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Apr. 3rd, 2006 09:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
plonqThank you to everyone who wished us well for our anniversary. It's been five good years, and I don't see that changing any time soon.
As![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
atara posted in her journal, we decided to pull the stops and do something really fancy for our fifth. We've talked about going to Sydney's since it opened, but we've held off because we had a hunch it would be expensive. It was. Ah well, it's not like we celebrate a fifth anniversary every year.
We made reservations for very early in the evening out of convenience, not because we wanted to avoid the dinner crowd. By felicitous chance the two events coincided nicely and we had over an hour to ourselves in a quiet, romantic setting. I think that in terms of atmosphere, Merteen's was a little nicer and more romantic, but that restaurant no longer exists, and it's hard to argue with a warm table, an oil lamp and an arched window overlooking the river walk.
I suspected that dinner would take awhile, and I wasn't wrong. From the time we were seated until we were retrieving our jackets, just over three hours elapsed. They were three quality hours, though.
The Menu
atara outlined her choices in her own journal. I went for a slightly different fare.
Starter
Organic field greens layered with merlot poached pears, spiced candied pecans, crumbled Cambozola cheese & drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar
This was a big bowl with a small salad that had big flavour. I was a bit disappointed by the size at first, but in retrospect it was just right. This salad was a real treat, and it ran out before it stopped being a novelty.
Appetizer
Foie gras – organic Quebec foie gras pan seared & layered over toasted brioche on a pool of Sauternes & Granny Smith coulis
Yes, I feel a little guilty for ordering foie gras. I'd never had it before, and I'll probably never have it again, but...
I felt like a member of the hoi polloi trying on a pair of silk boxers for the very first time. Damn, this stuff was good. At the waiter's recommendation I ordered a glass of an Austrian dessert wine to accompany it, and the two flavours blended like an angelic chorus in my mouth. I can understand why it is so popular with people that have a much bigger budget than ours.
Sorbet
Chef's selection.
This was a tiny ball of peach sorbet served in a minuscule bowl with a ridiculously small spoon. It was neither bad, nor good. It was sorbet.
Entrée
Chef’s feature - exotic game pan seared classically garnished with Chasseur sauce (with seared scallops)
I ate the garnish. That's probably a cardinal faux pas in many circles, but I was hungry. This dish consisted of two fair-sized slabs of lightly-cooked (blood-squirting rare = ♥), melt-in-your-mouth tender deer meat, mashed potatoes and asparagus. The "Chasseur" sauce was a delicious mushroom and wine sauce. The seared scallops that I got on the side very very good, butatara's seared shrimp were better. If we ever dine here again I will adjust my order accordingly.
Since we were both having red meat, we followed the waiter's recommendation on a red wine. He offered up a selection of wines that fell in the price range from $30 to $120 a bottle. I chose the Château Potensac Cru Bourgeois from the middle of the range, not because I wanted to split the price difference, but because it sounded like the most appealing wine.
atara is not a big fan of red wines, but even she liked this one. When it comes to wines, you get what you pay for. Sometimes it's worth spending a little extra.
Desserts
Classic crème brulée.
They claim to have the best crème brulée in town. It's very good, but IMHO the crème brulée at La Vieille Gare was a bit better.
One of the nice things about anniversaries is that they give you an excuse to treat yourself out to something a little special.
... and now back to bagged lunches while we pay this one off.
As
atara posted in her journal, we decided to pull the stops and do something really fancy for our fifth. We've talked about going to Sydney's since it opened, but we've held off because we had a hunch it would be expensive. It was. Ah well, it's not like we celebrate a fifth anniversary every year.We made reservations for very early in the evening out of convenience, not because we wanted to avoid the dinner crowd. By felicitous chance the two events coincided nicely and we had over an hour to ourselves in a quiet, romantic setting. I think that in terms of atmosphere, Merteen's was a little nicer and more romantic, but that restaurant no longer exists, and it's hard to argue with a warm table, an oil lamp and an arched window overlooking the river walk.
I suspected that dinner would take awhile, and I wasn't wrong. From the time we were seated until we were retrieving our jackets, just over three hours elapsed. They were three quality hours, though.
The Menu
atara outlined her choices in her own journal. I went for a slightly different fare.Starter
Organic field greens layered with merlot poached pears, spiced candied pecans, crumbled Cambozola cheese & drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar
This was a big bowl with a small salad that had big flavour. I was a bit disappointed by the size at first, but in retrospect it was just right. This salad was a real treat, and it ran out before it stopped being a novelty.
Appetizer
Foie gras – organic Quebec foie gras pan seared & layered over toasted brioche on a pool of Sauternes & Granny Smith coulis
Yes, I feel a little guilty for ordering foie gras. I'd never had it before, and I'll probably never have it again, but...
I felt like a member of the hoi polloi trying on a pair of silk boxers for the very first time. Damn, this stuff was good. At the waiter's recommendation I ordered a glass of an Austrian dessert wine to accompany it, and the two flavours blended like an angelic chorus in my mouth. I can understand why it is so popular with people that have a much bigger budget than ours.
Sorbet
Chef's selection.
This was a tiny ball of peach sorbet served in a minuscule bowl with a ridiculously small spoon. It was neither bad, nor good. It was sorbet.
Entrée
Chef’s feature - exotic game pan seared classically garnished with Chasseur sauce (with seared scallops)
I ate the garnish. That's probably a cardinal faux pas in many circles, but I was hungry. This dish consisted of two fair-sized slabs of lightly-cooked (blood-squirting rare = ♥), melt-in-your-mouth tender deer meat, mashed potatoes and asparagus. The "Chasseur" sauce was a delicious mushroom and wine sauce. The seared scallops that I got on the side very very good, but
atara's seared shrimp were better. If we ever dine here again I will adjust my order accordingly.Since we were both having red meat, we followed the waiter's recommendation on a red wine. He offered up a selection of wines that fell in the price range from $30 to $120 a bottle. I chose the Château Potensac Cru Bourgeois from the middle of the range, not because I wanted to split the price difference, but because it sounded like the most appealing wine.
atara is not a big fan of red wines, but even she liked this one. When it comes to wines, you get what you pay for. Sometimes it's worth spending a little extra.Desserts
Classic crème brulée.
They claim to have the best crème brulée in town. It's very good, but IMHO the crème brulée at La Vieille Gare was a bit better.
One of the nice things about anniversaries is that they give you an excuse to treat yourself out to something a little special.
... and now back to bagged lunches while we pay this one off.
