Aimee H.
Yelp
It's a warm summer Saturday in July and we got a table for supper but it looks like no reservations are needed because the resto was fairly quiet. There were only a few occupied tables inside and outside on the terrace.
Since it was quiet, after ordering, we asked our waiter if we could tour the building. They gladly obliged and sent us one of the staff members to take us on a tour all the way up to the attic piano room and then down to the basement where there's the speakeasy.
The building was built in 1688 and was at one point a hotel but today is a resto, bar and reception space. The decor and artwork is definitely eclectic!
Foodwise, they serve cheese puffs/sticks as a free appetizers. These are good and I'll have these over Cheetos any day!! They're light and flakey, dusted with Parmesan.
Appetizers. I was hesitant to try the roasted cauliflower but since we were having the bone marrow, our waiter recommended it be paired with the cauliflower.
It didn't disappoint! It's roasted cauliflower with a vinaigrette of capers, lemon, parsley, anchovies, olive oil on a cauliflower puree (cannibalistic, I know). Humble yet satisfying. It's creamy due to the puree but not too heavy because of the vinaigrette and got that umami kick from the anchovies. It's a great spread for the bread!
The bone marrow is nice to try. It's very fatty and flavorwise tastes like ramen soup base (cause that's how ramen broth is made--pork bone). The volume of marrow is about 1-2 tablespoons and goes well with the bread. The parsley salad with vinaigrette is perfect to balance the richness of the marrow.
For the mains, we were recommended the sea bream over the steak as it was accompanied by a fresh house-grown salad of radishes, kale, dill weed, mint, shredded purple cabbage in a lemony, capered vinaigrette. The sea bream is a delicate white meat fish grilled whole with lemon and capers. My two complaints are that along the spine it was undercooked and they didn't descale the whole fish so parts of the grilled fish skin couldn't be eaten even though it was a very tasty. Also warning, this dish is fairly involved as you'll have a whole fish with bones on your plate. You'll have to filet it with your fork and knife as you go!! Overall decent dish for the adventurous.
The rigate pasta was underwhelming as it was rather dry and lacked flavor, not sure the fava beans helped the cause. The portion was huge but it would've been better to have smaller quantity of pasta but have more trimmings of fried artichoke, pesto and mushrooms. It tastes predominately of dill.
For dessert, as we were in a hurry to go to another event, we ordered the vanilla lemon mille-feuille and devoured it. It's good but nothing overly spectacular, especially for the price.
The staff was very nice. Our waiter took the time to describe the dishes, which I appreciate. Our meal flavor theme was centered around lemon/capers which made for a light tasting meal.