And a few confused couples in various booths who didn't looks so comfortable.
No comments:
Post a Comment