Showing posts with label chicken skin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chicken skin. Show all posts

Enigma (Toronto)

Enigma’s 8-course tasting menu is priced smartly: at $230, it’s not an eat-here-every-week affair, yet it isn’t so costly as to become seemingly prohibitive unless phrases like my yacht also escapes your lips (Sushi Masaki Saito, this is directed to you). It’s a place to visit if you are celebrating an occasion or to really unwind, which is where I found myself a couple of days before Christmas. Another year of work was in the rearview mirror and the holidays were about to begin – why not get it started with a bang?

I wanted to give my brain a rest… no more decisions, just feed my body with provisions and provide a few hours of blissful conversation to melt away the stress. It seemed to start in that vein as a warm shot of Enigma’s immune booster was presented at the table. Yet, before we could cheers to good health, a host of decisions had to be made: did we want a juice ($75), cocktail ($130) or wine pairing to go with the meal? Did the occasion need some extra indulgence because we could get a spoon of sturgeon caviar ($80) added into the lobster chawanmushi or have an extra alba truffle dish? Please… just let the table have the lovely warm ginger citrus shot before inundating us with pesky decisions.

Luckily, once the pairing and supplementary questions were out of the way, we didn’t need to decide on anything else, other than what steak knife to use – more on that later. Instead, we were treated to two delicious snacks: a wonderful corn tartlet made from an impossibly thin crispy shell holding a buttery sweet corn espuma studded with popped kernels and other crunchy nutty bits that made me moan; and a chicken skin sandwich piped with a lovely miso-butter mousse. Yum!

What looks like a salad comes next, baked leaves of black cabbage, kale and spinach piled around squash and a smoked foie gras centre. Each bite is rich and oily… much too oily for my taste.

The lovely beetroot tuna cannoli were more up my alley, the sheets of ruby beetroot sandwiching chunks of tuna in a horseradish cream. Or the following kombu poached potato where chunks of soft humble potato were augmented with creamy uni and lovely crispy potato frizzles that made me want to lick the dish.

Of course, the chunks of delicately barely poached through lobster are delicious, but that silky egg of the chawanmushi was the star, each bite filled with so much flavour that made me wonder if this was going to be the peak of the meal.

This was paired with a crispy lobster kromeski, a crispy croquette that was tasty, but nothing compared to the egg, and a seaweed salad that could really benefit from being cut into more manageable bites.

In a gimmicky manner, a box of knives is brought to the table, and we’re asked to select one for the meat courses to come. It’s a strange interlude, perhaps meant to create excitement or a sense of participation. While it wasn’t a distraction I minded, it also didn’t really add much to the meal either and is likely annoying for the two staff members who needs to occupy themselves with the task.

Quite frankly, the following BBQ Iberico pork was so melt-in-your-mouth that I could have cut the coin of loin with a butter knife. It was a sing from the heavens type of dish that makes me appreciate the prized Iberico pig. The white peach salad, XO sauce, and dollops of apple gelee all did an excellent job at complimenting the pork.

Executive Chef Quinton Bennett comes out for the last savoury dish and explains that he uses PEI beef as he loves that the cows are finished with potatoes to give the meat an extra richness. The steak didn’t disappoint, and the accompanying king oyster mushrooms were fantastic dusted with bone marrow and the pickled onion petals such a lovely contrast against the meaty plate. Now that’s a way to finish.

Dessert begins with a plate of fallen leaves made from various juices. It’s a beautiful start, our spoons brimming with crispy textures and sweet flavours that made me wistful that the meal was nearing the end.

A trio of petit four are presented with a lovely wafer cake, citrus gelee, and a really large indulgent chocolate truffle.

All this is to warm us up for the fruit tree, which Chef Quinton cheekily tells us to get our cameras ready to “Instagram the hell out of the dish”. It’s certainly the most photographed dish of the menu, the gleaming red apples just calling out to the picked and eaten. 

Like the first bite of the meal, you’re greeted with a fluffy heavenly cream that’s wrapped around a slightly savoury dill laced salad centre that really works. A fantastic last bite that takes Enigma FOUR days to prepare. Boy did I feel guilty for not taking a few more photos.

To end, tables are given a goody bag for breakfast. My only complaint, and the reason why Enigma did not score a 9 out of 10, is that these takeaway bags are made per couple. If you’re dining with friends (like in our case) and do not live with your dining companion, it makes for an awkward end to the meal.

Enigma, if you’re going to give something away, just make it so that each person gets something to go. Or keep it simple and have everyone leave with just the menu. Either way, the meal was great, why have someone leave on a strange note?

Overall mark - 8 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 23 St. Thomas 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!

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CLOSED: Jackpot Chicken Rice (Toronto)


Although you won’t hit triple 7’s while dining at Jackpot Chicken Rice, it’s a good double 7’s and a bar. The quaint well laid-out dining room surely elicits excitement like a casino – the larger-than-life baby holding a watermelon painted on the wall and the sporadic tables wrapped in bright tropical flower motifs. On a first date? Just look around, there’s something that will get you talking.

A friendly vibe just buzzes throughout the restaurant. It definitely has something to do with the people working there – their smiles are infectious and puts you in a good mood. If you’ve read Gastro World in the past, you’ll likely remember my grips about communal tables. Jackpot put me in such a great mood, that my friend and I actually ended up sharing a table (and meal) with an out-of-town diner and had a great evening meeting someone new. Who said Torontonians are stand offish?

During dinner service sharing is strongly encouraged since most dishes are fairly rich and there’s so many interesting sounding ones to choose from. Their Go All In! menu urges patrons to share and already come with their staples (the schmaltzy rice, crispy chicken skin, soy eggs and winter melon soup). All you need to do is choose from the selection of snacks and large plates – the number varying depending on the amount of guests.

Our table of three settled with the Go All In! for two ($70; all the items listed below were included, the individual prices are listed for informational purposes) and added on an extra bowl of soup ($2.50). With all the food, we left satisfied… wow this would have been a feast for a duo. 

Of course, we did lean towards to the heavier dishes such as the kaffir broccoli tempura ($9) instead of steamed vegetables. The tempura’s batter was light and crispy with drizzles of roasted garlic aioli on top. The kaffir lime leaves helped add some freshness to the broccoli but it was still too heavy. In hindsight, the steamed bok choy with XO sauce would be a better choice to balance out the richness of everything else.


The Jackpot stickers ($10) were delicious, each thumb-sized dumpling containing a simple shrimp paste. It was all the condiments that made the appetizer sing, with the Japanese curry sauce that has a hint of mustard to the beet slivers that add a juicy crunchiness to the dish.


Our meal certainly was a chicken affair. Aside from their famed dish, the meal also featured the fowl’s crispy skin ($7), which had a surprisingly delicate crunch thanks to Jackpot baking the skin so that the oiliness is toned down. As a lover of soft boiled eggs, the soy sauce eggs ($3.50) had that gooey jelly centre I love, but the braising liquid could be stronger as the soy and Shaoxing wine flavours were non-existent.


Then there’s the dish everyone comes for… the Jackpot chicken ($16), where the bird is poached Hainanese-style on a slow boil so that it soaks up the flavourful stock and all the meat’s fibers break down. It’s certainly soft - to the point that it’s getting too soft - as the texture is turns towards mushy. I did prefer that the chicken was slightly warm (sometimes it’s dunked in ice water to create a jelly between the meat and skin), which helps coax out the ginger and scallion flavours from the dipping sauce a bit more.  


As the chicken simmers, the fat that’s released floats to the top and is skimmed off to form the base for the schmaltzy rice. Chef Craig Wong demonstrated how to cook the dish on Breakfast Television. The recipe starts off like risotto: chicken fat is infused with ginger and garlic, then rice is added and gets coated with the fragrant oil before chicken stock is poured in and the rice begins to steam. The resulting rice is heavenly, dressed with crispy shallots and scallions, something that could be eaten on its own.


In terms of the large plates, the Hanoi pork jowl ($18) was absolutely delicious, the chewy but soft pieces of meat coated in a blend of turmeric, ginger, and dill. The dish has that salty, sour and spicy combination normally found in Thai dishes; all these refreshing elements helping to balance out the richness of the oily rice. A tip I learnt from our new friend for the evening: add some of the ginger and scallion sauce served with the chicken onto the pork … it just brings the flavour up to another level.


It’d be nice if the winter melon soup ($2.50) was hotter - between bites of the oily rice a piping hot broth would certainly help cleanse the palette. As a warning, it’s nothing like the grand winter melon soups found in Chinese restaurants – steamed in the vegetable with seafood, cured ham and mushrooms throughout. Rather, it’s a bowl of condensed master stock, with simple garnishes of crispy shallots and scallions. The soup’s fine, but not something I’d add onto a meal.


Let’s be honest, if you’re going expecting the typical Hainanese chicken rice plates found in Hong Kong style cafes or food courts across the city, you’ll likely end up complaining about the price and portion sizes. Jackpot Chicken Rice isn’t typical: you’re going for the jovial atmosphere, the ability to make reservations, and getting to have a killer cocktail with the meal (they share a bartender with Cold Tea). It’s cheeky and fun.


And if you see a single diner needing a table, invite them to sit with you. It’d be a shame if they couldn’t get the full experience; there’s certainly enough food in the Go All In! to satisfy everyone.

Overall mark - 7 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 318 Spadina Avenue

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!

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