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| - Hotel Herman commands a casual hipster vibe. There's a large bar seating with a smattering of tables surrounding it.
We started off with some cocktails. We tried the Pimms, Manhattan, Moscow Mule, and a few others. The drinks were decent, though nothing mind-blowing. I'd give it overall a B to B-.
Food-wise, we started off with the carrots. The carrots were fantastic. They were served al dente with dill sauce and buttermilk bits. A-
Next, we had the beef tartare. This was the highlight of the meal. The beef was mixed with porcini mushroom emulsion and pine sprouts. The texture was a combination of crunchy and soft. It was probably the best tartare I've had in a while. A+
As our third dish, we had the leeks featuring chanterelles and quail eggs. It was an interesting dish but flavour-wise didn't really do much for me. C
We finished our meal with two meat dishes: the duck and beef.
The duck was served with garlic and savoury eggplant. The eggplant was slightly bitter but had a bit of a sweetness to it. The duck was tender and savoury. B+
The beef was served with cauliflower and thyme. The cauliflower was cooked well and there was a crunchy sauce with it (that I couldn't quite identify). The beef was cooked rare to medium-rare. B
For dessert, we ordered the Choux and White Chocolate.
The White Chocolate features soft white chocolate with blueberries, popcorn pieces and coriander. It was an interesting mix with very different textures but it really wasn't that impressive. C-
The Choux was a bit better, featuring caramel, brown butter and porcini. B
We finished off with decaf Americano which was deep and rich. A+.
The service was somewhat attentive, although, on more than a few occasions, we had trouble flagging down the waiter to order more cocktails. Water was occasionally filled and dishes were cleared at a decent pace. (The gentleman who was serving the customers at the bar seemed far more attentive).
Overall, it was a pretty good meal with a few misses.
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