CILANTRO & CHIVE - LACOMBE, AB, CANADA
- Feb 7, 2019
- 2 min read
As those of you in central Alberta know, Cilantro & Chive is one of the favorite places around for pseudo-gourmet casual eats. I've been here a couple of times before, and was fairly impressed with the quality of food. I don't know if it was just this particular day, or if they changed their recipe for the burger patty, but it definitely wasn't what I was expecting from all the hype.
The Grizzly Paw Grapefruit Soda - everything I've ever had from the Grizzly Paw Brewery has been awesome. This soda wasn't overly sweet, just nice and refreshing.
Dill Pickle Poutine - There were about 8 thin, deep fried pickle slices on the whole thing, and the gravy had a super weird, fake smoke flavor to it. The fries were good, but man, that gravy just overpowered the whole dish. The dill sauce on top cut the gravy flavor a bit, but there wasn't enough of it to balance out the whole dish. Wish there had been way more pickles in it. If something is advertised as a dill pickle poutine, you'd expect to have dill pickles through the whole thing, not just sprinkled on top of a regular poutine.
Alberta Beef Burger - in-house pressed Alberta beef patty, pepper bacon, aged cheddar and basil aioli on a pretzel bun. I love burgers. I grew up eating family-farmed beef and bison. I frequently order the burger at a restaurant as a food litmus test. I don't know what was off about this burger, but the texture and flavor were just off. Like they overworked the meat and added some spices that didn't go. The greens on the burger were wilted and unappetizing, and the salad was a standard, run-of-the-mill restaurant caesar salad from a bottle. I did really enjoy the pretzel bun.
Overall, I left underwhelmed. Because they have such good word of mouth, I will definitely try their food again, see if it was just an off day. Keep your eyes peeled for Part 2... Fingers crossed!
A
Comments