Casa de Frida — Restaurant in Kelowna

My wife and I recently visited this quaint establishment while on vacation. We seldom find restaurants that live up to our expectations of a wonderful and romantic dining experience but this delivered in spades. Due to COVID protocols the seating was limited which was fine and appreciated by us and we had a reservation so all was good. We had just spent a few days of visiting wineries and indulging so were not terribly hungry so decided on 2 appetizers and a main to share. When we ordered, the waitress was more than accommodating and asked if we wanted seperate plates for the main to share or one, suggesting that it was more romantic for the one, "Lady & the Tramp," style, we loved it and chose the single plate to share. My wife had the French onion soup which was to die for, the best ever she has had. I had the crab cakes and was equally impressed and also sampled her soup and agreed that it was excellent! We shared the chicken confit which didn't disappoint. It came with freshly made fettuccine in a flavourful cream sauce with moist chicken chunks and scallions. It was to die for. We came to this restaurant not terribly hungry but based on the previous courses were intrigued to see if their dessert selections could live up to the previous courses. We were not disappointed. We finished the night with a chocolate terrine that melted in your mouth and was light and flavourful. After our dinner we had the opportunity to meet the owner and chef and learned that he was from Montreal and everything was made from scratch. We could tell that his heart and soul was definitely in the dishes he served. Our waitress was pleasant, attentive and engaging with impeccable timing. This was truly one of the best dining experiences we have had in a very long time and I was impressed enough to post this review. My first post ever which...

Not a great experience at the Hidden Gem. The atmosphere, music, location and decor was great but the food and service was really lacking. They were short on staff and we did recieve an apology for 2 people calling in sick though. The apology came after waiting a long time for our food. If I am going out to spend good money somewhere that is classified as "fine dining" I expect the food to be top notch and it just wasn't even close. The quality of ingredients was definitely there but execution was definitely not. And as far as respecting personal space in regards to covid, our server was such a close talker, even whispered in my ear when telling me the daily special that was sold out. It was weird and uncomfortable to have a stranger that close to my face when communicating. It's been over a year since treating ourselves and going out for fine dining and the vibe that we were given by the staff and manager/owner(?) was not warm or welcoming at all. The server even said that one of the people at our table "doesn't know how ordering fine dining works" when she was taking our orders WITHOUT ASKING for our orders, it was weird and very awkward, our server took zero control of the dining experience. The young man who was clearing tables was the one who truly impressed us with his great big smile, professionalism and kindness. He was noticeably fantastic and kinda saved the experience for us from being a bigger disappointment. He is also the main reason we tipped generously. It might have just been an off night at the Hidden Gem because of being short staffed, I know these things happen. But perhaps leading the evening with, "apologies in advance that we are short staffed, and are sold out of the following items, so please be patient with our cook, server, etc. That may have changed the perception of the entire...

There were 7 of us, and we had our reservation well in advance because we were coming from out of town. The online reviews were good, and the menu looked fabulous.

The waitress was cold when we arrived, and we instantly felt unwelcome. She never warmed up. Two of our party ordered steak, both sent it back. When they returned, it was as if nothing had been done at all…one was turned completely off and couldn't eat it (it was taken away and comped), the other was sent back again, and it still came back almost blue.

Nobody enjoyed their food...dry chicken, too rare steak, bland flavours all around. It was discussed with the waitress that the steak was not eaten, she said she'd talk to the owner. The rapid response was that they could only comp one meal...The meal not being comped was the one of the woman wearing a veil because this was clearly her bachelorette dinner. No, we weren’t a rowdy group.

We were then served with cute little cigar boxes and were hopeful that it would be chocolate (we heard they make their own), instead it was our bills. One box contained a Hidden Gem that was clearly a very old piece of chocolate that the waitress swooped away very quickly.

Again, it was reiterated that the steak was not being paid for. She actually told us “That’s fine, it’ll just come out of my pocket.” Cash was paid for that meal minus a $20 for the meat. We later questioned if she was in fact the owner.

The Hidden Gem is overpriced, bland food, served in an unwelcoming (hostile?) environment. The positive online reviews are obviously written by family/friends/owners, and the menu is not as advertised online. Save your money and go anywhere else…you’ll feel more welcome, and the food will be worth eating.

One star is...