"LONG WAIT TIMES FOR SO-SO FOOD"
Location: 755 Richards St, Vancouver
Telephone: 604-681-7011
Website: KINGSTON
Another local haunt for us Downtown work folk is the KINGSTON TAPHOUSE & GRILLE, a multi-layered sportsbar type eatery with a hidden patio and decent-sized drink list. While it is a good place to hang out and watch the game or have an informal team get-together, I've never been blown away with the food and that statement still holds true today.
I went to lunch at the KINGSTON with a co-worker around 12:20pm and were greeted with a fairly busy room. We were sat immediately to paruse the menu and within moments a waitress was there. We ordered the Asian Style Calamari to share, my friend ordered the Grilled Chicken Salad and I took on the Smoked Chicken Alfredo Pizza. The waitress commented that the new Calamari was much better than the old Calamari and then went on to describe what was in it. My friend and I looked at each other awkwardly since I had already ordered the dish, we didn't really need it sold to us after the fact but I appreciated the effort. Alas, we were off to the races.
About 10 minutes later we were greeted with the extremely tasty Calamari which came with Serrano peppers and a pickled Ginger dipping sauce. The waitress was right, the calamari was great, crispy but not oily and the sauce was out of this world, so far, so good. After our plates were cleared however, we waited over 20 minutes for our entrees. My friend's salad came with Blue Cheese even though she asked for Goat Cheese (and on the menu the salad actually comes with Feta), they swapped it immediately. My pizza was big and loaded with toppings (Chicken, onions, 3 types of Mushrooms)although it was somewhat dry, almost like it had been under the heat lamp for too long. Even if it were fresh, it needed some kick to really make the flavour come alive.
To the KINGSTON's credit, they did take off 40% of the salad due to the error but that doesn't make up for the eons it took to recieve the meal. A long wait time for so-so food does not solidify repeat business and I think the KINGSTON will not be at the top of my list the next lunch hour someone at work asks me where I want to go to eat.
RATING: 3/10 FULL BELLIES
1 comment:
I love their chicken club w/ avocado. I now put avocado on chicken burgers whenever I can.
But I do recall the service being slow. Not only that, but I remember calling ahead to say there was a somewhat large group of us coming (8 or so). They said they could squeeze us in, and that was after a previous night where they said they couldn't get us in at all. When we showed up? Empty. Did it fill up afterward? No.
Poor service and hospitality, but decent food.
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