It’s summertime and a pleasant diversion can be a short drive in the countryside with a lovely deck as a destination point. The Saanich Peninsula entices with farm stands loaded with veggies and the Brentwood Bay Lodge. The Lodge has two restaurants, a pub and a main dining room. Oddly the dining room is called, in what must have been a moment of sheer unoriginality, Dining Room.
In counterpoint to the Dining Room – empty when we arrived and departed – was the lively pub. The deck was bathed in sunlight with swaths of shade for those watching their complexions and most tables viewed a slice of the Malahat, boats and water.
The cocktail menu is divided into Classics, Signature Caesars, Frozen Drinks, Martinis – Classic and Premium. While I was intrigued by three takes on the Caesar, I know that I’ve mentioned my weakness for this great brunch drink too many times already. I’m certainly interested in heading back to try the Carnius Flavius Maximus with all its beef jerky and blue-cheese-stuffed-olive glorious-ness.
Back to the evening at hand the cocktail order went to the Old Fashioned and the Long Island Iced Tea. The Tea is not a usual for me but since it’s a summer sipper I thought, “why not?”
Neither drink was mixed properly as my first sip of Old Fashioned was pure Bulleit Bourbon. This drink is all about the building of the cocktail – stir, stir, stir. The tea offered up a mouthful of Coke. I will keep Brentwood on my list for the ambience, price, wings and Caesars during our gorgeous summer.