John D.
Yelp
I was really excited for this place to open! Kelowna needs more places like it. That said, it's new so I imagine it will take a bit of time to iron out the kinks.
The tap list is pretty good-- there's a good selection of local and imported beers on draught, which I think rotates frequently. Unfortunately, when I visited it was mostly lagers (on a cold fall's evening!). They might consider rotating within categories so that they always have a range of different styles available. Also, there is no beer list printed anywhere, so you are left to ask the server about a) selection (tap labels are only visible to a select few seats at the bar) and b) price (kinda awkward, but it's nice to know how much your beer's gonna be!). The wine list (10 wines, by the glass) is decent but there are no great deals to be had. As for mixed drinks... well, there's no drink menu, per se-- you just tell the bartender which spirit you want and s/he mixes something up for you. It's a little unclear to me whether all creations are priced the same or whether the price is as much a surprise as the drink. Maybe someone can report back on that. Maybe some people like this approach, but I'm not sure if I'm sold!
Now to the food-- there are some decent snack items in the $4-7 range, but expect portions to be small, and nothing comes with bread except for the "bread" course, which by default includes a fancy dip. This despite the fact that it seemed like good bread would go well with many of the dishes on offer. Maybe they could offer extra orders of bread (sans dip) for $2 or something? Roasted shishito peppers weren't especially flavourful. The cheese was good (taleggio), served with a cherry compote. Although the compote was served on the cheese board, beside the cheese (no dish) so the blob just kind of melted outward, making it hard to serve (especially with no spoon).
When you enter micro, you'll notice the food and wines written on a metal board at the back of the place, which is a long room dominated by the bar. There is no printed menu (at least not yet) so if you have a hard time seeing the menu you are out of luck. I know this isn't easy, considering the rotating nature of the menu and drinks available, but even a chalkboard going down the long side of the bar would go some way towards making the menu visible to the majority of patrons.
Service was average. We weren't neglected, but could have used more frequent check-ins. The nature of the place (essentially one big bar) also makes it occasionally awkward to talk to your server, as a couple times we made eye contact with our server and started trying to talk, only to find that they were actually in the process of doing something else.
All in all, we left feeling pretty satisfied with what we had drunk and eaten, but the sum of all the little things that weren't quite right left us feeling slightly awkward about our evening at micro. The space is beautiful, though, and they seem to have good intentions, so let's hope this place gets its act together and fulfills its promise!
