I came here for lunch during Winterlicious. I must give credit to Valens because their menu is on the cheaper end ($18 for lunch) yet they still offer lamb shank, veal, lobster w/ pasta--some "high end" dishes. Despite the nice selection, I found the experience to be very....meh.
I ordered the mushroom crostini with grana padano cheese on top. The flavours were there... but was nothing spectacular, and I wish there was a little more than 3 pieces. My friend told me they offered an escargot crostini last summerlicious; wish they hadn't replaced it with mushroom. I had a bite of my friend's Deep fried chicken ravioli. It tasted quite dry and resembled a chicken nugget more than anything.
For my main course I ordered the Veal Osso Buco with tomato sauce and red wine. I found it quite tough and dry, and the sauce did not have any red wine taste to it. It was pretty disappointing. I had a few bites of my friend's lamb shank (in the same sauce) and although it was more tender than my veal, I still felt it was missing that "off the bone" tenderness and yummy lamb taste.
Lastly, I had the warm white chocolate lava cake. This was quite good; the white chocolate centre and vanilla ice cream really balanced out the sweetness of the chocolate cake. It was also very wam and soft, but it seemed like it was heated last minute in the microwave. It was still a nice finish to the meal.
Overall, the food was quite mediocre and since the tables were all very close to one another, I felt very cramped during my dining experience. Although they had a cheap menu, I don't know if I would visit again if they continue to serve this menu. Perhaps I will try their summerlicious next time since I've heard their mussels are quite good.