The servers were really attentive and friendly. But honestly, I was taken aback by the space and the decor. I expected it to be much larger, and I spotted many random decorations, which I suppose was meant to add to the charm, but I've never been a fan of erratic decorations in a restaurant.
one of the many random knick knacks - a devil statue which greeted us at the door
I was not used to this style of dining. Bin 942 is a tapas/appetizer restaurant which encourages sharing of plates between friends (not so germaphobe friendly, as my dining partner woefully discovered). We decided to share the baked brie which was served with two long, flavoured crackers and frozen seedless grapes ($12). The brie was oozing and lovely, a creamy delight to eat. It was a perfect compliment to the crackers and the grapes.
the baked french brie
The second plate that came out was the lamb sirloin ($15). This was a puzzling plate, which was served on top of an agnolotti filled with a tomato-eggplant mixture. A curious artichoke relish was then resting on top of the lamb. My friend and I had a hard time distinguishing what the relish was- it appeared to be a flaky tuna, but had the texture of ginger root, but tasted like vegetable. This plate was alright. The lamb was well cooked and didn't have the usual strong blood flavour I normally associate with lamb. The whole confusion of the relish put me off the dish though; I'm just not that adventurous as a foodie quite yet.
i accidently dug into the relish before remembering to take a picture.
The next plate we had was an angus beef tenderloin wellington ($15). The wellington was made of phyllo dough, and nestled between the pastry and beef were red pepper and mushroom. This was all served atop a mountain of chive garlic mashed potatoes and some mustard sauce. I thought the potatoes were a little too peppery, but this was by far my favourite plate at Bin. I loved the phyllo dough with the beef, it was a good harmony of rich meat with an accent of crisp pastry. The beef was prepared medium rare and was very juicy.
At this point, my foodie friend and I were happy to order the 'Chocolate Luv Fondue for 2' ($13), which was the whole purpose of our long trek to Bin. This arrived in grand style, with the proud gilded doughnuts in the centre of the plate. Other treats made to dip were banana, marshmellow topped with sugary pecan, and a poached pear with the strange appearance of a beet. The doughnuts were a lot less soft than I imagined; they were actually quite chewy. But they were still tasty, since as I said, you can't go wrong with fried carbs, especially when dipped in rich belgian chocolate. The only questionable component of this platter was the pear, which was apparently poached in a liquer. The only way my friend and I managed to finish the pear was by completely soaking it in warm chocolate. This would definitely have been a treat for a couple on a date, as suggested by the dessert's coquettish title.
The policy at Bin 942 is that the food comes as it is prepared. Though it was not a busy night (there were only few other guests excluding ourselves), we found that the plates came out at a rather slow rate. Our meal was extended to two hours long rather than the estimated hour and a half, probably due to the wait time in between 'tapatisers' and 'tongue twisters'.
I am unsure as to whether I would return again. Sure, I enjoyed the doughnuts and fondue, but I don't think it's enough to entice me to come back. Hopefully foodie friend and I will embark on many more fondue adventures in the future to have something to compare to our night at Bin 942.
2 comments:
oh la la - the picture sure add a lot to your post! fun to read and your 'foodie friend' sounds like a real sweet heart! haha ;)
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