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| - *** 3-1/2 STARS ***
I was here with a group of 7 people last week for dinner.
I was also surprised there hasn't been any reviews anywhere and I was even more surprised that I live a couple blocks away often get takeout at Sushi 930 next door and never knew this place existed -- it has been open since the beginning of last December. The space was once Saviari Tea & Cocktail Lounge, which was an interesting concept, but was plagued by a rather cheap and uninviting atmosphere and always lacking in customers.
I had my doubts about this restaurant when I first saw their menu online. Their food is claimed to be rustic fusion, which sounds rather like a cop out and their dishes sounded lack-lustre with nothing that really stands out.
When I arrived at the restaurant I noticed they did a good job in transforming the once bleak space into a place that is much more warm and welcoming. In keeping with the rustic theme, there is lots of rustic wood furniture and paneling, rustic nik-naks, and the proverbial Edison bulb light fixtures everywhere. While the space is much improved, however the restaurant feels a bit odd, as the floor was dominated by a couple rows of large bar-height tables down the middle of the restaurant with dining tables on either side. This lack of room and flow seemed to make it difficult for the servers to attend to their diners and it makes walking to the bar or bathroom more cumbersome. The TV sitting at the end of the bar was on the Rogers channel preview channel and was very distracting. The rustic themed effort of the restaurant felt almost like a Lone Star restaurant trying to be hipster, which the atmosphere seemed to be a bit off or not quite put together.
The music was a mix of electronic and funk, which I liked but was played way too loud, especially when there were not that many people there.
I started off with their Apple Crown cocktail which on the menu said it was a must try, which I did and it was very tasty. It was Crown Royal with lemon tea, infused honey, house made bitters, dusted with cinnamon with a dried apple slice on top of a large cube of ice. It wasn't overly sweet and had enough booze which I really liked. I would order this again, though they had a nice and interesting cocktail menu selection.
My table had a couple orders of the brie appetizer which was baked brie topped with toasted pine nuts and drizzled with honey and served with slices of ciabatta, they all really liked it.
I had a really hard time ordering my main course as nothing really stood out and many of the dishes were either very simple or served with tomato sauce which seemed like a very easy and had potential of being bad (at least in my experience). The menu was a mix of Italian, English pub, Mediterranean, and bits of other cuisines, so it really had no focus which was why I was having trouble ordering something I would really like -- everything felt really safe.
I went with the hangar steak as I was craving steak. I wanted their perogie dish, but they didn't have any that night.
I requested the steak be cooked medium-rare but more on the rare side. I found the beef on the tough side despite being perfectly cooked, but it was well seasoned and nice flavor. The sides of mashed potatoes tasted creamy and buttery good, the asparagus was tender, however the side salad was barely dressed and dry and the odd side of guacamole didn't go with anything on this dish and I didn't care for it. A salsa verde or chimichurri sauce would be much more welcomed here.
Every else in my party seemed to like their dishes, though someone had a side of brussel sprouts which arrived cold and was overcooked and too soft.
One dish that looked really impressive was their Double Grilled Cheese Beef Sliders. The dish came with two sliders and they were much larger and substantial than your typical slider. It was essentially a burger inside a grilled cheese sandwich, brilliant! I will definitely order that next time.
The waiter was nice enough to give us a complementary sample of tiramisu for dessert as we were all too full from dinner. Even though I am not a big dessert person I really liked the tiramisu and would order it if I was hungry enough for dessert.
Overall I thought my dinner experience was good, but it still needs improvement which is understandable as this restaurant has only been open for less than two months with little business or publicity. Also there was only one person working the front of house -- he was the waiter and bartender for the entire restaurant when we were there which made for slow and spotty service, but he was very nice and courteous and greatly appreciated our patronage. An extra wait staff would definitely improve things.
I'm sure they will iron things out with their service as they get more customers and experience. I will definitely check back in a few months.
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