Ian and I went out for a belated year 2 anniversary celebration tonight to Scaramouche, located just north of Yorkville. We opted for the somewhat less fancy and cheaper pasta bar and grill - Toronto life magazine bills it as a "neighborhood joint". Well, this is one fancy neighborhood joint if you are going on a Tuesday night before soccer practice!
They only take reservations for 5:30 to 6:30 on the weekends, so we went with 6. It was pretty empty upon arrival, but was really busy when we were leaving about 7:30. Lots of people waiting at the bar as well as in the upper lobby near the coat-check.
Dinner started well with their soup of the day for me. Curry cauliflower with some diced apple and fried lotus leaves. I couldn't really taste the cauliflower, but the curry flavor and apple were excellent.
Ian went with a huge plate of fried calmari that he seemed to enjoy. Lightly breaded as promised on the menu. It really was too much deep fried tastiness for one person ($16) and they would be better to go with half the amount for $10 or so.
A nice selection of complimentary bread (whole wheat, french, white) came with butter and some decent hummus. The bread was fantastic, but the hummus and butter could use a little work. The PC chipotle hummus we bought at the No Frills today is better. Butter was a little boring too.
Mains were generally in about the $22 to $35 price range and seemed to have some slightly overlapping items with the more expensive dining room next door.
Ian had arctic char with veggies and unusual wild rice aka "forbidden rice" ($31). The menu claimed that it was a soy lime coriander beurre blanc, but it was a bit tough to taste on there. Overall, very pleasant and a perfectly cooked medium well with crispy skin.
I went with one of the cheaper pasta dishes ($22) and it was a very good choice! The fresh peppercorn fettucini did indeed have a touch of pepper in there, but the real highlights were the big chunks of sauteed beef tenderloin. Not too many oyster mushrooms as the menu promised, but more than enough pine nuts and extremely creamy madeira cream sauce to make up for it.
We shared coconut cream pie with dark chocolate sauce and white chocolate shavings for dessert. Extremely light and a tasty coconut flavour!
Since Ian drove, we decided to go with a glass of wine each. A pretty decent selection of about 8 whites and 8 reds. I went with a California Shiraz and Ian had a pleasant Pino Grigio to go along with his fish. About $12 each for a large 6 oz glass. It seems a little steep, but was comparatively rather cheap when compared to the seemingly overpriced $44 half bottles on the wine menu.
Service was generally excellent and very efficient.
Total bill including wine, tax and tip was a fairly reasonable $150.
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