food

My first Le Gros Jambon review can be viewed here.

I have returned to Le Gros Jambon because I kept thinking how their mac n cheese was amazing!

Last time, I did not get a chance to order the coke in the bottle! I remembered when I was a kid, my mom would tell me how much better it tastes in a bottle. For me, I only fancy it because it’s a rare sight!

If you’re looking for a bottle taste, Le Gros Jambon will complete that need!

We actually came to Le Gros Jambon 2 times after my first visit, but every time was failure – one day they did not open – another day, they were closing their kitchen. Imagine our joy when this time, we can finally get our food!

When we went this time, there was barely anyone. So when we ordered, the chef was sooooo delicate. I would just observe his cooking and amazed how detailed he was. But hold on to that thought, after we got our food, a surge of people came in, and the chef was no longer that delicate with his cooking – hahaha!

This time, we ordered the “Gros Jambon” burger.

Gros Jambon burger

This burger was cooked with all the heart of the chef! He sprinkled the salt so graciously. BUT – although so graciously, he might had been a bit heavy handed with the salt…the poutine was too salty. Last time, the poutine tasted much better.

As for the burger, it’s alright. It was very difficult to take a bit without creating a mess! I have to admit that the burger was presented so beautifully though!

I personally…cannot take off my mind from Mac n Cheese. Therefore…I order ….mac n cheese again! But with a little change. Last time, I tried the duct confit. This time, I had the Nathan’s mac n cheese – because I love the name Nathan so much. hahaha

Nathan’s Mac n Cheese

well…was it as amazing as last time?! NO! SOOOO SAD!! It tasted completely different! Cannot even compare. This time, there was waaaaay too sauce, making the whole dish very “wet”. It just isn’t the same… I don’t know if it’s usually served like this o rlast time I was just very lucky to have it served exactly how i like it.

Just….not happy after 2-3 bites of my mac n cheese. 🙁

No more craving for Le Gros Jambon…the mac n cheese disappointment killed everything.

I’ll give it a benefit of a doubt. But for certain, I will not be returning soon.

Zuuchini

Dolcetto & Co. is a newly opened restaurant in the Old Port. Ever since I read about it from another blog, I have put it in my restaurant wishlist. Little did I know, Mr.Butter checks my wishlist and brought me there on my birthday as a surprise!

Once entered, you will see a big square table that is able to fit about 9 people or more! This seems very typical for authentic Italian restaurant as Italians like to gather in big family and eat together. The decor inside is marine theme.

The concept in Dolcetto is to order a few dishes to share. I think it’s a great concept  in order to avoid overfeeding yourself from restaurant’s oversized servings. If you are looking for quantity food, this restaurant is not the place.

They gave us different types of bread. They were good – especially with balsamic vinegar!

The wine. That got me tipsy but sober enough to play laser quest right after dinner.

Now the interesting part. We are given a menu, just a simple paper, where we put a check mark beside the plates we want to order. However, I would say about 50% of the menu was fill with Italian words, so it’s quite inconvenient to have the waitress explain almost most the tapas one by one.

A spicy salami paste. I ordered this because it says “spicy” on the menu. You know me – I love spicy food!! This was good pairing with the bread. Although, I would not say anything spectacular. It basically tastes like pepperoni converted into paste like.

Restaurant Park has been in my restaurant wish list for quite a while. Because it is higher priced restaurant, the chance never came until recently.

I was over excited when Mr.Butter decided to go with me! I read too many good reviews and saw too many   pictures.

It was a good choice to make a reservation because the evening we went, the restaurant was full-house. There were people that came in later at about 8 pm, and were refused due to full seating. So please take note, make sure to reserve!

The decor of the restaurant is very simple, emitting the Korean feel (which is totally in accordance since Park , the owner and chef, is korean…).

The menu offers Japanese, Korean and some influence of fusion modern cuisine. Our waiter informed us that the menu changes relative to what the season and market offers. This statement already wants me to re-visit it again just to see what’s new!

It was such a difficult task to choose what to order. Everything sounds so good… Well good thing is, Park offers a tasting menu which has 5 services. This allows us to taste a bit of everything. But, because I was greedy and because we were 2 to eat, we ordered 2 more dishes! Yay moooore things to try!

 And…the cast of the spell has started…

Oysters from different places – which I have totally forgotten where…Each time the waiter served a meal, he would explain in great details how the food is cooked and with what ingredients. Very informative!

The oysters were fresh and each was seasoned differently as illustrated on the photo. I had the one on the right, where the caviar added a little flare to the oyster…but I think I am too accustomed to just tabasco and lemon that, i would prefer to eat it with tabasco… Hey, raw oyster is raw oyster! All it needs is to be fresh, and these oysters definitely were fresh!

Ah~ the display of the salad was just so pretty, with little flowers, that were 100% edible! I was totally attracted to this salad as the waiter told me that there were figs in it. This salad has a mushroom (which again I forgot which kind, my guess is portobello) slightly grilled. It also has grapes from Champagne, which added sweetness to the salad. The shrimps, I could care less, they were too tiny and tasteless to bring any value to the salad. But, in general, I really enjoyed the salad because of the great incorporation of the fruits.

And there came the ………SUSHI!!! I think this is the dish i was mostly looking forward to. Why? This dish offers a variety of different salmons and tunas over the world. Each one was explained by the waiter. My favorite one has to the very first on the right (see below).

As you all know, I am a fanatic of sashimi. And the very first on the right was so fresh and smooth. Almost the feeling it would melt  – i said almost…it just so tender.

I could just re-order this dish again….and again…and again. Or even eat it for a week without getting tired.

Then, the maki arrived! (this is not part of the tasting menu). The waiter told me that this is the best maki he ever tasted. When I heard that, I was very skeptical and had to try it myself to believe his claim. Well? The maki was definitely very delicious. The best? um, not quite. Not to say this maki wasn’t impressive, but it wasn’t as mind blowing as the waiter would make me to believe so. I would much rather go to Mikado to have my maki…. so, let’s just say, this roll isn’t the one who will make me come back to Park.

And then… O ….M…. G. This dish (not part of the tasting menu) was HUGE. it takes a bit more than half of the table, no exaggeration! It was (okok, i’m horrible, yes yes, I am taking the habit of taking notes…from now on) beef ribs. – i don’t wanna say it’s kobe, but my memory is telling me that it might be kobe. Anywho!

This dish was just amazing. Not only was the portion is more than generous (we got 2 huge ribs), the taste is so savory. It was well marinated and well cooked, that the meat was so tender. And I really loved the sweet potato paste served under the meat. Ah…it’s like perfection.

Then, the scallop was served. There were zucchini and shrimps accompanied as well. The scallop was big and juicy. Scallop tastes best when it’s not over flavored and it is light seared to keep its freshness of the sea. This is exactly what Park did. Well nicely executed. But, nothing overly different or original that I have not tasted from other restaurants.

And our diner ended with this dainty dessert. This dessert is derived from korean cuisine, where (if i am not mistaken) the fruits are squeezed into juice, and then it is put into the refrigerator to allow it become ice, and then shaved into this dessert – basically almost like a sorbet. The fruit that was served this time was pear. Other fruits were added to the dessert, as you could see in the pictures, raspberries, grapes, mandarins, apples…

This dessert was very light, just perfect to soothe a very bloated stomach after having a huge meal.

Overall, I am not disappointed at all! My high expectation of this restaurant was clearly met. The hype is evident. Go to the restaurant and test it yourself, and you’ll be just like me, under the spell of Park.  

Zuuchini