I have been wondering if the move from Langford to Victoria would be a wise choice or a regretful one for Smoken Bones. Victoria does tend to be a magnet for the granola munchers, vegetarians and vegans alike. Whereas, Langford's roots are still made up of the blue collar and redneck carnivores.
However, I can't seem to argue with the packed tables and line ups on a Friday night at their new "Hudson" location. They have stepped away from the minimalist decor of their former venue and have revamped their look with a trendy open ceiling - post and beam feel. Regardless, of their new look and larger location, the aroma when you first walk in is still that of smoky delicious smelling barbecue.
Now, this is where are night starts to go sideways. The server took 15-20 minutes to take our order. When she did (from their dine around stay in town menu), she wasn't familiar enough with the menu to know the wine pairings; instead, my wife had to explain each of them to her. Granted her or the menu might be new (maybe both), but you shouldn't have to ask for the type of wines - I am sure the bartenders are familiar with them.
After waiting another 20 minutes, or so, our appetizers finally arrived. My appy was truly delicious (fried pork wings), but everyone else wasn't as impressed with theirs.
Over an hour into our night - dinner finally arrived. I ordered their catfish with a side of butter cabbage and my wife had the Pear and Bacon Cured Pork Chop. Both meals were okay, but nothing to rave about. The butter cabbage which I have loved in the past fell short. For food that took so long, they undercooked the cabbage so much that it was almost raw.
Finally for dessert and another 20 minutes later it arrived. Who knew it took 20 minutes to scoop ice cream and heat a crumble and cut a slice of cake... The Peanut Butter Crunch Cake was way overpowering and altogether gross. The Peach Cobbler was okay, but the overabundance of nutmeg ruined it. The Bacon Ice Cream was decent, but surprisingly enough I couldn't taste the bacon.
Two hours and forty five minutes later we finally got our bill and left. I feel that I have given Smoken Bones enough opportunities to impress me, but they always seem to drop the ball. Their service was lack luster and extremely slow and not unlike every other meal I have eaten their, the food was mediocre.
Best of luck Smoken Bones - I don't think I'll be back.
4 comments:
Unfortunately, I have to agree. Much better value at other downtown eateries. I hope they figure it out and we will try them one more time next year before writing them off totally.
They had really dropped the ball in Langford the year or so leading up to their closure. I had assumed it was because they knew they were relaunching in Victoria and just ho-hummed their way through the motions. Unfortunately, it seems it's carried over to the new location. I'll hold judgment until I get down there, of course, to be fair, but between the smarmy front end manager attempting to use social media for good (and ends up looking like a jerk) and the bad reviews, I'm setting my expectations low.
Just tried this place with friends and boy were we all disappointed. The food is very bland tasting and the BBQ has barely any flavour at all (we all had to add salt to make it taste even decent). The whole experience was very lack luster and none of us will be back. Not sure how long this place will last.
tried to post this on their website's "contact us" 3 times, but just got error messages - FYI - was into your store on the weekend & after standing at the front looking for a sign to tell us whether or not to seat ourselves for about 4 minutes - the one girl working came and sat us at quite a dirty table (seriously consider getting rid of the weird naugahyde table covers) she did come back a few minutes later to wipe the table off... a bit... with something blue in a spray bottle... my pregnant wife was more put off than i was, but we ordered drinks (Brisk iced tea/whatever is the worst, BTW) and they only took a minute or 2. we checked out the menu, made our decisions, then sat & watched this girl running around for over ten minutes. other customers were walking around to find her and ask for drinks, or just place orders... we left a $5 for the drink & went to pig, where we had a delicious real brewed iced t, pulled pork poutine & a boss hog... awesome. i hope you can use this info. good luck
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