Dining Out
Karl
Wells
Velma's Restaurant
264 Water Street
Ph. 576-2264
As the plate of tasty breaded, butterflied shrimp was
- without undo ceremony - placed on our table I found my eyes diverted from the
food and onto the border of the glazed off-white plate. There, very clearly,
was a logo in dark brown that read "Stel Hotels." I remembered The
Battery used to be a Stel hotel but was Velma's a Stel property? I'm the sort
who tends to dwell on these details. I became briefly preoccupied with trying
to reconcile the presence of this odd plate in Water Street’s so-called
“traditional” Newfoundland restaurant. Finally, I made a best guess that Velma
or her agent must have purchased a bunch of Stel Hotels plates at some sort of
sale. It's not something I would recommend, no matter the savings. If a
customer is going to be staring at a logo he or she should be staring at one
advertising the establishment they're patronizing.
It was a very ordinary dark Sunday evening and we had
wandered into Velma’s for supper. The restaurant was quite busy - always a good
sign - but there were five or six tables still available. A couple was already
waiting to be seated, standing patiently at the entrance. I watched as servers
passed us by, first one, and then another without a nod of acknowledgement.
Finally, the couple ahead was motioned to a table, as were guest and myself.
For the rest of the evening yours truly, guest and it appeared most other
diners at Velma’s were treated with indifference.
The atmosphere at Velma’s that evening was not
relaxed. Rushed servers had created a degree of tension in the room - a room
that looked like an outport kitchen, with vintage sewing machine in a corner
and things like an old-fashioned hand mixer and moose carving on the walls. My
guest said he felt like an “unwanted guest at the home of a colleague who
didn’t warn the spouse he was bringing someone home for supper.” Exposed
low wattage incandescent bulbs in the ceiling fixtures and zero table lighting
added to the unnecessary gloom.
Most of the servers avoided eye contact with customers
that night. In timely fashion, food was perfunctorily laid on tables in a
manner you might see done in some unhappy institution, but not in a successful
restaurant. I tried to understand what was happening. Servers were very busy
that evening tending to perhaps a dozen tables. That, no doubt, was cause for
the three servers on duty to feel a little frazzled. Clearly, Velma’s was
understaffed. However, that was no excuse for the brusque treatment shown paying
customers that night.
We asked for a couple of glasses of Velma’s house
wine, Concha y Toro. The wine tasted stale, not at all like the Concha red I’m
familiar with. I suspected it was wine that had been sitting in the bottom of a
mostly empty bottle for too long. Even though the establishment had a
well-stocked lounge attached, I concluded that wine might be rarely ordered at
Velma’s. So, take my advice. Stick with beer or liquor at Velma’s.
Velma’s pea soup was delicious, as was the slice of
freshly baked white bread that came with it. The soup had lots of flavour
thanks to the presence of plenty of root vegetables - mainly carrot - and
several cubes of salt meat.
Guest had ordered Velma’s salmon fillet but asked if
it could be “grilled” instead of poached or fried. Our server said she’d check
but never did. Eventually, she returned and without explanation plunked a
poached salmon fillet on our table. It was very good. I don’t often have my
salmon poached but it’s certainly an option I’ll choose more often. Velma’s
poached salmon was delicate, moist and free of cooking oil calories.
Pan fried cod seems to be our national dish in
Newfoundland. We could do worse. After all, what could be more satisfying than
a beautiful floured and seasoned cod fillet fried in flavourful scrunchions?
Velma’s was tasty enough, having been cooked for exactly the right length of
time. It also flaked nicely and wasn’t at all dry. However, the oil in which it
was cooked must have been burnt or used before because the surface of the fish
had a dark hue with black bits here and there across its presentation side. The
fries that came with my fish were plentiful and slightly overdone. They
dominated the plate, where codfish should rightly have been star.
For dessert I was anxious to try Velma’s homemade
lemon meringue pie. Several people around our table had received it and it
looked good, especially the high meringue top. When my slice arrived I couldn’t
believe my eyes. For a second I thought we must have been caught up in some
sort of hidden camera This Hour has 22 Minutes sketch. The serving of pie was
in multiple pieces, perhaps a dozen. While it actually tasted good, it looked
like an accident. The server said it was really fresh and got broken as she was
trying to get it off the pie plate. If
that was the case she should have kept cutting until she’d gotten an acceptable
piece for serving. What was put in front of me should never have found its way
out of the kitchen, delicious as it was.
Finally, the noise level at Velma’s was almost too
much to bear. The area where dirty dishes and cutlery was received was a small
walled off section at the centre of the room. The entrance to that area had no
swinging door; it was wide open and the rubber pan that held dirty cutlery was
positioned at the entrance itself. Servers were tossing handfuls of spoons,
knives and forks into the pan with so much force the noise was deafening. As I
left Velma's the crashing, clanging sound was still ringing in my ears.
If restaurant reviews were only about the food my
assessment of Velma's would have been different. However, they are not. Dining
Out is about the total experience. When venturing out to dine at a restaurant
we want all our senses to find it relaxing and enjoyable. To be sure, the food
and its presentation make up seventy per cent of my "grade" if you
will. But, ambience, decor and above all, service, account for the rest. Those
aspects can mean the difference between a fantastic time and a mediocre one.
Our meal for two at Velma’s - including two glasses of
wine and gratuity - cost $80.00.
Velma’s was not wheelchair accessible and the noise
level - due mostly to the clanging cutlery - was high.
Best Points:
Good food.
Areas for Improvement:
Ratings Category:
Velma's Restaurant gets 7 points.
7 points = satisfactory, 7.5 points = good, 8 points =
very good, 9 points = excellent, 10 points = perfection