More About Crawfish King

Wait. This is Saturday... Why is there a post? Well, I felt compelled to continue the discussion regarding Crawfish King. You see, there have been some people on Twitter in addition to other various comments that have been negative towards my post. I can totally understand why. After all, I basically ripped into a family run location of Crawfish King. If you have been a consistent reader of this blog, you know very well I DO NOT take my blog lightly when it comes to affecting people's livelihoods. In fact, many have criticized me for being too "soft" or "forgiving". Hey, I'm in a no-win situation, you can't please everyone. So I am cognizant of all the issues at play when I post on my blog. In the case of Crawfish King, the entire incident was completely true and not exaggerated. I have 7 other people with me that night who can echo the same sentiments (or worse). Now why did my post rip into them so harshly when I rarely, if ever, do it in my 1300+ posts? Simple, we gave them ample opportunity to redeem themselves and showed incredible patience over a 2+ hour ordeal. We played along nicely and even stayed at the urging of the manager. We did warn him that for us to stay, there had to be a good reason and compensation for our wait. However, he didn't come through and slapped us in the face with nothing more than a courtesy discount. In fact, Milhouse thought it was a bit of dishonesty on the manager's part because he wouldn't say what kind of compensation we'd get. In the end, he wouldn't even come out to discuss it. It was more of a take-it-or-leave it approach. Talking about unconscionable. We did nothing wrong in this whole predicament. The restaurant was at fault. Plain and simple. I am not in any shape or form backing down from my stance. That is how strongly I feel about it.

To give them the full opportunity to redeem themselves, I actually left my card (which I rarely do) for them to hopefully contact me so I could add their response in the blog post. No, we weren't looking for a free meal or anything. We really had no interest in going back because the food was not to our liking. Rather, I really wanted to give them a chance to right a wrong. Nope, they didn't email me at all over the 3 days prior to the post going up. I even tried with tweets. No reply. Therefore, the post went up as is. I am not going to mince any words when the experience was so bad and the lack of response too. I wasn't expecting preferential treatment. I just wanted some form of acknowledgment. With a Twitter account and Facebook page, I don't think it is too much to assume they should do what most restaurants would do - correct the problem. Especially one as valid as this one. Was the post harsh? Yes, it was. But that is how I felt as a customer (and others too in my party), and I just so happen to have a blog. The lack of professionalism and integrity by the staff and manager wasted our time. And to top it off, the food wasn't even good. Some would point out I should just post good experiences and forget about the bad ones. I don't see it that way. Sure, I rave about places where people should go and also panned the places people should avoid. Everything is fair game. If you run a restaurant or any business, you should do it with the customer in mind. I've been in retail before and that was exactly our mandate - to keep customers happy.

Sure, my blog does have some influence, but let's be real here. If a restaurant is going to fail, it is not going to be due to my blog. I've posted negative things about Kawawa and Po King. They are both in business and still doing well. So no, my blog doesn't close down restaurants. Restaurants fail all by themselves. If they stink, they will fail. Check on Yelp! and Urbanspoon, my experience at Crawfish King was not unique. In fact, it is more often than not. If they are going to fail, they will fail on their own merit. Not my blog post. Again, my biggest issue was their response to the problem and lack of care after the fact. As much as it seems like I want them to fail, I don't. C'mon. I don't wish ill-will on anyone. I saw the family-run operation with the kiddies in the kitchen. We realized it was their first 2 weeks in operation, so things would be chaotic. But even looking past that, the bottom line is the restaurant did not do its due diligence to fix a problem. We gave them ample opportunities during and after the fact. Most customers would merely leave without ever saying a word. What will ultimately affect their longevity are their own actions.

Crawfish King

*Restaurant is now closed*

I don't know where to begin... If you've been reading this blog for a while, you will see that I rarely rip into a restaurant (Kawawa and Po King are the exceptions). I try my best to be fair and forgiving. However, as I write this post, I am literally still baffled at the ineptitude of the staff and management at Crawfish King in Richmond. Let me set up the scenario. We had just finished our Monday night softball game and headed to Crawfish King for some eats. They were pretty busy for a Monday, so we had to sit at 2 separate tables of 4. Our table of myself, Hot Chocolate, Boss Woman and Milhouse put in our order at 8:23pm. At around 8:30pm, the table beside us left. Hence Bear, Judes, Chill and Bubbly were able to pull the table over to join us. They had not ordered yet and put in theirs around 8:40pm. At 9:00pm, they got their food to our amazement. They were comfortably eating as we wondered what happened to our order. We asked a staff member to follow up our order shortly after that and then again 10 minutes later. Again at 9:20 and again at 9:30. Each time it was acknowledged but nothing happened. You would think that someone would've wondered why we hadn't gotten our food in nearly 1.5 hours! Finally, I lost it and let the manager know at 9:45 that we had been waiting for almost an hour and half for our food. He checked and apparently no one had put in our order. The server who took our order asked us if we were "sure" that he took it. Uh. WTF? The restaurant is not freakin' big. Does he have short-term memory loss? Not only that, all of us witnessed him taking our order. Was he implying we were lying??? He didn't look convinced. Oh and not a single "sorry" during this time. Okay, some might think that the addition of another 4 people at our table messed them up. Well, I'm not sure how that could happen when we put in our order FIRST, a full 17 minutes before the others did. Furthermore, we had not moved at all from our table. It was there all along. With a computerized system, the order would have been attached to our table number. So that cannot be used as an excuse.

Also, when we did place the order, he didn't even know what fried okra was, let alone actually putting in our order. So just a bit before 10:00pm, the manager re-takes our order and informs us that they did not have any okra. Oh and apparently, they did not have any bubble tea either despite having a whole menu page dedicated to it. But honestly, bubble tea, prata roti and noodles at a Southern boil? So let me talk about some of the food at the other table first. Bubbly had the Fried Catfish and Fries which wasn't really her favourite. To be fair, catfish is a bit muddy and that was in no way a reflection of the restaurant. It was rather thin though and combined with the cornmeal batter, it was crunchy (maybe too crunchy). The fries were pretty generic being like the Cavendish variety found at Costco. Bear had some of the Roti Prata and it was super greasy. When did Whales Tails from the PNE set up shop in their kitchen? Spread some jam on these suckers and voila - fry bread. Chill had the whole Dungeness Crab and it was alright. He did like the abundance of garlic in his garlic butter sauce. Kinda greasy though. And pricey considering restaurants in the area would charge less per pound (not a direct comparison, but a legitimate concern).

As for our food, the manager convinced us to stay even though we wanted to leave (after all, we'd been there over 1.5 hours). He promised to make it worthwhile when it came to the bill. So we got our order nearly 2 hours after we arrived at the restaurant. It was 2lbs. each of the Crawfish and Shrimp. We added an order of sausage for $4.00. We got "The Big Easy" medium flavour which included all the sauce options. Okay, am I missing something here? This is a SOUTHERN BOIL right? Then why was the whole thing drowning in grease??? Yes, there should be grease, but not that much. The flavours were pretty strong, so that was not bad I suppose. Too bad the shrimp and crawfish were slightly overcooked. Furthermore, the order of sausage consisted of 4.5 slices (I say .5 because 2 of them were end pieces). When has 4 slices constituted a sausage? Imagine buying a hot dog with half of the sausage missing... And with 2 lbs. of crawfish, it comes with a bonus corn, make that half a corn... So if they cut it into 2 pieces, would that make it 2 corn? The order of Cajun Fries didn't look any different from the one that Bubbly got in her dish. Starch-covered fries... I have a bag in my freezer. Now for the most disgusting item of the meal - the Hot Wings. That "sauce" at the bottom of the basket was actually 75% pure oil. It was neither hot nor tasty. If I wanted a basket full of oil, I could easily steal some from the back of a KFC. The wings were woefully soggy and bland. How does one mess up hot wings??? At the end, the same server that messed up our order asked us how we would like to split the bill. We asked what was the manager going to do for us first. He went back and asked and came back with the same question. Again, we asked what was going on with the bill. He kept asking if we wanted it split or not. Fine, we chose split and when the bill arrived, we were given a whopping 15% off for our troubles. The manager didn't even come out to talk to us. Look. It's not about the money. I can afford the dinner (gosh, I've paid for most of my meals for almost 4 years!) and if I wanted a free meal, I could go get one. It is all about the principle of it all. They don't give a flying rat's ass about the customer.

So there you have it. Mediocre food, poor value and worst of all - crap service. Completely confused and totally unprofessional. We gave them a total of 7 chances (checking on our order and asking what they were going to do with the bill) to make amends for the over 2 hour ordeal. They did not. When has it become acceptable to outright lie to a customer saying you will check on an order when it doesn't exist? When has it ever been right to even suggest that a customer is wrong and even go as far as denying you took their order? How about: "Hey, that table doesn't have food and it's been 1.5 hours, maybe something is wrong!"? And how hard is it to say "sorry"??? Or how about a manager convincing you to stay and promising to make it up by only offering a measly 15% off for your troubles? And on top of that, avoid the customers completely when it came time to settle the bill? Oh and more importantly, the food was greasy and "meh". This place doesn't stand a chance.

The Good:
- You really think there was any good in this?

The Bad:
- Worst service I've ever seen (and I've been to a lot of restaurants)
- Food is mediocre-to-poor and it's not a good value
- Everything was covered in grease (including the non-boil items)
- Management does not train its staff properly nor do they care about their customers

Square Lotus

Having eaten 3 meals that were non-Asian, we broke down and went back to the well. It is true we had made a vow to eat something other than Asian food on our little getaway to Seattle, but we just couldn't hold out. Therefore, with not a lot of time allocated for dinner, we went for Vietnamese food (which is usually quick and cheap). At first, we considered "What the Pho?' since it sounded cool, but after some internet research, it appeared that would be the only good thing about the place. Hence, we headed over to Square Lotus instead. I punched it into the GPS and we went on our merry way. Unfortunately, the GPS decided to make things more complicated than it should've been. It instructed us to make a U-turn where it was not really possible. Turns out that I could've merely turn left into the strip mall. Moral of the story: don't listen to your GPS when it wants you to put your life at risk with illegal maneuvers.

Settling into the restaurant, we were impressed with the decor as there was an air of class, not usually associated with regular Vietnamese restaurants. Furthermore, the prices were quite reasonable despite the apparent class upgrade. Onto the eats, we started with the BBQ Pork Summer Rolls. For us, BBQ pork in a Vietnamese restaurant would be grilled pork (sometimes with lemongrass). But to our surprise, it was Chinese-style BBQ pork in the rolls. The BBQ pork was very lean which made it very dry. Within the nicely prepared rice wrapper, there was crunchy wonton strips, basil and properly textured vermicelli noodles.

For myself, I went for the standard, being the Pho Dac Biet (or the everything Pho). The broth was rather light with a minimal amount of MSG. It wasn't a flavour explosion, yet it was well-balanced. The noodles were not clumpy and al dente while the meats were plentiful and mostly tender (except for a few tough pieces). Viv had the House Special Vermicelli Bowl consisting of a spring roll, grilled pork and shrimp. Although they didn't use the proper rice wrapper (opting for a wheat wrapper), the spring roll was still quite tasty. It was crisp with a well-seasoned moist filling. The grilled pork was moist and tender exhibiting a wealth of flavour. As for the grilled shrimp, this was probably the highlight of the dish. They had a great snap texture and again, was well-seasoned. Viv really enjoyed the dish and remark that it was prepared carefully, unlike some of the other ones shes had which were merely thrown together. 

The kiddies shared a Pho Ga which had a chicken broth that was flavourful with plenty of depth. Again, it was not too salty. However, the chicken was very dry and kind of hard to chew. Chicken meat and BBQ pork withstanding, the food at Square Lotus was pretty good. Considering the classy dining space, reasonable prices and decent service, there is not much to dislike about the place.

The Good:
- Clean and classy
- Reasonable pricing
- Friendly service

The Bad:
- Some of the meats in the soup noodle are dry
- The service we got was friendly but was sparse most of the time

Zippy's Giant Burgers

As many times as we've visited Seattle, we've never checked out the Museum of Flight. We've surely passed by it many a time while heading further South. Seeing how we've practically done all the "tourist" things to do over the years, it was about time we scoped it out. With an Entertainment coupon in hand and GPS leading the way, we arrived just as it opened. I don't know about you, but I try my very best to beat the rush whenever there is an attraction, theme park, zoo, washroom, Costco or anything else that has a lineup. It seemed to work out pretty well since we essentially saw everything we needed to see in about 3 hours. Sure, we could've stayed longer, but something was more important - food. Since I usually plan my days around eating, our restaurant of choice was somewhat nearby and accessible. Zippy's Burgers is the name and meat in between two buns is its game.

Located in a run-down strip mall, the place didn't look that inviting from the outside. It got slightly better when we entered the place. Seeing how the walls were adorned with burger memorabilia, it was pretty obvious what they specialized in. As such, I strolled up to the counter with every intention of going all out. Well, not completely so, they did have a burger with 4 patties and 8 strips of bacon (King Lou Lou), however, I wasn't in the mood. Really! Instead, I went for the Last Gasp consisting of 100% fresh ground chuck, hot link, fried egg, bacon, double cheese, secret sauce, pickles, & lettuce. The beef patty was very large, yet had lots of chewy little bits which I wasn't a huge fan of. With that being said, it was moist though. The best part of this burger had to be the hot sausage link. It added both texture and a nice spicy kick. 

With all the burgers, there is an option to make it a combo for $3.25. Or better yet, I chose the Man Up option for $10.00 which included a Hand-Dipped Shake, soda, Fries, Onion Rings and Tater Tots. As you can see, the chocolate shake wasn't exactly blended that well. However, it was still decent due to the use of hard ice cream. Therefore, it was thick and fairly creamy. It was a touch on the sweeter side though. The fried platter of death was pretty standard. The tatar tots were crunchy as with the onion rings. The fries were pretty decent as well being crunchy with a good amount of potato goodness inside.

Viv opted for the No. 11 consisting of mama lil's kick butt peppers, smoky chipotle mayo, lettuce, with Monterrey jack & smoked cheddar cheese. Due to our high tolerance to spice, the peppers didn't have as much effect as we would've liked. However, I'm sure this would be spicy enough for some people. It was a solid burger, but we both agreed that the Last Gasp was better. For the kiddies, they shared a Lil' Zip Cheeseburger. Just like us, they really didn't care for the chewy bits (which included some cartilage) either. They picked it all out while they were aggressively chewing. It was pretty large for the price though. It's too bad really since they seem to have a good thing going on here. We would've enjoyed our burgers more if the meat was less chewy. At this stage, we would prefer the burgers from Red Mill and the Lunchbox Laboratory more based on the texture of the meat alone.

The Good:
- Large burgers (lotsa meat)
- The place has got character

The Bad:
- Meat is too gritty
- Not that many seats

3 Pigs BBQ

Whenever we're traveling with the kids, we do some serious planning when it comes to eats. After all, I doubt they'd be particularly happy about eating raw beef at an Ethiopian restaurant (but I would!). Therefore, I plan out each and every meal with backup restaurants just in case the first one is closed or full. This is all fine and dandy except we tend to eat the same type of cuisine over and over again (mainly Asian). Hence, I made it a point to eat non-Asian for dinner while in Bellevue (at least for one night). Located not too far from our hotel was 3 Pigs BBQ in a large strip mall. We have tried BBQ with the kiddies before with varying degrees of success and we were more than happy to chance it.

Upon walking into the place, I immediately noticed the AYCE Beef Ribs special. I wasn't exactly starving, but I couldn't help myself and decided to go all out. I opted for the spicy BBQ sauce, which was tart and sweet. Moreover, it definitely have a kick. As for the ribs, they were smoky with most of the fat rendered in the cooking process. The ribs alternated between being moist and juicy to dry and hard. This was based on 3 plates of ribs (yes, I had 9 ribs). For my 3 sides, I had corn on the cob, beans and corn bread. The corn was overdone and really mushy, while the beans were sweet and had no depth of flavour. The cornbread had a nice crunchy exterior, yet was really dry and hard inside.

For the kiddies, they shared the 1/4 BBQ Chicken with macaroni salad and garlic bread. The chicken was fairly dry despite being the dark meat. We did like the smoky flavour though. Without the spice, the BBQ sauce was once again tart and sweet. It wasn't bad. Viv ended up with the Pulled Pork Sandwich which, strangely, didn't have much BBQ sauce (in comparison to the other 2 dishes we had). Hence, the meat was dry and bland. We weren't even sure if they should've called it pulled pork as it appeared to resemble chopped pork more. Moreover, the side of coleslaw didn't help the cause as it was severely lacking in acidity. Overall, the food here was pretty average at best. We did appreciate the reasonable prices and smokiness of the proteins though.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Proteins exhibit a good smokiness

The Bad:
- Meats, on average, are pretty dry
- Sides need some work

Pike Place Chowder

"Yah really, they throw fish there!". My kids were in disbelief that someone would actually throw a whole salmon 20 feet to a willing recipient. Call it a gimmick, but the kids wanted to see for themselves whether I was pulling their legs or not. So off we went down to Seattle for a couple of days. Our first stop - Pike Place Market and the fish-throwing. Okay, there wasn't much happening when we stopped by. In fact, no one seemed to be buying any fish and the staff were just chillin' out... Not until some lady slipped them some cash... They threw an honorary fish for her daughter to see. As a by-product, my kids got to witness the flying fish. Okay, been there, done that. Now what's to eat?

Keeping it simple, we headed over to Pike Place Chowder to do the touristy thing (we've been here before though). We shared 2 soups starting with the New England Clam Chowder. Just like it was before, the darn thing was sure creamy with plenty of bacon and kissed just enough by the sea. The plump clams were tender and plentiful. A very hearty and satisfying chowder. Finally an "award-winning" dish that delivered. If that wasn't rich enough, we also had the Seafood Bisque. Also billed as "The Nation's Best", this also didn't disappoint. We actually thought this tomato-based soup was even more creamy than the clam chowder. One sip and I could feel my arteries clogging up, yet man was it worth it. Loaded with cod, salmon, shrimp and crab, this was a meal in-itself. I'm sure some people might find it a bit heavy though.

Lastly, we shared at Dungeness Crab Roll which was bursting with fluffy crab. The whole thing was light on the mayo and still a touch watery due to the abundance of lettuce and celery. Although there were hints of lemon juice, sweetness and savouriness from the crab, the horseradish cocktail sauce was needed to give the flavours a kick. In the end, we were pretty satisfied with the grub regardless of the deficiencies. Considering that it is located in an area of tourist traps, Pike Place Chowder delivers and lives up to its namesake.

The Good:
- Chowders are solid
- Touristy location in a good kind of way

The Bad:
- It ain't cheap
- Lack of seating

The Bottleneck

Bad influences... You know - those people who affect your judgement for the worse. These include pushers, infomercial pitchmen or pitchwomen, tailgaters and/or anyone that works at a donut shop. But for me, the baddest of them all is Mijune. For the longest time, I was conservative with my food ordering. In fact, if I ever got a restaurant invite, I would be scared to order more food. Nope, not anymore. Her influence caused us to have 15 items at Onyx and in excess of 20 at Chutney Villa (although indirectly). As much as it seems like unnecessary gluttony, there is a method to the madness. Think of it, the more dishes sampled = a more thorough assessment of the restaurant. That's what I had in mind when I got an invite from The Bottleneck. The what? Yah, that was my initial reaction. I never heard of the place. Whatever the case, I got some eating assistance from Miss Y, Snake and Snake Charmer.

Tucked away near the entrance of the Commodore, it is an easy place to miss. Thank goodness that I was made aware of the place because it would've never been on my radar. I was skeptical at first since it seemed more like a place to grab some pre-clubbing drinks more than anything else. Oh how very wrong I was... The limited menu allowed us to sample nearly everything. We didn't go for the 2 soups because it would've been awkward to share so much spit amongst the 4 of us. Anyways, I took a bite of the Black Pepper Gnocchi first and it was really good. The gnocchi were not oversized (like many found in other restaurants these days) exhibiting a light fluffy texture while retaining a slight chew. The pan fry on the outside was perfect where it added a textural contrast and caramelization. However, the star of the show was the addition of lemon. There was enough of it to brighten up the dish while not overwhelming the rest of the ingredients which included arugula, porcini mushrooms and roasted chestnuts.
Next, we had the Fanny Bay Oysters which were fried up beautifully crisp in blue cornmeal while not being greasy. The oysters were fresh and plump. It was served with bacon jam, red pepper aioli and a hint of lime. I really loved the bacon jam because well, it's like made of bacon! Being a "jam", it was sweet yet balanced by the saltiness of the bacon. It wasn't the easiest thing to eat with the oysters, despite the aioli.

Continuing on with the Beef Carpaccio, it was plated with crostinis, red wine mustard and truffle aioli. The beef was tender while still maintaining a slight resistance. Combined with the crostini and a dab from both of the sauces, there were many textures and flavours going on. A non-traditional carpaccio, yet delicious nonetheless. I'm usually not a salad guy, although I have a soft spot for the Frisee Salad. I was pretty happy they had this on the menu. Normally, I would never order a salad, yet a poached egg, bacon, brioche croutons and warm bacon maple vinaigrette made this one legit. This was a nice take on the classic French salad with fresh crisp frisee, crunchy bacon and a perfectly poached runny egg. There was just the right amount of warm vinaigrette which had a good balance of acidity and sweetness along with a hint of bacon.

Moving along with another salad, we had the Beetroot Salad dressed with pink peppercorn, hazelnut, pea sprouts, goat cheese and blood orange. I liked how the beets still retained somewhat of a bite and how the flavours were balanced. The crunch from the hazelnuts were a nice addition. At this point, I was having a hard time keeping up with the food, let alone pictures and note-taking. Thank goodness my fellow diners were so patient. They didn't dare touch my food before I gave them the okay. I got them trained so well! So despite Snake eying the Salt Spring Island Mussels longingly, he didn't even breath on them. They were bathed in a spicy coconut broth with lemongrass and kafir lime. Served on the side was brioche toast points. The mussels were all open while the broth was indeed spicy with hits of lime and aromatics. It could've used a touch more salt, but it wasn't bland.

Before moving onto the mains, we had one last "appetizer" being the Confit Croquettes resting on a smooth cauliflower puree. These crispy morsels were filled with moist shredded Fraser Valley duck. I found the duck meat to be on the saltier side, but it was balanced by the sweet raisin chutney. This was probably my favourite starter dish of the meal. Our first main to arrive was the Chicken Pot Pie. Hidden beneath the puff pastry top lay Maple Hills chicken, potato, peas and carrots. If you look closely, there is far more filling than sauce. In fact, there wasn't much sauce at all. Honestly, it could've used more sauce and/or seasoning as the whole thing was a little bland. However, that is not to say that it wasn't good though. The chicken was moist while the veggies were not mushy. I loved the texture of the potatoes where it was soft while still retaining its shape.

Progressing along, the Mijune way, we had the Halibut with chorizo and beluga lentils finished off with a blood orange gastrique. Being a firm fish, it is very easy to overcooked halibut. Not here though. It was flaky, tender and moist with a beautiful crispy sear. I liked how the fish was not really all that seasoned. There was just enough where it did not overwhelm the delicate flesh. The little bits of chorizo mixed in with the lentils provided much of the flavour for the dish. Combined with the blood orange gastrique, there was a good salty/sweet thing going on. The firmness of the lentils added some nice pop to the dish. Onto some red meat, we had a nicely prepared Peace River Valley Lamb Sirloin. It rested on a white bean ragout with grainy mustard and a parsley anchovy vinaigrette. Although the meat was seared slightly uneven, it was still very much moist and tender. The beans were firm while not hard to eat either. The vinaigrette was a perfect compliment to the lamb as it had a good balance of tartness to go along with the saltiness of the anchovy.

Now the lamb was good, yet The "Burger" was the star of the show in my books. With house-ground Pemberton Valley beef, they were able to cooked the patty a perfect medium-rare. Hence the meat was super moist and naturally flavourful as the juices were never lost due to overcooking. Moreover and most importantly, the meat did not have any hard cartilage bits. Hence it was soft and practically required very little effort to chew. To go with the meat was crispy bacon and sweet onion jam on a house made milk bun. I loved how they kept this burger simple which let the ingredients shine. Served on the side was crispy hand cut fries. They were crispy with a plenty of potato texture on the inside. Although I really appreciated the use of a non-generic bun, I found it to be rather dense and dry. I'm sure they had to take into account what type of bun would stand up to the ingredients though. Our last main was tied with the burger as our favourite main dish. The Braised Beef Cheeks were incredibly moist where it literally melted in our mouths. The silky braising liquid underneath was rich and had depth. The addition of Guinness fondue (which was also rich and flavourful) only helped add more flavour to the beef. The pomme puree underneath was a tad stiff, yet was ultimately softened by the good amount of sauce.

And to make Mijune proud, we had all 3 of the available desserts starting with my personal favourite - the Meyer Lemon Tart. First of all, the tart shell was actually quite thin which meant more filling less crust. Secondly, the texture of the crust was firm yet crunchy. Inside, the filling was smooth and exhibited a tart zing. It wasn't too sweet either. I liked the meringue on top, yet I could've done with a little less of it as it made the whole thing clumsy to eat. The drizzle of olive oil confit zest added another taste of lemon to the dessert. On deck was the Salted Dark Chocolate Terrine served with espresso creme anglais and crushed praline. The terrine was smooth and had a ganache quality to it. It was not very sweet, rather, it had a bittersweet dark chocolate taste. The salt helped heighten what little sweetness there was. The crunch of the praline added texture and the necessary sweetness that the terrine was lacking (which was a good thing). I didn't really pick out much espresso flavour in the creme anglais though.

Lastly, the table favourite (yes, it wasn't the tart), was the Apple Tart Tartin with caramel sauce and vanilla rum ice cream. This thing had an intense caramelization which was surprisingly not overbearingly sweet (even with the rum ice cream). Instead, it had a smoky quality to it that had both depth and richness. The tart itself had a beautiful texture which was crisp and gooey. This was a very well-executed dessert. In fact, the meal as a whole was pretty much spot-on and exceeded our expectations. Of course, by virtue of being invited, you would think so right? Not necessarily, as I have said over and over, a restaurant is only capable within its limitations. A golfer cannot suddenly improve by 10 strokes nor can a chef improve their food significantly due to "pressure". Hence, the "they knew you were there" complaint doesn't fly with me. There have been many instances that I have been invited to restaurants and the food just didn't impress. However, it surely did here. Everyone else said the same thing. We were further impressed with the reasonable prices considering its Downtown location.

*Note: This was an invited dinner where all food was comped*

The Good:
- Reasonably priced
- Food is above-average
- Nice little place

The Bad:
- You can easily miss the place while walking by
- Don't bring a big group during peak times, the place is not that big