Vanbrosia: Oakwood Canadian Bistro

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Oakwood Canadian Bistro

January 21, 2014

Roast Porchetta (boneless pork roast of belly and loin), confit garlic brocollini, dijon spatzle, caramelized onion puree - 3

Side of foie - 2+

J's comment > OMG... this porchetta definitely gives the chinese roast pork a run for the money (eg. Bambudda's roast pork belly which is very similar), but this dish has more meat; the brocollini was a tasty veggie (really hard for me to find), and the spatzle was just crunchy heaven. Got a side of foie which was shaved on top (pics below), but I think it was unnecessary for this dish as the porchetta was already so rich, it's hard to taste the foie on top of this. I snagged a bite of the foie before it all melted though, and mmmmmm.... maybe get the foie shaved to the side so you can eat it separately. :P

(before shot)

(here comes the foie)

(grated on top - scroll back up for the finished product)

Pork Terrine w maple cauliflower puree, pickled shallots, rye soil (a combination of rye bread crumbs, brown butter, dried mushroom & charred leeks) - 2+

J's comment > really lovely, the rye soil was slightly sweet too

Waldorf Salad: House-cured bacon, grapes, celery, candied walnuts, blue cheese, creme fraiche - 2

J's comment > loved the walnuts, rest of salad was good too

Pork belly spaghetti aglio olio (garlic & oil), spinach, forest mushrooms - 2

J's comment > really tasty pork belly, spaghetti was a tad spicy, but nonetheless good

Maple creme caramel, pecan shortbread, cranberry gel, vanilla caramel - 2+

J's comment > more liquidy than expected, nonetheless absolutely delish, there was this fascinating scent flavor to this dessert, much like the smell of a blown out candle which I love - definitely bonus points because of this. Had this on the last visit, but this weird and wonderful flavor was only apparent this time.

Chocolate mousse, coffee pistachio crunch, whip cream - 2+

2014 Dine Out menu (runs until Feb 2)

J's comment > note that Oakwood is only serving up the Dine Out menu during the Dine Out festival, like Chambar, but somehow I'm more impressed with the Oakwood. Our server did inform us (and you can see from the menu), that the theme is pork. Perhaps this specialization gave Oakwood the extra boost.