Vancouver Island Restaurant Review(1); Mad Chef Cafe - Courtenay



What's up with restaurants being closed on Monday? I must admit, the Mad Chef Cafe was not originally going to be our first choice when we decided to venture to Courtenay for lunch. I cannot express how happy I am we ended up checking out their eclectic menu on-line and I was instantly sold on it when I read about their use of quinoa in a salad.

As most of you are aware we are currently doing a 52 Vancouver Island Restaurants in 365 Days Project and this marvelous place just happened to be the first one! We arrived just after 1pm (to miss the lunch rush) and it was still relatively busy, although the restaurant only has about 20 seats. I always take a busy restaurant during less-busy times as a good sign the food is probably great! We were greeted by an attentive and very pleasant hostess (whom was also our server) who brought out our drinks very quickly - we were in awe of the Caesar art piece!



Seriously, I am not a caesar fan myself (but my partner is somewhat of a connoisseur) and I was even impressed with the most exquisitely presented caesar ever! If you are a caesar fan I strongly suggest you give the 2 oz Mad Caesar a try.
We checked out the menu, which was the most eccentric unique menu I have ever seen. For example instead of just listing a menu item "Tuna Tacos" they used some lovely alliteration with "Tongue Tantalizing Tiny Tuna Tacos". I thought it was very creative and I had a great time reading all the menu items and descriptions (maybe I'm just a geek).

There was SO much on the menu we wanted to try, they had a huge selection of assorted appetizers, sandwiches, burgers, pizzas and wraps. All very unique and all sounded delicious! After much consideration we decided to try the Baked Beer Cheese and Dippers, which are the Mad Chef's own kick ass beer cheese layered with 3 other cheeses and served with crunchy bread sticks, cassava root chips, and blue corn tortilla chips. It came out pipping hot and absolutely satisfying! A serious mouthgasm.



Next we ordered the Surf and Earth Salad (toasted seaweed flakes and organice red quinoa with garden leaves, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, sweet red onions and feta cheese with lemon basil pesto dressing) it was similar to a greek salad, yet soooo much more. The homemade dressing was impeccable!



Of course we also had to try one of their delicious looking burgers, with so many choices we finally decided on the 3 crab and scallop burger (with triple citrus and sweet pea mayo) with the soup of the day as a side, which was a creamy pasta soup.



Everything was awesome about our visit to the Mad Chef Cafe, the service was spectacular, we couldn't have had a more pleasant, attentive and knowledgeable server! The food was absolutely excellent in my opinion and my only complaint is that I wish I had an endless appetite so I could have tried other items on the menu (I will definitely be back!) as there were many of the burgers, wraps and pizza's that caught my eye. The Mad Chef Cafe comes with a confident recommendation from us and I will definitely be stopping in again next time we are in Courtenay!

The Mad Chef Cafe is located at 492 Fitzgerald Ave, Courtenay.
Tel: (250) 871-7622
General Enquiries: MadChefCafe@shaw.ca
Employment: mad.chef.jobs@gmail.com

HOURS:
Monday to Thursday 11:00 am to late*
Friday and Saturday 11:00 am to late*
Sunday - closed

Comments

Ayaka & Meaghan said…
We also had the pleasure of dining at the Mad Chef Cafe while we were in Courtney for the BC Shellfish Festival. The food was great and our server Allison was fantastic! Our only regret is not having tried their Caesars! Ah well, it gives us a good excuse to come back!
June 19, 2012 at 6:12 PM
s. said…
What did you try there?
June 19, 2012 at 8:11 PM
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