Twenty Eleven

Home Tasting Room

110 - 8th Ave SW

www.hometastingroom.ca

Happy New Year!

First post of the year. Hope everyone enjoyed the holidays! May the new year bring you tasty food from the heavens of the food god! Hooray! 

Checked out a new restaurant today - Home Tasting Room. Located on Stephen Avenue, Home opened its doors to the public late last year. The atmosphere was warm and inviting. I was greeted quickly upon arriving and seated at a table. The server stopped by shortly after to take my drink order (Good ol' fashion H₂O) and offered a tasting of the feature wine, a Malbec. For some retarded reason, I thought she said bread and happily accepted. Thank goodness it was a small tasting. 

As I waited for my food to be prepared, I slowly sipped my wine. The flavour was very strong. The aroma filled my lungs before it even hits my lips. I'm definitely no wine expert so I can't tell you if it was really fruity or smokey; velvety or silky. What I can tell you is that it was wine-y? And red. The first of my order to arrive was the soup - A thick and creamy roasted butternut squash puree topped with sprinkles of toasted seeds and watercress leaves. It is finished with a decorative swirl of oil or vinaigrette. The flavours were very light with a hint of apple sauce mixed in. I've tried making butternut squash soup at home but it never seems to be as tasty. I might post my secret recipe (from the food network) the next time I make it, maybe someone can point out what I'm missing (Probably skill and talent). 

For my entree, I had the Noble Farm duck and cauliflower risotto. Made with rice of the non rooster brand variety (I'm willing to overlook that... because you don't make risotto with rooster brand rice), the dish arrived as a giant white blob. Digging into the creamy paste revealed chunks of duck meat from Noble Duck Farm and spinach leaves. Fresh greens decorated the dish to give it some much needed colour. The risotto was very thick, the rice was really starchy and sticky. Filled me right up. The duck was really tender. Not too shabby.

Wait.


I'm missing something...


The cauliflower. I did not see a single chunk of cauliflower. I think it was pureed and mixed into the risotto but I couldn't really taste it. 

Here's what I thought, feel free to leave an angry comment if you disagree:

Atmosphere - 8 out of 10. Christmas decorations are still up. The creepy nutcracker was staring at me the whole time. But other than that, beautiful decor. Open kitchen for the chef to strut his stuff. 

Food - 7 out of 10. Flavours were on the light side. Both a plus and a minus. Light flavours allows you to taste the freshness of each individual ingredient. But if you're looking for that flavour explosion, maybe ask for the pepper.

Presentation - 7 out of 10. Love the free style on the soup garnishes. But the colours are somewhat lacking in the risotto. Just sayin'. 

Price - 7 out of 10. Decently priced-ish. Mid to high teens for a typical large(r) lunch plate.

Overal - 7.5 out of 10. Definitely be back to check out their tasting plates.