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| - The Smarty Pants Canadian Cousin was ecstatic to get a reservation for Garde-Manger for my visit. "I had to stalk their website for a month to get this," she exclaimed. Let's hope this Rude Vile American Cousin didn't embarrass the Smarty Pants Canadian Cousin too much.
-- BREAD - With housemade cream cheese spread. So good that they should charge for it. MUST GET (obviously).
-- OYSTERS - Village Bay ($2.5) , Wellfleet ($3.25), Standish ($3.75), Cape Spear ($2.75), Coleville Bay ($3.25) - Arranged specifically in increasing order of flavor/sweetness. Personally, for the sheer presentation, get the impressive seafood platter instead.
-- $15 GIANT CAESAR - Get their signature drink simply for the WOW factor. I'm not a huge Bloody Mary fan, but the spicy kick (pepper on the rim and horseradish on the jabbed spoon) and the dangling giant snow crab claw made this drink impressive. MUST GET.
-- $19 POUTINE DE HOMARD - The famous lobster poutine with lobster gravy was what we came for, and although good, it wasn't as great as those at the cheaper hole-in-the-wall poutine places.
-- $13 COD ACRA - The cod fritters were amazingly delicious - light and fluffy. MUST GET.
-- $15 SMOKED SALMON - Being just smoked salmon, this was the least favorite dish of the night - which says more about how amazing everything else was.
-- $24 WAFFLE FOIE GRAS - Strange yet delicious pairing - a generous helping of savory seared foie gras and braised short rib over a honey-sweetened waffle. Yes, it was as amazing as it sounds - the best dish of the night. MUST GET.
-- $35 PETONCLES - The scallops were gigantic - the size of hockey pucks, EH! The perfectly cooked risotto was wonderful with the heirloom veggies. The sauce was very good. GET IT.
The attentive service was exquisite - the courses were paired off according to complementing tastes, and every plate was accompanied by a thorough introduction to the dish. (Note: Menu on the chalkboard changes constantly.) The ambiance is dark and intimate, rustic yet modern, just like the discrete storefront outside.
$225 including taxes (Above courses, three wines + Giant Caesar, dozen oysters, espresso). To use the rude vile American saying, it was so totally HELLA worth it, dude.
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