Hooded Merganser

See the pretty building on the pretty lake? That is the Hooded Merganser restaurant in Penticton. It's right next to the Penticton Lakeside Resort and is fairly new, I believe it opened in the Spring of 2005.

We walked by it a couple of days before deciding to go for dinner. It's a very nice looking restaurant, right on the water, with three walls made up of windows. We started at a table outside, but had to move inside when the wind picked up. I didn't take our camera out with us that night and it is really too bad. I could have taken some great pictures.

We decided to start with an appetizer and wait to order our dinner to see how hungry we were after that.

We chose the Three Tapas served with fresh bread. You pick 3 tapas from a list - one each from dips, salads and finger food. We chose Sun dried tomato and olive tapenade from the dips, White bean and Chorizo salad from the salads, and Candied Walnuts and Prosciutto from the finger foods. When it came to the table I moaned some more about forgetting the camera. 3 square bowls on a plate with bread. It was gorgeous. And tasty. The tapenade was nice and salty. The salad was the best looking and tasting. Beautiful white beans drizzled in olive oil, some a little pinky-orange from the diced chorizo that was tossed in. So good.

It was a pretty large appetizer, especially with the bread, so we both decided just to have a sandwich. Scott had the Seafood Club - tiger prawns, crab and salmon with bacon lettuce and tomato. Really nice, but huge. He could only get through half even with my help. I wanted the pulled pork bun, but they were out. Doesn't it drive you crazy when your waiter doesn't tell you what they are out of? I had the Grilled Gouda and Mango Salad sandwich instead. It was really nice; my only complaint was the mango salad was a bit too juicy and made the sandwich soggy quickly. This is something I would make at home for sure.

All in all, a very good meal, even without pictures. Time didn't permit us to go back again, but on another trip I definitely would.