| rev:text
| - I met a friend here for dinner last night to try out Eight Wine Bar's Winterlicious menu. My first impression was unfortunately not positive, as we stood at the entrance of the restaurant for 10 minutes without being greeted. There were three people working behind the bar which is located directly beside the entrance. No one said anything to us in spite of my clearly audible remarks regarding our desire to be seated in the foreseeable future. Eventually, the host returned to his post and took us back to our table.
The restaurant's decor is very vibrant and modern, but it lacked the class that I was anticipating. There were red wine stains on our table cloth and our table itself was very wobbly (which they remedied with coasters upon our request...not too sure how no one noticed it was off balance while they were setting it earlier). I would have expected greater attention to details like these given the prices at this establishment. We found the prices on the wine menu to be insanely overinflated and opted to ask for a cocktail menu instead. We quickly changed our minds when our waiter informed us that their cocktails were $15 each. That's just plain ridiculous. Much to my dismay, we ended up sharing a decanter of Yellow Tail Shiraz as it was the only reasonably priced alcoholic beverage they offered (and even then I felt cheated paying $16 for 10 oz of Yellow Tail...).
I had the Chardonnay Steamed P.E.I. Mussels for my appetizer and they were cooked perfectly. The bread that accompanies this dish is also nice and thick - wonderful for sopping up the broth. My only complaint is that the pieces of bread weren't bigger. You're only given two little triangles, so you're left with a lot of delightful mussel broth and no remaining sopping device in sight!
For my main course I had the Wild Mushroom Butternut Squash & Ricotta Crepes. I found this dish to be entirely too heavy and my mushrooms tasted charred (which was such a shame, because I adore wild mushrooms). The truffle cream they adorn the crepe with is really overkill. I also found the presentation to be sloppy and unappealing. My friend, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed her Citrus Roasted Atlantic Salmon Fillet. So, if you're coming here for Winterlicious, I'd suggest you order that instead.
For dessert we both had the Fresh Fruit and Berries with Yogurt Mint Dip. This came as a huge relief after the overly rich crepe I had, but let's be honest here - I can't really rate this dessert since it was just fruit and yogurt. As long as the fruit is fresh (which it was), it's tough to mess that up.
I'm still going to give Eight Wine Bar 3 stars instead of 2 (as I was initially compelled to do) based on the fact that my dining companion really enjoyed her entree. I strongly believe that they should take that atrocious crepe dish off the menu (especially their Winterlicious menu which should be attempting to showcase what they're capable of).
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