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| - To forewarn, my review is based on a dinner hosted by a vendor, with a fixed menu. The menu was crab cakes, spinach salad, choice of trout, chicken or beef (I had the chicken) and a "lollipop tower" for dessert.
The good:
* Very good drinks. I believe I had a pear and blueberry martini (I'm sure they had fancy names but I had a lot of vendor dinners that week and can't recall!) - Not too sweet, and strong but without tasting like lighter fluid.
* The entree I had, a chicken dish with some kind of sauce, mushrooms, onions and a ricotta filled pasta (note: I exchanged the pasta for mashed potatoes because I don't eat cheese) was delicious, and absolutely the highlight of the meal. The chicken was tender and not at all dried out, the sauce was delicious and the mashed potatoes I subbed in actually improved it, in my opinion. The feedback from those who had the pasta was that it was "fine" but "looked like maggots". (From the shape of it.)
* Very friendly service, accommodating of my dietary needs despite a fixed menu, and not one to let your drink go empty!
* The place itself is nice, and we were in a private room which made conversation easier.
The not-so-good:
* The rolls. They were this weird giant muffin shaped thing, very dry and flavourless. I would have happily exchanged for a piece of wonderbread.
* The butter with the bread had giant salt (or some other mineral) crystals that tasted terrible when you spread on your bread and bit into.
* The salad we had was a spinach salad. Overdressed with a SICKLY sweet dressing. I love salad but I couldn't tolerate it.
* The crab cakes. Not that they were bad, but nothing to write home about.
Eh:
* The signature dessert, some kind of white-chocolate-covered cheesecake lollipops with bubblegum topping were, after so many courses, a little too much for me (and I looooove dessert) but I heard they were good. Just a little too much sugar after such a meal.
About my review ...
The entree alone would have been 4 stars, because it was delicious. I however didn't see a price tag. Not sure whether it would have been worth the price ...
However, the overall experience (not really liking 4 out of 5 courses, nor the bread) made it hard for me to rate it above a two. I understand it was a fixed menu, but one would think that would mean they would put their best (albeit reasonably priced) dishes forward. If that is what happened, then the rest of the menu would be a sore disappointment.
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