Never Again
Travelling through New Brunswick last week, we stopped at the Comfort Inn on Prospect St. in Fredericton. Not wanting to go too far afield for supper, we chose Keystone Kelly's. There were three of us; none had ever visited a Keystone Kelly's before. The hostess directed us to the games room because, in her words, it is "much more quieter" and she must really have believed that, because she stated it the exact same way twice. The waitress who served us had a cutesy, sing-song manner of speaking that nearly turned our stomachs. My father ordered scallops, while I chose the Steak and Scallop dinner. Dad's wife wasn't very hungry and ordered very little... her good fortune. I gave explicit instructions as to how I wanted my steak cooked, simply because I have never eaten a good steak in New Brunswick, but didn't think I'd have to give instructions for cooking scallops. I can't say the steak was done to perfection, but it was better than any I had tried in NB to that date. However, in both dinners, the scallops were total disaster. I would hazard a guess that they had been frozen, then put on to cook before the steaks were begun, and removed from the heat much later. They were rubbery and would have been more suitable as ping pong balls. They were whitish on top, but nearly black on the bottom. I mentioned this to the waitress, who asked "Well, are they edible?" I'm kicking myself now for having said they were, barely. My french fries had what appeared to be the whisk from a broom among them... when I mentioned it, she said "Oh, I know what that is; it's from the basket we bring the nachos in." We hadn't ordered nachos. We each ordered the fried ice cream and all of us were disappointed. I know there are Keystone Kelly restaurants in my own and other cities; I cannot foresee myself eating in any of them, and I will never recommend them to anyone else. The three meals came to over $75; far too much to pay for such a disappointing meal.    [13 Sep 2005 10:44:03]

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     ­Mary Elizabeth Doucette