| rev:text
| - First on my Summerlicious '10 hit list was Biff's Bistro, an Oliver and Bonacini restaurant. Having had a great experience at Auberge du Pommier (S09) and an even better one at Canoe (S08), I was anticipating a great lunch. Biff's Bistro definitely delivered!
Chickpea butter
The buns (white) were nice and soft - freshly warmed and came with a generous chunk of chickpea butter. I'll shamelessly admit that I slathered it on like calamine after camping. Not as amazing as previous O&B bread baskets, but not bad - not too crusty, and not some crumby (hah! get my pun?) store-bought thing.
Salmon tartare with crème fraîche & summer radish
Yum - a perfect patio appetizer. The salmon was fresh and subtly marinated and the crème fraîche had a nice light consistency to accompany its tangy flavour. The lemon zest was slightly candied (but not too sweet which is how I like it!), the radishes were crunchily fresh, and the single olive (which I happily halved) was stuffed with something deliciously pink (should have taken a picture and asked what it was! Now I'm super curious. Lesson learned.). This was the favourite of the ladies that I was lucky enough to lunch with :) ...but not mine!
Summer tomato & spinach tartlette with pistou
This was my favourite. Surprising, considering that there was a gazpacho in the mix. I am a huge fan of flaky pastries that aren't so shiny that you can see your face as you eat it. I was also pleasantly surprised with the size - I assumed that the tartlette would be a round little thing and we'd have to battle it out with our forks. The pistou that accompanied the dish had a slight flavour, but the spinach did most of the (delicious) work.
Gazpacho with shrimp hache & crème fraîche
I will admit that I was a tad surprised at the presentation of the gazpacho. I'm used to seeing the dollop of crème fraîche and a little more care with the overall presentation. This was my most anticipated appetizer, and while good it was a tad too creamy for my taste. Still, I love a good tomato-based anything so when my friends said that I could gobble up the rest...I happily obliged. So far, the gazpacho at Boulevard Cafe is still this summer's winner.
As with our appetizers, our entrees came in good time:
Baked salmon with haricot salad & sauce verte
The bed of salad was nicely done - definitely enjoyed the haricot greens and beans, and it was perfectly cooked (oh how I hate overcooked beans). I usually avoid salmon from restaurants - too many experiences of overcooked fillets leaving me wanting to go home and sear my own salmon steak. This was not bad - one end was quite nice and juicy, while the other end was a bit overcooked. Half a win, so half a chance that I'll re-order salmon at a restaurant in the future.
Smoked ham & Gruyère crêpe with Dijonaise
Well well. Who would've expected a ham and cheese crêpe to be so good? The cheese definitely sold the crêpes, which were pleasantly warm and had nice, salty cooked ham tucked inside.
Caramelized onion & chèvre frittata with arugula & preserved tomato
What was so special about this frittata? Nada. It was nice, but next to the other two entrees the flavour was lacking. A nice dish, but I wouldn't order it again. I liked the sundried tomato - but is that really a surprise? Nevertheless, it was time for dessert!
Assorted Cookies
Cookies! A nice sampling of cookies, but nothing to write home about. It certainly made for a nice picture. I like my cookies moist, not dry, and naturally I liked the chocolate square in the back the most.
Lemon cake with blueberry compote & lemon crème
Yum! I love lemon desserts. Bring on the lemon tarts, candied lemon rinds, sour lemon candies, and lemon poppy seed bread any day. This cake was really light and fluffy - not so much moist as really well aerated. The lemon flavour was very subtle, and paired quite well with the lemon crème (so I was glad that the cake wasn't too strong). The blueberry compote was a nice balance, although I've had better at Canoe with (surprise, surprise) with their lemon meringue tart.
Warm flourless chocolate torte with strawberries & Grand Marnier
Like many girls, I love chocolate. A chocolate torte? You have to beat me away with a stick. As I am not well-versed when it comes to liquers I can't really comment on the Grand Marnier strawberry mix, except to say that it complimented the warm, soft torte extremely well. It was not too sweet, and the torte was very rich so the flavours blended quite nicely. My favourite out of the three, hands down.
Overall, I was very happy with my Summerlicious lunch at Biff's Bistro. For $15 prixe fix, you get quite the sampling. I wholeheartedly recommend it, and noticed that they have $1 oysters after 5pm! Given their nice, spacious patio and location near the entertainment district, Biff's is great for a night out or a casual lunch. Will return for non-licious menu!
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)