Cameo

[Ling]

Has anyone been?

I think I'm going there on Tuesday.

Any recommendations?

[vandan]

as mentioned before the sign over the door advertising big al's cooking is no longer and the menu makes no mention of him either, the only connection seems to be jambalaya on the menu so i think its safe to say the big al connection might well be no more

[vandan]

oh and also saw chef dina (part owner) on city cooks and again no mention of big al

[Ling]

Oh, do you (or anyone else) know where Big Al is cooking now?

[vandan]

back at gastown rossini's?

[Mooshmouse]

If it's not for me to say, don't do it, Lorna. Just don't do it. A couple of us took one for the team and tried it out a few weeks ago on a weekday when, unbeknownst to us, Big Al wasn't in the kitchen. Not good.

[peppyre]

Not good is the understatement of the year. Horrific is more appropriate. I don't even think I could brave it if Al was in the kitchen. Don't go!

[Daddy-A]

If it's not for me to say, don't do it, Lorna.  Just don't do it.  A couple of us took one for the team and tried it out a few weeks ago on a weekday when, unbeknownst to us, Big Al wasn't in the kitchen.  Not good.

←

Not good is the understatement of the year.  Horrific is more appropriate.  I don't even think I could brave it if Al was in the kitchen.  Don't go!

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Okay now I'm curious. I've had some bad meals with both of you, but nothing that's ever elicited this sort of repsonse.

Do we get a blow by blow?

A.

[peppyre]

If anyone would like a blow by blow, feel free to PM me.

[Mooshmouse]

I'm never fond of posting about a bad restaurant experience, especially if I've only been there once. However, I think I've dined out enough to know when bad is bad.

To me, good ribs mean meat that's tender and nearly falling off the bone, coated with a deep, rich sauce. The ribs that I had at Cameo were nowhere near that: tough, remarkably overcooked meat covered in something reminiscent of shrimp cocktail. I ate 1 1/2 of the 3 ribs that I was served and that was a stretch. Thank goodness I had some steamed broccoli to tide me over nutritionally.

Peppyre's chicken jambalaya was served atop mashed potatoes. Far from traditional, but whatever. I won't comment too much on the taste of this dish since I only sampled one small mouthful, but I do remember that the shrimp sitting atop the jambalaya were far from completely thawed.

To top it all off, service was very slow even though we were one of only three occupied tables in the restaurant. Peppyre had to get back to work within an hour, and I believe we waited close to 45 minutes before our lunch was served.

Would I go back and give it a second chance? Not likely unless I knew that significant changes had been made in the kitchen. Am I being unfair? No, and you'd say the same if you had the same experience that I did.

[Ling]

The ribs that I had at Cameo were nowhere near that:  tough, remarkably overcooked meat covered in something reminiscent of shrimp cocktail.

←

As in shrimp cocktail sauce?

vandan: I've looked at the menu for Rossini's but it doesn't seem very Cajun-inspired. No catfish for me tonight!

[vandan]

perhaps not but that was his last known gig

[appreciator]

^ I must concur with the less than stellar comments above.

Unfortunately, I can't recall what I had for lunch.... obviously not memorable. What still sticks in my mind to this day however was the offering of mashed potatoes with the jambalaya! WTF? Honestly... the mind totally boggles.

I hope they make some changes; it seems that the owners have a lot of heart but it's gonna be a hard sell in a tough location unless they can step up the food game.

My less than humble .02

[chef koo]

not too sure if people already talked about this in the opening and closing thread but does anyone know why he closed in the first place and more importantly to me why he won't go at it again? i just do'nt get it. he had a winning plan.