Chan's Personal Blog

Last week, Myron got back from his trip to China, so we decided to go out for dinner to catch up on stories. I also just got back tax return back, so it was a blatant excuse to try out another high-end restaurant.

This time, we settled upon Fire & Water - Fish and Chop House, which is situated inside The Mariott Hotel. I first heard about it from the Dine Around Town promotion. I was interested in the restaurant because they feature steak, chops, and prime rib. The prices were similar to The Keg which is good because I've been trying to replace The Keg as my number one place to go for good steaks. I'm disliking The Keg these days because their steaks aren't as amazing as they used to be, and I've been able to find better steaks without having to pay a premium. The other thing I absolutely hate is walking in, and getting looked up and down by some snobby hostess because I'm not super dressed up, and I don't have gel in my hair. I absolutely hate restaurants that treat you differently because of the way you dress.

Anyway, we entered the Mariott's lobby, and found the restaurant. From the exterior, it looked like a really fancy restaurant. We enter, and the hostess seats us without prejudice or attitude. Looks like they passed the first test, this was a good sign.

The interior of the restaurant looked very modern and warm. They had very nice comfortable chairs, and a lot of hard wood. It felt like a very relaxing lounge with a warm atmosphere to it. Myron described it as being swanky, but not pretentious.

As I scanned through the menu, I noticed that they featured a lot of seasonal and local ingredients whenever possible. For example, they featured chickens raised organically from the Cowichan Bay. I was eyeing the prime rib dinner because that's what they're famous for. They also had many cuts of steaks to choose from, and you could pick the sauce that you wanted.

We finally settled on the Chef's suggestion 3 course meal which was $32. Again, we usually go with the chef's suggestion because it gives us a broad sample of what's being offered, and these are items that the chef is prominently featuring.

I went with the Pan Seared Digby Scallops as an appetizer, the Grilled Flank Steak with a warm red potato salad and seasonal vegetables, and for dessert, a chocolate Creme Brule. Myron also had the Scallops, and for the entree, a Seared Pink Trout over a bed of lentils, and a Banana Dome for dessert.