EM H.
Yelp
During our short trip to Calistoga to celebrate Mom's birthday, we included dinner at Evangeline on December 22, 2022 in our itinerary. We had a nice time, though the food left us a bit hungry for more impressive plates, especially for some of their high prices.
Venue: B+ grade/4 stars:
Staying at the Mount View Hotel & Spa, the restaurant was only a five-minute walk from our place of lodging. Perhaps business is slow during the days close to Christmas as there was no shortage of parking in the streets. There were only a few occupied tables when we arrived, but we came with reservations, so were seated immediately at the front corner table. They never filled up to capacity that evening, the night appeared to be on the slow side, so anyone who came without reservations was also seated without wait.
The venue is a cute place, offering indoor, bar, and patio seating. Our booth table, adjacent to the front door, was not dressed with any tablecloth, but the entire space appeared to be clean and very well kept. They were also festive and ready for the holidays with their lit Christmas lights and Christmas tree.
Food & Drink: C- grade/2 stars:
The bread shaped as a vine and butter molded into a fleur de lis were cute and enjoyable. Heads-up - they charge a hefty $5 for this.
Irish Coffee - Good. ($16.50)
Skuna King Salmon - Mom found the fish to be dry. ($29)
Chicken Gumbo Yaya - Disappointingly extremely bland...and not big enough to qualify as a MAIN. This should be an appetizer. I had to add salt, pepper AND hot sauce for flavour, but it still was not satisfactory. I then ended up ordering a French Onion Soup from the SMALL menu to feel like I ate an entrée. At $27, this is an expensive bowl and not worth even half the price. Skip this.
French Onion Soup - A good choice for a cold winter night, but, again, $19 for this cup of soup is steep. Definitely more flavourful than my bowl of gumbo.
Panna Cotta - I love panna cotta as well as blueberries, so this beautifully decorated and creamy dessert with blueberry sauce and poppies was an instant winner for me. ($12.50)
Service: B+ grade/4 stars.
Initially, I didn't think that service was warm and fuzzy. As the night went on and we began to converse more with our server, my opinion changed. Our waitress was very amiable and we enjoyed engaging in conversations with her. She even served a complimentary scoop of vanilla ice cream, topped with a lit candle for Mom to blow out and make a wish for her birthday. Going beyond her server duties, our waitress even offered to take several photos of us outside. She took at least fifteen minutes of her time on our mini photo shoot before closing the restaurant. She was very sweet and friendly.
Unfortunately, we likely will not return. The food was just not satisfying enough for us foodies to come back for another visit, even if they adjusted their prices accordingly.