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| - My party of 4 headed to richmond Station last nite. I was expecting a lot based on all the hype on yelp, and most talked about on Urbanspoon. I was impressed with the food. But more than that I was impressed with the impeccable service. I wish I knew all the servers names as I would call them out here but we were treated like kings and queens. So our table was late, by only a few minutes, and they insisted on sending over a free appy of polenta fries (beautiful! Crisp, flavourful) and for my lactose intolerant, seafood aversive friend, they brought over a corn ceviche, which she raved about.
We sat at the chefs table, which if you are any bit interested in food and where it comes from and how it's prepared, this is the table to ask for at Richmond Station. The chefs were pleasant, greeting us with a smile, even in the middle of a jam packed dinner service. Our main server of the nite was a lovely woman (argh! Name!) and promptly greeted us and asked how we were while pouring our water glasses.
We started with charcuterie - a wonderful assortment of (mostly) pig products, made entirely in house. My favorite was the pastry wrapped terrine with it's bold, rich and punchy flavours as well as the other terrine, which was made from venison. They made a very large board, and brought two and the 4 of us were definitely smiling!
Mains next - special Digby scallops which were perfectly cooked and seasoned and lovely with the sweet pea purée and the haricot verte. The finish of the lemon mint marmalade brought that wonderful acidity that competed every mouthful. The braised beef ravioli was remarkably smooth yet blazened and the STN burger was juicy and cooked to a perfect medium rare. The BBQ chicken was so good, it was eaten to fast to even come up with a description! The only downfall of the main were the rosemary frites, which were rather unremarkable and slighty salty and a wee soggy.
Richmond station has 4 desserts on it's menu - and there was 4 of us so that was an easy call. The saffron pudding, while seemed like a good idea, just had something off putting about it and was the weakest of the bunch. The penny candy eclair was fun and whimsical with an amazing bubble gum sorbet, even though the pastry itself was a bit on the hard side. The chocolate mousse with the scotch ice cream was another winner, with both providing contrasting flavours and exciting when mixed together. Alas the blueberry corn cake and panna cotta was lack lustre, and lacked the oomph of the eclair and the mousse. But our party was surprised again, as a cook brought over their dessert special - a mammoth bowl of corn sabayon served with a plum sorbet. Despite the whole bowl looking totally yellow and in the need of some more colour, contrast again was the name of the game as the very very tart plum played against the sweet, silky corn like a battle royale, each trying to throw each other over the top rope!
Despite some misses (small as they were) Richmond Station truly lives up to the hype. The Chefs table was a great experience and the kitchen was quiet and refined and even with a full dining room (and I mean full!) the cooks were never in the weeds, never scrambling and consummate professionals. I do wish there was some Gordan Ramsay-ish profanity going on - it's always nice to hear that someone else is a f***ing moron for once - I do appreciate the job the cooks and the servers did last nite for our party and every nite for the entire city.
Score - Highly Recommend
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