Copper Club

*Restaurant is now closed*

As with every April, I needed to find a restaurant that would accommodate the kiddies for my mom's birthday. Ruling out chain restaurants and Asian joints, it got a bit tough. Of course there were the usual Downtown hotel restaurants, but we were thinking more along the lines of something local (that is, in the burbs). We already checked out Tivoli's in the Executive Plaza near Brentwood Mall, so might as well do the Copper Club at the Executive Plaza in Burquitlam right? Ya, not the most sexist of choices, but it fit the criteria of being kid-friendly without being a chain restaurant. And besides, who needs sexy when you got the whole family with you? Wait. Did that come out right???

Sitting down in the dimly lit dining room reminiscent of a stuffy steakhouse, this was as far from sexy as a place could get. Definitely not the most modern of establishments, yet still classy in their own way. Whatever the case, we were comfortable and the kiddies had a menu to order off of. As for us, we got a bunch of appies to share beginning with the Lamb Lollipops. These were bathed in yellow mustard, pepper, paprika, lemon, garlic and turmeric. When I first laid eyes on the lollipops, I thought "Vij's". Now, these were not as tasty as Vij's (and I didn't expect them to be either), but were good with all things considering. The lamb was tender and perfectly cooked medium-rare. There was a nice char that added a nuttiness as well as a pleasing appearance. I thought it was a bit heavy on the yellow mustard, which made the flavour profile a touch too tart. Next up were the Salt & Pepper Tiger Prawns with chili, garlic, salt and pepper. Served on the side was a mango chutney. The prawns had a nice snap texture while there was no absence of flavour. It was spicy and of course salty-peppery. Maybe it is the Chinese in me, but personally, I would've liked a crunch of some sort on the exterior of the prawns as they were a little wet.

The most disappointing item we had for the entire meal was the Crab & Shrimp Cakes. They were served with a balsamic reduction, chipotle lime aioli, pea sprouts and cherry tomato. One bite into the cakes and it had the texture of tuna. It was mushy, fishy and stale tasting. Obviously, this was not made with fresh ingredients. Furthermore, the exterior was not crisp at all and the whole thing was too salty. Other than a few lines on the plate, there wasn't enough aioli nor balsamic vinegar to make any impact. Lastly, we had the Honey Garlic Chicken Drummettes which were quite good. The drummettes were fried up crispy while the meat was moist and tender. There was just enough glaze for a good honey garlic hit without softening up the crispy wings.

For my main, I went for the Seafood Spaghettini with prawns, mussels and tomato. Not sure if these 2 items constituted a "seafood" pasta (maybe some fish too?). Anyways, the pasta was slightly pasta al dente while the prawns and mussels were cooked nicely. The flavours were mild yet there was an obvious garlic, white wine, Parmesan and olive oil hit to it. I would've preferred Roma tomatoes, but that is nitpicking. My mom had her favourite (which is mine as well) in the Lamb Shank. It was prepared beautifully as the meat fell off the bone. It was moist, fatty and flavourful. The demi-glace (with red Zinfandel) was silky and rich with plenty of depth. The asparagus tips were done nicely retaining some crunch. However, the double-cooked potato was not good. It was stiff and dense.

My dad opted for the Prime Rib which was almost perfectly prepared. The large cut of meat was a nice medium-rare and was very tender. The sauce added a proper amount of saltiness to the fatty meat. Although it didn't make or break the dish, the Yorkshire pudding was terribly overbaked and was burnt and hard. It was mostly inedible. The side of roast potatoes and veggies were good. Viv went for something lighter with the Steamed PEI Mussels. They were neatly arranged in a circular pattern and every one of them were fully opened. The meat was plump and naturally sweet. The broth consisting of BC Chardonnay, tomato, garlic, shallot, butter and basil was fairly weak as it didn't offer much additional flavour. Again, we would've preferred a stronger tasting tomato in this dish.

As for the kiddies, my son (drum roll please...) had the... Grilled Cheese. Yes, he has the eating diversity of a Yak. Then again, Yaks eat grass... He has an adverse reaction to anything green... Anyways, the grilled cheese made with real cheddar on multigrain bread. The whole thing was crisp without being completely soaked with butter. It came with a pile of fries. He ate it. It did the job. For my daughter, she had the Fish n' Chips. I'm sorry to say that the batter on the fish was no good. It was doughy and far too dense. Hence it didn't even really cook all the way through. The lack of colour was not that appealing either. However, the fish was okay being flaky and just done.

Lastly, we shared a few desserts including the Duo of Vanilla Bean & Ginger and Chocolate Crème Brule. First, the good news: the sugar topping was the right thickness where it was present without overwhelming the dessert. It was mostly torched on the top for that burnt sugar flavour. The ginger vanilla brulee wasn't too sweet and we could definitely taste the ginger. Now for the bad news: the custard was on the watery side. Furthermore, the chocolate creme brulee was not all that chocolaty. For our second dessert, we got the Warm Okanagan Apple Tart Tatin. Okay, if you are familiar with a tart tatin, you might be wondering what was in the picture. Merely a pile of cooked apples on top of a crust of some sort served with ice cream. We didn't like this. What amounts to essentially an apple upside down tart, a tart tatin should not look like a pile of stuff. Furthermore, there was a serious lack of moisture and overall flavour. Now with this dessert withstanding, there were some decent dishes in this meal. Considering the price point and the portion size, we found it to be reasonable. However, the not-so-decent dishes were complete flops. Therefore, a meal at the Copper Club would truly depend on what you order.

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced
- Good service

The Bad:
- When there was a flop, it was a colossal failure
- Stale ambiance (but good if you didn't want any noise)

Richmond Night Market

Can you believe it? I've never been to the Summer Night Market. Yes, it's true. Hey, it's not like I haven't tried. On a few occasions in fact. Every time, I've left in frustration due to the fact I couldn't find parking. And when you have kids in tow, parking far, far away is not an option. So when I heard of the new Richmond Night Market near the River Rock Casino with over 1000 parking spots, that was my cue to do a visit. To make things easy, we only brought our son because he wouldn't complain about walking too much. On the other hand, for such a picky eater, we were a bit nervous as well.

Not to fear because the first thing we spotted was the BBQ Duck Wrap at a place that really didn't have a name, but had the wrap boldly displayed. These were okay, if not a bit pricey (at 3 for $10.00). They were essentially freshly made crepes with egg which contained BBQ duck segments, hoisin, cucumber and scallion. Not bad, yet with chewy skin, this was not as enjoyable as a true Peking duck. Walking along, I noticed The Squid Company offering up different flavours of freshly pan fried tentacles. I went for the Signature Cup of Squid which consisted of all the sauces (satay, hot & spicy and garlic). This was probably my favourite item of the things we tried. First of all, I happen to love tentacles for their chewiness and snap more than the body of the squid. They were cooked up just right and the combination of seasoning agents gave it a good balance of the 5 main tastes. Only problem was that the 2 bamboo skewers were clumsy as eating utensils.

My son was not satisfied with his BBQ duck wrap, so we went in search for something else he'd try. We spotted the Japanese Corn Dog and he happily agreed to have one. This was essentially a hot dog wiener on a stick covered with a "hashbrown-like" batter. The result was a pretty starchy exterior that was crunchy on the outside, yet soft on the inside. Interesting item, not sure if this would necessarily be at the top of my list when there was so much more exotic items at the market. Also, they normally lace the thing with ketchup, but my son didn't want any. Actually they had to make up a new one for him because they forgot and drenched the darn thing with ketchup. For me, I love octopus' balls aka Takoyaki, so I went to a random takoyaki stand where the name was all in Japanese. Turns out it was a mistake because they were some mushy octopus' balls. The had been panfried in the takoyaki mold earlier and were sitting around. Hence, they got soft. Too bad really as the octopus wasn't chewy and the ample amount of toppings made it quite flavourful.

As much as I was tempted to get a Rotato or some Dim Sum, I went to Zhang's for their World Famous Terracotta Noodle. A bold claim and really, who checks these things anyways? As seen in the picture, it was a combination of wheat noodle, bean sprouts, cucumber, cilantro, sesame paste and chili oil sauce. We liked this as the noodles were chewy and the classic combination of chili oil and sesame paste appealed to our senses. The only thing we would've liked to see was a bit less water on the bottom and a touch of sodium. While I was in line for the noodles, Viv went over to get some Gai Dan Jei or a waffle that looks like a bunch of little eggs. We decided on chocolate because my son wouldn't want anything else. This was pretty good fresh out of the iron with a crisp exterior and a chewy interior. I wouldn't classify them as chocolaty, but they were semi-sweet.

We were planning on eating more, but it was getting late and upon leaving, Viv got one last thing which was the Mango Slush with real mango bits. This was refreshing, not too sweet and aromatic. Blended smooth and tasting like mangoes, this was another favourite of ours. We ended up parking at one of the farther lots and had to walk a bit to get there. On the plus side, we were able to leave and avoid the traffic. Yet, it seemed like they had a good handle on it and the fact they had parking in the first place is a major selling point.

The Good:
- There's parking!
- Convenient location if you wanted to take Skytrain
- Near other businesses and not in the middle of nowhere

The Bad:
- There's parking, but only one way in and out
- Not exclusive to this market, but if you plan to eat dinner, it'll add up

Ming Dynasty Cuisine

*Restaurant is now closed*

To me, the block of Nanaimo between Broadway and 8th Ave has a sentimental significance. You see, when I was very young, my family lived nearby and we would either frequent the 4 restaurants on that block. 2 of which still exist: Tracadero and Bon's. The new Phoenix Garden used to be Golden Phoenix, which was East Ocean, which used to be Golden Phoenix. Yes, confusing isn't it? Now one of the other originals (Tsui Woo) has changed hands to become Ming Dynasty Cuisine. Whipping Girl had recently experienced their Dim Sum service and thought it was decent. Hence, I targeted it for after Sunday Hockey eats. JuJu's was hoping for AYCE, however, Dim Sum is essentially AYCE, except you don't know how much you are paying until you're done (if you eat a lot).

So what else to start off Dim Sum on a hot Summer day other than Sliced Beef & Conpoy Congee? As evidenced in the picture, the congee was full of beef. It was in large slices and tender. The good amount of conpoy (dried scallops) add lots of flavour in a salty-seafoody way. The congee base was thick and smooth. We got the Haw Gow (shrimp dumplings) next and they were quite large. At first, the dumpling skin appeared thick, but it was actually not. It had a good consistency where it wasn't too chewy nor too wet. The shrimp filling consisted of whole pieces and exhibited a good bounce texture. There were obvious hits of sesame oil which complimented the natural sweetness of the shrimp. However, we also thought they might've used too much salt or MSG.

For me, I can't have Haw Gow without Siu Mai (pork & shrimp dumplings). I don't know about you, but these were some of the ugliest Sui Mai I've ever seen. The whole thing was put together haphazardly with chunks of meat and shrimp protruding out from what would be a uniformly made dumpling. Despite the visuals, these large monstrosities had plenty of shrimp and lean pork. However, they were overcooked which meant the shrimp was not bouncy nor was the meat either. Furthermore, the darn things fell apart easily as they were packed loosely. They were predominantly sweet with a touch of shiitake. From a loose dumpling to some tightly packed balls, we had the Beef Meatballs. These were also large and barely fit on the sauce plate. The texture was soft with a good bounce A good amount of water chestnuts added a nice crunch. Furthermore, there was just enough green onion for flavour which didn't overwhelm the meat.

As a group we love Rice Noodle Rolls, so we got both the beef and the shrimp (only the beef is pictured). Although the layers of rice noodle were on the thicker side, the texture remained soft without being too wet. The shrimp filling was in little pieces mixed in with pasty mousse. We liked the addition of flowering chives as it added some texture. We preferred the beef rice noodle roll since it was the same bouncy beef from the meatballs. Once again, JuJu loves his Xiao Long Bao, no matter where we are. To repeat my disclaimer: we know Ming Dynasty is not a Shanghainese restaurant, hence, we should not expect good XLBs. With that out of the way, the XLBs were actually acceptable given all the considerations. The skin was thick, yet it was soft enough that we didn't mind it. The meat was gritty with some pieces of cartilage, yet it had a good meaty flavour. Surprisingly, there was some soup inside, which was on the fattier side. It didn't really taste like XLB broth (missing gingery notes), but not bad for a Cantonese restaurant.

It seems like Chinese restaurants are trying to get with the times in terms of plating when we begin to see Shrimp Spring Rolls cut on the diagonal. Maybe they do care about making the food look nice, rather than the ''cook-it-and-slap-it-on-the-plate-technique". These spring rolls were served hot and very crunchy. They were not greasy and were bursting with filling. Yet, the filling was more like a mousse, much like the shrimp rice noodle roll. The shrimp was slightly overcooked where it lost some of its bounce. The filling was aggressively seasoned which meant that dipping it into the Worcestershire sauce was unnecessary. Actually, I personally don't even like that sauce with shrimp spring rolls. It works much better with the pork or veggie version.

If we weren't already shrimped already, we got the Shrimp Mousse on Silken Tofu. The silken tofu was good as it was not overcooked. The familiar shrimp mousse was slightly rubbery, possibly a tad overcooked. It was very sweet though, probably a combination of natural flavours and aggressive seasoning. The ample amount of tobiko on top made for an aesthetically-pleasing dish. For the purposes of ensuring we were full (or that JuJu wouldn't order another 10 dishes), we got some filler items starting with the Sparerib Rice. The rice was somewhere in between being chewy and soft, which was acceptable. The meaty ribs were slightly chewy, yet still tender at the same time. There was a noticeable garlic hit with some hints of black bean and chili flakes. As you can clearly see in the picture, they were not shy about the loading up the pot with spareribs.

On the topic of filler, you can't get much more filling than Pan Fried Sticky Rice. The rice had a good bite while not being hard. Considering the amount of oil it takes to make this dish, it wasn't overly greasy. There was plenty of soy seasoning as well as Chinese sausage. Lastly, we had the Singapore Fried Vermicelli which featured the thinner type of rice noodle. This was a touch dry and fairly salty with not much in the way of curry flavour. The noodles had a good texture though and the shrimp were big and crunchy. Moreover, we didn't find it greasy either much like the sticky rice. After these 3 dishes, we were pretty stuffed and even JuJu agreed to not order anymore food. That was partly due to the large portion sizes as well. A real pleasant surprise was the attentive service. We noticed that the staff was younger and seemed more "in touch" with the customers. Overall, it was a good experience at Ming Dynasty even though the food wasn't exactly outstanding. Yet, it was decent enough and the good service didn't hurt either.

The Good:
- Great service
- Large portions

The Bad:
- Aggressive seasoning at times
- Shrimp mousse mixture could be improved

Shanghai Morning

Whenever we play at a field remotely close to Richmond, we end up there for food. And believe it or not, it is usually at my suggestion. Why oh why do I put up with the frustration of driving there? Well, the easy answer is because there is good Chinese food to be found. Duh. That is pretty darn obvious. To be more specific, the best Shanghainese food can generally be had in Richmond. Yah, there are some decent Shanghainese joints scattered throughout the GVRD, but Richmond has the most in one area. Therefore, after our softball game, I suggested we try out Shanghai House on #3 Road. Not everyone was convinced, so the alternate plan was to visit Amigo on Alexandra. We all hopped in our cars and braved the traffic vortex otherwise known as Richmond.

Once we arrived in the plaza where Amigo is located, our attention was captured by another Shanghainese restaurant. Change of plans. We were gonna do some Xiao Long Bao after all! On that note, we discovered that they only had 3 orders left for the night. Suffice to say, we snapped them all up. We actually wanted to get some Sang Jeen Bao as well, but they were sold out. With great anticipation, we waited for the XLBs to come out as we were still deciding on what other dishes to order. They arrived quickly and we immediately dug in. Not only were we hungry, it is best to eat XLBs right away. The skin on them was relatively thin except for the swirl at the top (which is pretty normal). No one had an epic fail and no soup was lost. Good thing too since there was a good amount of it. It did need more ginger though as it was mostly meat flavoured and sweet. The meat itself was moist
and smooth.

When the rest of our dishes began to show up, the eating, note-taking and picture-snapping became fast and furious. The first of these to arrive was the Marinated Gluten. These were chewy yet soft at the same time. They soaked up the sweet and salty sauce like a sponge. After that, we had the Hot and Sour Soup. I found the broth to be on the watery side as it lacked the silkiness normally found in a starch-thickened soup. There was a good balance of flavours though with equal amounts of sour, sweet, savoury and spicy. Furthermore, there was no shortage of shrimp, tofu, bamboo shoots and carrots.

Arriving next was the Beef Pancake Roll which was a little lacking. As you can clearly see for yourself, the roll had the smallest amount of sliced beef shank. Due to this, we hardly noticed it was in the pancake which meant there was a lack of flavor and texture. There was a predominant taste of hoisin and onion as a result. The pancake itself was chewy and doughy. This dish was a fail. A different pancake of sorts arrived next being the Onion Pancake. There are 2 ways of preparing it - pan fry or deep fry. As you can tell, this one was deep fried and very much so I might add. Hence, it was very crispy and also very greasy. It was over-salted and that was essentially all we could taste. Their Sesame Pancake was equally oily in a somewhat different way. Now to be fair, frying these types of pancakes will never be non-greasy. This pancake was soft and fluffy with a good amount of flavour. Good contrast to the crisp exterior.

Moving along, we had the Dan Dan Noodles which was, of course, more of a Shanghainese version of the dish. The Szechuan version is spicier and has less peanut/sesame paste. As expected, the "sauce" was very nutty and only mildly spicy (despite the appearance of being spicier). There was a good balance of all the flavours (which weren't as strong as we would've liked) while the noodles retained some bite. And typical of the Shanghainese version, it was very soupy. The Smoked Duck with Chinese Tea caught Bear's attention, so we got a half order. Do bears eat duck??? Anyways, the duck was obviously deep-fried which yielded a crispy exterior which was in turn greasy. We really didn't get any tea flavour, but it was slightly smoky. Regardless of that, the meat was really moist and tender.

Onto another noodle dish, we had the Szechuan Beef Noodle. Yes, I know, this is a Shanghainese restaurant... However, there are some items that appear in the menu that we just have to try for some reason or another. The soup looked a little pale in colour, yet it did have flavour and was spicy. With that being said, it was thin and didn't exhibit much depth. The noodles were al dented while the beef was sufficiently tender, but quite fatty. By now, the food was arriving at a brisk rate with the Potstickers next. These were pretty darn greasy, but then again, it is restaurant food... Despite the abundance of grease and the appearance of a good pan fry on the bottom of the dumpling, they were not crispy. Furthermore, the texture of the meat was a little off. It was chewy and salty.

We one each of the Rice Cake with Preserved Vegetable and Shanghai-style Rice Cake for variety's sake. The rice cake was prepared properly where it was soft yet still exhibited a good resistance. There was a good amount of ingredients in each dish which in turn provided enough flavour for the generally plain tasting rice cake. As for the Shanghai version, it was very strange. Usually, there is a minimal amount of sauce which is soy-based. It generally provides enough seasoning for the dish and shouldn't be that apparent. For this one, it was goopy where there was far too much starch used to thicken it up. Hence, it stuck to the slices of rice cake like "hair gel" on Ben Stiller... er... It didn't taste bad per se, it was just not aesthetically-pleasing.

Okay, moving away for that, we had the Spicy Wontons which appeared to be bathed in plenty of hot chili oil. Well, it didn't turn out to be as spicy as it appeared. It was actually quite mild. Now that didn't mean the dish wasn't flavourful though. The wontons were the typical pork-filled variety which had a nice bounce texture (and wasn't gritty). Lastly, we got some really large balls. No joke! The Shanghainese Pork Meatballs (aka Lion's Head) were pretty darn massive. The Shanghai bak choy was nicely cooked being vibrant and crunchy while the rich brown starch-thicken sauce was flavourful in a non-salty way. However, the most important part of the dish was merely passable. The meatballs had a "breakfast sausage" quality to it and while that wasn't offensive, the meat lacked texture because of it. And much like breakfast sausage, there was a good amount of fat in it. At the very least, the meat was extremely tender. The meatballs pretty much summed up the food here. There were good elements while at the same time, there were not-so-good elements in the same dish. Bottom line is that the food isn't bad, there is just better. Therefore, it is okay to eat at Shanghai Morning, but I'd rather eat the balls at Suhang (wait, that sounds disgusting...).

The Good:
- Service we got was pleasant
- Decent XLBs
- Clean

The Bad:
- Food is hit and miss (and even in the same dish)
- It appears they are affiliated with Chen's, if so, Chen's is better

Pear Tree

Roughly 13 years ago, someone had alerted me about the Pear Tree out in North Burnaby that served up Downtown quality fine dining eats. Back then, I was not all that interested in North Burnaby because I was living in Yaletown. How the tables have turned... Now that I am in the burbs, I have taken an appreciation for good eats outside of the Vancouver proper. Even with my relocation, I did not actually go eat at the Pear Tree. In fact, my parents had gone there twice and raved about it and I still hadn't gone. There really was no rhyme or reason to this since it was on my "to do" list for a long time. So 13 years after the fact, Viv and I were going to finally dine at the place. I guess the fact we had a Groupon helped as well. We were able to get 2 Signature Tasting dinners for the price of one. For such a highly regarded establishment with Chef Scott Jaeger at the helm (he represented Canada at the Bocuse d'or in 2007), it was a definite bonus.

We started off our meal with a beautiful slice of their house made Brioche. It was light, moist and sweet. The salted egg wash on top added a wonderful flavour which complimented the buttery/nuttiness of the bread. Add in the smooth house made butter and we were already content at this point. The first course was the Warm Potato & Leek Foam which has to go down as one of the most impactful foams I've ever had. It had body and depth of flavour. There was a creamy, Earthy thing going on with soft bits of potato hidden underneath. Next up was something that I had tried before, even though this was my first official time dining at the Pear Tree - Orange Caramelized Scallops with
double-smoked bacon risotto. A few years ago, they were serving these as part of Hats-Off Day along Hastings. So I already knew these would be superb. And yes, the scallops were perfectly seared and caramelized. The aggressive addition of salt really helped amp the flavours of the scallops, in particular, the crisp crust (which accented the sweetness beautifully). The risotto exhibited smokiness from the bacon, yet it was not as creamy as I would've liked. It did have a good texture though.

Continuing on with seafood, we had the Fresh "Miracle Springs" Rainbow Trout with butternut squash. The trout had a beautiful sear which was crisp and once again, flavourful (the chives provided an herby accent). Underneath, there was white asparagus, wilted spinach and pomme Dauphine. The veggies were cooked perfectly while the pomme Dauphine was nicely pan-fried, nutty and smooth. The combination of all the flavours created a balance. Before we began the meal, I had taken a look at the regular menu and the Crisp Pork Cheek with Ham Hock Ravioli caught my eye. So we added it to our meal. It was a good move since it was probably our favourite dish of the meal. The pieces of pork cheek were super tender and smoky (from the sear). The caramelization of the meat combined with proper seasoning made for a delicious little bite. The pickled onions added a little perk up which brightened the rich flavour. Intermingled with the pork cheek was asparagus and eggplant with an eggplant puree. The puree was both subtle and profound. Yes profound. It had that je ne sais quoi quality about it. The ham hock ravioli was perfectly al dente with a burst of salt (in a good way) from the filling.

Back to the usual programming or otherwise known as the tasting menu, we had the 24-Hour Braised Natural Fed BC Short Ribs with mushroom ravioli. The slow cooking process with the short ribs made it melt-in-my-mouth tender where the fat and meat were gelatinous. There was a considerable amount of depth-of-flavour thanks to the cooking process. It was a tad on the saltier side but it was partially offset by putting all the components of the plate into one bite (which is probably the chef's intent for the dish). These other components consisted of a celeriac and barley puree with root vegetables and green beans. On the side were two wonderful mushroom raviolis which were perfectly al dente. The filling was typical mushroom Earthy, yet salty at the same time.

All this "saltiness" was soothed by the side of Pea Shoots & Pear Salad with maple dressing. The dressing was very mild, hence, all we got were the natural flavours of the ingredients. Not sure if I would like it on its own, but it worked well with the short ribs. This was the last of our dishes before dessert which was Valrhona Chocolate
Ganache with a salted caramel streak and orange chocolate sorbet. For us, the portion size of the dessert was perfect. It was plated simply, yet elegantly with fruit adorning the ganache. The ganache was smooth, thick and bitter sweet with plenty of chocolate and chocolate taste. The smooth texture was contrasted by the crunchy base. Mixed in with some of the salted caramel and the flavours wre further amped. We liked the addition of the chocolate sorbet because it was light which was needed since the ganache was not. We loved the bitter sweetness mixed with the orange zest.

And one final item presented by the chef himself (was it my camera?) was one quesnelle each of Raspberry and Fennel Sorbet with alpine strawberries and sugar crumble. The raspberry sorbet was tart and smack me in the face with flavour while the fennel sorbet was subtle and only semi-sweet. The alpine strawberries were aromatic and the sugar crumble added some texture. Presented with our bill were 2 small Macarons which was a nice end to our meal. After it was all said and done, we really wondered why it took us this long to finally eat at the Pear Tree. The food was carefully constructed and the service was top-notch. I can safely say that it won't be very long until we return for another meal.

The Good:
- Exquisitely prepared food
- Simple elegance
- Excellent service

The Bad:
- Small intimate room means diners are tightly packed
- Expensive (but worth it IMO)