| rev:text
| - Near the intersection of Gerrard and Broadway is not where one would imagine finding a bistro like Batifole, espcially when they opened in 2004 (or was it 2005?). After all, it's a neighborhood with plenty of joints for Pho and Dim Sum but the Chef/Owner Jean-Jacques Texier presented you with simple French home cooking.
The appetizer, entree and desserts were uniformly $8, $18 and $6, respectively. But not so uniform was the quality of the food, some definitely a culinary delights while others you would be better off doing without.
The rabbit terrine was an unwise choice to start a meal with. The cold meat was coated in solidified fat, having the same texture of butter that came right out of the fridge. I suppose it was an insult to say I liked the accompanying gherkins better. On the other hand, the escargots were meaty but not too heavy, piled on a slide of bread that soaks up the tomato sauce nicely. The cream of Jerusalem artichoke topped with saffron foam was creamy and flavourful while the plate of shellfish didn't standout either way.
The entrees were just as uneven. The veal steak in a cream and white wine sauce was overly rich and lacks in flavour. However, one would be crazy to pass off the braised beef cheeks, kept warm in a pot of beautifully clear stock that complemented the tender meat and wintry vegetables perfectly. Quite average was the cod fondue in a leek sauce. Feeling more adventurous in spirit, I had also tried the horse tartare. It comes pre-mixed so I had no idea what goes into the seasoning. There was a side of capers, which ended up being slightly overpowering, partly my fault to putting them all in at once. The meat itself was rather creamy, nothing as tough as I had imagined.
The desserts fall somewhat short of expectation. The crème brulee was the standard fare, good but not outstanding. It took two people on staff to explain what the pot au chocolat was. "Is it like pot du crème?" leave our waiter scratching his head. The answer coming back being "like a pudding, but baked" hardly qualified as satisfactory. The actual dish was somewhat rich (not a bad thing at all), and slightly bitter (the burned taste, not the chocolate bitter).
Yet, food alone didn't complete the dining experience. The servers at Batifole were as friendly and down-to-earth as the country-style food. After not knowing how exactly the pot au chocolat was executed the first time, our waiters were knowledgeable in the subsequent visits (except coming back to inform us they ran out of one dish after we placed our orders).
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)