Vanbrosia: Oakwood Canadian Bistro

April 19, 2014

Rabbit rillette, truffle butter, shaved foie gras, caraway epi bread, pickled veg - 2+

J's comment > rillette very creamy yet shaved meat texture evident (really reminiscent of the pork rillette I just had yesterday @ Cinara) but rabbit flavor not quite so obvious underneath all the butter and foie gras, which were just divine ;)

All Canadian poutine, brisket, fries, curds, gravy - 2+

J's comment > just as good as last visit's, really tender brisket & lots of smokiness; fries on the soft side; gravy not too salty, a great complement to the fries

Flat iron steak, bone marrow barley, asparagus, chimmichurri - 2

J's comment > not bad; steak slightly overdone from the 'medium rare' we requested; barley good, but bone marrow flavor absent - bone marrow is more about texture and richness, but what little flavor there is is usually brought out best by eating it straight up

Bison carpaccio, smoked olives, white anchovy aioli, parmesan bark - 2

J's comment > not bad; carpaccio slightly on the tough side; flavor of bison unfortunately drowned out underneath the aioli and other complements on the dish

Rigatoni, stinging nettle pesto, roast tomato, confit shallots, creme fraiche, pangratatto - 2

J's comment > not bad; pasta a tad too al dente; flavor sauce w the mushrooms (surprisingly not listed in the ingredients description) was the highlight

Roast carrots, rye soil, maple vinegar essence, fresh dill - 2

J's comment > not bad; carrots very tender; although the description lists vinegar, there were only subtle notes of the pungency in the vinegar, no maple detected

Saltspring Island mussels, tomato coconut broth, cornbread biscotti, cilantro - 2

J's comment > loved the broth, reminiscent of butter chicken ;P; mussels all on the small side; biscotti borderline gross, had a weird taste to it, hard as a rock, tried to drown it in the broth to get rid of the weird taste but no avail

Seared albacore tuna, ponzu cucumber, nori aioli, sesame snow - 2

J's comment > very average, very forgettable

Fried octopus, bacon aioli, pickled shallots, komatsuna - 2

J's comment > batter could have been crisper; octopus on the gummy side; no bacon flavor detected

Three Masons (clockwise from top left)

Peanut butter and chocolate mousse, chocolate pistachio feuilletine - 2+

Goats cheesecake, blueberry compote, ginger crumb - 2+

Creme caramel, cranberry gel, pecan shortbread - 2+

J's comment > fav of the night was the cheesecake despite the bottom still being rock hard (very consistent w Nov 17's visit); creme caramel more pudding-like texture-wise; both cheesecake and creme caramel were tad too liquidy; PB mousse was decadent and definitely the richest of all three