#1: Wildfire Steakhouse & Wine Bar with the boyfriend =)
To start we had the "Escargots Provencal" served with herbed butter, roasted garlic and shallots with panko topping and the "Shrimp martini," tiger shrimp served with cocktail sauce. We were pretty hungry so no pictures to show but I don't think you can go wrong with escargots and shrimp although the escargots from The Keg still ranks #1 in my books.
For the main, we both had the New York striploin with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and grilled seasonal vegetables both cooked medium rare. The last time I ordered this exact same cut and requested it cooked the same way, it came out more or less well done (major fail). This time, however, the steak was cooked as requested and was very tasty and juicy. The mash was mediocre, again I prefer The Keg's garlic mash over Wildfire's - just because I like the texture of some of the potato skin in the mash at The Keg. The "seasonal vegetables" consisted of a slice of carrot, zucchini and red pepper - nothing overly special there. Overall, the steak dish as a whole was good but there are definitely better places out there for the same price range but with the prix fixe menu it was worth it.
For dessert we had the "Wildfire Crème Brulée"a traditional homemade crème brulée, made with rich Madagascar vanilla beans and the "Red Velvet Cake"made with rich artisan red cocoa, layered with chocolate ganache and vanilla cream cheese frosting. The crème brulée was really good and the portion was a perfect size to thoroughly enjoy it without getting sick of it. As for the red velvet cake, those that know me know I'm not a huge of creme cheese frosting so I can't fully critique the dish but the cake part itself to me felt a little dry. Not so much "moist" as the menu had suggested...
Overall, our experience at Wildfire was a good one to say the least. The ambiance is very nice and the staff are very attentive - maybe even a little too attentive? Would I go here on a regular day without the prix fixe menus? Probably not. Although they offer a solid menu, with the price point that one would expect to pay here on a regular basis I would opt for The Keg or cheaper alternatives (food wise without the fancy ambiance) such as Master Steaks. I would still recommend Wildfire for those looking for a solid restaurant to try during the Winterlicous (or Summerlicious) festivities.
#2: Coppi Ristorante with the bf =)
Every Winterlicious/Summerlicious, I try to go out of my comfort zone and try a different restaurant I've never tired before. (I tend to stick to the same ones just to be safe - totally defeats the purpose of these events, I know!) Since two of the four restaurants I was going to were grill houses, we decided we should try a new Italian restaurant. You can't really go wrong with pasta right? Again, we got a little to excited with our starters so no pictures for Coppi either. He had the "frutti di mare e fava"
which was a cold salad consisting of steamed seafood, fava beans, blood orange chunks and fennel. I had the "prosciutto di anatra" which was a spinach salad with fig balsamic vinaigrette with house cured duck breast and pistachio goat cheese. Both dishes were very tasty and I would highly recommend.
For the mains, I had the linguine "ai frutti di mare"a house made linguini with assorted seafood and san marzano tomato. He had the "bistecca di manzo" another grilled striploin with rustic yukon gold mash and green beans. The pasta was very flavourful and had a decent amount of seafood in it. The sauce was perfect! (I love rose sauces!) Surprisingly a good serving size also. Would highly recommend this dish. I didn't taste the steak but I'm told it was "good."
For dessert I had the "tiramisu" and he had the "affogato" - a vanilla gelato in espresso coffee. Let me tell you, the tiramisu was probably one of the best ones I've had to date. There is a significant coffee taste but all the flavours still melded together perfectly. It simply just melted in your mouth. It was simply delicious! The vanilla gelato was very smooth and creamy - not too sweet. It definitely paired well with the expresso coffee.
Overall, we really enjoyed our experience at Coppi. The interior was really interesting too! Did you know "coppi" was the name of an international cyclist champion, Angelo Fausto Coppi? It is also the name of an Italian bike manufacturing brand, Coppi. There was a whole wall decorated in a bike frame part, painted in pinks and greens. The light chandeliers above the tables were made of bike chains. I thought this was very clever. The restaurant is a very small and quaint little space but the food will blow your taste buds away! Would definitely recommend!
Do you have any recommendations for Winterlicious/Summerlicious?
As always, Read. Comment. Share. Follow. <3
Karennn
xoxo
xoxo
No comments:
Post a Comment