Disappointment
This restaurant was a big disappointment from start to finish. After being beguiled by misleading images on the web, which depicted romantic dining rooms in the old world style, we were surprised to find that the restaurant is housed in a rather smallish, converted home in one of Stratford's more modest neighborhoods, right behind the parking lot of the big food store. The decor could best described as cheap pretentious chic, but the menu looked tantalizing.

Dinner was available for a fixed price of $57.50 per person, which included appetizer, main course, and dessert, just that and no more. We were told that potato leek soup was exceptionally good, and I tried it out, a rather bland thin gruel, in a very small bowl, covered with a some sorted of toasted top. My husband ordered the ravioli, which consisted of 4 or 5 smallish vegetable-filled ravolis which looked awfully lonely on the large platter on which they were served. The main courses we ordered, salmon and chicken, were respectable enough, but came without vegetable or salad accompaniments of any sort, in huge bowls designed to hold twenty times the quantity of food they bore.

Hopefully and hungrily, we looked forward to dessert, which was also included. I had been looking forward to the chilled strawberry rhubarb soup served with an orange sherbet which had been advertised, but we discovered that this was no longer available. Instead we were told that everyone was raving about the plum soup with cake and nutmeg ice cream. The suspense wasn't worth the wait; when dessert arrived, again in an overly large bowl, we were surprised to see a very small cake, about the size of very small cookie, sitting next to a large teaspoon of ice cream in a bowl of what appeared to be prune juice, which once tasted, was rather unremarkable.

Wine was a bit of a problem. We weren't in the mood for a full bottle, because we'd already drunk half a bottle at lunch, so we were limited to the house wines. We had ordered salmon and chicken, so we needed a white wine. I don't like oak-flavored wines, so that ruled out 4 of the 5 house wines, leaving only a California wine, and since we don't like domestics, we couldn't find a solution. The waiter assured us he would find a solution, and returned with two half-bottles of wine from France, one from the Loire and the other from Burgundy. We chose a "crisp" white from the Loire, and weren't disappointed, until it came time to pay the bill. We had each had the equivalent of one glass of wine, and the total wine bill came to $74! My husband took this up with the manager, and it was discovered they had charged us for a full bottle of wine. They agreed to charge us half that price, and spent about 20 minutes fixing the bill.

If you are in the mood to spend this kind of money for dinner in Stratford, we would strongly suggest you try Rundles or The Church.    [28 Aug 2000 05:52:55]

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     ­Mizsissy   

Lovely Table, Lousy Service, Fine Wine
My husband and I arrived slightly damp from a rainy walk from the theatre (Sept. 2002) and were shown to a little round table with plenty of elbow room. Our waiter spent his time smoozing about wine with another customer and his assistants were either deaf or forgetful. My husband asked twice for a refill of his coffee to no avail and my hot tea was quite cool. The food was average and the wine expensive ($54 CAD for the cheapest red) but it was perhaps the best bottle of wine I've ever drunk! The restrooms are down a steep stairway.    [14 Aug 2003 20:56:11]

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     ­Trish