Brockberry Café In Brockville, Ontario

On first glance we were attracted to the cafe as it looked pretty nice from the street as we drove by that evening. This was our first time in the area and did not have any recomendations for eateries.  So, we ended up at Brockberry Cafe.  The atmosphere seemed nice and we were greeted by the hostess promptly.  We noticed a table in the corner and wanted to sit there but we were told it was reserved and were promptly seated in the middle of the room.  A few moments later another couple came in and wanted the same table we were told was reserved.  I overheard the hostess say it was reserved and another of the staff spoke up and said, "no it's not, it's open".  The place was not that busy so it did not bode well in my mind that such a mistake would happen when it was not busy.

We ordered our food before the aforementioned "other couple" even came in to the place. Oddly enough the other couple got their food first.  They had ordered some of the same items we did and it appears their waitress grabbed our items thinking they were her orders.  Again, the place was not busy at all, so this should never have happened.  I noticed that our waitress caught what happened and quickly went to the kitchen.  Could explain why our food was below standard - they rushed to "fix" it.  The waitress should have come to us and explained what happened, then the chef could have taken the time to get it right.  Of course it should have not come out of the kitchen until it was right regardless of the circumstances.

So, we each had a bowl of the soup of the day which that day was mulligatawny, a lovely curry soup with lamb.  It was wonderful - we each could have just had the soup and a nice crusty bread and been happy.  Of course if we did that, this review would have an opposite outcome.  Let me apologize now for the fuzzy pic - I took it with my IPhone.

For our main we both ordered the prime rib with au jus and roasted potatoes.  I've seldom been so disappointed in a dish.  The prime rib was barely above room temperature, the potatoes were under cooked and also barely warm.  There was one hot spot on the plate - it was some bland sliced squash under the prime rib...of course I did not know it was there till I was done with the meal.  The au jus had no flavor - if my eyes were closed I would not have been able to tell what it was.

We paid over $80 dollars for this meal and it was an immense disappointment.  I would have called them on it, but we were traveling all day and we both just wanted to get back to our hotel and get some sleep.  We had planned on staying the entire weekend, but among a few other things the bad meal was the topper.  We left the next day for home and cut our weekend short.

When I looked up other reviews of the Brockberry Cafe, I found that the food is consistent only in its "hit and miss" quality.  I suggest to the chef to buy a soup cart and start over.  The soup always seems to get a good review; however the main courses seem to lack any consistent standard.  We will not waste our time at the Brockberry Cafe again as we are not willing to drop another $80 dollars on a gamble of a good meal.