I am super stoked to be blogging about this, partly because it was an AMAZING event, and partly because I have been super busy and haven't had the chance to blog in a while =( Anyhow!
The event was under $28 per person for the ticket, and there were
8 locations involved. Some comments about the event:
Pros:
- Lots of variety
- Get to try food from different restaurants throughout the evening
- Some walking to burn off the calories while eating
- Overall great experience
Cons:
- Registration took a long time
- Not enough time to wait for a table (huge crowd due to the event) and get around to all the places-- very strapped for time (6:00-9:30pm but lining up for registration took us until 7:30pm)
- This particular location was a bit sketch when it got darker =/
Alright, lets move onto the food! Since
registration was at Catch 122, Adorables and I decided to stay and eat there first! They were offering a
Pressed Confit Pork Shoulder, Smoked Potato, Pork Crackling. The
confit was slightly crispy but so
moist and tender in the middle and
flavorful. It went so well with the
creamy potato thing on top of it (looked more mashed than smoked hehe)-- it in itself was
delicious! The
pork crackling on the other hand, was
confusing to me. It was
hard and not very crispy =/ Looked pretty though!
The
House-made Tortellini with Quebec Cheese Curd, House-smoked Bacon, in Soubise Sauce was a bit underwhelming. The
pasta was al dente, filling didn't stand out (wheres the bacon?!), and the
sauce didn't seem to belong with the "dish". Presentation-wise though, it was nice to the eyes =)
Finally! Dessert was
"krehm broo LAY" (Cointreau custard, sugar biscuit, lavender meringue, mint). The both of us wondered for the longest time what the white crumbly bits on top with no flavor were-- then reading this again, had an "ah-ha!" moment =P
Custard portion was a bit soft and grainy for my liking, but the
sugar biscuit idea was ingenious.
Don't think there was mint because of the giant sugared orange slice on top ;)
I tried to be methodical and choose a good route for our self-guided tour,
Hives for Humanity (collaborating with
Martin's Marvelous Naturals) was down the street, so we ended there first! They offered a
DTES Raw Honey served on the Comb with Martin's Marvelous Rosemary Lavender and Chocolate Mole Crisps.
The honey was great, it was light and sweet (but not too sweet), along with the crisps, it was a nice snack! I
preferred the Rosemary Lavender Crisp because the
floral hints enhanced the honey rather than overwhelm and conceal the honey flavor (like the choco one).
Down the street was
Bitter Tasting Room. The
wait was quite long since our group moved to the small establishment almost all at once!
Many thanks to a fellow foodster who put my name on the waitlist (I was too scared to write my name on there without making sure we were allowed or not), Adorables and I were seated after a 10 minute wait. Here, they offered a (soft)
Taco with Barbecue Pulled Pork, Fresh Cut Slaw, and Pepperoncini Aioli. It didn't look too amazing on the plate, but the flavors were all there.
The
pulled pork was tender, moist, and perfect tanginess.
Slaw cut out the fatty feeling of the
Aioli (which wasn't too strong but made the taco nice and moist). Worth the wait! Waitresses were friendly and attentive too! =)
Next was
Burgundy Restaurant. They have an open "artsy" feel to it. Too bad neither of us drink, since they
had a free complimentary wine tasting =( Their
Goat Cheese Fondue was a very smart design, since they had a little holder to prevent fondue from dripping down! I liked the
fruit and bread pairing with it, refreshing and made the goat cheese lighter.
There was a small
Beef Bourguignon (something like a nice beef stew minus the sauce). I had one tiny piece of
beef, which was
tender and a bit dry, but the
veggies were yummy as the
flavors were infused nicely.
This place also offered dessert! Luckily there were two of us, so we got to try both desserts!
Adorables got the
Chocolate Mousse, which was
nice and creamy-- a bit hard to put in my mouth because of the design =P Also had to photobomb and shift the focus of the camera for this pic heh heh >:]
I got the
Orange Galliano Sorbet,
tangy and cold. Nicely
orangey! Traded Adorables for it since he's not one for sweets whereas I have a huge sweet tooth ^-^
Due to parking circumstances, we took a detour to
Trees Organic first (who wouldn't want dessert in the middle of their meal anyways? =D) Greeted by a super fun cashier, we were directed to some coffee and had some more dessert =)
The
New York Cheesecake was
too soft, felt like it was melting! Flavors were there, I just wish the crust were not so crumbly. And then there was their monthly special, a
Almond Marzipan Cheesecake. This was
REALLY SWEET but the graham cracker crust was nicer. Plating was pretty, except for Adorables'... his NY cheesecake was oozy =P
Moving on, we noticed how strapped for time we were, so we rushed over to
Salt Tasting Room-- through a
scary Blood Alley x.x I seriously thought I would get jumped and killed there.
Anyhow, got there, and went DOWNSTAIRS to a cellar! Super interesting!
Here, they offered
Salt's Classic Tasting Plate (Small Size): 2 meats, one cheese, 3 condiments, crackers-- tonight, we got 2 pieces of
prosciutto, aged
cheddar, three pieces of house-made
baguette,
mustard, and
cherry jam. The
prosciutto was
delicious and I
loved the cheddar-- creamy and cheesy! The
mustard was a bit strong for me, the
cherry jam was interesting (tangy and sweet, couldn't' quite taste the cherry). I found the
baguette too dry and chewy =(
Our last stop for the night was
The Irish Heather (almost missed it on our way, kinda hard to find!). They were super nice and let us in, we were the last customers!! I noticed it was
already 9:28pm, and realized we probably wouldn't be able to make it to the last location =( (Made Adorables wander over to
Milano Coffee to get the items, but they were closed already)
Either way! Here, they had a
Steak & Ale Stew on Colcannon (Irish Mashed Potatoes). Or so the menu said. What I saw was pie and fries. Not that I minded. Adorables noted that the pie tasted like a beef version of the chicken pot pie from Costco, and I can't disagree. It was rich and meaty, well-balanced flavors. Crust was flaky and the fries were crispy on the outside, moist and fluffy on the inside. I couldn't finish it though-- ended up packing most of it home haha!
Overall, this was a
great experience because I got to have
so much variety in one evening! I also was pretty stuffed (I started off being concerned whether it would be enough food, since the portions were tiny) at the end of the night, and
couldn't be happier stuffed ^-^
Highly recommended!
Great for date nights, I may try the other locations! =) Many
thanks to Adorables for the photos! And lovely company! <3 Until next time peeps!
