My fiancé and I chose Sideshow's West Coast Grill as a last-minute dinner option on the eve before Valentine's Day. We called at 5PM on Saturday to make a reservation for 8PM the same night and the host my fiancé spoke with informed us that although they were "wicked busy", they shouldn't have any problem seating only the two of us at that time. We hadn't planned on doing anything significant for Valentine's Day itself (neither of us care for all the Corporate-Show-of-Love-Day hype), so we hadn't planned some big romantic evening out or anything. Thank Dog (I'm a dyslexic agnostic), is all I can say.

We arrived shortly before 8PM, and the restaurant was in full swing. A large birthday party lined one wall, and the rest of the tables (of varying heights and seating arrangements) seemed to be crammed somewhat haphazardly into the rather small (approx 600 sq ft) space. The Olympic Games were being shown on several flat-screen TVs which was nice; whenever a Canadian athlete did well, everyone in the room cheered. The happy cheers added to the restaurant's self-described "martini lounge ambiance", which was indeed quite cozy.

Our host escorted us to the middle of the room and said, "So where do you want to sit?" There were three unoccupied tables, only one of which was for two, but it was a window table, and overlooked the ocean. We opted for that table, although it was so tight that the people at the tables on either side of us had to move their chairs just so we could sit down. Had it been earlier in the evening, we would have most certainly enjoyed the view, as we were seated with what would have been a breathtaking view of the ocean on a clear day.

I wish I could say the food more than made up for the lack of view, but it didn't. The best part of the meal was the 2007 Sumac Ridge Gewurztraminer (by the glass) that we both chose to accompany our meals.

We started off by sharing an appetizer. We chose the Smoked Salmon Caper Quesadilla for $13. I'm sorry to say that plate absolutely DOES NOT belong on the menu as a dish representative of West Coast cuisine. It was borderline horrible. I am not kidding you when I say it tasted as if the chef added 100% more salt to the dish - ON TOP of what would have already been a part of the smoked salmon itself. I made the mistake of not asking our server how the salmon was prepared, but I thought it was going to be more like Lox. It tasted as if it had been cold-smoked, THEN cooked. It was done with melted goat cheese (which I usually love), slapped inside a tortilla (crisp on the top but soggy and falling apart on the underside), then served with a dish of sour cream and some corn and black-bean salsa on the side. Although it did nothing to complement the taste, the sour cream DID cut down on some of the saltiness. However, as far as flavors go - this was an epic FAIL.

The entrées we had were passable, but not outstanding or anything. I'm a vegetarian who still enjoys seafood (I don't eat ANY red meat, pork or poultry though), so I opted for the Asian Seafood Hot Pot (full of salmon, squid, mussels and clams over rice vermicelli noodles in a coconut curry broth) for $17 and my fiancé had the Tandoori BBQ Slow Roast Back Ribs for $20. Our server was quite prompt, bringing out our dishes hot and the instant our appetizer was finished.

My fiancé's dinner looked like something my Mom would have laid out for him on a weeknight. I don't say that to be mean to Mom (I think hers would have tasted better), what I mean is that the dish lacked any presentation appeal, which is actually something I look forward to when dining out. Unfortunately, his dish appeared to be merely tossed together, the ribs sitting atop 2 pieces of asparagus, some mashed potato and a couple of cooked beets, on a plain white plate. That was it. Now, I understand simplicity can be key - especially if the food is amazing all on it's own, but that was NOT the case here. Not to mention, The ribs were coated with a gooey, albeit unappetizing-looking sauce. Once my fiancé bit into the meat, I could tell that the meat was tender *enough*, but his reaction was merely, "Mmm, yeah - it's OK." As a meat lover, when he eats delicious ribs he's usually licking his fingers and stripping the meat off the bone. Not this time. He didn't hate the meal, but he certainly didn't love it. And to top it off, the waitress didn't even bring him a finger bowl. I had to ask for one - and even then, she looked a tad confused at my request. At least she was quick in bringing it back - I would have been annoyed if he'd had to sit and wait for it. I *can* say that our server was very nice and very efficient, if not a little scatterbrained at times. Great customer service can *sometimes* undo the damage bad food leaves in it's wake.

Having said that, my dish was alright. But just *alright*. Not bad, but not great, either. Most of the seafood was cooked very well - the mussels and the clams were done perfectly, but the squid rings were quite tough. There was a lot of seafood in the dish, however. The salmon was done well too, but the broth was pretty bland, as far as coconut curry goes. I'm glad the noodles were not mushy, or I might have sent it back. It wasn't awful or totally unpleasant, it just wasn't very memorable, that's all. I've made much better seafood hot pots in my own kitchen, and I'm no Jean-Georges Vongerichten, myself.

All in all, the wine was very good, and after we discussed our total tab at home, we realized that our server forgot to charge us for our second glasses (at $7.50 a glass, that was a bonus we weren't expecting). We also split the Hazelnut Cheesecake for dessert, and that was better than both entrées combined, in our opinion. I'm betting, however, that it was made off-site.

So, we probably won't go back to Sideshow Bob's anytime soon. We DID save $$ with an Entertainment Book coupon (30% off the bill, excluding alcohol, tax or tip), and we weren't charged for the second glasses of wine, so our dinner was VERY reasonably priced, considering all that we had. Unfortunately, the flavors weren't there and there wasn't much else to draw us back for another dinner.

I do love White Rock in the summertime though, and this *may* be someplace I'd go with friends to enjoy a cocktail on the rooftop patio... before heading out to dine someplace else.