Clubhouse

Originally, I was supposed to join Bear, Judes and Miss Y at the our softball league's year end party at Nat Bailey Stadium. Imagine that, a full BBQ meal right down on the field while watching a Canadians game. However, Costanza needed help moving all his furniture downstairs for an upcoming renovation. Yes, I missed the party to help out a friend. It's karma I tell you. Do nice things and nice things will happen back to you. Just like how I got a meal at the Keg. Joining me in helping move incredibly bulky furniture, which included a chest freezer and large projection TV, down a winding staircase were Viv and Snake.
The first thing we had to move was a chest. I blurted out, "Hey, let's move Elaine's chest!" Elaine retorted that it was not a 3-person job. She just rolled her eyes and looked at me in disgust.

Once we finished moving everything, we were hungry and needed to grab some eats. Originally, Costanza suggested we go to Come Along. Uh... Come again? Where do Asian restaurants get their names? It's just like that restaurant that used to be on Renfrew called Fook Yue (it made it onto Leno) or Pho Bich Nga! But alas, checking my fellow blogger Jessica (Yum-O-Rama), it didn't seem Come Along was a good choice. Instead, we decided to try Menya. We arrived to find it closed. Okay, let's try again. How about The Clubhouse? Jessica (Yum-O-Rama) liked it, I'm gonna give it a try! Honestly, I've passed by the Clubhouse so many times I can't remember. But I never had tried the place. Upon entering, it reminded me of another Japanese restaurant - The Eatery. It's got that non-Asian vibe despite being a Japanese restaurant.

We settled into one of the large tables in the middle which ended up to be quite comfortable for 2 families with kids. Costanza started off with a Mini-Unagi Don which was really quite small. They weren't kidding when they called it mini. Although the unagi was both plentiful and delicious, the rice was a bit dry. The same could be said about the Doug Roll which consisted of Scallop, Cucumber and BBQ Salmon Skin. However, the roll itself was pretty decent as Elaine remarked. Next up was the Nabeyaki Udon in an impressively large pot. Although aesthetically lacking, the broth was absolutely delicious. Costanza and I both agreed that it was one of the richest tasting udon broths we've had so far. It was a bit murky; but that was probably what was behind the depth of flavour.

At this point, Viv was notified that her original order of Chicken Katsu Curry was unavailable and she'd have to choose another dish. She opted for the Chicken Katsu Don. Why did I mention this specifically? Well, keep on reading and I'll let you know when she got her order. At this time, Costanza, being so impressed with the Nabeyaki Udon, ordered another one. While we were wondering how he would be able to finish a second udon, the Holy Beef Roll arrived. This "divine" roll is deep fried in a light tempura and served with a tasty dipping sauce. We were not exactly sure what it consisted of; but it was definitely sweet and a bit spicy. This roll was a winner, especially dipped into the special sauce. Halfway through the meal, Viv and I hadn't even gotten our orders; but they did bring Viv's Miso and Sunomono which was included with her donburi. I politely asked where was mine and then they brought mine out. The sunomono was excellent, but the miso soup was lukewarm. Finally, the Oyako Don, which I had ordered, arrived, a good hour after we had arrived at the restaurant. For some strange reason, the expediting of food was painfully slow. However, the wait was worth it because not only was the donburi quite large, it was packed with chicken and egg. I devoured every last grain of rice. It might've been that I was just hungry though.

We also ordered a Large Mixed Meat Okonomiyaki to share; but we were informed that the kitchen had made a mistake and made us a Large Seafood Okonomiyaki instead. The server gave us 2 options. We could take the seafood okonomiyaki for a discounted price or they could make us a brand new meat okonomiyaki. We ended up taking the seafood one because we didn't want to wait for the meat one. It ended up to be a good mistake since it was stuffed with plenty seafood. Soft and fluffy and not over-sauced, the seafood "pizza" was truly filling. It rested on a bed of yakisoba which we never even got around to eating. By now, everyone had finished their food; but Viv's katsu don had still not arrived. After we inquired about it with one of the servers, I noticed them frantically doing something in the kitchen. The server came back and informed us it would be 5 minutes more. What really happened was that they had forgotten about it. So roughly 1.5 hours after our meal began, Viv got her donburi. It was totally covered by a really big piece of perfectly fried chicken, Viv only finished half of it.

Overall, we all enjoyed most of the food at the Clubhouse. The flavours were rich and the portions were pretty good. The only thing that really stuck out like a sore thumb was the service. Despite being very friendly, it was absent-minded and lacked focus. Furthermore the food came out slower than a full-face shield Richmond driver trying to parallel park. Our entire meal from beginning to end took 2 hours. No matter, Elaine paid for the meal since we help her move her chest.

The Good:
- Flavours were rich and had depth
- Good portions
- Friendly service

The Bad:
- Incredibly slow expediting of food
- Service was lacking focus