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| - Any place on Bay street that makes you feel like you're eating at home, is a place worth visiting.
I have been sitting at the bar at The Gabardine for more than half a year now, either sipping a latte, london fog, or munching down the occasional croissant. Their espressos stand out against the sea of Starbucks (using Rufino Espresso beans, if anyone cares) and Sonny pulls a mean espresso.
But the problem was I had never ventured in for dinner, since the place always seemed overloaded. A few days ago I finally decided to meet a friend for dinner. True to their nature and as a testament to their uniqueness, they were fully booked by 6pm. We sat at the bar, not far from where I usually linger, and enjoyed a feast for the ages.
We started with the rabbit rillettes with sour cherry preserve and toasts. The preserve was delicious and did not overpower the rillette. A nice touch was the inclusion of a few caper berries that added a nice salty sourness to our appetizer.
For mains we had the shrimp po boy and special of the day - fish tacos, thinking we could compare seafood and juggle between heavy and light. It was served with a heaping salad of butter lettuce, lightly dressed and almost falling off the plate. The french bread was strong enough to keep its fillings in, but so soft it melted in your mouth! The aioli and sauce on the po boys definitely blew us away. The fish tacos came in threes with a light side of potato salad. Both yukon and purple potatoes were used, which was a bonus; I love purple potatoes. The tacos were topped with pickled cabbage and assorted veggies. It was hard to pick out everything due to the dim lighting. I've had better spiced tacos, but this was a solid main.
For dessert...we ate air. Unfortunately by the time I enthusiastically asked about the burnt marshmallow ice cream sandwich, they were sold out. This was ~8pm! Note to others, order this early in your meal! It was just as well, since my companion and I had already filled up on beverages.
On the subject of libations (it is in their slogan), the bar is stacked with your standard spirits - heavy on the Italian side. Their draught beer list doesn't seem to vary from the 4 offerings: Sleeman's original, Sapporo, Okanagan Spring Ale and Blanche de Chambly. They also serve Q water, a filtration system attached to tap water. Their caesar was delicious, rimmed with a celery salt that seemed to taste not as overpowering as commercial ones and added plenty of horseradish.
As we were sitting at the bar, we were served frequently and got to see the wait staff's meticulous execution of drinks. It's a pleasure to see staff busting their behinds to serve patrons well-executed simple cooking - truly an intoxicating experience.
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