George Restaurant

Date Visited: Late Dinner on Wednesday June 3, 2015
Company: AJ's Convocation dinner for 6

Last week, +Will invited me to dinner with his family to celebrate AJ's convocation from Queen's U. They had recently found out about my food blog and Will advised me I would enjoy the restaurant they chose for dinner. He gave me the link and told me to check out their interesting cocktails. The location was walking distance from Will's and had a very cool exterior with large tall door. Upon entering, the decor was a bit more fancy but with a modest atmosphere. They had an open kitchen which we were seated right next to with a mirror on the ceiling to see the chef's working stations. There seemed to be a lot of students in the kitchen learning as well.

We were explained a bit about the difference between their five-course and seven-course tasting menu, each contains an amuse bouche, 1 or 3 appetizers, fois gras, a red-meat course, a cheese course and dessert. The Seven-Course Tasting Menu was decided upon and I also got the George - 75 Cocktail for a drink. The cocktail consisted of Tanqueray Gin, Aperol, St. Germain Elderfower Liqueur, Champagne, and a dash of fresh lemon juice. I hadn't really had anything similar to it before but it was very delicious, not too sweet and a bit tangy. We also got some interesting bread for the table to start with some crisps that were very oily but delicious and different breads on the bottom.

Our first dish was the amuse bouche, a bite-size hors d'oeuvre. Mine kind of fell apart while they brought it out so AJ switched so my photo would look better :) It was a mushroom puree on top of grilled eggplant and chipotle mayo with Plum relish. Everyone enjoyed the flavour and it got our taste buds ready for the rest of the meal. This is also when we realized that we'll have to take notes of our dishes as they were way too complicated to remember. Most of the table received wine pairings for each dish so it was interesting to hear the sommelier speak to each of them.

So when our first dishes came, we knew we were in trouble for remembering ingredients as they decided to do two different dishes for our table of 6. The plus side was that that we were able to try even more dishes by sharing. We received a Potato wrapped Tuna and Sesame Crab Cake with Lentil Salad. I'm not usually a fan of Tuna but this may have turned me into a fan, the middle was so soft and the potato exterior provided a crispy edge, great textures. The crab cake was not like anything I'd had before, very rich in flavour while the lentil salad provided good balance.

Next, we had Salmon Tappanyaki with Saffon in the front and White Asparagus and Peas in the back and Steelhead Trout with grilled white Asparagus. The Trout had an mild flavour as I've never had it before but I definitely preferred the Salmon, it was cooked perfectly and was presented with interesting ingredients. I was surprised how un-fishy all of the seafood tasted as they were mostly raw.

Our last seafood dish was an Octopus Carpaccio over a Radish Carpaccio and Butter Lobster with Sesame Soya Noodles and Tempura. I adored the presentation of the Octopus, it was like a drawing on paper, the flavours were light and refreshing. I was happy to see an Asian inspired dish with the Soya noodles, it was the heaviest of all our dishes so far but have a variety of textures to keep it interesting. 

Next would be our Fois Gras plates, and once again our Chef decided to be creative and make two separate dishes. One was the Duck in a Mint Crepe with Buffalo Mozzarella with Fois Gras on top and Tomato Foam and the other was a Fois Gras on Sweetbread. So I read and seen a lot of videos about fois gras before so I was both nervous and excited to finally try it. So the duck was basically raw which made it very difficult to cut through and chew. It was probably my least favourite dish of the night, there was just a lot going on on the plate. The fois gras specifically was extremely tender and melts in your mouth, it tasted pretty much how I'd expected. It made it a bit harder to eat just knowing so much about the controversies over it. A few bites were do-able but I didn't think I could eat it all. The second dish was served over sweetbread, which I just Googled now to find out what it was. I definitely thought it was just chicken and sweetbread was the coating they used over it. It tasted very good though and I'm glad I didn't know what it was when I was eating it.

Our peak of the courses were the red meats, I received a Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb with Asparagus and Sweet Potato while Will got the Beef Tenderloin with Cheese and Peppercorn. There was also some Pesto and Gnocci on the plate for sure but our waiter kind of stopped after the first part, I think he forgot what it was. Will and I were both happy with what we got so we weren't sure if we were going to do halfsies on this one. The Lamb was spectacular, pink on the inside but subtle flavour and so tender. The sweet potato were in sheets and stacked on each other, so creative and fun to eat, not to mention it accentuated the flavour. Will cut me off a piece of his steak, it was too rare for my usual liking but tasted pretty tender. The gnocci was an interesting addition but tasted great.

Our second last plate was cheese which is something I've never experienced before. This time they gave us three different types instead of two. I had the Pasturized Cow's milk with Apples and Pecans. The cheese was very creamy and thick almost like brie. The flavour was very tart so it was nice to pair with the other various things on the plate which were all generally sweet.

And finally, our desserts! We got three different ones again this time. Both Will and I were lucky to receive the Chocolate Souffle with Mandarin Tea! I thought at first it was Lava cake but once you broke into it, it was so soft, creamy, and held together. The Mandarin flavour was quite sour, all the sweetness was left to the chocolate. I didn't really enjoy the texture the cookie crumbs added to the plate, a bit unnecessary for me. I also tried some of AJ's Lemon Pie, it was so sour but actually tasted really good as it had equal sweetness, very lovely.

As an end note, I think everyone had a fun and enjoyable time at George Restaurant, I love discussing food over a meal and we were able to do that with this tasting menu. It offered so much variety and I don't think anyone wouldn't have enjoyed it! A foodie's dream meal :)

Food: 4.5/5 - Experienced so many new flavours and all done brilliantly.
Decor: 5/5 - Very classy, interesting decor and views into the kitchen.
Service: 4/5 - Mostly knowledgeable, a few staff weren't very detailed with their descriptions of the food.
Willingness to go back: 5/5 - Great experience and would love to return.
Overall: 4.5/5

Website: http://www.georgeonqueen.com/

Milagro Cantinas

Date Visited: Winterlicious dinner on Tuesday Feb 3, 2015
Company: Annual Licious meal with the high school girls.

Again this year, the girls were down for a Winterlicious meal in Toronto to enjoy one of the many great restaurants in the city. +Krystal was the one who picked out Milagro, a Mexican restaurant on Queen from looking at their enticing Winterlicious menu. Unfortunately, she herself was not able to make it to the dinner but we gladly still took her up on her suggestion and booked a table for 5. Our reservation was at 6:30 but unfortunately, 4 of us were 40 minutes late coming from Oshawa and left +Clare to fend for herself at the restaurant.

When we finally arrived, our waitress was quick to ask us if we wanted anything to drink. Even though it was Margarita night, none of us took her up on the offer and went straight for the water already on the table. We also got 2 plates of Chips and Salsa for the table shortly after. The tortilla chips were very crispy but also greasy, the napkin at the bottom was covered in oil. You couldn't really tell when you were eating them though, very delicious still. The salsa was also mild, light, and refreshing, very different from what you would get the store.

For my appetizer, I choose the Ensalada Cesar as I heard good things about it here. It was served with a ton of Parmesan on top, whole Romaine lettuce leaves, and a large crouton in the middle... a little different from what you would normally see but I loved how different it was. I think my salad could have used a bit more dressing, it would have made the cheese easier to stick on. The leaves weren't that fresh either, needed a bit more crisp to the bite.

For the main dish, I ordered the Filete Poblano, grilled rib eye steak in a creamy poblano and white wine sauce with diablo potatoes. I was pleasantly surprised at the size of the steak and overall heftiness of the meal, there was a lot of food on the plate. The steak was very tender and cooked with perfect grill marks on the side. I had no idea what Poblano was but the sauce was a light but still creamy. The potatoes were in a sauce that was a bit oily but mixed well with everything else. It was topped with a bit of fried onions which added even more flavour and complexity to the dish. There was a lot going on with all the spices which gave me the indication that it was authentically Mexican. When I was finished, I just had no idea what I had just eaten was there were so many new flavours introduced to me .

For dessert, they ran out of the one I wanted, so I went with the Mousse de Mango instead since everyone else was getting the Flan. The small bowl looked to cute when I got it, filled to the brim with a thick yellow paste. The mango flavour was amazing and very prominent. It was almost like a yogurt dessert and topped with some chili spices to give it a kick.

Food: 3.5/5 - Awesome authentic Mexican food at the price we paid, salad wasn't great though.
Decor: 3.5/5 - Very traditional looking, the lady 2 tables away was talking so loudly though.
Service: 3.5/5 - Really happy with the service except it took forever to find our waitress for the bill.
Willingness to go back: 3.5/5 - For sure!! They have a few locations too.
Overall: 3.5/5

Website: http://milagrorestaurant.com/