The Keg

[Marlene]

Hubby and I zipped down to the Keg here in town last night for dinner. Now the Keg is not your upscale steak place by any means, but they usually provide a decent meal. And they have an outside patio .

Last night's special was a Sirloin steak with a blue cheese and bourbon butter sauce, sprinkled with walnuts. You have to know the Keg to know that this is pretty much a quantum leap for them. I was a little skeptical of the walnuts, but I ordered it anyway. Ihave to say I was pleasantly surprised. The steak was a perfect medium rare, with a nice crust on the outside. The sauce was a touch on the sweet side, but nevertheless pretty tasty.

I give them high marks for trying something new!

[malcolmjolley]

The Keg's OK. If I'm in a small Canadian city like Prince George or Thunder Bay, I'll often seek one out. At least they'll have a decent steak and a wine list with a little more than "Red" and "White" on it.

[kevin]

Thanks for the input. I am not even sure what Australian food is in many ways. I have researched it, but am wondering, what would constitute an Aussie menu. This is for a media event and VIP cocktail party.

Are Macadamain nuts, lamb & sweet potato cornbread, rabbit terrine with water biscuits, and Crayfish (I can't get yabbies in time) Consomme salad rolls seem Australian. I don't know and I am running out of time. HELP, anyone.

[jayt90]

In its early days, the Keg made sure the plates were consistent by having cooks refer to reference photos before the food went out. There were no chefs, and no special service items. Maybe they have advanced beyond that, now that there are so many well trained professionals available.

[riboflavinjoe]

THe dish you describe (blue, walnuts, bourbon) was also offered to me when i went to the montreal outlet on monday evening. but of course i opted for the roast beast, which was fine.

[prasantrin]

In its early days, the Keg made sure the plates were consistent by having cooks refer to reference photos before the food went out. There were no chefs, and no special service items. Maybe they have advanced beyond that, now that there are so many well trained professionals available.

Actually, they do the boil in the bag-type food preparation now. Everything is prepared (and I think portioned) somewhere else and just heated and served. The exception is the steaks which, from what I was told, come in those vacuum packed/cryovaced (how do you spell that) plastic bags and are cooked to order on a grill. You can actually order the steaks (raw), should you want to, and cook them yourself at home.

I, generally, don't eat at the Keg (the last time I ate there was roughly 5 years ago) though a friend who works there speaks very highly of them. Although their food is not really high-end eating, they train their staff very well in product knowledge. Once a month or so during staff meetings they try all the new foods so they'll know what to tell the customers. They even offer them wine tastings so they'll know which wines go best with which foods. I think they might have an executive chef somewhere that comes up with the new menu items, though no one on-site actually has to cook them. People start working there in university and then stay on even after they've gotten 9-5 jobs (in Winnipeg, there are even some teachers working there on weekends). They don't stay because they need the money, but because the working atmosphere is so wonderful.

[Marlene]

The other thing the Keg is very very good at, is customer service. If there's something wrong with your meal, they make it right, no questions asked. And usually, they'll either discount something from the bill or comp something.