Things did pick up after that, raising hopes that the above two dishes might be anomalies. Cannelloni fiorentina, stuffed with spinach, ricotta and mozzarella and bathed in a creamy, rose-coloured sauce, was light and delicious ($13.95). Pollo lina also was good -- a chicken breast stuffed with a mixture of ground beef, bacon and mushrooms, then breaded (a tad too heavily), baked and topped with a mushroom-dotted cream sauce ($18.95). With it came a dollop of pasta in a light, winey sauce that, oddly, was much moister and tastier than the la carte carbonara had been. Tiramisu, however -- one of two house-made desserts (the other is cheesecake) -- was dry, as though it had been sitting around too long ($5.95). Our entr ©e that night was veal saltimbocca ($22.95). It wasn't prepared in...
... was more for the asking, and the mussels in white wine -- slightly zingy from rings of serrano chili...
Veal cheeks are the new "it" meat, popping up on sophisticated menus: a dense, almost gelatinous meat braised in a clear, winey sauce, and served with ethereal spinach and ricotta-stuffed gnocchi ($29). There's also a gorgeous grilled branzino -- an entire firm-fleshed Mediterranean sea bass, filled with lemon slices, thyme and parsley, boned and filleted tableside ($36). To my sorrow I missed the nights when my favourite vitello tonnato was the special -- a cold, summer appetizer of veal slices topped by tuna mayonnaise ($14). The risottos are sumptuous, cooked to a creamy texture but retaining a hint of crunch, partnered (depending on the day) with porcini mushrooms and grilled beef tenderloin, possibly, or with shrimp and asparagus, at $36 for two. But although full-size portions of ...
... fresh clams in their shells, in a buttery white wine and tomato sauce ($16), or the spicy house-ma...
Even if, like me, you can't get in, you'll still come away impressed by the massive and stunning doors of brushed steel at the entrance. And if you do get through them you'll find a handsome, softly lit interior, with some walls of pale brick, huge windows partially of etched glass overlooking the street, and wonderfully comfortable armchairs upholstered in ridged brown and beige. It looks like a substantial, upscale establishment, which makes the menu even more of a surprise. They didn't alter my opinion that the menu still needed a lot of beefing up, but it was, nevertheless, one heck of a good start. Nor was there any let-down with our shrimp appetizer ($9.50) -- five truly big ones, lightly battered and deep fried, and so plump and juicy we wondered why (since they were already stoc...
... wonderful, and although there's only one white and one red vino by the glass, the house red, fort... good was penne calabrese in a light tomato sauce dotted by capers and kalamata olives, but not by t... with shrimp, and in either a creamy white wine or tomato-based pizzaiola sauce. Or, alternately, ...
You put together whichever pasta, topping and sauce you might fancy. Most are $13 to $14, plus $3 if your sauce is alla panna, i.e. white wine, cheese and cream. Other sauces include arrabiatta (spicy tomato basil), oil and garlic, tomato and basil or rose (tomato sauce and cream). Among the toppings, roasted vegetables, or spicy or mild chicken, or rapini combined with pine nuts, or with sausage, or with garlic and feta. Different pastas also are featured daily, and one night our twisty mafalda came with those delicious wee meat balls in a creamy rose sauce. For that matter, the kitchen will prepare any reasonable combination of ingredients requested. There are daily specials as well. On Fridays it's seafood, and one night ours was a terrific zuppa del pesce, a kind of seafood stew of ...
Why, one wonders, would such a venerable restaurant as la Vieille Gare, which opened in 1970, change its name to the trendier Resto Gare, and opt for a more casual tone? Was it a case of If You Can't Lick 'Em, Join 'Em? If you want to start with the best of the best, have the mussels ($12). They come in a choice of sauces, among them honey Dijon cream or bloody caesar sauce, but we had ours in the classic white wine, garlic and butter sauce, and they were delicious. Another winner was the bouillabaisse -- no longer on the permanent menu as it once was, but offered at lunch during August as part of the Taste the World promotion. The broth has a genuine Provençal flavour and, with the exception of the far too fishy-tasting pickerel, the seafoods -- shrimp, mussels and clams in their shell...
Also delicious was veal osso buco -- veal shanks that were sliced across the bone and braised to a moist, flavourful tenderness ($20.50). Most of the osso bucos I've had elsewhere have been overwhelmed by tomato sauce, but in this case the red wine and marinara sauce mentioned on the menu tasted more like a subtle brown sauce, with only a tinge of tomato, and was all the better for it. With the entrees come a choice of vegetables (OK broccoli and carrots) or wild rice pilaf, either of them probably a better match than the third and, in some cases, clashing option of penne in marinara sauce. Veal marsala had no taste of marsala, only a very bland tomato sauce -- possibly with a touch of the cream that was missing from our cream soup ($20.50). We didn't complain about that one, but had to...
... was still too vinegary, and mussels in white wine sauce ($9.95) were well past their prime. Sti...
... of innocent-looking but fiery vinegar-based sauce. I'm always surprised when I find really good fish... for instance ($9.95) or pan-fried shrimp in white wine sauce ($10.95). Entrees cost from $14.95 to $...
The entry -- via the patio where a series of sad-looking sofas have been exiled to frozen misery -- could be from a Guy Maddin movie. Were they the ones I'd remembered from indoors, a few years ago? I can't be sure, but within I did find that the snug little nooks had given way to one nook only, and that one with hard, high stools at high bar tables. Other seats were on chairs along the bar, or at two tiny tables smack up against the showcase, or on eight leather-like bucket chairs at, incomprehensibly, a single long glass table, which you'd have to share with whomever came along. Not quite as cosy as I'd remembered, but when it came to the food, little had changed. Everything was still delicious, and although the Cantina menu is limited, and not everything on it available at any given ...
... on several snacks, with mini glasses of wines to go with them. I'd remembered Mona Lisa's Cantin..., juicy mussels in a creamy, vodka-spiked sauce ($14). The merely passable baguette-style bread wi...Four white and sixteen red wines are sold by the glass in two...
Everything on the menu is Portuguese, and everything I tried was delicious, not least that spit-roasted chicken, which is done to a perfect state of juicy tenderness, and accompanied by equally delicious chunks of roasted potatoes that are finished under the chicken, absorbing some of their juices. It is excellent plain, but for my taste it's even better when brushed with the nippy piri-piri chili sauce. The chicken comes in quarters, halves or whole, the last for $30.95 (it will serve four easily), and if you buy the entire bird for takeout it's a steal at $15, including 12 big pieces of potato (order it two hours in advance). Portugal is famous for its sweets, and this is where to indulge in them. Prices range from $1, for a chocolate cookie, to $3.95 for the glorious bolo do diabo --...
..., febras grelhadas -- grilled medallions of wine-marinated pork loin with sauteed onions, garnished... and onions, and redolent of paprika and white wine. Another day it was seafood rice that was mar...
Today's Bobbie's, in a spacious free-standing building with its own parking lot, is a far cry from its previous wee home on Scott Street. The setting is somewhat Middle European -- softly lit, with some secluded tables set into brick-framed alcoves -- and some of the cooking is Middle European too. Romanian, specifically, reflecting the background of chef-owners Bobbie and John Nelu. More importantly, it remains one of the city's better sources for copious portions of impeccably cooked, savoury food at moderate prices. In fact, when I checked my column of six years ago, I found that the prices hadn't risen by so much as a penny. Granted, you can spend $28 for rack of lamb, or $29 for assorted seafood provençale, but most of the entrees come in at under $20. In fact, Bobbie's wonderful s...
... with garlic, as is the accompanying mujdei sauce, based on crème fraîche, but the final result is... braised osso buco fashion with onions in red wine, resulting in fork-tender meat in a luscious sauce... Zealand and nicely cooked in a tomato and white wine sauce ($6). There are also (unsampled) mozzar...
ver las páginas en versión mobile | web
ver las páginas en versión mobile | web
© Copyright 2012, vLex. All Rights Reserved.
Contents in vLex Canada
Explore vLex
For Professionals
For Partners
Company
Other interesting searches:
north korea government | crown of thorns | construction policy steering committee | australian government | Right to development | Göran Rosengren | Jerzy Kluger | The Cayenne | World Power | buffer calculator phosphate potassium
