The Braywick Bistro is a tucked away little restaurant on a sketchy street in London, Ontario. After reading the stellar reviews on Restaurantica, I decided I had to try this place out for myself.
As soon as I walked in, I noticed how dim the interiors were1, and how the space occupied by the restaurant was very long and narrow. Although they put a lot of mirrors on both sides of the wall to give the illusion of a bigger area, the lack of light made it feel more like a long narrow hole-in-the-wall (literally) than an expansive and mysterious cave. There were candles on the ledges and at each table, as well as ornate frames and coat racks. However, there were strange, post-modern pictures of fire alarms and tubes on the wall, which did not suit the dark and exotic ambiance at all. Moreover, the background music were an assortment of popular trance tracks that really did not fit in with the mood.
When we arrived, there was no one in the restaurant, so the waitress was extremely attentive. We had a hard time deciding what to order, so I asked her for recommendations, and basically, she recommended we try everything on the menu. Not helpful. Although her eagerness to converse was endearing, she was sometimes talkative to the point of annoyance.
I finally decided to get a fishcake appetizer and a herb-crusted pork tenderloin with an apple, jalapeño slaw. My friend decided to get a chicken satay appetizer and a pan-seared salmon with cilantro, corn, and coconut cream.
I will first comment on the appetizers. The Bajan fishcakes were quite obviously on the salty side. The other tastes were not memorable, only that it was too salty. The fish filling was lost in a thick flour batter, and although not dense, still felt heavy. The oil used to fry it did not smell fresh, or was heated for too long. Its only redeeming quality was the sauce that came on the side, which was a creamy pepper sauce.
The chicken satays were an absolute scandal. They were basically pieces of chicken breast stuck on a skewer, without being previously marinated in curry sauce (or any sauce), as is the norm for satay skewers. The peanut sauce, which is usually the highlight of any satay skewer appetizer, was a watery disappointment of melted peanut butter and sad little chunks of peanuts, without any taste of satay or supposed “spice.”
Forty-five minutes after our appetizers were taken away, our entrees finally arrived. Although this time may not seem like a big deal, the fact of the matter is, we were the only ones in the restaurant, and we could see there were two chefs in the kitchen. When we came by later that night (because my friend forgot his umbrella), there were at least 8 customers in the restaurant, and still two chefs. How long do they expect their customers to wait?
My entree was the herb-crusted pork tenderloin, a complete tease. Topped with some variation on coleslaw, there were four pieces of thick pork resting atop three sticks of asparagus and some mini potatoes. To start off, the coleslaw was great. An assortment of cabbage, bean sprouts, apple, jalapeño, and black sesame seeds swimming in olive oil, it was the perfect blend of crisp and tart, with a spicy kick. The tart owing to the apples was a great decision, because the sweetness of the apples toned down the spicy jalapeño. After the slaw however, things went downhill.
The pork tasted like four leftover pieces of meat that had been stewed in plain boiling water. Whatever herbs were used could not be detected in the meat at all. Moreover, the meat was not soft, not juicy, and not tender at all. One side was burnt, the center was still a bit raw, and the cooked parts were hard to chew and tasteless. The entire meat experience was very bland and a disappointment.
The asparagus were fine, the mini potatoes were too salty, and by the end, the pleasant surprise of the slaw was long forgotten.
My friend’s entree, of which I tried a little, was slightly better. The salmon was tender, juicy, and cooked to the right degree. It had been marinated, with what I could not tell, but certainly not enough coconut. We had to double-check with the menu to remind us that there was supposed to be coconut in the dish, because the distinct flavour of coconut could not be detected at all. It may have been covered by the overuse of cilantro, but I’m being biased here because I have a strong preference for coconut and a slight dislike for cilantro.
When we asked for dessert, the waitress informed us that there was no dessert menu and promptly began listing out the names and descriptions of all the desserts. After short discussion, we decided to go somewhere else for dessert because we didn’t catch anything she’d said and really would’ve preferred to see a menu. The fact that we decided not to have dessert there because they didn’t have a dessert menu is an indication that perhaps it would be worthwhile to print one out. Having the waitress ramble out the names and descriptions of the desserts sounded, to us, like nothing more than verbal diarrhea.
Overall, the ambiance was intimate but too dim, the service was good, but the food took a long time to come and was mediocre at best. Kudos on their presentation style, but taste is still what I’m paying for. Also, they may want to reconsider the mood music and the pictures on the walls, and invest in a dessert menu.
Rating: 
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- There are photos of the interior on their website, but the place is much better lit in the photos. Perhaps the lighting was especially dim on the night I visited. [↩]
Hi Sassy Chef, thanks for visiting my blog & leaving a comment. I love the food presentation in the pics but pity they took so long to prepare the food, I would have been impatient too if it was me. Anyway, blog more! ;>
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