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| - I should frame this visit around the fact that, unbeknownst to me nor my colleagues, it was the first evening of Winterlicious. Filled with enough diners rapacious for a deal that tap water was omnipresent and wine, cocktails, and any and all other beverages were confined to, well, behind the bar and a scatter of first date tables.
In spite of the largely "cost efficient" atmosphere, the food struck a balance between the vibrance that is the be-all and end-all of Indian cuisine and the refinement of fine Western dining.
At its worst, it erred on the side of a misery-inducing safety. An eggplant tartare craved smoke (and spice). The roti chips that accompanied the dish felt as if they were of the store bought variety if there was ever such a thing as store bought variety roti chips.
The butter chicken, on the other hand, was a polyamorous relationship of cream, tang, and spice. The short ribs offer a similar (delicious) confrontation of flavour.
Plating reflected the of-the-now mentality of the restaurant with metals tins and mason jars serving as trendy reminders as to why the bill you'll be paying very shortly is exactly what it is.
Excellent wine menu with a number of cleverly compiled red wine offerings. A few reds may skew a tad overpowering for the cuisine at hand, but the extent and accessibility of the offerings ought to be commended.
Service, like the food when best executed, is a lovely balance of homely comfort and elegant, upscale distance.
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