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| - A buddy of mine wanted to celebrate his birthday with style and hopefully high quality dining, so we took ourselves to The Drake Hotel on Queen St. Colour me surprised, but apparently the Drake is actually also a hotel on top of being a restaurant. No hip, ironic restaurant names here.
To paint the picture, our hostess lead us through the dining area, past a wall stocked with a mystery selection of books, by the bar, then to our marble table booth. Think modern, classy vibe, but not so classy that you're in the vote-for-Harper tax bracket.
Since we were celebrating, I put aside the diet and tried quite a few different dishes with the group. It started with the Drake + Bake, which is an appetizer of various house breads and crisps served with three different spreads, (and banana peppers for some inexplicable reason). The most impressive combo was the slightly toasted, but still supple rye bread with a scoop of what was some sort of raspberry/strawberry butter. The dish doesn't knock the ball out of the park, but serves its purpose to get you going.
After this came the Lobster Nachos. This special plate of nachos hit close to my heart as a big nacho fan. Instead of the typical salsa, the corn chips are served with a mornay sauce, cilantro, picked jalapeños, and lobster, with guacamole and lime on the side. The creamy mornay and cilantro pairing defy you to even think about craving salsa or sour cream.
For my main I ordered the Drake Dry-aged Burger along with a caesar. When this guy arrives at your table you get a little excited. The milky bun has a bit of a gleam to it, under which you'll get a glimpse of the cheddar, bacon, and Russian dressing. A bite into that milky bun will harken back to a freshly baked egg bun at first, but once you settle in it taste and feels almost like a good pot pie crust. Really appreciated that. I won't claim to have actually recognized the "dry-aged" quality of the beef, but the patty was obviously a good quality piece of meat. The Russian dressing turned out to be a stellar mild combo with the medium strength of the cheddar, and of course bacon is delicious. The one question mark here is the gigantic pickle that they serve on the side. I know this is typical burger pairing, but the thing was huge. (That's what she ...)
We finished it all up with a side of Drake Fries (fries, pecorino, truffle butter), and their Chocolate Banana Dacquoise for dessert. The dacquoise is sinfully good, and of course a caloric nuclear bomb, so thank God that it's a pretty small dessert. You'll get a hazelnut praline, chocolate mousse, and a crisp spiced banana.
Overall, I came away a happy man. Though the waitress did take a good while to get to our table at first, she dealt with our admittedly high maintenance group with poise. I'd be happy to go back, and would suggest it to anyone, (if they're ok with paying for the quality).
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