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| - There are some very strange reviews of this place on Yelp. A: People who complain about the main being meat, when you can pre-order a fish or vegetarian option. B: Others who think it is overpriced, when you are getting a full four-course meal designed by a renowned chef for $58.
The daily menus for the full week are on their website; just reserve based upon what appeals to you.
The ambience is very relaxed, although there was a pretty rowdy group of 10-12 across the aisle from us; they were there to have fun, and they did just that.
The staff were uniformly pleasant and attentive, and there were no sneers or raised eyebrows when we passed on the "extras" and the wine pairings. The pacing was a little slow for my liking, but my three companions were perfectly satisfied.
Food: The salad was very tasty, and exceptionally fresh. I actually missed the dressing at first because it was on the side of the family-style plate and it's pretty dark in there. Nevertheless it was good, with or without the yoghurt based dressing.
The hanger steak was nicely prepared and appropriately sliced to maximize tenderness. The sides were also excellent. One of our group disliked cheese, so they received a separate order of asparagus, without parmesan...a thoughtful touch. Delicious roasted new potatoes. Like most upscale joints nowadays, they eschew salt and pepper on the table; however, the food was perfectly seasoned, which is certainly not always the case. My wife asked for salt and pepper, but did not use them at all.
The cheese course was a little disappointing; a lot of Ontario "artisanal cheeses" are just bland, and this was one of them. The "beer jelly" that came with it was very creative, and exceptionally tasty.
The dessert was a buckwheat waffle with strawberry and rhubarb compote and burnt Crème Anglaise. I don't like sweets at all, but I consumed most of it, which is inordinately unusual.
I cannot remember having such a well prepared, filling meal for $58 in a long, long time.
Lynn Crawford came out at about 11pm to chat with the customers. On TV she comes across as a very genuine person compared to most of the "celebrity chefs", and she was the same in person. She's clearly someone who is doing what she wants, and enjoying it too...the food reflects that reality, in my opinion.
Our guests were from the UK and they'd never heard of her, but they were astonished that a well known chef was actually cooking in her own restaurant. As one of them said: "That's not what happens when you go to 'Jamie's Italian'!"
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