By Michael Minorgan for Curtains Up
www.globalgourmnets.ca michael @globalgourmets.ca
Greasy Spoon…the word alone conjures up images of artery clogging indulgencies that would send any doctor into an apoplectic fit and me running to down copious amounts of Crestor.
The Greasy Spoon on culinary chic Laurier Ave thankfully bears no resemblance to this ugly scenario. Laurier Avenue is one of our best known and most demanding dining out streets and it has often been considered simultaneously a spring board and a graveyard for young up and coming chefs trying to make their name in a city that proudly displays the talents of some of the world’s best.
The Greasy Spoon happily falls into the springboard slot if you consider the obviously gregarious crowd of diners we saw packed into the place on a recent Saturday night. The ambience is definitely casual chic with a predominance of warmly stained woods and metal in the decor. There is a long bar highlighted by two giant screens looping programs from the Food Network and many wooden crates piled on top of one another serving as cubby holes for their wine selections.
The menu at Greasy Spoon is relatively small and seems very market orientated with thankfully no dishes rising to meet the name of the restaurant they represent! Small well designed menus always give me encouragement, large over burdened ones always make me suspect about freshness and the consistency of preparation, two items that are vital to the success of any restaurant.
Prices of the appetizers range from $9 to $16 and the main courses from $17 to $25 all quite reasonable considering the restaurant is located on a very high rent thoroughfare like Laurier Avenue.
I had heard some previous comments about the unevenness of service. The night we were there however I had absolutely no complaints, we were very warmly greeted at the door and led to our table on their large covered outdoor terrace where our delightful server Audrey took over and very professionally went over the menu. She took great care of us the entire evening and couldn’t have been more accommodating.
For appetizers we chose the 100g portion of Korean Tuna Tartare ($16) (there is also a 150g portion at $22) and the Panzanella Salad ($11). The Korean Tuna Tartare was wonderfully fresh, perfectly seasoned and literally melted in your mouth. It was served on a sheet of nori with a tasty Asian pear, grapefruit and shitake aioli and a small mound of crisp sweet potato chips…delicious!
My Panzanella Salad unfortunately didn’t fair quite as well. Panzanella Salad, by definition, is an Italian bread and tomato salad simply dressed with vinegar and olive oil, the bread being wonderfully soaked with the juices of the tomato and oil, it can sometimes include onions and fresh basil. It may on occasion and to the chagrin of the Florentine traditionalists contain many other ingredients. The Greasy Spoon’s version was very well dressed with tasty balsamic vinegar and oil emulsified vinaigrette, but I had serious issues with some of its other ingredients. First the bread, which is supposed to be the base of the dish, it was seemingly just thrown on top crouton fashion just before serving and as a result the few pieces that were there were dry, stale, chewy and quite uneatable. The pieces of crisped pancetta had obviously been sitting around the kitchen a bit too long and were also tough and chewy Finally and probably the most jarring to me was the use of those rubbery and tasteless excuses for olives, the horrible canned varieties. If the ingredients had matched the vinaigrette this would have been a wonderful summer salad.
For main courses we chose the Pan Roasted Sea Bass ($24) and the Grilled Bone in Pork Chop ($19). My sea bass consisted of two moist and well cooked filets sitting atop a wonderfully fresh and tangy salad of charred corn and black beans it was all topped with summery mignonette of pico de gallo…Light flavourful and very colourfully presented.
My companion’s pork chop was a large portion perfectly cooked as ordered very tender and nicely charred on the grill. It could however have used bit more seasoning. It was accompanied by a summery pineapple and cucumber salsa and a ‘smoked’ potato salad. The potatoes bore no sign of being on a grill or being smoked and the resulting smoky flavor seemed very artificial. I hope I am wrong in thinking they may have used one of those simili and chemical ladened smoke liquids in the dressing!
We drank a very pleasant bottle of Barbera d”Asti, Costalunga, Bersano ($45) during our meal chosen from their quite extensive and reasonably priced wine list.
We ended our meal with a couple of desserts chosen from a very small selection of just three on the menu. Mine was a supposed Berry Cobbler ($8).It seemed instead to be more akin to a cold blueberry compote. It was served in a cocktail glass with an accompany dollop of cream and a small pastry disc on the side. Hardly the warm comforting cobbler I am used to, even in a deconstructed sense. My companion chose a much more successful dessert, the Half Baked Chocolate Chip Cookie with Vanilla Ice Cream ($9) It arrived warm and chewy just as it should be and foregoing my dessert half way through I joined her in lapping up every morsel.
Overall our dishes were a bit uneven in their ingredients and their preparation.There were however a few standouts that definitely made our night out an enjoyable experience. Coupling this with the fantastic service, The Greasy Spoon overall is a restaurant that deserves its popularity on a street that habitually demands the best from its residents.
Our meal came to $124 (including all the above, two cocktails and taxes, but not tip)
The Greasy Spoon
160 Laurier Ave West
Tel: 514 495-7666
Mon – Fri 12pm – 12am
Sat & Sun 6pm – 12am
Website: www.greasyspoonmtl.com
