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| - If I could give this place six stars, I would. Five of us dined there the other night, sharing about 10 dishes, all of which but one were home runs.
Highlights:
- duck ravioli with fresh morels and foie gras - so great we got a second order. So many layers of umami in this dish, I could eat it every week and die a happy man.
- lamb tartare. Who's heard of such a thing? I wish we'd had the room to order another serving.
- grilled octopus with clams and lentils, and a strong hint of vanilla. The octopus was slightly over-charred, but the lentils were so unusual and and interesting, this was another home run for me.
- lobster salad with asparagus - the perfect dish of the moment (early June).
- halibut sashimi with black bean purée. So fresh and perfectly simple.
- foie gras torchon with granny smith apple salad. What a perfect combination - could have been dessert.
- the incredible charcuterie plate - something like 8 or 10 items, all healthy portions, for $16. (Shhhhh! Don't tell anyone - if too many people find out, they may raise the price.) All the charcuterie is housemade, and almost all the pâtés, terrines, rillettes, etc. distinct and delicious. Consensus favourite was the pork liver pâté.
The only disappointing dish was the stuffed duck leg - the only one we had from the Viande (mains) menu. The duck was kind of dry and underflavoured, and the foie gras side didn't quite make up for it.
The wine list: 90% French, intelligently chosen and with a lot of options in all price ranges.
The service: extremely professional, smooth, friendly and knowledgeable, in both languages.
The room: a bit loud - lots of hard surfaces - but great design (love the Edison bulbs) and a really fun, boistrous vibe. The kind of place you could come to for after-work drinks and snacks at the bar, for dessert at the end of the night, or - as we did - for a full-on, all night dinner. This is my favourite kind of restaurant - bravo!
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