Picked this place to celebrate a new hire joining us, since it was one of the only places that had availability for 8 indoors less than a week in advance and fit a couple of dietary restrictions.
Ordered every single appetizer (though not all of the small bites on the left side of the menu). Didn’t bother taking photos, though the plating was quite good.
Fuyu Persimmon Salad
Had a bite - fine but not really more than the sum of its parts, and the persimmons were maybe a bit underripe (possibly a deliberate choice given their inclusion in the salad - they might’ve been too sweet otherwise, but they didn’t taste like much).
Shaved Brussel Sprouts
If you have any appreciation for brussel sprouts that aren’t charred to a crisp, then this was pretty good. You’ll want to split it a few ways since it’s a bit same-y and not a tiny portion either.
Goat Cheese & Pear Salad
Don’t remember too much detail but I liked this more than the persimmon salad.
Whole Roasted Shrimp
Four excellent (and very large) shrimp, really killer black garlic aoli. Bread came studded with additional garlic, which was an interesting choice. Great QPR.
Pei Mussels
Great mussels. Very solid, relatively traditional take.
Spanish Octopus
Perfectly-cooked octopus. The chard & pickled peppers were also fantastic.
Despite the best efforts of one of my colleagues, we didn’t order every single main (though, given that everyone at the table did order a main, it almost seems like a mistake to not have done that…).
I had the Porterhouse Pork Chop, which I think was the clear winner among large-format meat dishes. It was cooked to medium-well(?) but remained appropriately moist. The squash puree, apple-quince chutney, and pear glaze were all good; the accompanying vegetables (carrots, turnips, and brussel sprouts) were decent but unexceptional. I traded for bites of the Housemade Pappardelle (very good), Braised Beef Short Rib, and Roasted Filet of Beef (both fine, but not as good as the pork).
Somehow nobody ended up ordering seafood, which, given how strong the seafood appetizers were, seems like a miss on our part.
For dessert, had the Locarno Brie (an interesting “build your own adventure”, what with the pastry, jammed dates, pistachios, and frisee(?) all arranged separately), Carrot Cake (fine), and Creme Brulee (quite good).
The seafood appetizers alone seem worth coming back for, though it looks like practically the entire menu is different from the previous report a little over a year ago. But, hey, replay value is also good…