Winterlicious 2013 @ Corner House Restaurant (Dinner)

Corner House was on my licious list for the past 2 years and this year I can finally cross it off. The houses looked kind of creepy from the outside with the snow. I think it will be very sceneric during the summer time. I heard it used to be a doctor's office. For you reference, they had a note on the door saying, all parties must arrive before being seated. This was a $35 dinner. They have extended their winterlicious special up until mid March if I'm not wrong.

complimentary bread, the bread dip was really good.

This was a nice start to the meal, however, I found the vinaigrette to be on the sweeter side. As for the baked goat cheese, it had a grainy texture which I'm indifferent about.

Baked Woolwich Goat Cheese
Stewed Dried Fruits, Vine Tomatoes, Crostini & Balsamic Vinaigrette

The venision meat was tender and you can definitely taste the red wine. The red wine sauce alone was too much for me but blending it with berry chutney balanced it out. It was my first time having spaetzel so I wasn't sure what to expect. The roasted vegetables (carrots) was delcious, really sweet with the right amount of crunch without being too raw. The dish was nicely done. I found all their savory dishes to be on the sweet side.

Slow Cooked Red Wine & Juniper Berry Venison Stew
Spaetzle, Roasted Vegetables, Brussel Sprouts, Chutney of Lingonberry & Cranberry

Now on to the disappointment. I was on the verge of believing I can finally have a perfect meal during Winterlicious but I was wrong. The meal had to end on a sour note. The desserts was a huge disappointment. Not just my dessert, but ALL the desserts. I ordered the sticky toffee pudding to compare with Starfish and Canoe. There was no comparison. This was a toffee MUFFIN. It was literally shaped like a muffin and tasted like a muffin. It was dry and just not toffee pudding like. Bad bad bad. But that little bit of icecream was good.

Sticky Toffee Pudding
Praline Ice Cream & Butter Rum Sauce

it's a muffin and NOT pudding

What others ordered...

Butternut Squash Soup
Wild Rice & Cranberry Relish

Organic Arugula Salad
Candied Walnuts, Gorgonzola Cheese, Crisp Pear & Cider Vinaigrette
-- same vinaigrette as the baked goat cheese

Seared Spring Hill Organic Rainbow Trout
Smoked bacon, Field Mushrooms, Sautéed Potatoes, Leaf Spinach Watercress, Chervil & Mustard Sauce

Whole Roasted Black Angus Striploin
Fingerling Potatoes, Crimini Mushrooms, Caramelized Onions, Barolo Red Wine Sauce
-- the sauce was really good

Belgian Chocolate Torte
Crème Fraiche
-- too bitter

Warm Jasmine Rice Pudding
Passion Fruit & Caramelized Coconut
-- rice was still hard

Final Verdict: Par (downgraded from slightly above par due to dissatisfaction with dessert)

Richmond Station

Richmond Station has been on my list ever since it opened about 2-4 months ago from reading about it on fellow blogger's blogs. Honestly, I watched Top Chef Canada here and there and have no idea who the winner was. We were lucky to be seated upstairs right in front of the kitchen. I googled how Carl Heinrich, winner of Top Chef Canada looks like so I know which one is him in the kitchen.

complimentary bread

richmond station charcuterie 14

The polenta fries were perfectly crisp, fried to perfection. The polenta fries itself was pretty bland, you definitely need to deep in the marinara sauce for some taste. I'm not a huge fan of the texture of cornmeal so this wasn' my favorite.

polenta fries 7

Most lobster bisque I had previously were rich and thick. The one at Richmond Station was on the contrary. It was runny and light. The soup base was a refreshing lobster broth where I can taste it was made using the lobster head and shells. The lobster pieces were very small and almost unnoticeable. It was a nice change from the usual thick lobster bisque. The soup was served warm which I didn't like.

lobster bisque 9

The wild boar meat was very tender and the handmade orecchiette had the perfect texture. It was al dente. The dish was not heavly seasoned, thus eating the whole dish was not a problem as you won't get sick of the taste. However, I did not like the toscana cheese in the dish. It semi melted in a blob and the taste was a little bitter. Not for my taste buds. Again, I found the dish to be warm.


wild boar ragu 23

Nicely seared piece of fish which I found to be slightly, just ever so slightly undercooked. It was served with potatoe rosti which was not crispy. Overall, it was a good dish but again, served warm. 

grilled sea bream 21

complimentary dessert

Final Verdict: Slightly Above Par (they need to improve on keeping the temperature of the dishes)

BUCA

Along with "Less is More" and a couple of friends, we went to BUCA to celebrate "Less is More"' 's birthday. Don't bother checking the website because it's useless. Unless you are only interested in knowing the location and hours of business. There are no menus on the website. With my wild guess, I assume it's because they change their menu too often, thus, too lazy to constantly update the website. The location of BUCA is a little difficult to find since it's tucked inside an alley way and their sign is quite small. In short, it's right across from WVRST, literally.

 Yes, the bread is not free and neither is the olive oil. I suggest on passing the bread because they were hard and none of the 4 variety tasted really good. The olive oil is nice but not nice enough that cost $3 whereas other places have them for free.

pane di buca (5) + olive oil (3)

Disappointing composition of the kale salad with persimmon on the bottom. The dressing and everything did not blend well together. Quite disappointing.
 

kale salad (12)

 

My favorite of the cured meat was the one in the middle which I don't recall the name. It tasted great with the middle side dish. The sourness of side dish balanced well with the saltiness of the cured meat.

salumi 3 (17)



This is the BEST pizza I had. I think this beats Terroni's pizza for me anyday! I'm just drooling and craving for it as I look at the picture. The pizza is topped with thinly sliced potatoes, sprinkled with fresh rosemary and drizzled with egg yolk. The composition of the pizza was perfect. I never knew egg yolk on pizza would taste so good. It was not overly salty and tasted just right. I could of just kept eating this pizza all night long and was the best dish of the night.


pizza patate (21)

The pasta dishes on the other hand was a completely different story. The pasta texture of both dishes below were uncooked. They were NOT al dente but hard. Taste wise did not stand out at all.

bigoli (19)

I always thought carbonara was a rich and savory pasta sauce. It was not the case for the below. The bacon crisp was so burnt that it tasted bitter and completely ruined your mouthful. The fish roe didn't do much to the dish either.

carb di mare (24)

The dandelion veggie side dish was recommended by our server stating this is a commonly eaten vegetable in Italian cuisine. It did not taste good at all. It was bitter and all I could taste seasoning wise was vinegar. 

veg cicoria (8)

take home meringue cookies (free)

Final Verdict: Slightly Above Par (without the pizza, I would just give it par)

 

Canoe

Canoe was never on my must go list of restaurants partly because I'm not a fan of the O&B restaurants and people have said it's as good as people say. In addition, their menu just did not attract me. Canoe offers Canadian and European cuisine. We were seated right next to the window with an awesome night view of Toronto and the CN Tower in Xmas colors. The lighting in the dining room was dim, thus it was hard to take nice photos and I didn't want to turn on my flash causing a big commotion around me. I do apologize of poor photos. 

the view from where we sat

The cocktail I got was the cocktail of the season? It was called christmopolitan" which is a play on Christmas and cosmopolitan. It was mainly cranberry juice and vodka. At first sip, it tasted more like juice than alcohol. As you got to the bottom, the vodka taste became more prominent.

chrismopolitan 15

To start off, complimentary bread with chickpea spread.

The B.C. Salmon was ordered by my friend and I did have a small portion to taste. The salmon was nicely seared or torched. The inside was not the pinkish color you would expect from a salmon. The color of the fish was still translucent but cooked. The taste of the salmon was light and did not overpower the natural salmon taste at all. I really enjoyed this dish.

Marple Torched B.C. Salmon 23

Nothing on the appetizers menu really caught my eye so I decided to try their take on the classic caesar salad.  Overall, the salad was okay. I found the dressing to be too citrus-y and too sour to the pallet. Did not understand the purpose of eel and lentils in this dish. I did like the soft boiled quail egg as it was perfectly cooked like soft boiled eggs in ramen, which I love. I do have to say, my favorite caesar salad is from Jacob and Co. Steakhouse. You have to try someday.

Two Tone Romaine 18

I really liked the soft broiled quail egg.

My other dear friend order the oysters to start. I had one and I have to say as a non oyster fanatic, it was very fresh and sweet. I did enjoy it more than I expected.

Oyster Boy`s Finest 19

For entree, I ordered a fish dish. I`m not a fan of meat and large pieces of meat (mostly steak), it just grosses me out. Thus, I usually order seafood, chicken or fish. This was an interesting dish because it included touches of molecular cuisine. The white foam you see in the picture is not nothing. It is actually cauliflower foam. At first, I was not able to identify the ingredient and had to ask our waiter afterwards. It was really interesting eating a solid food in another state. Call me dumb but is arctic char is same as salmon? The reason I'm asking is the fish in the below tasted just like salmon... The fish was cooked perfectly and it was served on top a bed of Ontario white rice and sweet corn. The plate was also assembled with sweet corn puree. Overall, the dish was good but not memorable aside from the cauliflower foam.

Sustainable Blue Arctic Char 38

Up next, my friend ordered the rib eye cooked to medium. I thought the meat was okay, not for my taste. The little potato triangles were a little too hard and dry.

49 Day Aged Ontario Rib Eye 49

I think this was the first time I had venison  The texture and taste of venison is very much like pork liver if you ever had that. The round dome that looks like a bun but it's actually a tourtiere. It's very much like a beef puff pastry in a ball shape.

Green Alder Rubbed Venison 48

Nothing really special about the butter tart.

Butter Tart 12

This didn't taste good either.

Soft Chocolate Financier 12

I decided to order the sticky toffee pudding since I wanted to compare this with the one I had at Starfish. I would have to say Starfish's sticky toffee pudding was much better. The sticky toffee date pudding was not chewy enough for my taste, it lacked texture. The white blob was almond foam and the orange ball is passion fruit sorbet with a wafer cracker on top. The whole dessert was immerse in a caramel sauce which made everything too sweet. The sourness from the passion fruit sorbet did not balance anything. Overall, this dessert was alright.

Sticky Toffee Date Pudding 12

the damage

The service was excellent. All dishes were explained by the server upon presentation and they were very knowledgeable about their menu. We had personal space with attentive service without being too intrusive and annoying. Food wise, I didn't find anything that was over and beyond. It was good. I would not go back again because I found the menu items to be limited and didn't offer enough variety. I believe a meat eater would enjoy Canoe more than I did.

Final Verdict: Par 

Happy Holidays to my dear readers~~~ 
Here's the season to be jolly, fa la la la la... la la la...