September 2023.

This nice spot is on the main floor of a two-storey restaurant on a quiet street in downtown Stratford, the upper floor said to feature South African food.

We were seated outside on a nice evening in a charming alley between two buildings where a gas heater was available. Server was brisk and cheery pretty girl with good information and not in a wild hurry. The ambience and general feel was classy and casual.

There were a dozen or so special cocktails but only an abbreviated (four reds) wine list. We were four and went for three of the cocktails. The “Devil Stole my Heart” was a delicious tequila number, “Parisian Spritz” a tasty low-alcohol vegetarian one, and “Vieux Carre” a pleasant boulevardier-style knockoff maybe stirred bit too long on the ice.

We shared two starters, the halibut beigner crisp and heavy with a really nice curry sauce, and the smoked pepper and feta dip a red melange of the two ingredients scooped up with soft pita bread which we also used to finish off the curry sauce. All definitely tasty and encouraging.

My friends were happier with the mains than I was. Mine was a smoked pork belly “stuffed with” apricots and including monkey gland jus (lots of physiology jokes about that one), potatoes and veg. The belly was crisp outside but a bit mushy inside, great flavoured but I guess possibly a bit overcooked. The others had the lamb burger which came in a bagel with various accompaniments and fries or salad. The diners were happy but the corner of the patty I had was definitely dry and might have benefited with more of the aïoli.

About $85 each with a 20% tip was not bad value considering the quality and the high season here in this drama festival town.

I’d go back but for me I would try something else for dinner. The overall impression is better than I thought the food itself was, except for the starters.

Food 8.2 service 9.0 ambience 9.2 value 8.5 peace and quiet 9.1.

September 2024.

Big change from last year, unfortunately not in a positive direction. The alleyway patio is still appealing with its early fall warmth. But for us the fun pretty well stopped there.

It’s a bit confusing because there appears to be an indoor restaurant and then an upstairs partly-outdoor venue which may have a different menu and for all we know a different chef. At any rate the menu is abbreviated with six starters and five mains (“The Main Event”).

Two of us started with cocktails which were, well, strange. A “Paper Plane” looked like a boulevardier with bourbon, aperol, and amaro. I asked for Campari in mine and Robin switched the bourbon to gin to approximate a negroni. The two drinks tasted pretty well the same as far as I could tell and were a fair approximation of alcoholic grapefruit juice (!).

Servers were remarkable for all being tall pretty girls who were fun but verging on clueless about anything to do with dinner, drinks, the kitchen, etc.

One of us had as a main course a “flatbread” starter which looked like it might be a type of pizza but was barely lukewarm. A cup of not-bad regular french fries was fine unless you dipped them in the sauce which was eyewateringly acidic. A high point of food was a very nice verging-on-rare but tender loin pork chop but again there was a lot of sauce on the plate that seemed to be about 50% vinegar.

Worst experience among the four restaurants we visited this trip. Possibly it was chef’s night off and one of the servers was preparing the food.

Anyway food 7.3, service… hm…depends what you’re looking for, ambience still around 9, value 7.6, peace and quiet 8.8.