Carver's steakhouse - another groupon deal (fail...)

Another (sorta) failure meal with a groupon - I am beginning to lose faith in groupon as it hasn't promised me a satisfying meal for the past few deals..... see hog shack, mac shack, and great bear pub.
Anyhow... I picked up this groupon deal for Carver's steakhouse.

It was $27 for a 3 course prix-fixe meal with one appetizer, one entree and one dessert. (up to $55 in value).

Jordan has been craving for some steaks so, finally! On a sunny Sunday evening, off we went!

Upon seating, we were presented with a menu similar to that of "dine-out Vancouver"-s.  My heart sank a tiny bit when I saw it.... for $27, I would have never chose them for my dine-out Vancouver experience.... anyhow...

Carver's executive salad - 2.5/5

Beef goulash - 2.5/5

From the appetizer section, (3 items; 2 salads and 1 soup) - I chose a soup and Jordan chose a salad.  The executive salad was really standard with all the flavours of the dish present yet nothing spectacular about it.  The soup, beef goulash, was quite disappointing as though all the flavours were present, it seriously lacked depth.  Jordan noted that it tasted like instant soup while I felt that the soup tasted exactly like Wendy's chilli (minus the ingredients in the chilli!!)

The only positive side about the soup is that it was pipping hot and it remained hot throughout.  A sign that it wasn't heated in microwave *phew* (umm, yes; I have had microwaved food in a supposedly decent restaurant - uhh, the bbq house I mentioned at the beginning of my blog?)

Certified Angus Beef tip sirloin medallion - Certified angus beef tender cut off the short loin from T-bone Carver's grand padano gratin potato, seasonal vegetables, veal port wine reduction - 1.5/5

Oh my lord this was quite a terrible dish... if Jordan weren't a carnivore, he'd be complaining like me!  I have only tried two tiny bites of the steaks and it was really tough and dry.  It was definitely a cheaper cut of meat and they probably didn't even age it properly. 

My only compliment was that the meal itself was hot!

It was definitely prepared on stove rather than on microwave.

And believe it or not, we appreciate it a lot!

lamb shank - 2.5/5 - slow roasted lamb shank in red zinfandel & spices, garlic mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables

The lamb shank was indeed fork tender!

However it seriously lacked any flavours.  I couldn't taste much spices nor did I taste the zinfandel wine in the sauce... (rather it tasted more port as it was toward the sweeter side...)

Garlic mashed potato was the only thing that was providing flavor to the dish...

how sad :$

I was still glad that I settled with the lamb shank tho!  

The steaks were simply too horrible....

Creme brûlée - ginger vanilla and staranise with brown sugar - 2/5

Creme brûlée - ginger vanilla and staranise with brown sugar - 2/5

Both Jordan and I opted for the creme brulee for the dessert and we both received a creme brulee with two different flavours - a vanilla ginger flavoured creme brulee and a staranise flavoured creme brulee.  

First of all, we didn't get much of the brulee as the candy coating on the top was merely a coating........ it was not really caramelized.... :$

We both agreed that the ginger vanilla creme brûlée was a tad too strong for the ginger flavour!

We didn't like the texture of the ginger, but rather, we both agreed that they could remove the ginger flesh (use ginger juice instead) for a more pleasant flavouring!

For the staranise creme brulee... well, it felt too savoury for us as we are used to savoury items that are associated with star anise (in chinese culture)

It was truly alright for me tho!  But I guess Jordan really didn't enjoy it very much,,, 

anyhow...

Food - 2.5/5 - average!! average..

Ambiance - 2.5/5 - again, average... air conditioning wasn't working....:$

Service - 4/5 - Our waitress was a delight!