Nineteen05 Kitchen & Raw Bar — Restaurant in Salmon Arm

I took my wife for Valentine's Day lunch to Nineteen05 Kitchen. We were impressed with the decor and, albeit winter, with the lakeside location. A lot of effort and thought went into the design, decor and branding. We were welcomed and seated immediately. While we did have a reservation, it was not necessary as there were only a handful of occupied tables and this did not change over the course of lunch.

The very friendly but obviously inexperienced male server was somewhat disorganized but tried his best with a smile. He took our appetizer order before our drinks. There were a few more mishaps and lack of polish such as awkward clearing of dishes and grabbing cutlery with his fist and dribbling curry sauce all over nearly missing my pants. Enough said about this nice young fellow who could benefit from a bit of time shadowing a seasoned server.

The food. We had elevated expectations based the top notch decor of this restaurant. The menu tries to aspire to the decor by playing on fusion but I my view comes up short... by a mile.

For appetizers we ordered red curry shrimp and a pound of mussels. Both dishes came out promptly and came with a large piece of warm bread. The bread was odd. It had the consitency of very loose cornbread and did not serve its intened purpose of sopping up a delicious sauce. The shrimp arrived in a bowl that was baked over with what appeared to be marbled cheddar - an odd choice for red curry shrimp. The sauce tasted good ut was watery rather than creamy. The mussels were ok but several did not open or had been crushed. Whoever was at the pass did not check quality. For mains, my wife ordered sushi which appeared well prepared and tasted good. I am not a big fan of non-Japanese restaurants doing sushi but I realize it is a common trend. I ordered the brisket and Fettucine pasta which peaked my interest and ended up to be the catalyst for this less than stellar review. It was a utter mess which failed on presentation, flavour, mouth-feel and overall execution. The closest experience I can compare this dish to is A wet cotton mop dipped in a watery alfredo sauce with, again, the same large piece of bread mentioned earlier. The pasta came with the brisket stirred into the pasta which gave it a grey and unappetizing appearance. The brisket fibres pulled together in a hairclog type of mess. I had two bites and the mouth-feel is exactly as one would imagined. I sent it back. I suppose what I had imagined in my culinary mind was a small pile of brisket piled atop of some Fettucini pasta. If I was asked, I would do smoked brisket but that is neither here or there.

To the credit of our server, he was very apologetic and tried to offer another dish or dessert which I declined. He later removed this dish from the bill.

I am not sure what happened that day. I want to believe it was a just bad day. I really like the atmosphere and idea behind this restaurant. Small towns need destinations like this is (could be). Clearly, there are many great reviews. I will give this place another try....

I arrive in Salmon arm with a group of 8 on Saturday night and get sat down quite quickly by the patio. We order some appetizers for the table and they were ok but it appeared as though there was only 1 waiter for all the tables in the restaurant. It took quite a while for the appetizers to arrive too. After the appetizers we had to wait another 30 mins for the mains. I ordered the arctic char and my boyfriend ordered the braised beef tagliatelle and the taste was terrible and super bland. My char was so bland I had to use ketchup to eat it. The sides that came with it was also bland and sloppy. The arugala salad literally looked it was carelessly tossed together with mayo and some olive oil. My boyfriend’s pasta was overcooked and on the blander side and I asked the server if there was anything we could do about it because it was subpar. The server went back in and the chef came back out basically telling me that’s the way it is, and that he was watching it and timing the pasta saying it was indeed “al-dante”. This was the head chef (Lester) talking to me, and later tells me that there’s nothing he can do for me and if he makes another it’ll just be the same. Lester then turned to our server right infront of us and said to him “I don’t know how you’re gonna deal with this” and then leaves without any solution. We just wanted the pasta to be remade to be cooked for a shorter duration or to just get something else on the menu. The way Lester talked to me was rude and just left a bad taste in my mouth. We talked to the server again saying that we just don’t want the pasta because it’s just not good (my boyfriend only had 3 bites) and to just take it away. The table across from us also took something back to the kitchen and had one of their dishes remade without any arguments so I do not understand why the chef was so rude about me wanting the pasta remade. After the ordeal the chef kept giving me glares from inside the restaurant. Finally, when the bill came the pasta was still on our bill. I assumed that they would take it off because my boyfriend barely ate any of it and it was terrible. I also had to negotiate with the server to take it off the bill. Do not come to this restaurant...

My husband and I went to this restaurant for an impromptu dinner date on April 26. The atmosphere was perfect - very professional and modern/sleek, yet also inviting. The floor to ceiling windows really opened up the space with the natural light. Not to mention the view of the water was wonderful. I cannot wait to go back when the patio is open! Our server was wonderful, also very professional and elegant yet friendly! I forgot to write down her name (whoops!), but she was a stunning woman from Bulgaria! My husband ordered the Espresso martini drink and it was very well done, robust with flavour. I ordered the Caesar with light ice. When I got the Caesar it had too much ice for my liking and tasted a bit watered down. I don’t usually complain, but I let her know and she got me another one right away with much less ice and full of flavour, which I really appreciated, as I was nervous to even say anything. We got the sunset sushi roll to share and neither my husband or I could rave anymore about this roll!!! I have never had sushi with the caramelized walnut topping on it before, and it pulled the flavours together so well that every bite was tantalizing. We are sushi lovers and we love flavour, and this roll was 10/10! Would absolutely order again. I had the 1905 burger with fries for my main. Also full of flavour and did not disappoint! The Brie cheese incorporated was perfectly oozing with flavour and pulled everything together for me. My husband had the 8oz sirloin steak with gnocchi. It was all wonderfully cooked, and I have to note that I really enjoyed the flavour and cook of the veggies that came on the side with that dish. There was a large party booked in the main area that began to arrive as we were leaving, and I have to say again that the atmosphere is great and I would definitely book an event or large dinner in this space. Lastly, the location was perfect, as we were able to drive not 2 minutes away to the park on the lake that we could see from the window, and stroll down the pier while we digested our wonderful dinner. We are new to this area and are excited to have found this place. We will definitely be back for...