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| - Spectacularly disappointing, after all the 4- and 5-star reviews. If a restaurant is going to lead with a tasting menu, it had better be TASTY. Each dish came with an elaborate fanfare of explanation of ingredients, to which the dish did not live up. The waiter seemed untrained and had to go ask if there were an à la carte menu as well as a tasting menu, as advertised on their website. In the end, we all ordered the tasting menu. The amuse-bouche dish was a deep fried asparagus tip. Meh. My guests were asking about plates, there were none, so greasy fingers it was. One said the asparagus would've been better with a dip. The next dish had a beef tartare inside a leaf of the base of a fennel bulb, and I was told they could do a veggie version for me. It was one of the blandest dishes I've ever paid for, and my carnivore companions reported that the tartare was bland, also--none of the complexities or seasoning of other tartare. The noodle dish was hot and cooked to the right toothsome texture but also singularly bland. One of my companions said, "All I can taste is starch and fat." Even the 2-3 tiny mushrooms lacked their characteristic umami. We were all hoping for more from the halibut. I ate about two bites and left 2/3 on the plate-- more blandness, and a weird chewiness and resistance to being cut with a knife. I thought perhaps they'd cured the fish, like ceviche. The waiter had poured tiny containers of sauce around the fish, but took these away with him. Too bad, the little bit of herbed sauce was the only tasty thing on the plate. The waiter asked about the halibut, and I said I didn't like it, and didn't elaborate. He apparently reported this to the chef, because someone else came out and insisted nicely on cooking something else. We all got a piece of grilled salmon with tiny squash blossoms and a beurre blanc sauce. Finally something tasty, worthy of a tasting menu. We appreciated this kind gesture. Then the cheese. This was not good: three tiny slices of a Quebec cheese akin to Swiss cheese, on a bed of a sweet pistachio butter, topped with something the waiter was unable to describe but looked a bit like a syrupy hibiscus leaf. These flavours did not jive. This dish was teensy weensy and yet we still left food on the plate. And with all the marvellous cheeses in this province! The dessert of shaved pound cake on a coconut cream with chantilly was quite tasty but not presented well. My coffee was not on my bill, so I asked the waiter if it was included, and he said he'd forgotten to add it. He started to wave it off, then said, "I'll go add it." Just. So. Wrong. As we waited I asked my out-of-town guests if they'd come back here if they lived here, and they both mouthed, "Nooooooo." One said, "I've eaten worse food. This wasn't bad--it just wasn't at all good." Hence 2 stars instead of 1.
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