Monday, May 7, 2007

Drinks at Colborne Lane

Went on a Saturday Night. We got there at about 10:30 or so. It was still pretty busy but not wall to wall people. We sat at the bar and I haven't gotten a really good look at the dining room. The look of the dining room is kind of industrial, but the bar isn't as much. The bar is pretty long, something like 30-40 feet long, will a marble surface. Behind the bar is a big wall treatment. The background is white, with some black patterns on it. I like it. I think it matches the counter. I has a really contemporary look. I don't think you'd see many places that look like this in Toronto. There are two small tables behind the bar, seating about 4 and 5. They look like they're douglas with fir, with a natural looking stain. Even though the place is like a big open space, there is a like a small partition that works to separate the bar from the dining room. The floors are hardwood, probably oak, with a dark stain. The dark stain really complements the room's feel.

The crowd is relatively young. I would say its probably late-20s and people in their 30s for the most part. Its relative casual. Most jackets and trousers and chicks in cocktail dresses, although you do get some jeans and dress shoes in the males, and jeans and heels for the chicks.

The servers seem to be knowledgeable about the food and friendly. I would say that there is certain degree of formality to the service, which I think is appropriate because I would consider this to be more high end dining. The only thing that I would trash in a major way is the hostess. She's fine in terms of interacting and stuff, but to me see looks out of place. The hostess/manager/maitre d' is probably the first person you see when go into a place, so they should make an impression. She doesn't. It's not like she's unattractive or anything, but she to my taste she seems out of place. She's too short and she's not dressed in a way that I think conveys fine dining. I would say put a guy in a suit there, or get an exotic lookin' chick (i.e., not blonde) that's at least 5'6", without heels, and dress her up and you would put a totally, and more appropriate, vibe to the experience.

I had a soup for myself and I shared three dishes. They don't distinguish between mains and starters, all the menu items are tapas-style. The price ranges from the low-teens to high-20s. A dinner would probably be 3 to 4 dishes.

I had the corn soup first. They actually come and pour it for you -- nice touch. The soup came with a chorizo dumpling. The chorizo had a very smoked flavour that really complemented the corn. I think when most people think of corn soup they think of something green giant (at least i do), but this has to be one of the tastiest soups i've had. The person I was with commented that the pea soup was the best soup he's every had.

I shared the lobster service, the lamb chop and squab breast. The food is plated really artfully. You get the main thing that is the centre of attention and then you get some really interesting things that accompany it. So this is not like the typical restaurant where the lamp chop comes with mash potatoes or something like that. Here the accompanying items are unconventional, but really good matches or complements to the flavours in the main part of the dish. If I had to compare the style of the food, I think the most appropriate thing would be the tasting menus that they have at Splendido. Similar servings sizings, but they come at a much lower price point at Colborne lane.

The squab breast came with this foie gras shavings. It was the most expensive thing on the menu. It came with a lot of things that you could sample as well and there were some really interesting things to taste one the plate. The lamb chop was served to me in front of the chef. As I was cutting into it, I could tell that it was really dry. The chef then had it sent back (i didn't complain) because it was overcooked. That's what you call quality control. As I waited for the new lamb chop, they served the lobster seviche. This was really tasty. It came with I guess what they call a puffed corn noodle, but reminded me of a pork rink. This was an excellent accompaniment to the seviche. I would've have said that this was tastiest dish I had that night until I tried the lamb chop. The lamp chop was cooked beautifully. It almost melted in your mouth it was so tender.

We had a glass of wine with dinner. I didn't pick it. I haven't seen the wine list they have. But I'm guessing that they would be the sort of place with a much smaller wine list because they don't seem to have a great deal of storage. The wine that was served was a little too tannic for my taste. It had a nice bouquet, but it needed to age a little too smooth it out. I thought that it was a Cabernet Sauvignon, but the waiter who picked it said it was an Australian-style Bourdeaux. I'm going to assume that he is really naive and is just repeating what he heard the wine salesman told him and the rest of the staff. [The likelihood that this wine would age like a Bourdeaux is so close to zero that it would be like wishful thinking for anyone to suggest it could happen with a moniker "Australian-style Bourdeaux". The Bourdeaux's mature from their tannin heavy youth into something that is recognized to be one of the best wines you can have with food. Given the amount of oak that was in this wine, it's highly unlikely that it would mature into something like that. It would be better after aging a few years, but not much more than that. But I digress ....] I've heard it said that most restaurants in Toronto sell wine that is too young. Perhaps there are a lot of drinkers out that would find this wine to be perfectly fine. But then they've probably never had a properly aged wine, so its hard for them to offer an informed opinion.

Overall, I'd have to say that I was quite impressed. I came in with high expectations and I wasn't disappointed. I would say that the quality of the dishes and presentation rival that at Splendido. To me the places are really similar because they're about creating interesting flavours, using seasonal ingredients, experimenting and plating the dishes really well. This is opposed to the typically restaurant that is more concerned with feeding you. The big advantage for Colborne Lane over Splendido is the price point. The entry level menu at Splendido (3 courses plus a series of hors d'oeuvres) is almost $100, desert is extra and add the wine on top of that and your looking at $160-$170 a person for dinner. I think here you could do 4 dishes and desert for well below that. You could even go old-school French style and have the cheese plate and still have some change to spare. I still don't have the full experience, so I don't think I've seen enough to give it a complete rating. Based on what I've seen, I think it's at a minimum a 2 bunny and maybe a 3 bunny place. But I would need to have a closer look to know for sure.

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