Had a joint dinner celebration at Blue Water Cafe tonight. I've been here once from a few years back for Dine Out. It was a decent enough experience, but never felt the need to brave the traffic to come back. Plus, my friend had the risotto last time and threw up after we left the restaurant.
To start, I had the six oyster selection of the day: Chef's Creek, Fanny Bay, Komo Gway, Kuushi, Read Island, and Caraquet. The Caraquet was from the East Coast, the rest from BC.
Clockwise starting from the horseradish. The Caraquet was supposed to be sweet and plump with a clean mild finish, but it tasted very fishy though still a little sweet. The Fanny Bay was supposed to be firm, sweet, with a slightly metallic taste; and it was mostly salty but fresh. The Kusshi was plump and fruity as usual - I should have saved it for last because it is so dependable. The Komo Gway was firm and sweet. The Read Island was really delicious, it was plump and fat and only mildly salty. Lastly the Sawmill was quite disappointing. It was mild, but it was so tiny I barely tasted anything. Overall they were all fresh and I wouldn't mind having more of the Read Island.
As my main course I had the Pumpernickel Crusted Sturgeon in cauliflower puree, golden chioggia beets, and garnet beet agro dolce (sauce). The sturgeon itself was moist but a little chewy, I couldn't figure out if I wanted them to cook it to the point where it's flaky and dry or like ahi tuna where it was chunky and moist. I wanted the pumpernickel crust to be a little more "crustier" - with more texture and crunch. But it was very mushy. The golden choiggia beets seemed overcooked a bit, I wanted more crunch. They were tasty though, if not a little sweet. The pearl onions that went with it was cooked perfectly. I loved the combination of the rich and salty cauliflower puree balanced with the sweet beet sauce.
One of my friends brought a cake for the occassion, so I ordered some coffee. It was so tiny, but packed with flavour. I couldn't believe it was decaffeinated!
I was a little annoyed that I didn't get to try their pumpkin cheese cake, because: pumpkin, yum! I guess Dairy Queen ice cream cake isn't a bad way to end the night. The kitchen even took the time to put caramel swirls on the plate - free. of. charge. I was thinking they were going to be like Minami and charge us $10 per plate plating fee, but they didn't, which was very good service, considering those swirls.
Plus, they gave us free dessert at the end too!
I had really wanted to hate this place because of the price and the location, but I have to be fair. It's not that bad. At first, I was annoyed because they brought out our main dishes as soon as they brought out my oysters. Why couldn't they wait until I finished my oysters first? Then they brought a lid to cover my plate so it won't get cold, which was very thoughtful. But some guy came over and asked me if I was done when I obviously had 3 oysters left to eat - just because I was taking notes on the flavour of the oysters on my phone. Maybe next time I should bring my notebook instead so it's not so rude. But really, guy, look at my plate. No, I'm not "done".
Our server was really good though. At first I thought she was giving us attitude because not all of us ordered drinks, but then she was much nicer and more professional by the time our food came.
The oysters were great, the sturgeon so-so, service was on par. Probably won't go back if I don't have to though. I can't say I recommend it either because I can get good oysters at The BlackBird and better cooked fish at Sandbar. And both places have quite decent service and prices. I wasn't wowed, but I wasn't angry at this place either.
