Dinner before the Gordon Lightfoot concert, and I was thinking about trying a new place to eat. We never did get to Syn before it went out of business, so I figured maybe we'd get to this place just in case.
The advertising had me more than ready to not like the place. I mean, it has two umlauts in the name alone (as was pointed out to me by teslagirl)! Like some aged Spinal Tap type rock band from the 70's.
The evening we went, we almost did not get a table for two, it was that booked. We sat in the outer room, close to the bar, which is fine, though not as cosy as the inner little caves that La Cave made famous.
How often does a new place open, with a new name, claiming to represent the culinary heritage of two former semi famous places to eat in town? Stönehäven, located in the former La Cave, then The Cavern, then Syn location, claims to be the descendant of both Pepe's and La Cave. I am not sure how many people remember Pepe's, but it was a good spot to eat back in the late eighties, and earlier. I think Your Father's Moustache is there now.
We were served by very friendly people. No impatience, and relatively prompt, except for the dessert. I think there is some sort of a bottleneck between the kitchen and the floor that can hold up a simple order (a piece of cheesecake) behind a big table's main courses.
The food was good. Not fine dining inventive original, but hearty, as advertised, and tasty. I had Devilled Chicken which was steak au poivre with chicken breast instead of steak. I liked it - they did not scrimp on the pepper. L had some chowder, and a pasta dish, both to her liking.
The wine list was pathetic, and this is one serious weakness of the place. I ended up with only one real choice for white wine by the glass, and it was an Australian Chard from a big industrial producer.
The cheescakes we had for dessert were both excellent, although they did take longer to arrive than anything else we ordered.
Others may find this place not to their liking, but on this night, to our experience, it was fine. And the service was very good.
Of course, it is not for the claustrophobic.
No comments:
Post a Comment