Old Vines Restaurant at Quail's Gate

We went to Old Vines because our friend got engaged there and we thought it would be a special place to return to. We had received a call the day before to confirm the reservation, but when we showed up, we were told the table wasn't ready and that we would have to wait 15-20 minutes. They gave us free tasting at the Wine Shop, and I appreciate the gesture, but I would appreciate getting my table at the specified time more.

We finally got our table, after spending about 30 minutes at the wine shop. I told the hostess / manager that we were at Quail's Gate as part of a stagette and that the bride-to-be actually got engaged at the restaurant. She said "Oh really" and just ignored me. At other places, they would say congratulations, or thank us for coming back. She came off quite snooty and insincere.

As my meal, I decided to have two Lunch Appetizers instead of the Main Courses. The Main Courses just looked more like a dinner item to me: really heavy. I had the Elk Carpaccio and Farm Salad. 

The Elk Carpaccio was quite delicious, the elk was sliced perfectly: even and thin. When you have it altogether with the greens and the onion aioli, it combines perfectly in your mouth.

The salad was also quite successful. The vinaigrette was a perfect balance of sweet and sour and really brought out the sweetness of the beets, which ended up tasting like an earthy honeydew. They were perfectly cooked - wasn't too crunchy and wasn't too soft. Each element on the plate was good on its own and also together in one bite. The cheese was fresh and bright.

As dessert, as soon as the server told us one of the flavours of the day was "Lavender Honey," I forgot everything else she told us. Whenever I hear Lavender, I have to eat it. The ice cream was really well made - churned perfectly and you can still see the flecks of Vanilla. At first I thought it was a little too sweet, but as soon as I took a bite of the butter short bread, it really balanced. It normally comes in a three scoops, but we had it divided up into three ramekins to share.

Overall the food was delicious and the view very nice. However, given that there are so many other restaurants in the area also selling delicious food and nice views, I thought Quail's Gate would be a level above in terms of service. Unfortunately, the service was mediocre, and I'm not just talking about the snooty manager / hostess. Our server had entered a wrong / extra item in when taking our order and brought it out to us. She apologized later when she realized we didn't order it. However, when the bill came, it was still in the bill. I expected more and was disappointed. I would recommend visiting with low expectations - at least the food was good - but I likely won't return.

KRAFTY Kitchen + Bar

We went to Kelowna's "second best" restaurant on Saturday night for dinner. I'd made the reservations in April as I was planning this trip. When we arrived, the hostess says she couldn't find my reservation and asked me which app I used. I told her I used Guestful and she says, "We don't use that app." I told her I clicked on it from their website and showed her the confirmation email. THEN she says, "Oh, we used to use it, but we transitioned to a new app in April." Then she offers us the patio. I don't understand why she couldn't do that in the first place instead of accusing me of not making reservations. Then she went out to "check on the table" and came back saying the table is ready without actually taking us or directing us there. We walked towards the door to be stopped by a busser who abruptly asked if we knew where our table was and then took us there.

We ordered three appetizers to share - originally it was supposed to be four, but they ran out of the chicken wings. We settled for the Butcher's Paper, 7 Layer Dip, and Espanol Fries.

This is the 7 Layer Dip, which contained tuna pate, seaweed, black bean, and served with quinoa rice chips. The dip was very salty, but not to the point where you would feel sick. Paired with the excessively bland rice chip, it was a very well-balanced bite.

The Butcher's Paper comes with 2 oz of housemade charcuterie, bread, and picked grapes. The charcuterie lacked seasoning and tasted a bit like the deli meat you get from the market. The bread was burnt and bitter. We really enjoyed the mustard, but it wasn't enough to save the dish.

The Espanol Fries was basically potato cubes smothered in tomato gastrique, buttermilk vinaigrette and (a lot of) paprika. It is a lie to call these fries. Although it was flavourful with an interesting tinge of sweetness., it was overwhelmed with paprika.

As my meal, I ordered the Shafty Burger. I ordered this because I thought that this restaurant was opened by Kaila Klassen from MasterChef Canada and her dream was to open a burger place. Turns out she wasn't a part of the restaurant at all - I wasn't her fan, but the show made it seem like she can make a good burger. Luckily, this is a farm to table restaurant and they grind their meat in house so I was allowed to order my burger medium. The burger patty was quite juicy, and perfectly cooked. The chips that came with it didn't taste anything special. Overall, I wasn't impressed with the burger.

Two of the other people at my table ordered the Braised Pork Belly. I was told it was very delicious and tender. The Kale had soaked up the broth and made it very tasty as well. The only downside was that it was too large. I have been to restaurants (like Cin Cin) who offer half portions of food. Perhaps KRAFTY should consider this for the future.

Another two ordered the Octopus Tagliatelle, which was apparently "just okay" and also had too much paprika.

Of course, we had to have dessert. We had the Earl Grey Panna Cotta, which was more like a custard than a Panna Cotta - it didn't set at all. The flavour was good though, it tasted very strongly of Earl Grey.

Negatives: The hostess was really rude - she didn't even apologize for the mix up with the reservations. The restaurant running out of the chicken wings and housemade ceaser mix signifies how poorly managed it is. The mix apparently takes three days and they ran out the day before. My question is why they didn't make more when they started running low. 

Positives: Our server was very nice and on the ball. We were there for about 3 hours and she never rushed us or anything. The food was decent - not the best that I've had, but decent.

Overall, a decent place. It gave the impression that it was overrated, so I probably won't return. I would like to try new places and if I were to return to a place in Kelowna, I had a better experience at Waterfront Wines.

Naruto Sushi

We went to Naruto as it was on the way home and highly rated in Zomato. I don't know when this happened, but B and I have turned into sushi snobs.

The place was small and filled out quite quickly. We took that as a good sign. It was debatable.

First came the Takoyaki. The spheres were uneven and there were not enough flakes on top, so the Takoyaki lacked the movement you would normally find on it. The filling was good enough though. It was a mix of puréed and diced Tako, which gave it a good texture. The sauce was also decent.

Along with the Takoyaki was the Assorted Sashimi Platter. It came with 3 pieces tuna / salmon / sockeye salmon and 2 pieces of Tako / Hokkigai. The tuna was a bit fishy for our tastes, like it's been sitting out for too long. The Atlantic Salmon was fine. The sockeye was too tough. The Tako was a bit slimy in the middle. The Hokkigai was also just fine.

Next came the Nigiri: chopped scallop, ikura, unagi, toro, and Saba. The chopped scallop didn't have the silky pearly texture I normally like. It was rather mushy. The ikura was very fishy and didn't have the salt I craved. There was also very little of it and so I could see the rice underneath the roe. The unagi was very tough and I felt like I was eating sandpaper. The seaweed on all three were tough and unpleasant to chew on. The toro was decent enough. The Saba was quite fishy and felt like it was cooked. All three of the unagi, toro, and Saba could have had half the amount of rice.

Last came the Crazy Tuna Roll, which contained tuna tempura, cheese, cucumber, spicy tuna, Jalepeno and fish roe. This might have been Naruto's saving grace. It was the best dish of the night. The textures worked well together and nothing was overpowering the other.

Overall, I won't return because it's quite mediocre and I'm willing to pay a bit extra for better food. I would recommend it to that old uncle looking for a cheap and filling meal, and maybe those people who aren't adventurous enough to try sashimi and nigiris and just prefer to have rolls all the time.