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2014-07-21
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My friend G picked this place to have her birthday dinner. Seeing the reviews of the restaurant, I knew it was gonna be an interesting experience. No more than 20 people could be seated at a time, as it is quite a small place. There are some cute drawings on the wall, which added some life and characteristic to the plain white walls. The lights were dim, and the ambiance was chill, or even romantic you could say. Hygiene was okay. 2 of us had arrived first, and there weren't any people in the re
No more than 20 people could be seated at a time, as it is quite a small place. There are some cute drawings on the wall, which added some life and characteristic to the plain white walls. The lights were dim, and the ambiance was chill, or even romantic you could say. Hygiene was okay.
2 of us had arrived first, and there weren't any people in the restaurant, which meant it was only us vs. the host/Sommelier, who just kept on talking and talking and talking. He wasn't pressuring us to try their wine, but he did talk lots about it. He was definitely very passionate about what he does, which is good I think. Then, when our friend finally arrived. The wine lover explained to us what was unique about each one of their dishes. The 3 of us each got a dinner set. Since none of us are big drinkers, we didn't order any wine. After a very long and detailed description, we made a choice. I tend to order fish or steak when I'm out so I opted for the salmon, when buddy J chose the steak. Then, the birthday girl chose the pork rack, since we were told Iowa has the best damn pork in the world. Each set consists of a salad, soup and main; add $40 for a dessert if you wish.
Here is what we got:
1. Smoked Salmon Caesar Salad Do you find that smoked salmon and caesar salads are 2 dishes that pretty much taste the same no matter which restaurant you go to? This is what I think. Nothing too special, but at least I got some greens for the day.
2. Bread & Daily Bisque: Tomato This was a very cheesy and fresh tomato bisque. We all quite liked it, but it was rather salty and, we weren't a big fan of the parsley. The texture of the soup was interesting, which can be noticed from the picture. The bread was very crunchy, so it was a nice contrast when dipped into the soup.
3. Grilled Norwegian Salmon Fillet w/ Capers Creme Reduction ($258) My little piece of salmon laid quietly beside a bed of potatoes. The potates were creamy, but once again everything was seasoned too heavily, as everything was so salty. The capers creme reduction was different, but not bad. My salmon was good, but it was a little overcooked and it was so tiny. Since it was such a thin piece, it was probably cooked once it hit the pan. I was surprised that it was overcooked though, since the dude gave us a long speech on them never overcooking their food. Ha.
4. Grilled US Angus Rib-Eye Steak w/ Cabernet Reduction ($268) The sides were also mashed potatoes with veggies for the steak. Our table faced La Vache, so as we were trying this steak, we couldn't help but to compare the 2 steaks of these 2 different restaurants. We all thought that the one across the street was better. Sorry, didn't mean to compare... The cabernet reduction tasted like regualr gravy to me, which is something you also never get to have in Hong Kong, so that was a nice change.
5. Grilled Iowa Berkshire Pork Rack w/ Wild Mushroom Creme ($278) This was one big, thick and fat piece of pork! The meat had some fat to it, and it was still a little pink, so the pork was very tender. I was glad that it didn't have that "pork" taste. The dish had the best sauce in our opinion; the wine and mushroom were wonderful together.
6. Dessert (+$40) Apple Crumble The reason why my friend chose this place was because of their pear crumble. Unfortunately, it was sold out along with some other desserts, so we chose the apple crumble. We were disappointed, but soon after, this became the highlight of the night. It was probably one of the best apple crumbled I have had in my life! The topping was warm and crunchy, then the apples were a nice balance of sweetness and acidity. All together with the ice cream, we finished this dessert in minutes. Also, after such a salty main, this sweetness was needed to soothe the tongue.
Everything came rather slow, as the chef had to finish all the mains ordered at the restaurant before the dessert could be made. We were there for almost 3 hours. I know fine dining is a slow process, but we really didn't have the patience that night.Final Verdict:
I'm not one that likes to social too much while I'm eating. I like my personal space, so when the host/ sommelier kept talking, it was just a little too much. We were lucky that a eally large and troublesome table came, so that he spent most of his time attending to them. However, his service was good, as you could really feel his passion. If you like wine, I would suggest this place since "they don't sell what supermarkets and places do", and I'm sure you could have a great chat with the sommelier.
Other Info. :
You might get some surprises from the sommelier... :)
(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)
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