Canoe last night.....
 

So first off I have to say I love the Canoe. Usually great food. Always a great mixed drink.

Now to my rant.
I went there with the wife the other night. Sat down. 15 minutes for the water. Then 20 minutes for the first drinks to arrive. 25 minutes more for the salads to get there, and then over 45 minutes for the food to hit the table.
After wards it was 20 more minutes for the deserts. This is no exaggeration, I actually timed everything because I wanted to get home and see a show on TV. I also commented to the wife had we eaten at the VK we could have eaten and gone back and forth like 6 times. I wouldn't have minded the wait so much, but the Fire Roasted steak I had was way to gristly/fatty then I am used to for $24.00.
All toll it was two hours for dinner at the Canoe. Maybe just me but the poor waiter Tim, who was extremely nice by the way, was stretched out pretty thin. He had the whole left side of the building by himself. Not sure if 10 tables is the usual amount a waiter gets there at night.....But I had to feel bad for him. Well anyway just wanted to vent a bit......

I know I know, complain, complain... I had a good time with good company and that is all that should count...But it just wasn't the great night I am used to at the Canoe.

that's a bummer
 

...but this is one crappy time of the year to staff a restaurant. You go from the sublime to the ridiculous and people don't make reservations this time of year because they don't think they need to.

Now I want calamari!:liplick:

You had me at Calamari... Canoe serves the best calamari I have ever had!

LR- Sorry about your service issues, it is unfortunately that transitional period with the summer help still in college and school vacation weeks adding to diner counts. 2 hours is 45 minutes too long for me.

I'm puzzled...
 

What does not making a reservation or a tough time of the year for staffing have to do with a "chewey" ,tough , and fat piece of beef for $24.00. That problem comes from the chef...what's his excuse? Having never had a sub par meal at Canoe, I'm surprised. Hot beef jerky shouldn't cost that much!! Shame you had to wait for it..:confused:

Spotty
 

We have found the Canoe to be spotty recently in terms of service and quality too. I sent two emails to them and they did not respond to either, so I now feel that it is appropriate to post my experience.

It is remarkable that they have gone from such consistancy to mediocrity and management appears not to care. We used to consider it our favorite restaurant and now pretty much crossed it off the list. At the moment, we are enamoured with Lagos. The food has been great, reasonable and the service is consistantly good.

Jetskier:cool:

I was simply surprised. We had not been there in a while, and our last visit was excellent. I know you can't always tell how a steak is gonna look inside until you cut it. maybe i should have mentioned it, but i am not really into making a scene unless it is really horrible. This was just borderline bad. I was still chewing on it until a few minutes ago. Hey it was better than gum......:laugh:
Maybe I'll just get some Tenderloins down at the Wineing Butcher from now on.;)

Getting served $25 NH Holstein is not unheard of even in otherwise good restaurants. I've been disappointed at every spot around the lake short of Woodshed.


Having hear O Steaks is subpar, I now know not to bother with Canoe either.

Steaks
 

I've been getting pretty decent steaks at Avery's in Lakeport. You should give it a try. Patrick's is also good for steaks.

I have seen the owners at Patrick's pitch in whenever there is a shortage. I even seen Alan Beetle bus tables! That is a true dedication to the business. I have been in too many restuarants where the managers / owners are sitting around while the help are on overdrive!

To me dedication and compassion is what makes a business.

I just love the Canoes BIG seafood chowder so I brought my 11 year old son there for it last week (he's a chowder lover too). The base flavor was still there but it was WAY over salted...I'm getting thirsty just thinking about it. We didn't send it back but probably should have...the chef needs to taste dishes when they are individually crafted like the chowder before sending them out. That said, one misstep doesn't send me packing...he will get another chance.

I would expect spotty service this time of year. Ownership simply can't staff for a full dining room based on "hope" and so you will have some long waits. What the owner should be doing is limiting how many people can sit based on wait staff (not restaraunt seating capacity) and have people sitting in the waiting area and explain why AND except reservations. This way he won't lose the faith of the locals and locals just have to understand how this works and call in first if they want to be seated immediately.

As for the steak...there should be no excuse. A chef has to know the customer is paying $24 for a steak and send a $24 steak out or EXPECT it to come right back. If I got a $24 grizzly steak, I would ask for the manager on the spot and say "before I send this back, I want to make sure I'm being reasonable...do you feel comfortable charging $24 for this steak?"...if he says yes, I say "check please" and never come back. If he says no, I expect him and the chef to have a serious talk about the chefs future while a NICE steak is prepared for me and I get a complimentary cocktail while I wait.

Fairly easy to please
 

It doesn't really upset me too much when I get a sub par meal at a restaurant that is known to me to be to be good and which I frequent on a regular basis. Hey, we all have bad days and the wait person, cook, or chef can have an off night too. Disappointed, yes, but I won't write off a restaurant for a single bad meal, especially if other people in my party are happy with theirs.
What does upset me though, is their non responsiveness when I take the time and effort to email about a particular experience. It tells me that the owner or manager doesn't really care about their patrons' opinions based on their experiences.
If they don't care about my experience, then I find it difficult to support their business with future visits and/or recommendations to those who may ask.
I'm not saying I will bad mouth them....just that I may not recommend them.
We all work too hard to share our money with business owners who are not responsive to their customers' concerns.

Well, I am well known for my displeasure for the canoe.... that aside...

A bad piece of meat happens, I don't care where you go to eat. It just happens. As long as the next time you go back it is back to par, then don't worry about it.

As for the wait time well that is where I will stay out of this one, as I previously mention I don't like the canoe.

If I receive a bad meal, I send it back and order a replacement plate or something else. If everyone did that there would be better quality control!! Whatever kept you from calling the waitress over and saying that the piece of beef was too tough? etc Of course you have to send it back after one or two bites. You cannot eat most of the meal and then decide that it was not all that you had expected.

What I am reading here is that Canoe and The Woodshed have not been as good recently. Why not tell that to the owners while you are there? If that is too upsetting then you will probably not continue to dine there. Opps Woodshed was on a different thread. Number 20 post on "Where have all the restaurant customers gone?"

Good Afternoon,

I can agree with some of what everyone has posted. You are exactly right, there is no way we can fix something if we don't know about it. I will be the first to admit that you can get a tough piece of meat. I can tell you with 100% confidence that we buy all of our steaks from the same manufacturer and purveyor every week. I unfortunately have no control over mother nature and that works for seafood also. I would have and will have no problem replacing a meal if it was cooked incorrectly, over seasoned or tough. It actually benefits a restaurant to know these things, how else are we to remedy the problem and or stop that happening to another customer. I know people just deal with it ,and then post they are never coming back, I don't think that's the answer. I have had bad or improperly cooked meals at restaurants, I return if I know it's not the norm for them. I politely mention it to a manager or owner because i don't want it to affect their other guest, a common courtesy I guess, hoping it does not affect their business. I would hope people have the same courtesy towards us.

As for the service part of it, reservations definitely help but its a tough call this time of year, one Tuesday you can do 45 covers and the next Tuesday do 105, which was the case, sorry for the long wait time, my apologies. Is the solution to limit seating, yes to a point. Try telling a customer at the front desk there will be a 15 or 20 minute wait when you have empty tables, 8 out of 10 times that doesn't go over well. The customers that understand the business are ok, but then there are others who just get nasty. Its a fine line to walk and I think we do it very well. I am not going to blow smoke and tell you we are the best, everyone has room to improve, to error is human to forgive is divine, I wish that worked in this industry, especially when we would do our best to make every customer happy. Thank you everyone for there input, I will be sharing all of these posts with the staff and management to better serve you.

Scott Ouellette

Thank you for your reply Scott. Keep up the good work!

Thanks as well Scott. Your reply shows that you read the forum and care about it's readers opinions. A lot of people would just ignore it and keep on going.
I still love the Canoe. The drinks there are always perfect. Seriously I have never had a poorly poured drink at the Canoe....:D

Scott,
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. Full disclosure, the Canoe is one of our favorites.

I was thinking about your dilemma of the "curse" of too much business on a given night. Nothing can sour some of us more than a brutally slow experience when we are not in the mood for one. I was thinking about the common experience we have all had when we are told there is an hour wait for a table. When I hear that, I make an educated decision of weather to wait or bail. No hard feelings, I just don't want to make that big of an investment at that time. It cuts the wait for the folks behind me as well. I suspect the line reaches some kind of equilibrium where people are willing to wait a given number of minutes.

To my point, I wonder if their is any practical way to give me a chance to make a decision on the current meal cycle time as well. Is their a certain number of guest that a waiter or the kitchen gets to where your experience tells you that this is going to start being an issue for some customers? Is their a way to give me the option to make the investment in time or choose another option? I can imagine that it is a tough choice to discourage business but I would certainly be even more loyal to someone being honest with me.

Just thinking out loud. We are glad you care.

If the food is good and we have no place we have to be in a period of time, waiting is not a problem. But that is just this opinion. How about putting out small dishes with cheese and crackers or other inexpensive food baskets with rolls or bread sticks or something interesting? Nice people sometimes seem to get irritated when they are hungry thus having something there might help to make the wait more tolerable. Just offering a suggestion. Good luck. Going to be a great summer for all at our wonderful lake I hope.

So, why don't you answer the email sent via your web site? I sent you two emails discussing bad experiences and received no response. A truly customer oriented business would make a point of responding to such input.

Jetskier:cool:

How is it that reservations definitely help? I don't get it.... if I call then head over - reservation for two.. how will this help a restaurant ? Still seems like they say. wait a minute for this or that..
Then again.. you can walk in & they say "do you have a reservation?' I say no..only 2 of us & they act like I made a terrible mistake by not calling ahead & set a bad tone for the night.... Go figure !!!

Perhaps he didn't have time to read the e-mail to the business? Not everyone reads their mail everyday.:)

Very true. But it shows he does read this forum far more often than his email. No?

Why not go and talk this out? On our way to meet friends tonight we drove by Canoe some time between 6:30 and 7:00 PM and there was not a single space in the parking lot at Canoe. Talking is so much better than email as things can get confused in emails. Or call on the telephone?

Preferred a private dialog
 

I sent two emails via the Canoe website. The first was roughly a couple of months ago followed up by a second about 6 weeks ago. I think that enough days have gone by to expect a response. Since I sent an email and a followup, a response was an expected courtesy.

I would have preferred to direct my dissatisfaction in private...but that is difficult to do when there is no response. Since this is now a forum topic, the dialog is public...not my original intent.


Jetskier:cool:

Over the years talking to wait persons in better than average restaurants, the ideal number of tables for one person to serve seems to be Four..with Five tables being a stretch. Of course if one of the tables has a party of 10, then that changes things quite a bit.

I would think the Host/Hostess would be the one to assign tables to each waitstaff..depending on the table size and the experience of the person serving.

BTW: Anyone calling himself a Chef, should be able to pick up a piece of raw meat and Immediately KNOW if it is... or will be tough. A good Chef also has the Skill and Experience to take a "poor" piece of meat and make it quite edible. :) NB

Disclaimer: I have never owned, managed, or worked in a restaurant. I am just an paying observer.

answer
 

Calling then heading over isn't a reservation, it's a warning. A day or more in advance gives a restaurant time to properly staff for the night.

Parties of 2 won't knock a night over, but several of 4, 6, 8, or more without reservations can throw everyone from the hostess to the servers to the kitchen staff out of wack while they try to deal with 10-15 parties of 2-4.

I actually respond to 90% of all the emails into the restaurant, the rest go to the specific department. Through our website I have countless emails with no return email address that I cannot respond to. I will gladly answer your email, in fact here is my personal email if you like. scott@magicfoodsnh.com, feel free to email me anytime. I don't do alot of posting on the forum, I feel this is not a place for business owners to post but to respond to areas like above, my own personal opinion..

As for calling myself a chef. You can have a pretty good idea of the quality of meat or sefood by the look, smell and the feel, but tell you how it is going to eat after you cook it, impossible. I would never use a poor peice of meat or take a bad peice of meat or fish and MAKE it better, that is the sign of a real chef..

What..?
 

..Every email I get has a return email address indicating where it came from :look: NO..?? Maybe you need to address your Website Designer to find out why you can't SEE the email addresses. NB

No Bozo, as someone who has never worked, owned or managed a restaurant you seem like the last person who should tell a chef what they should or should not be able to do. Just because you have eaten at restaurants does not qualify you to pretend to know how to run one.

My emails had the return address (both of them) inserted in the email field as requested on the web page form. I sent two of them just to make sure that you received them. You can send me a private email on the forum and I will give you my address so you can dig them out. I am not going to write a third email at this point. I sent you two as a courtesy.

Jetskier :cool:

I just wanted to add onto this thread that my family had an excellent meal at Canoe this past Saturday night, and were especially impressed by the quality of the customer service. Our waiter was outstanding, and went far above and beyond what we expected. We hadn't been to Canoe in a while, but we'll definitely return.

Just in from Canoe. Don't need reservations unless you are more than five people was what I was told when I called to inquire. Don't know if that will be the case all the time or not.

The service was excellent. The parking lot was almost full with just about 6 spaces left at 7:00. So there were plenty of people but we were seated immediately and the waitress came right over and took our order.

The food was ordered and came right along. It was a good meal. One order of the lobster, shrimp and scallops with linguini. One order of the tuna. Two orders of the greens with walnuts, feta and dressing. Very pleasant atmosphere. Didn't see any problems at all actually.

Men are from Mars...
 

My daughter was a hostess at Canoe. She had to start her shift at noon and we were heading home from Church. In a panic my daughter says "I can't go to work with these shoes, they don't allow open toe shoes at work". As she is asking my other daughter to borrow her shoes to go to work DEB'S JOY says "well, you can't wear closed toe shoes with that skirt".

Nope. There are some things that us guys will just never understand.

Misty Blue.

True, I would never wear a skirt and closed toe shoes. ;)

:rolleye2:

Say what ???
 

So are you saying you'd wear a skirt with open toe shoes ??? :eek:

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2005/...b__200x291.jpg


(I note his shoes are closed)

Thanks for the softball
 

Well well M&M, we finally get a great photo of you in your lake attire.:laugh: I had no idea you were such a fashionista! You might be on to something here though. On those hot summer days a little breeze up the skirt would be refreshing.:D Those longs sleeves could be an issue trying to cast that line. The shoes I could go either way with.:eek:

That's nae skirt mah fere
 

It's an evolving fashion thing I guess. But that's no skirt, it's just a fancy dress-up kilt. I suspect most couldn't tell the difference though so let me help you there ...

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_F65xr5C5NL...0/got_kilt.jpg

:eek: :blush:

From a Scotsman....

Q: And why do they call it a kilt?

A: 'Cause that's what I did to the last guy who called it a skirt!

....

And if you're from these parts, you'll have heard this on WBLM back in the day....

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Kilt
 

I once asked a Scotsman friend what he wore under hit kilt. His response: shoes and socks! :laugh::laugh::laugh:

So in a restaurant would I eat one of these skirts or kilts with a knife and fork or a spoon? Smiling.

Good food at Canoe, but service could be better. My humble opinion after a few visits.

We had a great meal at Canoe Sunday. The mac and cheese with lobster and steak or something like that was really two meals as it was so large. I had the lobster roll and it was delicious. We had the shrimp appetizer and the calamari and both very good. The bread sticks there are one of my favorite things.

I agree with you that the Canoe is not what it once was
 

My husband and I used to love the Canoe but we have had the same experiences with inferior service and mediocre food neither of which are worth the prices.

On our most recent visit, I tried the chicken stir fry ($18). The chicken was tough and tasteless and the vegetables were chopped so finely that I could barely see them. The dish was mostly rice. I ate just a tiny bit of it but the server didn't seem to notice.

If we return to the restaurant at all, we will limit our orders to appetizers and perhaps a burger.

Dates of posts from me .......
 

To anyone reading this thread, please note that my posts about Canoe were made in 2010. I have not been there in 2011 yet.

I did have a really wonderful meal at Corner House this past winter. I also got lucky and found that Sam and Rosie's had lobster rolls one Sunday this winter and purchased some for a gathering with friends and they were also wonderful. Sam and Rosie don't always have lobster rolls in winter.

Again, if I get a meal that is not up to expectations, I tell the server and ask for something else. That is done after a few bites, not after the meal is eaten! I suggest that this system will save a lot of problems with restaurants. They do need to know that something is wrong so they can correct it???? If they do not correct it and give you a hard time in any way, then that is the time to not return again. Also restaurants can be off their mark from time to time. Things might happen (servers call in sick; food shipments might not arrive?????) I am not sure as like a previous poster I wish to add that I am in no way connected to any restaurant and never have been. I do not really know what happens when a meal is sent out that is not good. I do know to send it back. Then the problem is over for everyone.