They have three dining areas. At the front of the place are a few tables. I think it's like a cafe during the day, there's like 3 or 4 booths and a few tables. We were in the main dining area. This has a french bistro sort of feel to. They set the place up so there are a lot of banquettes. So they have a set going down the middle and against the walls. The banquettes are really comfortable. I think that room has a pretty good vibe going. Even though its pretty busy, it still has a cosiness to it. The third dinning area is a room in the back. Its pretty spectacular. Lots of hardwood trim and super high ceilings. It has banquettes ringing down both walls, but nothing in the middle. It's a relatively long room as well. I can see it really packed on the weekends.
In terms of service. They have a good looking Indian hostess. Our waiter was fine. He made some good suggestions and he didn't mess anything up. I think they bring like real french guys or something to work in the place. I've been there a few times over the last year and I never see the same waiters. The service is pretty decent so I don't think that they're pulling these guys off the street, like some other places.
We brought our own wine. Le Select has a reasonable corkage fee and charge for decanting bottles. I think the maitre des doubles as the sommelier. He's quite skilled. This is what we drank:
- 2001 Puligny Montrachet (Chardonnay, a white burgundy)
- 2000 Mersoleil Chardonnay
- 2001 Nuit St. George Bergundy
- 1994 Amarone Classico
The maitre des was quite impressed with the selection. He gave one of those looks that only a European can make when they're impressed. Then he switched some of the glasses to the high quality ones. The waiter had brought some of the glasses they usually serve the swill in. He said something to the effect," ... I'll change the glasses .. you need the better glasses with wine like this..". He also commented favourable on the crystallization around the cork on the amarone -- this is a really good sign. I didn't know that -- you learn something new everyday.
All four of the wines were fabulous. We started with the chardonnays. There was a difference between the French and US chardonnay. The french one was a little crisper and not as sweet as the Mersoleil. I like both of them, but some people might have more specific tastes. The reds were also very good. The burgundy (how can you go wrong with a good pinot noir, such an excellent food wine) was excellent. It had a a great bouquet. The amarone was great -- how can you go wrong with an amarone? The amarone was really good, but it wasn't a knock you out great (like one I had last year at the same restaurant, which was in some ways kind of like a really good bourdeaux I had earlier this year. I can still smell that amarone, even after a year).
The only complaint I have about the wine, is that there were 6 people at dinner so I couldn't drink as much as I would like. I also made a bad strategic decision I had 3 glasses of white, but only 2 of the reds. I should have worked it the other way around. I think the reds were better. But what can you do.
The bread. I have to mention the bread because it is so good. Its probably more accurate to describe it as a really good dinner roll. It has decent crust, so its kind of crunchy. But the dough is really soft. They also serve them warm. They also come with some good butter, its a little on the salty side. I generally layoff the butter when I have bread, but here the butter is the perfect complement to the bread because the butter is a little on the salty side and it melts in the bread.
The food. I had the smoked white fish mousse (with grilled egg plant) to start and the ris de veau (braised sweetbreads). I love the white fish mousse here. Its my favourite started, even going back to when it was on Queen. They plate it a little differently now and the portion size is a little smaller, which might not be necessarily be a bad thing given that this is a little on the heavy side. They still serve it with not enough bread to spread the mousse on. So I had to ask for some more bread, which the waiter kindly brought. And they brought the good stuff. I ended up stealing another piece from the person sitting next to me. Probably not a good idea. I ended up giving up valuable stomach space to bread -- i had three rolls. The ris de veau is the thursday night special -- they rotate the specials by the day of the week. Sweetbreads have to be one my favourite foods. They came with some patotoe pancake and some mushrooms. This was really good. Both the amarone and the burgundy were good compliments to the sweetbreads. Someone sitting next to me had the joue de beef bourguignonne, the braised beef cheeks (its on the regular menu). I sampled some and I have to say it was really good. It was really tender. Not surprisingly the burgundy (i was drinking the burgundy when i tried them) was a really good complement.
I was too full to have desert. I didn't even have enough room to sample someone else's desert. I just had a cup of coffee and a dark chocolate square that came with someone's expresso. The coffee was really good, it was fresh and tasty.
I saw the bill, someone owed me a dinner so i didn't pay. It came out to $440 for 6 persons with the tip included and the corkage and decanting fees. I think this place can be characterized as in the upper-end of a medium range restaurant. But the quality of the food is really good. It could push some restaurants with high end prices, but much poorer food. I was somewhat surprised that this wasn't a bastion of old people dining. Maybe the location makes it too difficult to get to, so they go somewhere else. Given the quality of the food and the service, and much less domination by old people, I would say that this worth look.
Rating: 2 bunnies.
Notes on the Bunny Rating System:
- 0 or no Bunnies, it's a waste of time; don't go.
- 1 Bunny, the place is worth checking out.
- 2 Bunnies, you should go out of your way to check out the place; the food is really good and the place is cool.
- 3 Bunnies, you absolutely have to go there; the food is exceptional and the place is really cool
