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| - Looking up the menu and reviews beforehand, I was INCREDIBLY stoked to check this place out, and even happier when I discovered Quinta was participating in Winterlicious: $25/pp for dinner.
My date and I were maybe 15 minutes early for our reservations at 7:30 but were accommodated immediately. Cute atmosphere, but a very open dining room made us feel a little exposed. Luckily, the restaurant soon started filling up to the point where only a handful of tables were left. Doubles seating along the length of the restaurant is very tight; out of respect for the diners immediately next to you, I think this is what keeps overall noise levels down.
Our server sold up the sides of the day and beer, but we were craving a little vino for date night and considered getting a bottle (okay, maybe craving a lot of vino!). The modest wine menu consisted of about 8-10 wines; the server could barely describe the difference between two varieties and admitted needing to refer to his notes cause it had been so long since tasting either... and left it at that. While pulling your notes out during service is unprofessional, I can certainly appreciate the effort to be helpful and informative. Instead, he just left with "I'm not sure". Ummmm?!? It also didn't help that he was standing behind my date and kept switching sides, making for a really difficult exchange.
Nevertheless, food came rather quickly:
- PARNSIP AND POTATO SOUP: pureed parsnip & potato with a drizzle of paprika oil and roasted kale. highlight was smokiness of the kale, yum!
- PORK TERRINE: teensy little dollops of terrine served with toasts, mustard and pickles. nuttiness of the terrine was nice, as was the pickles.
- FRIED PIRI PIRI CORNISH HEN: a cut of breast + wing with spaetzle and kale. the skin was super flavorful (my date found it too salty), though flavour and moisture was lacking in the meat - really wished they used dark meat instead. cornmeal in the spaetzle went unnoticed.
- BITOQUE: steak cooked rare to our liking, on a bed of fried potato coins and a fried egg ontop. pictures looked like the egg would be over fried, but the yolk was nice and runny. though my date also found the fries too salty, the diners next to us were enthused enough to order a side of fries on its own. potato + steak + egg: you can't go wrong. yummy combo but for such a simple dish, I'm glad it didn't have the original $25 price tag on it.
- PANNA COTTA: with spiced apples ontop. panna cotta was over gelled but perfectly not-too-sweet on its own. For me, the apples tipped the scales to oversweet.
- FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE: super dense cake atop a schmear of lemony cream. lemon + chocolate isn't my number 1 combo but it did help to cut a bit of the richness. chocolate was nice and dark, not too sweet.
Sorry Quinta - the 2 stars describe my experience perfectly: MEH.
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