I was in dire need of a getaway over the summer and we just didn't get around to it. But, since starting my new job though, I've discovered these things called Long Weekends! Oh my! I can have three days off in a row?! Fabulous idea, and on top of that I earn Vacation Days. What a big girl job I have hey? So I packed my bags and we hit the road to Kelowna for four days, the weekend after Labour Day.
At the crack of dawn we are up, ready to begin our 6 hour drive, so after a stop at Timmy's we head west. Are we there yet? Now, M and I have traveled TWICE across the country in a car, but I still prefer to fly. I'm loaded up with magazines, snacks and pop, but after hour 4 I'm antsy. I want out of the car. We did the usual stop in Golden for McDonald's, but that was hours ago! I'm hungry!!
Our hotel was mediocre (this isn't a hotel review blog) so we dropped our stuff and went for a walk. On the way around M was pointing out places he's eaten at before and things I might like. There's a lot of restaurants in this city. I can't decide, and we'd need to be here for weeks to try everything out. But we pass by a pub that M hasn't been to and we go on in. Patty O'Bryans / Carlos O'Bryans is a big family friendly Irish pub downstairs and a smaller roof top patio upstairs. I bee-lined it for the patio. M is not a fan of patios and so 99% of the time we're inside. F that. We are on vacation, and it's hot out, so sit your ass down was my thoughts on the topic. Oh well, look at that, I can smoke on the patio. I get that it's probably not why I should love the place, but hey, it's nice to be able to. The server took a little while to come over, but I didn't mind. I was too busy taking pictures of the view and looking around. The menus crack me up! The food menu is normal, plastic covered, but the drink menu - wow. It's practically a book. Probably 8 pages long, it lists every single drink they make. Four pages of cocktails. I guess in such a tourist town your server can't stand at your table for 10 minutes reciting drink choices. She's way too busy, and you're way too indecisive. Many of the drinks come in their own unique glassware including M's favourite Leprechaun Urine. I was happier with a double Long Island Iced Tea. Or four of them. By now though I'm starving! Let's Eat!
I'm trying to live a little here in Kelowna, and being on vacation I'll try new things. So I ordered the pizza. (Stop laughing, right now). It was a Margarita Flatbread and no, I've never had one of these before.
God Damn. This is incredible. F'ing great. And even more adjectives that I won't bother you with. The toppings were perfectly laid out, so you never had a bite of just one thing. It was really big and after my first bite, dammit I didn't want to share. M should have got his own. Oh, the melted cheese, the crusty bread, the basil infused oil. Also, I ate every single tomato on the plate. I need to go back to Kelowna just to eat this flatbread again. And again. And again. Time to leave though, we still have to have room for dinner.
After a short nap at the hotel it was about to be dinner time, and I was hungry. That is what happens. M was not. That is also what happens. We watched a movie and finally I was able to drag him out for dinner. Turns out we are not spry young chickens any more and at 830pm I didn't want to venture far or stay out late. The pub across the street fit the bill perfectly. Surprisingly empty for that time of night on a Friday, but we got a table that was comfy and quiet, so I'm not complaining. Doc Willoughby's is exactly what you want a pub to be, and to top it off they have a Roast Beef dinner special. Oh heaven. We didn't even need the menus.
T: *to server* Two pints of Canadian, and two dinner specials please!
T: *to M* You can have my Yorkshire Pudding.
M: What? You don't like them??!
T: Nope, hate them... too much like a croissant, which you know I don't like.
M: OK, well then you can have my broccoli.
See how well we work together? :)
Man, that was also delicious. Huge portion, tons of gravy. Just what you want when you're looking for some home cooking. I licked my plate. Well, no, but I was really damn close. (I think I did the finger swipe through the plate then licked my finger). I actually ate the remainder of M's plate. Scored myself a good two more ounces of roast beef and gravy there, couldn't let that go to waste now could I? So now, it's 10 o'clock on Friday night of vacation. I'm going to bed. So much more food to eat tomorrow! Surprisingly Doc Willoughby's is doing a Pig Roast the next night!! I wonder if we will eat dinner there two nights in a row?
You know what happens to me on vacation? I wake up at the exact same time that I do for work. 7:00 am, on the dot, I'm up. And I'm the kind who once they are up can't go back to sleep. I play on my phone, I read, then I go check out the continental breakfast the hotel offers. Fruit, toast, cereal, bagels. Oh wait - no bagels, because the lady in front of me cut her bagel all fucked up now she's jammed the toaster. It might be on fire. Idiot. Moving on, I get whatever I can fit on those dinky little plates they give you, and thank the lord for my years being a waitress. I load everything up and head to the elevator. Good thing I'm bendy because if it weren't for my toes to push the elevator button I was going to have to resort to using my tongue. (if you're wondering why M isn't there to help me, it's because he's abnormal and can shut off his internal clock. It's only 7:52 am don't forget, so he's still sleeping).
We hit the road later in the morning hoping for a cute little breakfast place. Something you'd find on Triple D or YGEH. No such luck apparently. This town has a huge love for sushi and pubs, but I can't do that for breakfast. I need some bacon & eggs in a bad way. We stroll along the water hoping to just run into somewhere to eat. Turns out, there isn't a whole lot of restaurants directly on the water. So we end up at Rose's Waterfront Pub. Fitting name I think to myself, but I also think they'll have a little breaky special, let's try it out. This pub is enormous!! Including the patio I'll bet it seats 500 people! Super fast service, because we were there at 10:59 waiting for them to open. The girl had nothing better to do than come over immediately. But they don't have any breakfast. Shit. Now I'm being a little grumpy because, well, that's just how I am. We don't think there is anywhere else to go, so I will shut up and order. Ooh! Beef Dip! We all know how I feel about that!
When it arrives my mood instantly changes. This looks incredible. An enormous portion of beef, added a little mozzarella cheese on there too for added gooey-ness. The bun is so soft, no crusty crust that will tear open the roof of my mouth. And the fries I upgraded to poutine. Am I ever glad I did. The fries on their own were very good, but when you add gravy and real cheese curds it just makes all the difference. Wicked yummy. There was no way I could finish my meal, so when M helped me out, even he was impressed. As we've learned he's a man of few words, but he certainly agreed that this was probably the best Beef Dip/Poutine combo I've had. Even though I wasn't a big fan of the city itself, there sure are some great places to eat, and Rose's is one of them.
Away we wander, me still thinking about that breakfast (lunch?), M wondering how he's going to have room for appy's when we meet up with a friend later in the day. I remind him that we are going back to Patty O'Bryan's, and he decides he won't eat, he'll just have drinks. Fine with me, then I don't have to share :)
This pub seems to be the place to go. The patio is nearly full and we've got to find a table for three. We did get one, right near the service bar, which was kind of neat. Our server was always nearby and we could watch the bartenders make all kinds of concoctions. Granted, I did see her cheat and read off the menu to find the ingredient she was missing. But I can forgive - remember - 8 pages of drinks listed! I can barely remember 8 kinds of vodka we serve. On the recommendation of our server we ordered the Bacon Wrapped Scallops, and on our friends recommendation the Pachos. Side bar: I actually was disappointed with the lack of seafood in this city. I was under the impression that being so close to the Pacific Ocean that there would be seafood all over the place. Not true. Sushi was it. (We were told that Kelowna is very heavily influenced by Asians). Sad panda. I wanted lobster and crab legs, so would have to settle for scallops.
And they were just ok. Could have had the same thing here in Calgary for the same price. I can't even describe them to you because they were that non-distinguishable. The Pachos on the other hand I recall very well. Essentially lattice cut fries, covered in seasoning salt. Sounds OK so far right? Then they add Cheddar Cheese. That's all, just cheese fries. The dip they serve is called " a bowl of Emerald Isle ". It's yellow-green, with flecks of green (don't ask me what) and didn't taste very good. Although M and our friend devoured it, so I'm the odd man out here. Even after we left M was still going on about how good the Pachos were. Maybe he's on to something and I should try them again. Or maybe I won't and I'll just order the flatbread again :).
Dinner time has arrived, and this time, we both aren't hungry. After a long walk on the beach (lol) we settled in to watch a movie, planning on dinner afterwards. By the time we get to the restaurant it's about 9pm and the host tells us there is an hour and a half wait. WHAT?? At nine o'clock?!? To be honest, I knew that was going to happen. Raudz is the most happening place to eat in all of Kelowna. I had read some reviews and had friends demand I go there. But sorry guys, not going to wait that long at that time of night. The Keg is next door, and there is no wait. I'm a bit sad that we don't get to eat at Raudz, but I know that The Keg has crab legs. Alright, I'm in. (I have a thing where, on a trip, I don't like to eat at a place we have in Calgary - could have just stayed there and eaten at The Keg). But it was lovely, my steak was perfect, my crab legs were buttery. Yum. No need to write too much on The Keg. Except to point out that after our server took our order we didn't see her again until we paid the bill. That's crappy service. With a full belly we contemplated going over to this bluesy type bar we saw for some drinks. Then we contemplated going back to the room and sleeping off our food babies. Guess which one happened?
During our afternoon stroll the day before we had stumbled on to not one, but three breakfast places!! Why couldn't I have seen those the other morning? The Bohemian Cafe is the one I had picked out as my bacon & egg savior for the next morning and we were up and at 'em bright and early. (Remember my 7 am alarm clock?) We were checking out that morning, so even M had to get up early. Car packed and I was ready to go! Breakfast! My favourite meal - thanks mom! The wait wasn't too long, maybe only ten minutes, but with such a big, inviting interior time passed quickly people watching and reading the fun wall art. I needed some chocolate milk stat. When I asked for the biggest possible glass our server chuckled. I was dead serious. I did get a large glass, but when she joked about bringing me the carton I was sad she didn't. She had no idea I would gladly have paid for, and drank, an entire 1L carton. I just love milk. A lot.
Right, breakfast, sorry-milk rant. Food was delicious. Free-range eggs (not that I give a crap) and bacon and toast and hashbrowns. Are we seeing trend in my breaky choices? I noticed there was no jam caddy on the table, but a jar of what I would assume is strawberry jam. I thought I was being so brave to try it. Shit. That is good jam. I ate every single piece of toast, minus the one that I gave to M to try the jam, and for me that's impressive. I usually leave the toast until the end and then am too full to eat it. Not this time. It was homemade, wholewheat-ish and heavenly. I am such a happy girl right now. I don't ever want to leave.
That's a lie, I do. We booked out of Kelowna right after breakfast, a day early because I was a little bit bored and a lot missed my doggie. But on the way home there was one last stop to make.
I love a burger. From almost any place (there are two places that I can name where I don't like the patty) but overall, I love them. So you can imagine my delight when I found out that there is a Carl's JR. in Vernon, right on the highway heading back home. Pretty exciting stuff to get an American drive-thru chain like that up here. They are few and far between. So we order the Super Star with Cheese combo to share. I said all of two sentences the whole time I ate, and not really for a good reason.
T: The fries taste like Wendy's
T: The burger tastes like Burger King.
We had waited in the drive-thru for about ten minutes. Not being from here we aren't sure if this is usual or not, but it was way too long for a fast food joint. I wonder if we had hyped it up so much in our heads and to each other that we were doomed to be disappointed. M agreed with me on the fries, but disagreed about the burger. See he thinks that BK has a burnt charcoal taste. I do not and think BK makes a better patty than many other joints. If you've ever eaten at either Wendy's or BK then you already know the taste, not much reason to go into detail. M is quite a bit happier with Carl's JR, and even comments that having a burger with mushrooms would be awesome. We will just agree to disagree on this one I suppose I eat most of the fries, he eats most of the burger and we are back on the road.
Overall, Kelowna was a nice vacation. I tried new things, some I loved, some I hated! It's way too difficult to go there for just three days and eat everything you want. We'll have to make a trip back there next summer, and I'll bring Ramsay. That way I won't miss him. And I'll take more time off work. And I'll bring my fat girl pants.
OP EDIT: I am aware that Kelowna is not NEAR the ocean -- I am simply implying that it is more near than Calgary is. Van -> Kel : 4.5 driving hours. Van -> Cal : 11.5 hours. Surely they can get fresh fish more easily than Calgarians. GAWD - quit hating.
ReplyDelete