George Restaurant

Jacob (@restointo) and I went to George Restaurant (@georgeonqueen) for our Dish Duel tasting earlier this month. The first thing we noticed when we sat down was the restaurant's Dish Duel promotion card on our table (shown on the left). I was, and still am, extremely impressed by this. As a matter of fact, now that our Dish Duel tastings are over, I can tell you that no other participant besides George has put in any additional marketing or promotion material for the tournament. What this tells me is that George is extremely dedicated, competitive, and dead serious about wanting to win the title of "Dish Champion"! Besides their promotion card, George also has their Round 2 Dish Duel matchup link on their homepage. I'm honestly so pleased to see George taking all these initiatives.

George is a very spacious restaurant. Even with its roomy interior, George still manages to give off a very cozy and intimate ambiance; the brick walls, the wooden floors, the spotlights and the velvety pink chairs (totally my colour lol) all contribute to the warm feel to the restaurant. 

The dining room at George is basically an "L" shape; the above picture shows the long side of the "L" (with the kitchen down a few steps) and the picture below is the short side of the "L". The decor is fancy, romantic and classy...perfect for date night.

My "Mistletoe" cocktail ($14). I don't remember what was in it but it was fruity yet strong.

The thin crackers on top are like crack! I got addicted and couldn't stop eating them. Our server actually asked if I wanted more....I guess he understood their "crack-like" appeal. 

Between two of us, we each ordered George's Dish Duel dish and shared two mains and one dessert. You will see that we were amuse-bouches as well (by the way, I apologize in advance but I don't have the exact descriptions of the amuse-bouches). 

Amuse bouche (Mine) - Yellow fin tuna tartare with artichoke olive toast.

Amuse bouche (Jacob's) - Mussel with avocado, quinoa, mango. 

FIRST

Dungeness Crab, Wild Rice, Blood Orange ($24)

This is the dish that's currently competing in Dish Duel. Click here to see what I thought of George's Dungeness Crab.

Amuse bouche (shared) - Potato Wrapped Arctic Char with Carrot Slaw, Mandarin Oranges, Basil Gelee

SECOND

Black Cod, Brazil Nut Curry, Lobster Farro ($22)

THIRD

Rack of Venison, Citrus Spaetzle, Medjool Dates ($28)

Amuse bouche (Mine) - Brownie with Earl Grey Sorbet.

Amuse-bouche (Jacob's) - Pear creme brulee.

DESSERT

Chocolate Dessert Platter ($20) 

In George's kitchen.

Ahhhh I want more dessert! It's... my... birthday...

Here's what I thought of George...

♥ Impeccable service! Our server was attentive, polite and very knowledgeable about the menu (as well as the cocktail list haha) 

♥ I was impressed by the complexity of our amuse-bouches (not sure if you have noticed but Jacob and I each had different amuse-bouches). They were also explained to us in great detail every time. 

♥ I thought the presentation / plating of all the dishes (including the amuse-bouches) were really beautiful. Two thumbs up for attention to detail!

♥ Since nothing jumped out at us on their dessert menu, we asked our server to surprise us with a dessert. I was totally blown away at how pretty our dessert was (note: the dessert is not on the menu). I loved everything on it...the beignets, the mini tarts, the brownie, the super dark chocolate gelato...it was literally heaven on earth. Like what Jacob said in his post, "who are you, pastry chef?" Because I think I love you ^_^

♥ Overall, I enjoyed our dinner at George. We had flawless service and our meal was very well-executed. Having said that, I thought our dishes could have used more strong, bold and distinctive flavours, something that I personally love. It just didn't provide that edge, or as Jacob puts it, that "oomph", for me.