Murrieta’s West Coast Bar and Grill
200 808 1 Street SW
403-269-7707
Rating: ***
Price range: $$$
Reservations: Yes
Client negotiations: Yes
Lunch w/co-workers: Yes
Social Lunch: Yes
Quick solo lunch: No
Time in: 12:30 p.m.
Ordered: 12:50 p.m.
Food arrived: 1:10 p.m.
Time out: 1:45 p.m.
Total time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Low $: Soup Of The Day, $4.27
High $: Ahi Tuna, $30.77
Murrieta’s is a wonderful place to meet a group of friends for lunch, and the dark woods, red brick walls and timeless style of the restaurant all add to its appeal.
We each opted to get a salad and share some appetizers. I chose the Courtyard Salad ($9.43), which came with mixed greens, tomatoes and goat cheese with a balsamic dressing. The salad was pretty standard. My friend Dana was excited to order the Steamed P.E.I. Mussels ($14.41), and I was eager to try them. Unfortunately, they weren’t very fresh and both the sauce and the mussels had an unpleasant and distinctive “earthy” flavour. Next up was the Tempura Crusted Calamari ($9.61). It was light and came with a savory red pepper and cucumber yogurt sauce for dipping. Our table full of hungry girls also tried the Sweet Italian Sausage flatbread ($12.97). It was decent, but not made with much finesse and the abundant chunky sausage made it cumbersome to eat.
Of our four picks, the Calamari stood out for me as the tastiest, although this wasn’t overly impressive, as calamari is usually a safe bet at most restaurants.
I enjoyed my Murrieta’s experience, but mainly because of the company I was with, the stylish ambiance, and the excellent service. The food was good, but it should be better.
