After my companion had surprised me with a surprise birthday
lunch with all our close friends, he again surprised me with a birthday dinner
at one of the most beautiful hotels in Edmonton. My companion had joked all
week that he would take me to McDonald’s for my birthday so it was a good laugh
when we pulled up to the front of the Fairmont Macdonald and its hotel
restaurant, Harvest Room. (As a side note, the Fairmont MacDonald does not have
its own designated or heated parking – a little disappointing for such a grand
hotel – so we had to park at a parking lot about a block away from the hotel
entrance).
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| Decorative Birthday Chocolate Platter |
As he had called ahead for a reservation on a fairly quiet
Tuesday, we were seated as soon as we entered the restaurant. The restaurant
was simply, but beautifully decorated with white cloth tables and dark wooden
chairs and tables. The restaurant featured an entire wall of windows that
overlooked the edge of the downtown cliff, giving a breathtaking view of the
Edmonton River Valley. As the restaurant was fairly empty, the server took us
to a more secluded table of the restaurant adjacent to the large, panoramic
windows. We spent a fair amount of time admiring the view from the Fairmont
(one that really showcases Edmonton at its best) and the ambience of the
restaurant while we perused the menu. As my companion had had a chance to
peruse the menu ahead of time, he chose the Lobster Ravioli ($44) for his main
course. Unfortunately for him, he mistakenly read lobster ravioli as lobster
risotto online, and was a little disappointed when the ravioli was the only
lobster dish offered (he is currently on an undying quest for the best lobster
risotto). At any upscale restaurant, I will almost invariably order the duck
course; however, most upscale restaurants do not offer my other favourite
protein – venison – as an option. As such, I waffled between the “Very Berry
Farm” Honey-Glazed Lavender Duck Breast and the Blueberry Crusted Venison
Tenderloin (100 Mile) ($42) for quite a while before our server for the night,
Ivan, recommended the venison dish (his very reasonable argument being that
most other upscale restaurants do not offer venison as an option). For our
appetizer, we opted for the Prawn and Scallop Provencal ($18) (though, again,
we debated between the seafood starter and the Foie Gras Trio – consisting of
Foie Gras Crème Brulee, Torchon, Foie Gras Mousse Red Wine, Fig and Balsamic
Jam, and Gewurztraminer Syrup).
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| Lobster Carrot-Puree Amuse Bouche |
The Harvest Room offered complimentary fresh bread which was
served with a pumpkin seed butter and lavender-orange oil. Now, I hardly – if ever
– mention the bread starters at any restaurant; however, Harvest Room serves
one of the most delicious bread as part of their dinner course. The bread was
warm, fresh, soft and had a wholesome all-grain taste to it. It was an
excellent vehicle to the equally excellent pumpkin seed butter, which was soft,
creamy, and deliciously aromatic. I found myself having to pace myself as to
not fill my stomach reserve entirely with Harvest Room’s fresh bread! I must mention,
however, that the lavender-orange oil was not a favourite of mine – it had a
truly distinct lavender and orange flavour, which may impress some people, but
was a bit jarring to my taste buds. In addition to the bread, Harvest Room also
serves a complimentary amuse bouche, which was a bite of lobster salad. The
lobster salad was a delightful melt-in-your-mouth mix of lobster, peas, and
pureed carrots – definitely my favourite bite of the night.
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| Prawn and Scallop Provencal |
After Harvest Room had adequately wetted our appetites, they
served our appetizer course, the Prawn and Scallop Provencal which featured
braised artichoke, spinach, Nicoise olive, and tomato beurre blanc. The seared
scallop was cooked to perfection and went beautifully with the tomato beure
blanc. I, as well as my companion who is not usually a fan of spinach (or green
things in general), were especially impressed with the spinach! The prawns were
cooked well, but were a definitely overshadowed by the scallop. The scallop and
prawn were served on a bed of this white, semi-starchy vegetable which my
partner and I could not ever recall eating before. Our curiosity directed us to
question Ivan, our knowledgeable server for the night, who said that the
bedding was an extensively braised artichoke! Now, I am not normally a fan of
artichoke as I find it has a distinct bitterness to it, but after tasting a braised artichoke, I may have to modify
my dislike of artichokes in general. The only disappointment about the dish was
I did not get enough of the “Nicoise olive” flavour in the dish, which I was
looking forward to.
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| Blueberry Crusted Venison Tenderloin (100 Mile) |
The Harvest Room has an exceptional habit of timing their
courses well, and we found our entrees were served only a minute or so after
our table was cleared of the appetizer. I ordered my Blueberry Crusted Venison
Tenderloin – which featured sweet potato and permesan pave, braised red cabbage,
market vegetables and elderberry reduction – rare and was delighted that unlike
other restaurants, Harvest Room got my order right. The venison was cooked
beautiful, but I found it lacked a bit of seasoning in general. The elderberry
reduction, while it had a nice taste, did not have a strong enough taste to
flavour the venison. In addition, the first few bites of the potato and
parmesan pave had much too strong a taste of “old cheese” that overpowered the
rest of the dish. In fact, I was unable to finish my parmesan pave (my
companion’s palate is quite a bit less sensitive to cheese and he finished off
my pave without missing a beat). The cabbage and mixed vegetables were cooked
well, but in my opinion, nothing special. By the end of my dish, although I
didn’t regret choosing the venison, I remained curious about the duck dish.
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| Lobster Ravioli |
My companion ordered the Lobster Ravioli which was composed
of butter poached lobster tail, braised fennel, watercress salad, fennel chip,
tomato concasse, bouillabaisse sauce. While I enjoy lobster, I am one of those
weird (and hopefully wonderful!) people who prefers almost every part of the
lobster except the lobster tail. I always find the lobster tail a little too
chewy compared to the rest of the body. The butter poached lobster at Harvest
Room was absolutely delightful! It had a warm, soft, and buttery taste – the only
problem with it was there wasn’t enough to share! (The only other time I have
had an incredibly good lobster was at Earl’s for Alexander Keith’s birthday, so
make sure to check it out next year as well). The lobster ravioli was cooked
fairly well (definitely not al dante, for all those who are die-hard Italian
traditionalists) and had a sweet, tomato sauce. The lobster flavour was not
quite as distinct in the ravioli, but nevertheless tasted good.
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| Belgian Warm Cake |
Finally, for the dessert course we decided on the Belgian
Warm Cake, served with raspberry sorbet and an orange-crisp waffle. Before
that, however, Harvest Room generously brought out a decorative chocolate
platter for my birthday. Two thumbs up for service and friendliness. The
Belgian cake was warm, soft but definitely needed the acidity of raspberry sorbet
to cut the sweetness. The fruits were sweet and fresh, and the orange-crisp
waffle also added some highlights of flavour to the Belgian cake.
Top Pick of the
Night: lobster carrot-puree amuse bouche and poached lobster tail
Rating: 4/5 Erics'
ReplyDeleteGreat Post! Thank you for sharing, I really like the article. Are you a Food lover? Then you should try out the best restaurants downtown Edmonton for a variety of foods.