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| - I came expecting to love love love this place. I didn't. *sad face*
As one of enroute's top picks for Canada 2012, my expectations for this place were very high. Sometimes reputations exceed experiences. We came midweek and had no trouble getting a table without a reservation (they do take reservations apparently, despite their website indication).
We stuck to the small plates menu to maximize our experience:
FRICASSEE OF CALAMARI Guanciale, Edamame, Pimenton. Impression: interesting Ingredients, looked like an Italian pasta dish and didn't impress taste wise, not bad, but nothing to go out of your way for.
FOIE GRAS PARFAIT Blackberry Coulis, Crostini. This was good. Yes I'd order it again.
OCTOPUS Bone Marrow Vinaigrette, Parsley Coulis. This was disappointing. Overly chewy, and while this is often the case with octopus, I have had it tender (although for that preparation was pickled, and maybe that is what is necessary for tender octopus). I wanted to like this more.
COUNTRY FRIED SWEETBREADS Hot Sauce, Roasted Buttermilk Emulsion, Celery Salad. This was good, nice texture and the flavors were like Frank's hot sauce tamed with buttermilk, a sophisticated hot wing.
We also had spring rolls which are not on the website menu. The server highly recommended these, and I'm glad we included them in our meal.
The wine selection was reasonably good, and the sommelier was available for questions or suggestions. It is worth a second trip before making a final rating, but there are so many places to try and not enough opportunities.
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