Saturday 31 December 2011

Cambridge Mill

130 Water Street North
Cambridge, Ontario

519-624-1828


(Photograph copyrighted to Greg Williams Photography) 

New Year's Eve - 2011/2012

In her opinion:

We had an awesome dinner at the Cambridge Mill to celebrate the end of 2011.  The place was packed but we still managed to enjoy a cozy dinner for two in style. They had live jazz music playing to set the festive spirit.  Our waitress Geraldine did a great job of keeping the right pace for this dinner.

We started with a bottle of JACKSON-TRIGGS METHODE CUVEE CLOSE SPARKLING wine (available at the LCBO at a fraction of what we paid). This was a great choice to help celebrate the New Year and the bold, clean flavor was an added bonus. 

My appetizer was the CALAMARI AND SUAREZ CHORIZO. This was a delicious combinations of calamari, Suarez Chorizo, pine nuts, capers and chilli peppers in a flavourful tomato sauce.



I decided to have the feature entree.  It was called CAST IRON CHICKEN and consisted of a beautifully brick oven roasted chicken with creamy mash potatoes on a bed of roasted wheat berries, root vegetables and kale. This was topped by preserved lemon. The flavors were outstanding. Loved this dish which was both complex and comforting.




For dessert, I opted for the "feature dessert". This consisted of a blondie (here's a blondie recipe from the cooking goddess herself - Martha Stewart) topped by a brownie covered in chocolate ganache on a pool of sea salt caramel (one of my absolute favourites). There was also a side of house made organic vanilla bean ice cream. In a word - HEAVEN!!!



The overall experience was great!  We never felt rushed and service was very good.  This was my first time at the Cambridge Mill although we had visited other Landmark Group restaurants several other times.  I know it won't be our last visit!!!

In his opinion:

Overall: Great meal.  I can't remember being so full from a meal in a nice restaurant. The place is beautiful.  It seems that the reported 9 million dollar re-vamp went to good use. Ambiance was great, jazz music playing in the background while candles were the only heat in the fireplace. Servers were knowledgeable and friendly. Our waitress Geraldine was efficient. as well as an expert Champagne bottle opener. Service seemed to flow very well especially when I'm sure they had inexperienced staff, recruited for this night only.

We started with Jackson Triggs Sparkling wine bottle as the beverage of choice plus ice water.
We were given a bread basket (white, multigrain and olive) and regular butter.


For appetizer: I had the "Seared Quebec Foie Gras" ( an absolute favorite of mine). It was seared to perfection with a super tasty toasted moist brioche under it and chutney on the side.




For main course: I had the "Ribeye Steak - 12 oz" (marbled for exceptional flavour).  I hate to pick the cliché steak but truthfully the entrée menu was not calling my name, so steak it was! 
It came with a side of mushrooms that I didn't order and ended up paying extra at the end. The assorted mushrooms were very good and the steak was perfectly done (medium).
The potato gratin had bacon in the middle, which was not specified in the menu or in the waitress' description.


For dessert:  Not to be too predictable LOL, I had the "Chai Creme Brulee" that came with mango sorbet (yummy) and an almond crescent cookie (kinda hard).


The Good: Place is beautiful, food was great, portions were very big, pleasant staff, and bill was just over $200 with tip (not bad for New Years Eve for 2).
The Bad: Asking for $100 deposit when we reserved (seriously?), staff always gave me my wife's plate and vice versa (can't follow basic restaurant procedures). 
Veredict: I will return but maybe next time for lunch/brunch and during a regular day (non-festive). 

I give it 4 olives out of 5 as rating.

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