~Smalltalk~

Date: Feb 1, 2005 (Tuesday)
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Place: Smalltalk Restaurant (1580 Bayview Avenue; 416-483-8400)
Occasion: Winterlicious Gathering.
People: Me, Simon, Elita, Arthur

Located near the Sherwood Park Leaside neighbourhood, where you can find a lot of good restaurants nearby… chicken wings, satay, gelato, etc… Smalltalk is a restaurant with a bakery within. The overall rice-color tone gives you a warm welcoming atmosphere.

While waiting for other people, I ordered a cup of ice-tea, which is not bad. Once everyone arrived, the first thing to come was obviously the bread. It was pretty fresh althrough it’s cold (unlike the ones in the KEG) because Smalltalk has its own bakery (which also means that its dessert is a must-try). Then we ordered the white wine, which went really well with our seafood plates. I believe it is made by Mission Hill.

Then, I started with the Scallops. Look at those huge scallops! They tasted really good! According to Elita, if you order scallops at Canoe, you’ll probably get 1 scallops that’s chopped into 4 pieces. (Then both of us talked about many restaurants here and there… blah blah blah. It was nice to meet Eli because both of us love trying different restaurants.)

After that, here comes the entree. As you can see, the seafood plate wasn’t too big. It’s basically a bowl of mixed seafood with Chinese cabbages and some other veggies. It was OK. Not very impressive. But I did have a fork of the duck, which taste better than the seafood. After these 2 courses, I had an impression that Smalltalk’s dishes all have a hint of Asian style.

Finally, it’s the dessert time! Actually all of us ordered the Chocolate Souffle. It was AMAZING! I just love that melting chocolate in the heart of the souffle. It makes me think of the TV commercial of the yogurt mousses! I’m (or the souffle is) as light as an angel! COOL! And plus the sweet strawberries and caramelized banana pieces (which gives a different texture/feeling when you bite on them).

I can say this Smalltalk is one of the best Winterlicious/Summerlicious that I’ve ever tried during the past years. The waiters there were friendly and helpful too. Yup! I’ll give it 4 out of 5 rating. The experience was good. Gotta thank Simon for inviting me and treating me that nite!

Seared Scallops
Creamed Savoy Cabbage, Double Smoked Bacon and a Red Wine Fish Sauce

Nine Spice and Port Marinated Hudson Valley Magret of Duck with a Bean Cassoulet and an Espresso Essence and Brandied Cherry Reduction

Mixed Seafood Bouillabaisse
Salmon, Rockfish, Sole, Shrimps, Mussels, Clams, Calamari in a Spicy Saffron and Vanilla Broth with Vegetable Noodles and Fingerling Potatoesor

Molten Valrhona Chocolate Souffle
With Plump Sliced Strawberries and Caramelized Bananas

Which comes with the coffee

The bill…

FYI: Smalltalk at Toronto Life ; Recipe for Chocolate Souffle