the beets go out birthday edition part 1: Café La Gaffe
_________________________________________
Café La Gaffe
24 Baldwin St (between Beverley and McCaul Sts, N of Dundas St W)
Tel: 416.596.2397
Hours: Mon-Fri 11:45am-11pm; Sat & Sun 11am-11pm
__________________________________________
I like surprises for my birthday, so I gave free reign to G in planning my birthday dinner. She ended up bringing me to Café La Gaffe, an oh-so-cute and charming little hideaway on Baldwin Street. Reservations guaranteed us a sweet and private spot by the window. Score!
We began with some complementary sourdough bread that could easily have been the whole meal! It was dense, moist, and delicious...
The main course was next. It was a tough choice but we both eventually decided on two different risotto dishes. G ordered a Seafood Risotto (with salad). She says that "the seafood risotto wasn't that good - risotto was too mushy, and not particularly flavourful. I've had better dishes at Café La Gaffe. This one was disappointing (and also a smaller portion than they've served in the past) and I don't think I'd order risotto from there again."I went with the Mushroom Risotto (with salad).
I liked the variety of mushrooms used in my risotto, as well as the sundried tomatoes and truffle oil, but I agree with G that the risotto itself was on the mushy side. Overall, not quite as good as I expected (though the menu description was certainly tantalizing). The salad, to top it off, wasn't too great - the lettuce leaves had a strong bitter taste.Oh, and since it was my birthday and all, we decided to order fancy-schmancy drinks. I got a very nice mojito that actually contained REAL mint leaves
(and it's pretty sad that this is a big deal, but...)_! The mint leaves totally changed the flavour and gave the drink an herb-like twist; much better than the mint liqueur that's usually used in mojitos.
G went with La Gaffe's specialty cocktail whose name and ingredients we seem to have forgotten. It wasn't quite as nice as the mojito, but still pretty decent, and fruity flavoured.For dessert (sorry, we were so mesmerized by the desserts that we forgot to take pics!) we shared a chocolate pecan pie, and some crème brûlée. The pie was sweet and sugary, with a bit of a crunch, while the crème brûlée was light, creamy and subtle. Says G, "the desserts were really great. They were made in the kitchen on-site. None of this Dufflet's stuff!"
Café La Gaffe gets excellent marks on ambience and service. It was cozy, comfortable, and relaxing, and our waiter was very welcoming and friendly. Oh, and interesting tidbit: all of Café La Gaffe's management is Sri Lankan.
posted by been @ 10/07/2005 12:20:00 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
aw gee...shucks. thanks man :)
mmm, sounds great, especially the pecan pie! yay been, happy birthday!
Some friends drove up to the suburbs tonight and after playing video games we ate at the most suburban chain restaurant we could think of: Kelsey's. It was suprisingly good, if you're craving high fat cream sauce pasta or steak like we were, and the 'Molten Lava' chocolate cake with chocolate sauce and rasberry sauce was fabulously delicious. Who knew? If you ever feel like a Peel suburban restaurant experience let me know ;)
Wouldn't it be funny to do a ramadhan iftaar review? or a seheri review? ("the Radio Islam announcer's mellow tones soothed my stomach, folded over in early morning knots, in anticipation of the ghee-heavy paratha and mattar keema, that culturally-prescribed triple dosage of carb, protein and fat for a long day of fasting ahead...but the hectoring to pray coming from the kitchen really disturbed the meal's ambience")
these racing games...plus this virtual reality shoot em up game where you wear a helmet and walk around. http://www.playdium.com/
rabfish, i'm a-loving your descriptions and would enjoy reading a full review if you were to write one :). my fam's standard seheri meal has generally been buttery chapati and greasy omelette (hmm, also carb, protein and fat)...and of course, some heavy duty caffeine tea in a mug.
hmm, you could fun with that review...the quality of the wake up call, the early morning florescent lighting, all the sisters hunched over in sweatshirts over their shalwar kameezes...figuring out each week whether a sister isn't up cuz of her period or sheer sleepiness masquerading as menstruation, the post-meal fajr prayers, skipping them with a sense of guilt, falling asleep into a dead coma, a thick impenetrable slab of grease between you and the world, being more physically unable than at any other point ever to wake up on time. And then crashing after a heavy evening meal of dates, fruit chaat, some kind of disgusting rooafza milkshake, samosas and then curry, rotis and rice. Homework tended not to get done.
we went to the playdium by square one, and also rode the go-karts. we ddn't take in a movie but apparently there's a drive-in on 9th line on the other side of the cornfields! if I drove I would so check that out.
oh freakin yeeeah, man.
Post a Comment
<< Home