Quince is a pretty neighbourhood restaurant between Davisville and Eglinton subway stations. It proved a great date-night spot with our discriminating food-loving friends, D&L. 

On a Saturday night, the room was warm, inviting and a-buzz. The hostess greeted us pleasantly and apologized that we would have to wait a few minutes for our 8:30 reservation. By the time she whisked away our coats, they were ready to settle us at a comfortable table in the back section of the two-tiered main space (with a nice view of the semi-open kitchen).

While surveying the menus we were offered a basket with three types of bread and some red pepper humus. The wine list here features a variety of well-chosen, value-priced offerings. We actually ended up ordering the last expensive bottle on the list — a $38 California zinfandel which paired well with food and went down perhaps too easily. Quince also has a nice cocktail list, but we’d had pre-dinner champers chez D&L so we went straight-to-vino.

Our table split three starters — Quince’s “Dutch poutine” is a very respectable interpretation with huge chunks of cheese and rich gravy with braised beef. The fries were old-school chunky versus a delicate frite-y rendering, and I thought this dish really captured the spirit — nicely done!

The kitchen scored another hit with Dutch chicken croquettes, four nice little balls of breaded deliciousness paired with spicy mustard.

The beef tenderloin salad paled next to these the other starters, although it was a respectable offering with large shard of parmesan, capers and arugula.

Mains were nicely executed. D&L both opted for the steak frites. Meat was prepared as ordered and frites were a well-prepared rendition.

Mr. Rabbit had the veal steak presented with an arugula salad — also nicely done.

Finally, I had lamb shank, plated with mashed potatoes in lieu of the usual tomato-bean side (I was warned in advance). My meat was tender and delicious with the potatoes and jus hearty and satisfying.

Quince is going the steakhouse route, with sides a la carte. We all opted out, but I missed a bit of veg on my plate, and I think it would make much more sense for this kitchen to throw a bit of spinach (or whatever) with the mains instead of pursuing the a la carte menu approach. Still, this strategy is perhaps what keeps mains under $30.

Desserts were quite excellent. An almond and marzipan tart converted D, who “doesn’t like sweets.”

And the frozen Belgian chocolate terrine with layers of what and of dark chocolate, managed to be both light and rich and offered a perfect fix for chocolate hounds.

We ordered two selects from a five-selection cheese menu (aged Parmesan from France and Italian V’ento D’Eestate) and the plate worked nicely with some toasted baguette, fruit jellies, and a pear/apple compote.

The financials — two bottles of wine, three apps, four mains, two desserts plus a cheese plate and three coffees to finish— $250 with tax but before tip.

Some difficulties with service cast a slight pall on our visit. We found it incredibly difficult to order at every turn, and had to physically call down our server each time we wanted for food or drink. As a result, the meal took on a rather incredibly slow pace, but company was good so it wasn’t a big deal. This might also explain why we closed the place.

Quince is a solid neighbourhood option and if I lived in this nabe I could see stopping in once a month. A good place for dates, or for dinner with friends/family.

www.quincerestaurant.ca

Posted on December 17th, 2008 by rabbit
Filed under: Toronto, Restaurant Reviews