Dining disaster

My brother, a fellow foodie, came up to visit me in Whitehorse last week. I was just excited to see him as I was to have an enthusiastic dinner date with whom to explore Whitehorse's culinary offerings. We set out on Friday night with the intention of trying out the Sanchez Cantina, a new Mexican restaurant that many locals have raved about.
(I spent some of the happiest, and chubbiest, years of my life in Mexico and am constantly on the hunt for authentic tacos)
We started our night at The Roundhouse, where the patio was packed with locals and tourists soaking in a rare afternoon of blazing sun. Perhaps we should have kept a closer eye on the time, in any event, we didn't get on our way until about 9:30. Imagine our dismay when we arrived at the Cantina and discovered that they stop serving at 9 p.m. (on a Friday?!). No matter, I said bravely, we can go to the legendary salmon and rib place on Second Ave. There is always a line down the block and the one time I ate there, the bison burger was fantastic. But my positive attitude was for naught--they were closed as well.
But I was not to be discouraged. We headed to the newly opened Coasters Bistro where I had eaten lunch a few days before. Their two-piece cod and chips is a steal at $9.50. Perfectly breaded and fried and served with homemade chips and a tossed salad.
The servers welcomed us warmly, even though they were probably thinking about closing up for the night. We started with appies of a quesadilla and crab cakes, both hit the spot, although the bechamel-ish sauce on the crab cakes was a bit heavy. A lighter, spicier sauce may have served them better.
I ordered the lamb chops with mashed potatoes and veggies. My brother had the halibut with blue cheese sauce and the same sides as I. Our friendly waitress warned that the lamb was a smaller serving than some expected...she should have warned us about the mash.
Now, I have been a server for some 10 years and so I am pretty sensitive about sending food back unless it is undercooked meat. If the meal isn't right, I'll usually just wash it down with wine and leave it at that. Oh, but the horror!
Potatoes are not exactly an expensive item, even up here in the Yukon (unless you are shopping at the Super A, where they really push the limits of grocery decency when they price their bags of young taters at eight bucks a pop), so I have to wonder about a restaurant's priorities when they use instant mashed potatoes. The ones that arrived with our meal were more gelatinous goo than food product. I can't complain about the flavour, because there was none. The consistency however, was gag-inducing. It was rather like eating papier-mache paste, something I have avoided since kindergarten.
I briefly considered letting in go, but decided that I had a duty to future diners. My brother, who is even more loath than I to complain about a meal, agreed that something had to be said.
In a bit of beer-induced drama, I held up a forkful of the offending material to the woman serving us. "I would challenge the chef to eat this," I said.
She took my complaint in stride and headed back to the kitchen to negotiate. I was rather hoping she would offer another side, instead she elected to take an appetizer off our bill. A fair compromise, seeing as the kitchen was in the midst of closing down for the night.
I will surely eat at Coasters again; they have a beautiful little garden patio in the back and a big menu with lots of options. I would suggest that they cut the list down a bit and focus more on quality, but they are just starting and I'm sure they will come to a similar conclusion in time.
Until next time: Happy eating!!