Rob Kaplan
Google
Wanting to try one of Edmonton’s top restaurants known for its farm to fresh concept, we celebrated my wife’s birthday and splurged on the tasting menu.
The restaurant is cozy and homey with comfortable atmosphere that’s small but not cramped. The staff is extremely professional and friendly and explained all the dishes.
The wine menu offers a small selection of half bottles which is nice because like most fine dining experiences, all the others are in the $150-200 a bottle range which is not worth it when the meal is already $110 each. They also have reasonably priced local craft beer and various cocktails. My wife had a decent glass of a red wine from Greece which we didn’t even know exported wine.
Unfortunately, the food itself didn’t “wow” me the way tasting menus should. It started with gazpacho which was quite good but may have been the highlight. Bison tartare was good but not great.
Pasta was angel hair with a Taber Corn sauce. While I appreciate the notion of locally sourced seasonal food, creamed corn isn’t a good match for pasta and failed for me.
The meat was defiantly a disappointment. In my opinion, smoked brisket is the cheapest cut of meat a fine restaurant might offer and it doesn’t belong on the menu if a $110 meal. While I don’t expect ribeye which they charge over $200 for, a tip sirloin or similar cut would’ve been appreciated.
Served with charred kale and a large portion of what’s really baked beans, the main lacks creativity for my money. The dessert was just OK and should always stand out at the end of an expensive six course meal. No one flavor stood out and the raspberry sauce was way too minuscule to appreciate.
Overall not a bad experience but for $319, I excepted one of the best dining experiences possible and if this it for Edmonton, we’ll save our money for European vacations.
Sorry.