(Another late late post!) One Friday afternoon. A colleague mentioned about a pretty nice place for lunch. He said it’s a Chinese-owned western restaurant located near Woodbine and Hwy 7. I wondered which restaurant he was referring to. Then we came here and I finally saw this restaurant that I’ve heard a thousand times on the Chinese TV channel – “La Rosa Restaurants and Grand Hall”. Its name is always mentioned on TV as a sponsor of function/concert/etc.
At around 1:30-2pm, when we arrived, we were the only customers there. We went straight to this dining room although there seemed to be other dining areas/banquet rooms on the other side. Looking at the menu, it was actually quite a selection. Set lunch from $7.50 (Cajun Chicken Caesar Salad) to $16.50 (6 oz. Filet Mignon in mushroom & Brandy sauce/8 oz. Montreal style Angus AAA New York Sirloin/6 oz. Herb-Crusted Rack of Lamb w/ wild rice). There were 11 entrees in total to choose from.
Choices of Starters were Onion soup, Baby green salad with orange dijon vinaigrette or Italian dressing, and also Escargot bruschetta.
Therefore, four of us ordered 3 different kinds of starters. Onion soup was so-so, nothing spectacular. Escargot bruschetta was ok. I think someone said the taste of cheese was a bit too strong. I would say the salad tasted the best among all three. The vinaigrette was really good. (aside: vinegarette vs. vinaigrette) Their dishes looked kinda old-fashioned – reminded me of some plate/bowl sets at home.
For the main course, here are what we ordered:
– Tiger shrimps & Seafood Linguini ($12.50) (the tiger shrimp somehow made me thought of JW how I think like tiger shrimps :p) – on the menu it said “served with tomato & onion sauce, Provencal style. I’m not sure if this is the one… coz it tasted very creamy and cheese-y. It was REALLY filling!!!
– 6oz. Duck breast pan-seared in Tangerine-Sherry reduction ($15.50) – the duck was ok, not juicy enough. We weren’t very fond of the reduction either.
– Cajun Chicken Caesar Salad ($7.50) – lowest price. Whether or not it’s the best value? I’m not sure. Depends on how you see it. I had a bit of the chicken. It was ok.
– 6oz. Salmon en Papillote ($12.50) – Salmon filet baked in Parchment Pocket with seasonal vegetable. Had a bit of the salmon. HUMMM I liked it. Big portion (seemed to be more than 6oz.) and juicy. Very nice. For the same price, compared to my linguini, I liked this better. *Should have taken a picture with the pocket opened.
Finally, it came to the dessert. Tiramisu Glass, or Ice-cream Crepe. The colleague who recommended this restaurant said that the tiramisu wasn’t that good. We would like to try anyway but they were out of the tiramisu. Too bad. So, we all had the ice-cream crepe with rapsberry sauce. At that moment, I suddenly thought of the Neapolitan ice-cream crepe I had at East Side Mario (last time I went, they updated the menu, and they don’t have this anymore 🙁 )
Overall, it was a good experience. Of course, we were the only customers there. Felt like we have booked the whole dining room just for ourselves. The waiters were courteous and helpful. The food was good overall. The price was not bad at all! I would say given the restaurant setting and service, the price was good. I think it is because lunch time is not their main source of income. They specialize in banquets.
FYI: La Rosa Grand Hall
Plaza 1, 25 Lanark Road, Markham, ON. L3R 8E8
Chinese Dining Room Reservation: 905-940-1133
Banquet Inquiry: 905-477-7539
SoHo Italian/French Dining Room @ La Rosa
Hours: Mon-Fri 11am – 3pm; Tel: 905-477-5701
Just make sure you don’t go there when their chefs are out for lunch. Last time I went there with Lulu to ask about banquet details, those chefs were drooling and staring at Lulu. You’ll think they never saw a female before.
Ohh no! >_<
Although the French pronounciation of vinaigrette sounds like “seen” for the first syllable, it’s acceptable when you are in an English context to pronounce it like “bin”.