Situated
in the Anndore House, Constantine takes up much of the lower floor of the
boutique hotel. It’s swanky and has a cool vibe, fitting into the Yorkville
landscape perfectly. They offer a varied menu of Mediterranean dishes with
Italian thrown in for good measure – from the owners of Campagnolo, La Palma,
and Mercatto it’d be a shame if pasta and pizza didn’t make an appearance.
Indeed, I had to order both tried and approved dishes, with some new tastes
thrown in for good measure.
The
grilled halloumi on panella ($11) is a little seen starter,
the cheese resists completely melting and merely gets gooey when it’s licked
with heat. I love the cheese's chewiness and its saltiness mellowed by the
delicate soft panella (similar to
polenta cake but made with chickpeas instead). With pickled chili for heat and
a creamy labneh this was a great
nibble to start on and would be work for cocktail parties.
Scoring
seats at the “Chef’s table” I loved the way it’s set-up – two of the corners
are split off in the middle so there is a sense of privacy. However, it’s a shame that none of the chefs bother to
acknowledge the diners (even if they’re standing in front of you). While I
understand they are servicing a large restaurant and can’t afford to have full
conversations, even a quick hello or goodbye would be nice. At the very least,
staff should refrain from calling these Chef’s Table seats and merely describe
them as counter seating around the kitchen.
Just dress
accordingly as it can get warm with the wood fire grill and pizza oven going;
nothing a bottle of cold cava can’t fix! Hearing that many of their dishes are
cooked (or at least finished) on the Argentinian inspired grill, we thought we
should try these special dishes. Sadly, the they were also the most
disappointing.
After
visiting Tanto and seeing their set-up, I can only deduce it’s a poor decision
to have the wood burn directly below the meat, rather than off to the side and cooking
over smouldering embers (generally how a traditional asado is operated). The person manning the grill just couldn’t get
the flame and timing right: the lamb ribs ($19) arrive overdone to the point
the pomegranate molasses glaze turned into a candy crust and the meat was hard
and chewy. To be fair, the cut of the ribs was also much too small and an
uneven thickness. Even the cooling buttermilk dip could only add so much
hydration.
Conversely,
the fire roasted eggplant ($14) was underdone – the texture spongy and the
insides still white from being raw. Having had some of the thinner end pieces,
this dish could have been delicious if the eggplant was cooked longer and
transformed into a soft creamy consistency. Mixed with garlic and herbs all
the vegetables had great flavours, the generally mild shishito peppers a touch
spicier at Constantine.
While
the cacio e pepe pizza ($16) was a
little softer than expected (I can't help but recall that golden crispy crust from the zucchini
pizza at La Palma), the chef certainly didn’t skimp on the cheese. A blend of
three - chewy stracchino,
creamy mozzarella, and salty pecorino – finished with a dash of black pepper, it’s
a simple pie but allows you to really enjoy the warm chewy crust and dairy,
with no tomato sauce.
The best
dish of the evening was the spaghetti ($21). The fresh pasta extremely al dante
(truthfully another 30 seconds in the water would have been my preference) and
the olive oil sauce perfectly seasoned with caramelized garlic slices infusing
it with flavour. I love how the sweet marinated Fogo Island shrimp was added
quickly at the end for a few tosses, so they remained delicate and not
overcooked. This was one dish we inhaled.
After a
carb-filled meal, the labneh
mille-feuilles ($12) is a great light ending, even though it didn’t
resemble the menu’s description. How it’s described: coffee, fig, and caramelized
white chocolate. What I tasted: whipped cream, sweetened lebneh, flakey pastry, and slivers of fig throughout. While still
good, I was really hoping for some coffee essence.
Overlooking
the kitchen, I was disappointed to see the sheer number of plastic bags being
tossed in the garbage (used to hold individual portions of the pasta, shrimp,
rice, etc.). Considering the number of dishes that go out from the kitchen, I can
only imagine how much waste gets generated and it made me feel guilty for even
ordering the pasta. Having seen how other kitchens operate, competitors
generally use plastic containers to hold large amounts of the ingredients and
then simply spoon what’s required into the pan. Maybe some ingredients (like
shrimp) require an element of precision, but surely for low cost ingredients,
it really doesn’t matter. Personally, I’d rather have a spoonful less rice if
it means being kinder to our environment.
