For our second anniversary my wife Kelly and I went to Casino Rama to catch the Collective Soul show and stay in their hotel for the night.
Part of our agenda was to try the new Simcoe Yardhouse restaurant that had just opened a day or two prior to our visit.
We checked in to the hotel, picked up our show tickets at the box office and headed to the restaurant. Upon our arrival we were greeting by several smiling faces anxiously awaiting to assist us. Althought it was just the two of us, we were seated in a large round booth that could likely accommodate five or six adults. Being that the booth was on a raised platform, and in the front corner of the seating area, we had a good view of the entire restaurant, the casino floor, and of course the large video screens showing sporting events.
Our server was Holly B. If by chance Holly B. ever reads this blog, let it be known that you were a fantastic server and both my wife and I would be pleased to be served by you again.
The menu has many unique items on it, as well as some classics, all with their own unique twists.
Since we don't often drink alcohol, Kelly drank Coke and I had iced tea with our meal.
For our starters we ordered the Crispy Pork Bellies and an order of Poutine, which we shared.
For her main, Kelly had the Burger of the Day which was a Philly Cheese Steak Burger.
For my main I had the Steak and Mushroom Pie.
Our desserts were a Molten Turtle Cake and a Warm Apple Betty.
When ordering I asked Holly B. to ensure that no more food got served until we were done the current course. I absolutely despise when I'm one or two bites into my appetizer and my main course shows up. Holly did a great job with delivery times, which only added to a good experience.
Now for the food reviews:
Cripsy Pork Bellies ($9.95): These came with 3 different dipping sauces. The first being a hot sauce, second a lemon cream sauce, and the third was a beer mustard. The pork bellies were nice and crispy, and surprisingly not overly greasy like one might think they would be. The hot sauce was our favourite of the three. The lemon cream sauce seemed more appropriate for a fish dish, and the beer mustard just seemed awkward and unpleasant to both Kelly and I.
Poutine ($8.50): This was basically supposed to be a standard poutine. Fries, gravy, smoked cheese curds, and maple candied bacon. The serving size was quite reasonable for 1 or 2 people. Unfortunately they neglected to put the bacon on. The gravy had excellent flavour, but was slighly lacking in quantity. The cheese curds were plump and yummy.
Guinness Steak and Mushroom 'Pie' ($13.25): Traditionally, when I think of a steak and mushroom pie, I think of a pie crust stuffed with steak, mushrooms, possibly onions, in a thick gravy. This isn't what this menu item is. The 'pie' was served in a small earthenware pot and consisted of tender beef chunk, a couple whole mushrooms, and a whole lot of runny gravy. The taste was good, but the dish wasn't what I expected. No pastry. However, it was served with a tea biscuit which came with an absolutely incredible honey butter.
Burger of the Day ($12.95): Today's burger was the Philly Cheese Steak burger. A standard burger topped with swiss cheese and mixed peppers (red, green, yellow, orange). The burger was cooked well and had decent flavour, but didn't knock my socks off. Then again, I've never had a burger do this. I see TV shows where the hosts make such a huge deal about a burger. Some of them appear close to, or just past a foodgasm. I'm still waiting for a burger to one day cause me to spontaneously foodgasm.
Turtle Molten Cake ($7.95): This is a warm chocolate cake served with caramel and pecans. Similar to almost all lava cakes served in any restaurant. Good, but common.
Warm Apple Betty ($7.95): For a dessert, this is quite a large portion. I don't remember the exact cost of this item, but it's very much worth it compared to most desserts. It's served hot in a large glass tumbler with ice cream on top. This was the perfect end to a good meal. I can't say enough about this dish. It was bursting with flavour and played on many senses. It had warm and cold, crunchy and smooth. Mmmmmmmmm. We will have this again. Who knows, we might skip dinner and go straight to this dessert.
Total Cost of Meal was just under $75
Overall: Although it may appear there are some negative aspects to this review (missing bacon, etc) we must all remember that this restaurant just opened. There will be a learning curve and some hurdles they need to overcome. Kelly and I will certainly go back (probably often).
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