Swiss
Chalet Rotisserie & Grill
R3P 2M4
1-866-439-0439
There are
chain restaurants, and there are CHAIN restaurants. Some chains hire an Executive onsite to somewhat
customise their corporate menus, while some run everything from headquarters,
wherever headquarters may be. Witness
Swiss Chalet where the telephone number is toll-free, and the online ordering
menu asks for your location among dozens of dots speckled on a continental
map. For more on multinational chain
restaurants, read my article at: http://squidthecook.blogspot.ca/2013/01/commentary-local-vs-chain.html
This
location sits in the burgeoning Kenaston Common area among the micro-metropolis
of restaurants, shops and mega-stores.
Although the building is quite new, the style and décor derive from a
bygone time, and not in a good, stylish or retro manner. The dining room just looks like it needs an
update even though it’s new. The
understaffed servers run frantically but they continue to do a satisfactory job
(but the uniforms need to go).
As for the
food, you find the usual diner-like fare, with some more upscale items. The Fish & Chips come with competent
fries, not too greasy and not too soggy.
There are a few burnt edges but nothing overwhelming. The side of slaw tastes all right, but plain
and ordinary (like the kind you order out of your grocery store deli). The fish has a nice crispy batter that’s
fried well. Unfortunately, the cod
itself tastes fishy, telling me that it’s been sitting in the freezer a long,
long time.
The strip
loin steak comes as ordered, medium-rare in our case. It looks nicely done with charred grill marks
on the outside and a beautiful pink hue on the inside. The searing tastes fine as well, but it seems
like the griller forgot to season the meat.
There’s no flavour at all to this steak.
Adding some salt and pepper helped immensely but this should be grilling
101.
The Pesto
Penne could also use some seasonings but the rich and garlicky pesto makes up
for it (kind of). There are only two
slices of mushrooms and I would have liked to see a lot more, if nothing else,
for the texture. The texture needs quite
a bit of help as the pasta is cooked well beyond al dente and approaching the
point of mushy. By contrast, the rock
solid sides of toast have the consistency and density of bagels.
The Chalet
boasts about taking 50 years to master the art of hand-basting and
slow-roasting their chickens in a rotisserie oven. Apparently they need another 50 years of
learning since the chicken tastes has hard as the toast. The outside of the overcooked meat approaches
plastic consistency, hard and peeling off the interior meat. The interior tastes so bone, dust dry that if
feels like a vacuum hose has been sucking all the moisture out my mouth for the
last 20 minutes.
To
replenish your moisture, the scant beverage menu offers little more than the
most basic beers and wines. I would like
to drown away my memories of this meal but it’s better just to move on. Swiss Chalet may have had its day but its
food, philosophy and ambiance is an echo of a time long gone.
*½ /5
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