rev:text
| - I came here for a Winterlicious lunch this year. Granted, I'm fully aware of all the pitfalls of -licious dining, but had heard positive reviews of Auberge du Pommier and was really looking forward to my meal here.
The restaurant itself is beautiful - tucked away amidst a sea of office buildings, I felt like I had stumbled upon the secret garden as I walked up the path to the door. The interior is gorgeous; it looks like a Martha Stewart magazine come to life. All of the hosts and servers that we encountered from the door to our table were extremely pleasant and cordial.
I started my meal with the Salade du Marché, a delicious combination of mixed greens, shaved beets, minted yogurt, couscous and red wine vinaigrette. The salad was the tastiest part of my meal, which unfortunately began a downward trend from there. For my entree, I had the Ricotta Cavatelli, which had a slightly unappealing "worm-like" appearance and consistency and was, in my opinion, slightly underseasoned. I finished with the Chocolat Chaud for dessert, which was so cloyingly sweet that I couldn't even finish the small cup (and I love chocolate!). Dessert also came with two small french crullers which were both slightly undercooked on the inside, though the taste was fine.
Overall, the meal took nearly two hours from start to finish, which was admittedly slightly surprising. We noticed tables that were seated after us receive their food before we did. My dining companion and I also ordered drinks at the start of our meal which were forgotten about and not delivered to our table until we had finished our appetizers and moved on to our main course. Water was not refilled until requested. Given this restaurant's price point and reputation, there were some flaws in service that are difficult to overlook, and I wasn't particularly blown away by my meal either. As another small point, it was quite cold inside the restaurant, and the washrooms (which are downstairs) were downright freezing.
Would I return and pay full price? Maybe, but I feel like there are much better places to have an excellent meal.
|