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| - Three of us came into the Cluny on short notice so hadn't read any reviews and had no expectations. In fact, it may have been "low" expectations as most of the Distillery restaurants are grand decor venues with ok-to-good but not great food. Long story short though, Cluny exceeded our expectations and we will likely come back. The pros and cons:
The Cod fritters were very light and tasty, and a very generous serving. The potato dip was an odd pairing but it tasted okay. The French Onion soup and the Ox Tongue were excellent. The former was a bit pricey but it did taste very good. The Ox Tongue was a surprisingly large portion and really well flavoured. I haven't had souffle too many times in my life, but I thought the souffle + financier were divine.
Now the misses:
The sweetbreads were tasty but at 3 tiny pieces, came in at about $5 per piece! What! The crunchy heirloom carrot sticks on the side were an absolute mystery. Heirloom carrots in general are lovely, but I didn't understand that pairing at all. And considering that all the other portions were so generous, the 3 measly sweetbreads were disproportionally small, almost like they forgot half the order.
The beef tartar was really disappointing. I have nothing to say about it except that they were chunks of chewy sinewy beef.
Lastly, the service was a semi-miss that night. The servers were all friendly and polite, but they seemed a bit inexperienced. For a restaurant that is trying so hard with everything else from the ambitious menu to the detailed decor, it's not okay to use inexperienced staff, young and polite as they are. There were several times that the servers gathered and chatted casually as ONE of them was slicing and assembling a bread basket. The bread station is displayed like a room centrepiece so we're all watching them chat while handling the bread. Chat in the back, no one can see you! I know the kitchen staff are talking over the food while they prepare it too, but it's something else to have to witness it. Actually in most open kitchens, I've only seen staff have quick exchanges or talk about their orders, not who they're meeting for drinks after work. It seemed somewhat unprofessional. With everything else going for it, I'd expect the service to be a tad more sophisticated. Maybe it was just this night.
Oh, and the French pop music is cool but maybe just a bit too loud for dinner. It got a bit distracting and we found ourselves trying to speak over the music all night.
Overall though, we were impressed with the quality of the food and will not hesitate to come back to try other items on the menu. And the souffle and the bread basket ensured that we would definitely sample offerings at the boulangerie on another day!
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