Showing posts with label candied smoked salmon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label candied smoked salmon. Show all posts

Visa Infinite Dinner: Auberge du Pommier ft. Mastard (Toronto)

Posted on Saturday, May 03, 2025 by

What makes a Visa Infinite Dinner different is the melding of acclaimed chefs from outside of Toronto with well known local restaurants. My first experience brought together the 30+ year institution, Auberge du Pommier, with Mastard of Montreal, which is part of Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants. Together they created a food and beverage tasting menu ($282.50 per person inclusive of taxes and gratuities) combining the talents of two kitchens.

Don’t worry about arriving late to the weeknight dinner. With the 6:30pm start, the first bites of canapés didn’t start arriving until well past 7:00pm. And instantly I was intrigued on what the low-sided crystal bowl contained. The concentrated ham broth with cameline oil gave off a smoky ham-fueled flavour that was intense solo. But once I dipped a piece of brioche into consommé, the flavours mellow and combined nicely with the buttery toast studded with the sphere of meaty duck sausage.

Sweet and salty combinations run in the blood of both chefs. It’s evident in the brown cheese taco filled with whipped foie gras that creates a creamy and crunchy combination. It continues with the first taste of dessert, a spice cake that gets a savoury spike from black garlic emulsion. Get ready riders as we set off to Flavour Town.

Next station, a candied sockeye salmon that’s dense and chewy swimming in dill oil and dollops of smoked crème fraiche. I’m glad the dish incorporates a lot of green sorrel chiffonade as it helps neutralize the abundance of silky dill sauce. It’s a dish loved by the table, but I found it too oily (half the oil is sufficient) and salty.

Give me another slice of lettuce tart any day. Chef Simon Mathys undersells the dish as a mere combination of lettuce and caviar, but it’s so much more. The lettuce juice forms a silky custard with a vibrant green colour that screams of spring. They smartly went with a thin flaky tart shell that’s crispy and contrasts against the creamy centre. And of course, it’s finished with caviar, the saltiness complimenting the tart wonderfully.

Chugging along, the spring mushroom risotto was too overdone resembling a porridge packed with mushrooms, grilled wild onion, artichoke crisps, and first-of-the-season morels. Chef Kane Vane Ee notes how many contacts it took to source the morels, which were sublime and made the dish. Thank you for the hard work!

I enjoy dishes featuring different textures and enjoyed seeing the battered and deep-fried fowl in the quail and scallop. While the quail’s breast was a tad chewy, the drumstick was cooked to perfection and made me want to nosh through half a dozen more. The scallop was also seared nicely and paired well with the shrimp sauce, which had a bisque-like taste that made me wish I asked for a spoon.

A vibrant green tea opera cake finishes the luxurious spring menu continuing the lovely green colour palette. Thin even layers of almond sponge, chocolate ganache, and elderflower cream is painstakingly put together by Auberge’s new pastry chef. If you’ve read my historical visits to Auberge, I generally find the desserts boring and end with a cheese plate. That will change if the opera cake graces the menu.  

As the ride makes its way to the final stop around 10pm, the atmosphere has really shifted. They’re generous with the alcohol, regularly topping up wines and even the Diplomatico rum based cocktails for diners who want more. And with the liberal liberations, the once hushed diners start to let loose.

We almost don’t want to leave as the plate of petit fours are presented. I slowly made my way through the chewy pistachio macaron and sampled a bite from the two chocolates.

It could be due to the two extra glasses of Domain des Coutures L’Insolente saumur blanc kicking in, but it took me a couple of attempts to pick up the candied quince meringue… of course the top layer of cream can’t be held, move down to the crispy base instead! At last, the airy meringue, juicy cube of quince, and cool cream made for a great ending. Visa Infinite Dinner, until we meet again in June.

Overall mark - 8 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 4150 Yonge Street


 Follow me on twitter to chat, be notified about new posts and more - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog
____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!

Is That It? I Want More!

Other Gastro World posts similar to this:


Blomidon Inn (Wolfville)

Posted on Saturday, November 23, 2024 by

If the walls could speak at Blomidon Inn, I’m sure it would have stories to tell. From its construction as the Burgess family’s private home in the late 1800s, it has gone on to serve as apartments, the residence for Acadian University girls, before finally becoming the current inn in 1980.

The main floor of the ornate inn is largely used as the dining area for their restaurant. Where you can enjoy a 3-course meal ($62.50). Or add an extra $2.50 to receive a small salad course between the main and dessert. For those want a smaller dinner, dishes are also available a la carte (prices reflected in this post).

Their tomato bruschetta ($14) uses a decadent whipped ricotta as the base, building upon the classic ingredients of cherry tomatoes, herbs, and a balsamic reduction. With tons of flavours and not as messy to eat, this was a wonderful starting bite.



Arriving as a big chunk, the maple smoked salmon ($14) could benefit from a bit of preparation to present it in a crostini form. The candy sweet salmon was powerful on its own but balances out with the maple yogurt sauce and baguette. A bit of pickled red onion and/or arugula would add some freshness the dish needs.  

Save some of that bread for the steamed mussels ($14), classically prepared in a white wine and garlic broth. I rather enjoyed the bell pepper used throughout for colour and added flavour. The mussels just needed to be soaked longer as they were still several gritty crustaceans.

You can’t go wrong with seafood in Nova Scotia. The pan seared halibut ($37) was perfectly cooked to a flaky and moist consistency. The thick meaty piece could use more seasoning but if you get enough of the ‘hodge podge’, a medley of vegetables cooked in a cream sauce, onto the fish it helps to add flavour.

The scallops in the scallops picatta ($37) were beautifully seared and just cooked through. The natural sweetness of the seafood was also prominent since the lemon caper sauce used with the pappardelle wasn’t too strong. With a touch more salt, this dish would have been perfect.

While the lobster linguine ($44; $7 supplement with the prix fixe) smelled good, the dish was majorly lacking on taste. The spaghetti was overcooked, and everything screamed for more seasoning, butter, and acid. My nose was more impressed than the tongue.

The grilled filet of beef ($44; $7 supplement with the prix fixe) was a touch over cooked but nevertheless tender and did have a nice crust. I just found the sides of mashed potato and carrot date puree to be too similar and soft. And the red wine jus and bourbon bacon butter was non-existent on the dish. Like the other mains, it was bland.

If you still have room for dessert, I’d recommend the fruit cobbler ($14), which contained tons of berries while still leaving the sweet biscuit on top not overly soggy. Served warm, the vanilla ice cream adds a lovely cooling sensation and creaminess as it melts into the dessert.

Blomidon’s crème brûlée ($14) had a nice thin sugar crust and was flavourful of its own. The side of lemon curd was a nice touch, so you can combine into the brûlée to help balance out the sweetness.

If you like graham cracker crust, you’ll love the blueberry cheesecake ($14) since it has a thick portion of the pastry. The cake itself was a nice balance of sweetness and thickness. In the end, a solid cheesecake with plenty of blueberry flavour.

How anyone could even manage to eat a quarter of the chocolate mousse cake ($14) is a mystery. I could only manage one bite, the cake so thick and dense it’s like eating the chocolate ganache centre of a truffle. The intensity certainly didn’t make it very mousse like. Pack this up and you can have a couple bites per day to get a chocolate fix.

While the food wasn’t the greatest at Blomidon Inn, after a day of wine tasting, it was a treat to not have to leave the inn after showering and relaxing. Plus, after the filling meal, we could easily just roll into the sitting room to continue our conversation. After just spending a day in Wolfville, we had our own new stories to tell. 

In a nutshell... 
  • Must order: tomato bruschetta, pan seared halibut, fruit cobbler
  • Just skip: lobster linguine, chocolate mousse cake

Overall mark - 6 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Wolfville, Canada
 Address: 195 Main Street


 Follow me on twitter to chat, be notified about new posts and more - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog
____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!

Is That It? I Want More!

Other Gastro World posts similar to this:
  • The Bicycle Thief
  • Cafe Lunette



Canyon Creek for Winterlicious (Toronto)

Posted on Saturday, February 04, 2017 by
Few chain restaurants are part of Winterlicious, except for Canyon Creek who has regularly made the roster. I can see why, it’s hard to argue with value - their lunch menu is a steal at $18 (refer to the end of the post for calculated savings). Plus, their “upscale casual” menu is approachable while still interesting, although mains such as pho and bibimbap seem out of place at an establishment that use to label itself as a chop house.

Hence, the Southern fried chicken sandwich seemed like a safer choice at Canyon Creek. Even though the breaded chicken breast was tender and moist, despite being a thick piece,  something was missing. Perhaps it’s the promised buttermilk jicama slaw that should in the sandwich – shouldn’t I taste a lovely refreshing crunch? Why did it seem like someone simply slathered guacamole on instead, which in itself isn’t terrible, just tired and disappointing.


Or it could be the sandwich lacked a spicy kick from the chipotle mayo or jalapeño that’s listed as  ingredients. In the end, it’s good for a “Southern fried chicken sandwich”, but weak for a “Southern fried chicken sandwich with jicama slaw, chipotle mayo and jalapeño”.

On the other hand,  the candied Atlantic salmon appetizer surpassed expectations. At first, hearing there were golden beets and “candy” in the dish, I was apprehensive whether it’d would become overly sweet. Luckily, the sugariness was counteracted with sour elements (pickled onions and crème fraiche), using smoked salmon that gave a savoury quality to the dish, and incorporating horseradish for an unexpected zesty hit.


The peach crumble is everything you’d expected from the classic dessert: warm so it was comforting, the cinnamon sugar streusel topping, and a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream that melts into the  peaches creating a caramel cream sauce. It’s a satisfying dessert, canned peaches notwithstanding.


It’s a shame that taking an hour and a half break for lunch isn’t easier on a weekday, as the Winterlicious choices offer amazing savings. You’ll leave full and satisfied … and in desperate need for an afternoon nap.   

Overall mark - 7 out of 10
Is Winterlicious worth it (based on my meal selection)?
Winterlicious - $18
Regular menu - $32.35 - candied salmon* ($12.45), sandwich ($12.95) and dessert* ($6.95)
Savings - $14.35 or 44%

* Based on the coconut shrimp and double chocolate brownie
How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 156 Front Street West

 Follow me on twitter to chat, be notified about new posts and more - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog
____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!

Is That It? I Want More!

Other Gastro World posts similar to this:

Canyon Creek Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)