Scaramouche

It was a very nice Saturday early evening. After the one-month trip, suddenly I realized that I’ve gained a different perspective. I’ve always looked at Toronto from a resident’s point of view. This is the city where I live. Even though I’ve spent a decade in Hong Kong, I didn’t reflect when I came back to this city. Everything seems to happen for a reason. The reservation was for 6pm, but I got there 20 minutes early. So I decided to walk around the area and take some pictures – just like what I did when I was visiting other cities. I felt like a tourist, re-exploring Toronto. Toronto’s weather is perfect in this Spring-summer season. Enjoy it while I can.

5:58pm. I was brought to the table. The staffs were very friendly and polite. JK joined me in a couple of minutes and got me a lot of gifts. (Thanks again!) While chatting about work, travel, cosmetics, etc. and waiting for MR, I also noticed that the restaurant patrons were generally more mature. Scaramouche has definitely done an excellent job developing and keeping its loyal customers in the past twenty-something years. I’ve heard about the amazing consistency in food quality and service of this place, and I was happy that I could pay a visit, as one of my finales (season 2008) in Toronto.

A view from our table. The view could be nicer – if you sit at the tables near the glass window. I could imagine it’d be quite romantic at night. The atmosphere of this visit, I’d say, was a bit different from our previous dining-out experiences – one thing was that we dined with the daylight this time.

Selection of breads. Yes, they definitely had one of the best selection of breads. We loved it – especially the baguette and the walnut breads. *bread-lover alert*

Amuse bouche.

Minestrone. According to MR, the ingredients were finely diced.

Tian of Snow Crab – Gaspe Snow Crab with avocado and cucumber. Tomato mayonaise and garlic crouton. Both JK and I wanted to order this – so as usual we ordered to share. I liked it – very refreshing. I like crab meat. The only thing was that I found a small piece of thin shell in there. I guess it wasn’t a perfect dish for the elderly.

Yellow Fin Tuna – Sashimi grade tuna tartare marinated in lime, ginger and soy, with coriander and crispy taro root. Caramelized soy glaze and citrus sweet chili sauce. Very fresh tuna – marinated just right. Oriental obviously, I loved the taste of lime, ginger and soy. Maybe I’ll try this at home next time. :p

Fresh Rabbit Loin Ballotine – Wrapped in double smoked bacon on a navarin of spring vegetables, seasonal mushrooms and ricotta gnocchi. Rabbit jus with fine olive oil. Felt like having something different – so here it is. I can’t recall when was the last time I had rabbit, but the taste/texture was a bit different from this one. This one didn’t wow me, but was pretty good overall.

Grilled Kerr Farm Filet Mignon – Whipped potatoes, French green beans and shallots. Sauce Bordelaise. Tried a bit of the potatoes – woah, it was really good. Should try. It was very rich and flavourful, and good portion.

Roasted Kyuquot Sound Black Cod – Green asparagus, honey mushrooms, edamame and baby carrots. Orange soy reduction. Black Cod – JK’s flavourite. Had a bite and I liked it too. (JK, please feel free to comment.)

Dessert Menu.

Coconut Cream Pie – with white chocolate shavings and dark chocolate sauce (left); Ontario Strawberry and Lemon Stack – with brown sugar meringues layered with lemon cream and macerated strawberries. Stawberry rhubarb syrup (right).

After hearing/reading so much about this legendary coconut cream pie. We ordered this. The strawberry and lemon stack was a recommendation from our server. They turned out to be an excellent combination.

Coconut Cream Pie was divine. You can taste the coconut and you can feel the coconut, but eating was effordless. Just dive into the coconut cream @_@ loads of calories but you won’t remember that when eating. You just can’t get enough of that. lol

Ontario Strawberry and Lemon Stack – extremely refreshing after (or in between) the coconut cream… surprisingly good when you eat the meringues + lemon cream + strawberries altogether. It was a bit hard to do at first… but after you take away the first layer, it’d be much easier.

We didn’t order wine for the night (part of the reason…I was going to drink after dinner). Overall, I’d say it was an excellent experience. Dinner wasn’t that long – since we weren’t having a tasting menu. Stayed for about 2.5-3 hours. The total – before gratuity was about eighty dollars per person. When I left, I saw a slightly different mix – younger (or mid-age) group instead. Maybe it was also because of the mother’s day. I find older generations tend to eat a bit earlier. The service was very good. Also, if you are driving, you get complimentary valet parking.

Scaramouche Restaurant Pasta Bar & Grill
One Benvenuto Place, Toronto, Ontario M4V 2L1
Tel: 416-961-8011