See blog for full refiew with pictures in context:
Highlights:
Featuring a unique menu focused strongly on Canadian sourced ingredients and a number of options, both sweet and savory, that seemed to challenge "the norm" I contacted Bymark nearly a month before my planned trip and inquired as to whether a tasting menu was available so that I might experience as many dishes as possible. Fielding my e-mail in less than eight hours restaurant manager Jessica Sloan informed me that while the restaurant did not offer a nightly tasting the chef would be "delighted" to craft a menu to my liking if I informed him of which dishes interested me most - an offer I was more than happy to take them up on. Informing the kitchen of my likes and dislikes I was quoted a price for my selected menu and confirmed my reservation for one at 7:30pm on Saturday evening.
Getting things started, my first dish was an amuse from the kitchen - a Lobster, apple, and crème fraiche "taco" served on a beet tortilla. Featuring an ample amount of fresh lobster accented by sweet gala apples and tamed by the tangy crème this dish was excellent when paired with the crispy and earthy-yet-sweet beet chip. Small, fun, inventive, and delicious - an excellent way to start things off.
Dish three of the evening was the restaurant's signature - and a dish every bit worth the title. Crisp frites with butter braised lobster and classic béarnaise - poutine style was actually delivered to my table by the chef du cuisine and featured approximately 20 crisp frites stacked inside a lobster shell and absolutely loaded with butter poached lobster. Topping the dish was a creamy béarnaise sauce with high notes of lemon and butter plus more nuanced flavors of wine and onion. Whereas the dressing on the salad mired the flavor of the dish, the béarnaise on this dish only served to accent the wonderful lobster and crispy-salty fries. Say what you will about "haute-poutine," this dish was wonderful and alone worth the trip to Bymark - though I do wonder whether the average diner could finish a full sized portion as the tasting portion was so decadent.
The fourth dish of the evening was presented quite elegantly by my server and finished tableside. Entitled duck confit ravioli with chestnut puree, crisp parsnip and spiced cranberries I was served a single plump raviolo absolutely packed with clove and nutmeg accented duck leg and topped with a crispy garnish of fried parsnip. Served alongside and overtop the pasta was a creamy sweet-yet-earthy chestnut puree plus cinnamon sweetened cranberries with a mild alcoholic tang. Featuring aspects of protein and carb, sweet and earthy, creamy and acidic this dish was truly excellent and when I saw my neighbor order the full portion (three large ravioli plus all the fixings) I was actually quite impressed at the menu price, as well.
My final savory of the evening was the roasted Cornish Hen with roasted Brussels sprouts, potato gnocchi and natural reduction - it was remarkable. Perfectly seared and succulent the meaty hen simply shredded off the bone with minimal effort and no knife. Accompanying the hen were two halved and pan-caramelized Brussels sprouts and two large plump gnocchi that easily gave way to their creamy interiors on mastication - these items as well as the hen were topped with the natural reduction from the hen and sprouts and the whole dish was succulent, salty, and well balanced between creamy and crispy textures as well as pungent and smooth flavors.
When it was all said and done I paid the bill - $120 Canadian and felt the meal was actually a relatively good bargain for the quality of the food, setting, and accommodations by the staff. While service was adequate I have to say that my server's tongue ring did seem a bit out of place for fine dining and though I certainly can't blame her for my neighbors, I do feel that if she'd have been less involved with their "issues" she'd have inquired more frequently as to how I was enjoying everything. A talented kitchen staff with some unique ideas, I do feel that some dishes were not executed as well as one would expect while other dishes could use some tweaking to more properly highlight the quality of the ingredients and the chef's vision - particularly the cinnamon bun tower and the octopus salad. That said - I'd return in a heartbeat for the poutine, the foie, and the ravioli. read more