Bon Voyage Motor Inn - Prince George

My cousin and I stayed one night at the motel; average but it was OK. The restaurant was another story. Waaaay too many tempts to surpass everything. The Vein Oskar (I know, I know I should have known better) was occupied with...a Bearnaise sauce with crabs and shrimps. Unfortunately, I could only find a small shrimp and I'm not sure I've ever seen a shrimp. The sauce was basically a tasteless Hollandaise; no vinegar, no lemon juice (which I could taste), no estragon and no soot. Therefore, Not a bearnaise sauce. The calfs were a ground calfspatty and were drowned in the tasteless sauce. My cousin couldn't even eat her. I ate 1/2 of myself as I starved, but with a good portion of salt. I guess I expected more, but I should have known better. Needless to say, we did not eat breakfast there and went to Denny 's where we got a decent meal. Proposal for management: cut back the number of participants to a manageable number so that you can focus on quality. Or send a SOS to Gordon Ramsey.

Spent the night at the motel in a moderate room. In a hurry to get back on the street in the morning, so decided to have breakfast in the attached restaurant. Bad decision. For health reasons, I asked the waitress if the restaurant served completely...milk instead of saying yes or no, I was recommended to serve only 2%. This was delivered with an rude, almost confrontative attitude. Since I was not arguing or confronting service staff I tried to gently explain that 2% milk had more sugar than I could tolerate. She kept staring at me rudely and as I was in a hurry and had no time to look for another restaurant. The restaurant seems clean and the food is passable diner food. Would I recommend this restaurant if you don't travel!!

We have been coming to this restaurant for years for brunch, lunch, and dinner, and have always enjoyed delicious food at affordable prices. The portions are generous, often enough for two meals. Great value for the money!

I really hate to write this review, especially during the holiday season. It's disappointing to see how some people can be selfish when it comes to accommodating those with food intolerances. It's important for restaurants to pay attention to the growing number of people who have dietary restrictions. In this day and age, establishments that do not adapt to the changing needs of customers will inevitably struggle and may eventually have to close their doors. I will make sure to call ahead in the future to ensure my dietary needs are met. Prince George seems to be slow in adapting to these changes, but it would benefit them to cater to the one in two people who have food intolerances. Also, for the record, real Hollandaise sauce does not contain flour. On a positive note, the service was pretty good.

Have you ever gotten the impression some things in life are constructed like license plates? A huge sheet of plain steel rolls out, a large blade slices off a square, and a massive press stamps a random indicator of distinction. I think of the Hyundai...Accent of being built like that—as if walking into a dealer and asking, “I’ll have fifteen feet of car please. They roll out the sheet and slap the cutter down; here’s your car: you now have that length of vehicle. Mobile homes are like that to, and I believe some people wander through life having emerged from an assembly line of mediocrity. Apparently certain restaurants are like this as well, dropped from a conveyer belt called “Family Restaurant”. The chairs are that single-metal-curved-pipe, rounded-top variety. The menu must separate sandwiches from burgers with another complete page dedicated just to steak. It will offer a scattershot of regional dishes with Italian, Greek, and Chinese cuisine sharing the same page. The restaurant opens at 6:00 am and offers two stacks of menus, breakfast and lunch/dinner—because nothing says lunch like a 10 oz steak. I don’t look forward to these locations when I decide to visit them. Sometimes they’re so depressing, they would’ve broken the spirit of a dung beetle. And other times, I have to admire their capacity to offer 4 lbs. of food for $8.95. I can respect the openly family restaurant. I use the word “openly”, like it’s coming out of the closet and marching in parades. I’ll condemn restaurants for acting ethnic and traditional while offering dishes made fashionable by Denny’s. At least some places come clean with what they are. They hang their label proudly. I had this many months ago with the Carmel—a restaurant which probably hasn’t changed since 1975. I had a momentary sense of Déjà-Vu, though Bon Voyage lacks a considerable amount of embellishment compared to the Carmel. Bon Voyage looks a little too scotch-guarded for my taste. The menu appears a carbon reprint from their competition—everything is listed where it’s supposed to. There are steaks, burgers, and separate sections for Greek and Italian food. And spring rolls with the appetizers. Only in a Family restaurant can you have pita and spring rolls with your baked spaghetti. I was all over the baked lasagna for $9.95 when the waitress recommended the aforementioned baked spaghetti, which was delivered in a sizzling casserole dish with mediocre garlic bread. Three meatballs were covered in perfectly toasted browned mozzarella. The sauce had a depressing bottle taste to it, but they also offered unlimited imitation parmesan sprinkled via a Boston-Pizza-looking decanter. The meal was remarkably efficient in delivering a boatload of calories without making me sick. From a quality standpoint, locations like Cimos and North 54 don’t have much to worry about. Like my experience with Carmel, I’m suddenly awash with the obligation to build a shed or change an engine. The meal wasn’t bad, but it does sacrifice quality for price. The spaghetti noodles were a little unseasoned. The sauce had that “preserved” flavour some companies insist don’t exist but does. The dried parmesan had absolutely no flavor and the garlic bread seemed to have only been frightened by garlic rather than sprinkled with it. The price wasn’t bad. For $12.95 with a $5.95 pita bread starter, I felt on the periphery between full and “Why did I eat all that food; what the hell was I thinking? I have Bolognese in my veins.” About the only thing Carmel—I mean Bon Voyage (I actually made that mistake) had going for it is that it undercuts Boston Pizza’s prices by about four dollars. The problem is that it feels about four dollars cheaper. BPs garlic bread is larger and tastes more…garlicky. The pasta has a bit more weight to it. Yes, it probably has 200 more calories, but when eating baked spaghetti covered in cheese and meat balls, you’re not exactly in Jenny Craig…the…diet, not actually inside someone named—yeah, you get it. The final meal ended up at around $20. For that price, you get enough protein to power Rhode Island for a week. However, if looking for something with a bit more flavor, I’d suggest driving another five minutes to a chain. Which ends up becoming the real issue with Family restaurants. They should be feeling the pinch more than most. I’d previously stated that Chinese restaurants have it made since no one has opened a chain of Chinese restaurants across Canada (as far as I know). Sushi fast food seen in Asia has yet to make a footprint here. But family restaurants must compete with popular chains with earned respect like Boston Pizza. Although some people may criticize that statement, all I know is that when a group of people can’t decide on where to go, they end up at Boston Pizza. No one compromises to go to Bon Voyage. Food: 3/5 Service: 3.5/5 Presentation: 3/5 Value: 3.5/5 Recommendation: 3.25/5