Here is another double-post on Elem, where it was my 4th and 5th visits respectively. I bet you can tell I really enjoy the place and am willing to spend my hard-earned money on their delicious and carefully-crafted eats. I truly believe the team of Vish, Winnie, Hasib and all the great people in the kitchen and front-of-the-house are doing all the right things to put Elem in the running for both a Michelin-Star and to be included in Canada's Top 100 restaurants. So without further ado, I will talk about all the plates I had in both meals!
Of course I start off every meal at Elem with their wonderful Bread & Butter featuring their rye Parker rolls. For the first meal, the butter was citrus fennel pollen. The second was a koji butter with chives. As usual, the warm rolls were slightly crispy on the outside while soft and fluffy on the inside. They were lightly sweet while the butter added an aromatic creaminess. If I had to choose, the koji butter really did it for me since it was lightly tangy and plenty bright from the chives.
Winnie and I had a convo last time I was here where we expressed our common love for corn. Hence, she surprised me with a Elote cocktail. It consisted of grilled corn tequila reposado, corn-honey-cilantro-cumin syrup, chipotle chili, lactose-free cream, fresh lime and shaved cojita cheese. This was rather creamy and sweet with a hint of spice and earthiness. The cheese on top really added depth and an extra layer of savouriness. I want this again! Staying with the classics, we also had the Jakarta, which is the most fruity and lightest of all the cocktails on the menu.
It all started with the duck fried rice, then transitioned to the Shrimp Fried Rice and finally to the BBQ Chicken Fried Rice. They all shared similar traits such as the chewy and nutty rice that was the beneficiary of high heat and aromatic oils. They all came with the addictive chili crunch that added both texture and spice to the dish. With the herbs, it helped the rice gain some brightness and balance out the heaviness of the oil. With the shrimp, they were meaty with a sweet snap while the chicken was nicely seared from the stir-fry. On top of the chicken fried rice, we found a fried egg that added a custardy texture to the rice.
A dish that is not currently offered, but has stuck in my mind was the Mackeral with pickled ramps cream sauce. This was ever-so-simple with super-fresh mackeral (like flown in the day of) that was salted and seared until the skin was super crispy. It remained rare and was perfectly deboned. Each piece had the freshness of the sea with natural sweetness accented by sake. The sauce was mild and added some tanginess.
Still on the menu, the Buckwheat Spaghetti was a robust and hearty dish. I felt the texture of the spaghetti was perfectly al dente while being firmer than its wheat flour version. The generous amount of duck ragu was meaty with equal parts umami and sweetness. This was accented by the kombu, pickled ramps and sake where there was acidity and added sweetness from the sake. As mentioned, this was pretty hearty, which would be paired well with a refreshing beverage.
On that note, two of the more refreshing cocktails are the Seoul and Tokyo. Both from the Lightness part of the cocktail menu, they helped cut the heaviness of the pasta. For the Seoul, it had some kick due to the gochujang, but also sweetness from the grapefruit soda. In typical Korean fashion, we found some sesame oil for that unmistakable aroma. As for the Tokyo, it had all the colour from the matcha, but in reality, the banana came through with sweet aroma. But then some curious saltiness comes through too. A soft ice cream mochi on the side was great too.
We had two off-menu items that were similar, yet remarkable different as well. The first was the Argentinian Prawn Risotto with mushroom XO sauce and scallion oil. Absolutely adored this dish as the rice itself was al dente, bordering on hard, but wasn't. This was a flavour bomb with sweet and briny hits of Argentinian prawn shells cooked down into the broth. The XO sauce provided an umami tang that helped bring the dish alive. As for the other risotto, it was a Snow Crab Risotto with New Brunswick Acadian Caviar and scallion oil. This was much more subtle with the sweet saltiness of crab. The caviar wasn't just there for decadence's sake. Rather, the pops of briny saltiness only provided another layer of flavour. The generous amount of snow crab leg meat was buttery and soft while naturally sweet.
At first, I was thinking that the Octopus was a bit too chewy for my liking. But as I ate more of the dish, I started to understand it more. Sure, it was not exactly super soft, but that wasn't the point of the dish. Instead, the extra chewing involved allowed the flavours to be more pronounced. The red zhoug afforded heat, sweetness and some smokiness to the dish. The topping of tomato chili salsa added brightness and freshness. The side of cuttlefish ink aioli helped cool things down nicely.
We ended up with a few vegetable dishes off the menu including the Roasted Brussels Sprouts and the Cauliflower. Really enjoyed the sprouts as they were cooked just enough so that they retained some crunch. There was also some lightly blanched leaves on top for colour and a different texture. What really made this dish was the sultana raisins as they added an intense sweetness. That was further aided by the pear agrodolce with more sweetness and balanced off with tanginess. As for the cauliflower, it was beautifully plated with fasoulia, crispy chickpeas and saffron tahini. Nutty and seasoned, the cauliflower was still firm while cooked through. It sat atop a bean stew that had some slight sweetness while the saffron tahini was aromatic and nutty. The crunch from the chickpeas was an appealing addition.
Onto some heavier meat dishes, we had the Korean Braised Shortrib with gochujang glaze, bak choy condiment and shaved pear. The large pieces of deboned shortrib were fall apart tender and moist. I felt that the gochujang was evident with mild spice and tanginess but the dish could've used a bit more salt. Loved the subtle addition of shaved Asian pear as it provided freshness and the classic mild floral sweetness.
We ended off the savoury dishes with the AAA Bone-in Striploin with some side condiments. The steak itself was prepared a perfect medium-rare where it was well-rested. Hence, the meat was juicy while not exhibiting any moisture on the plate. The steak itself was well-charred and salted. However, we found some tangy and salty castelvetrano salsa verde, a silky and earthy rosemary jus and pickled mushrooms. The mushrooms acted as a palate cleanser in between bites of the steak.
Onto the sweets, we had a playful creation in the Popcorn consisting of cheddar cake, caramel sauce, corn mousse & foam and aged cheddar. So yes, this was savoury and sweet as well as cheesy. The popcorn aroma did come through while the cheese made this dessert in my opinion. The added salt and nuttiness created loads of umami. Something familiar to me, the Sticky Toffee Pudding was like a warm hug with rich winter spices., this was not super sweet like the classic rendition, rather it offered depth and smokiness. The peppercorn and white chocolate crema provided the necessary moisture to soften up the slightly firm pudding.
One of the best desserts I've had at Elem was the Koji Banana Bread with toasted meringue, pear sorbet and toasted hazelnuts. Completely caramelized and crispy, the outside of the banana bread was smoky and sweet. Beyond that, the bread was soft and moist with the sweet aroma of ripe bananas. Good choice of the pear sorbet as it complimented the dish without taking over. We also had the Nemesis Cake with miso vanilla ice cream, tarragon wafer and pine nuts. This flourless cake was creamy and ganache-like. Modestly sweet, the dark chocolate vibes came through with a bit of bitterness. Nice crunch from the wafer and the fermented saltiness of the ice cream acted like flakes of salt with the cake. Yes, this basically covers most of the menu and naturally, some dishes stand out more than others. That goes for any menu especially when we are dealing with subjective tastes. As a whole, the food delivers and there is a concentrated effort going on to be one of the best in the country. As I've said, they are well on the road to accomplish that.
The Good:
- Vish knows when to be bold and when to dial it back when it comes the flavours
- Winnie dares to be a mad scientist with her cocktails
- Hasib and the restaurant team make every experience memorable
The Bad:
- As with any sharing plate restaurant, prices can get up there if you aren't careful, I'm not careful...
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