» fine dining - Simon Lau

Dessert at Amuse Bouche

I first heard of Amuse Bouche in NOW Magazine’s Best of Toronto. They apparently had the best dessert in Toronto – a 7 course tasting menu for $40.
I had made reservations at Amuse Bouche with Karen to celebrate an our anniversary a few weeks early.
The original plan was to grab a quick bite of sushi before coming to Amuse Bouche for just dessert, but we were running late and decided to skip sushi all together. So instead, we went for appetizers and what dessert. I ordered the “Ontario rabbit poutine ‘inside-out’: confit, Monforte Dairy ‘Indiscretion’, sweet summer pickle” and 7 course dessert. Karen went for the “Summer Ontario zucchini gazpacho, the flower stuffed with Dungeness crab and monforte dairy ricotta, lemon balm creme fraiche sorbet” and opted for the 5 course dessert.
After the appetizer, they brought out our dessert which was laid on top of two wooden sticks, the dessert plate didn’t actually touch the table cloth. This was a bit bizarre to me. I was also hoping that they would serve each dessert individually as I thought it was a tasting menu and not a dessert platter. Irregardless, the dessert was delicious with certain pieces better than others. I don’t know if there’s a dessert etiquette that requires you to finish one before moving on to another but if there was I definitely didn’t follow it.

The above photo is a picture of my dessert. It really turned out to be 9 piece setting and Karen’s ended up being a 6 piece dessert. I can’t quite remember everything I had, but the tall glasses a blueberry jam under a bland yogurt. There was a chocolate brownie with ice cream on top, damn delicious I might add, a creme brulee with plums, a mini berry tart, strawberry mousse over chocolate cake, pear tart, peach slices over some kind of custard, and a pudding with a fruit and toffee overtop. There’s really too much to remember, so sorry for forgetting all the details.

Total bill with wine, tax and tip was just under $160. Money well spent for a special night.

Tags: anniversary, dessert

. 15 Oct 08 | Photography, fine dining | Comments (0)

Summerlicious at Café Moroc

Twice a year many of Toronto’s top restaurants participate in winterlicious and summerlicious. This year there were 130 establishments offering a special 3-course prix fixe menu to give you the opportunity of sampling their delicious food. You can go for either a lunch or dinner with some places just offering dinner seating.
This summer Karen and I decided to go to Café Moroc, an establishment at 49 Front Street East. They have a $15 lunch and $25 dollar dinner. You can spend upwards of $35 for dinner at some places.
Café Moroc is one of two restaurants inside a single store, they are also known as the Sultan’s Tent. The difference is ambiance. Café Moroc is a little more casual and Sultan’s Tent is a little more private. At the Sultan’s Tent, the staff will teach you how to belly dance. The food is the same but the prices are more expensive at the Sultan’s Tent. They were not on the summerlicious menu.
Arriving for a 5:30 dinner, here were our options for ordering:
Appetizer:
Harira: A hearty tomato based broth, with chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils and a blend of Moroccan spices
or
Sliced Smoked Duck Breast Salad: Baby lettuces, dressed with a Champagne pomegranate vinaigrette, tossed with fresh fine cut vegetables, cherry tomatoes and sliced mango, finished with parmesan, asiago and romano cheese
or
Maftoul: Hand rolled “Moroccan Cigars”, hot crispy pastry stuffed with a mixture of mildly spiced beef, cashews and raisins, topped with chipotle aioli
Main
Moroccan Beef Ribs
Tender fall off the bone beef seasoned and glazed with Moroccan spices, served with sweet potato and carrot purée and roast garlic mashed mini reds, accompanied by grilled vegetables
or
Keskesu Casablanca: Moroccan seasoned couscous and tagine sauce* topped with oven roast fresh carrot, parsnip, zucchini, summer squash, tomato, red onion and sweet peppers
or
Mango Glazed Salmon: A pan seared 8-ounce fillet of salmon, glazed with mango chutney coulis, served with saffron basmati rice and traditional Moroccan root vegetables
or
Chicken Marrakesh: Supreme of chicken stuffed with chorizo sausage and Herbes de Provence, served with sweet potato and carrot purée and roast garlic mashed mini reds, finished with roast chicken demi glace, Accompanied by traditional Moroccan root vegetables
or
Braised Lamb Feast: Slow braised lamb shank served with tagine* seasoned couscous with a rich prune demi glace, topped with preserved lemon and toasted almonds
Dessert
Moroccan Treats: Traditionally made Moroccan cookie and pastry accompanied with Latshin, a light and refreshing traditional dessert of fresh orange slices sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon
or
Creme Brulée: A rich and flavourful crème brulée

I ordered the Maftoul, Moroccan Beef Ribs and crème brulée. Karen had the Sliced Smoked Duck Breast Salad, Braised Lamb Feast and crème brulée.

The appetizers were delicious. The maftoul had a good spicy kick to it and was thoroughly enjoyed. I would have definitely enjoyed an extra cigar with my appetizers but it is only a starter.The duck breast was tender and the mango’s complimented it very well as part of the salad.

Coming quickly after we finished our appetizer was our main course. The ribs were no small order. There were four pieces of meat packed ribs and just looking at the picture makes me hungry again. The meat fell off the bone and the glaze and spice gave it a sweet taste. The sweetness of the sweet potato and carrot puree matched the flavour of the ribs and the roasted garlic mashed mini reds and grilled vegetables rounded off a very filling meal.

The braised lamb was made to the same quality as the beef. The meat fell off the bone and had a distinct but delicious lamb taste. Despite being a summerlcious meals where some restaurants often serve slightly smaller portions to keep costs down, the dinner at Café Moroc certainly filled us both.

To round off our meal, we both had crème brulée. The sweet light custard was a good change to the heavy meat dishes we just had. There was a good golden crust on the brulée clearly created by a torch.

While the service can be flaky at times, the dining experience at Café Moroc was one that won’t be easily forgotten. It took a while to get the bill after dinner and we had to ask for refills of water. However, the food was great, the ambiance while more casual than Sultan’s Tent was still very nice and well kept.

If you have the opportunity to visit there for summerlicious or winterlicious, I’d definitely give it a try. At $50 + tax and tip, it’s definitely a good deal.

Tags: appetizer, beef ribs, cafe moroc, creme brulee, dessert, dinner, lamb shank, summerlicious, winterlicious