Cactus Club Cafe (Metrotown)

After getting a request for "no Asian food today", we headed down to the Cactus Club Cafe chain restaurant across from Metropolis.

We started out with the calamari appetizer. This was a huge serving. The picture doesn't do it justice since we ate half of it before I remembered to take a picture. For $11, this could have been a meal in and of itself. The calamari was lightly battered and fried with sweet jalepenos, carrots and dill. The calamari meat was very tender but the batter was not quite crisp enough. It was very soggy, yet not oily. It might have needed more time in the fryer. It was served with both tzaziki and chipotle aioli dipping sauces. The chipotle was by far the favorite and ran out almost immediately. For such a large portion, they didn't really include enough dipping sauce.

3 of us decided to try the prawn + scallop spaghettini. This was a Rob Feenie signature dish, and Mr. Iron Chef Champion sure lived up to his reputation. The pasta was al-dente and tossed in a deliciously sweet and tangy tomato sauce. It was served with a generous amount of scallops and prawns as its namesake suggests. Both were incredibly fresh, flavorful, and cooked perfectly tender. On the side, were 2 parmesan crostinis which I didn't really care for. It was kind of soggy again, and I couldn't taste the parmesan. This was served in a very high bowl, so the picture doesn't adequately show the portion size, which was decent, but not large.

Others in the party decided to get the 7oz steak blackened with creole butter, and J.D. BBQ burger. These were eaten quickly and I forgot to snap pictures. I could tell by how fast these were inhaled though that they were tasty. The steak was medium-rare as requested and served with seasonal veggies and mash. The burger was decently sized, running with juice and sauces, and served with a side of sea-salted fries.

It was hard to get wait staff attention at times since we were out on the patio, but they did check in often enough to not leave us in the lurch.

 Pros:
-well executed food

Cons:
-pricey

Notes: 
-small parking lot next to entrance, can also park at Metropolis or Save-on-Foods across the street

Menu: http://www.cactusclubcafe.com/2007/pdf/bc/ccMenu-burnaby-kingsway.pdf