Saturday 5 May 2012

Hotel Wine Lists - Why are they so bad?

At one time eating in a hotel restaurant what the height of fine dining.  When dress codes were in place and a stain on a white table cloth meant that you would be asked to change tables.

Oh how the times have changed.

This week I spent 3 days in the lovely city of Halifax for work. I love Halifax. I've been there more times than I can count, so I have a pretty good idea on the places to go and have a great meal and those to avoid.

Some of my favourite place to eat are the Economy Shoe Shop. A great place for a decent meal at a reasonable price with a really cool atmosphere. My favourite place for a good beer has got to be the Split Crow. If your form Halifax, I know that you are thinking "what about the Lower Deck?" No doubt, but I have some great memories and some really fuzzy ones from the Split Crow.

So this trip I had some free time and figured I would go throw some money into the Nova Scotia coffers by making a donation at Casino Halifax. I figured I could afford $20 at the blackjack table. Well 2 hours later I was up 110 big ones! I should have stopped a few hands earlier and would have had a bit more. Didn't matter as I was ahead.

So I cash out and am a bit tired and haven't eaten, so I make my way back to my hotel for a bite and a couple glasses of wine to celebrate.




I pull myself up to the bar in the restaurant and the bartender passes me a menu and the drink list. Before I look a the menu I flip to the red wines. My thing when I look at a wine list is for the most expensive price per glass and work my way backwards. The first thing that grabs my attention is $10 a glass for Campo Veijo Reserva. My first reaction is that I can buy a bottle at the LCBO for about $18 off the shelf! Why should I pay 10 bucks for an ok wine that I've had many times before?

Then I take a look at the rest of the wines they have listed and it's abundantly clear. Let me clarify something. The hotel that I'm staying at isn't a Super 8. I'm at the Delta Barrington. Probably one of the more expensive hotels in Halifax. In the heart of downtown and easily accessible to everything by foot.

So what to do. Well I had cash to burn and was hungry oh and did I say tired? Needless to say, I had a couple of glasses and a Southwest burger and salt and pepper chips. The food was pretty good and as close as a match as I could find for a wine.

The moral of the story is for my next trip, buy your own wine at the local liquor store and order in room service.

Enjoy a glass.
Matt

1 comment:

  1. The Split Crow is an amazing pub. Locals go there. The Lower Deck is for tourists and the university crowd, for the most part.

    There's some great wine lists at restos on Spring Garden and the southern end of Barrington.

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