jan11

JANUARY 1 / 2004

Red Ox Inn - Still a Pretty Nice Place to Dine

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of taking two very nice people who won an evening out to do a restaurant review with me. We jointly decided to have dinner at the Red Ox Inn, located at 9420 - 91st St. near the top of Connors Hill.

The Red Ox Inn has long been one of my favorite dining establishments, but I hadn't been there in quite some time. So I was looking forward to the treat.

We met in the tiny establishment that on a busy night will not hold more than about 40 people. It is quaint, comfortable and cozy.

After the introductions, we settled into to order a bottle of wine, get acquainted and enjoy sampling some appetizers.

We got off to a rocky start, in that our server was constantly suggesting wines that were, frankly out of my price range, and had some difficulty getting the hint. When we chose one that would nicely suit our palates, it happened that the restaurant was out of it.

That happens, but it was also out of our second choice. Our server then came back with a bottle he was offering in its place. We accepted his suggestion, which was very pleasant indeed.

We decided to share between the three of us two of the featured appetizers. The first was the grilled shrimp, corn shrimp dumplings and scallions with spicy chipotle.

Both the grilled shrimp and the corn shrimp dumplings were delicacies. One could taste the true, delicate shrimp that was enhanced by the preparations, not masked.

We also shared the sesame crusted crab cakes with apple leek relish in a pineapple lime broth. The crab cakes were sumptuous and slightly exotic, with the taste nicely adorned by this most unusual tart/sweet relish. My guests and I had a lot of fun talking about the creativity of this particular dish. I'd love to have that recipe.

For an entrée, Lynn went for one of the daily specials, which was a glazed Arctic Char. This was as fine a fish selection as I have tasted in ages. It was sweet, light, moist, flaky and absolutely delicious.

Bill was the only one who went for a menu item, selecting the Basil crusted rack of lamb. We were unanimous in agreeing that this was "the" selection of the night. Bottom line, I have never enjoyed a rack of lamb the likes of what Bill ordered.

It is no wonder I pulled rank as a restaurant reviewer and kept tasting a little more of Bill's dish, and a little more, and a little more…

Like Lynn, I went for one of the daily special offerings and was drawn to the brisket of buffalo in a superb wine reduction. While the taste of the sauce was phenomenal, the brisket was overcooked, making it a bit tough and stringy.

A brisket is not a premier cut to begin with, so offering it as a high-end entrée can be risky. Surprisingly, there was a fair bit of fat as well. That is a bit unusual for buffalo, which has a comparatively low percentage of fat.

This would have still been a good meal anywhere else; but Bill, Lynn and I all agreed this was not Red Ox Inn quality fare.

Just like we did with the appetizers, the three of us shared a couple of desserts to nicely cap off a pleasant evening.

We chose the warm chocolate cake with vanilla bean ice cream, as well as their flagship dessert - the Bread Pudding.

This time the problem was undercooking, as the cake was slightly doughy. Not enough to return it, but enough to take notice.

However the Bread Pudding, a blueberry and white chocolate bread pudding with crème anglaise sauce, was to die for. It somehow was rested in front of Lynn; but after all the politeness once again, Bill and I kind of had our forks over in Lynn's space fore the rest of the evening.

I won't try to describe the taste. Suffice it to say it would be worth coming back to the Red Ox Inn just for the Bread Pudding - perhaps along with a late night coffee and cognac.

Service was polished and polite, although somewhat dispassionate.

The cost of the meal for the three of us was just over $170. That's not too bad when you realize it is still under $60.00 per person for all-inclusive fine dining.

BEST POINTS: The lamb, the shrimp, the Arctic Char and absolutely the Bread Pudding. The décor is comfortable and the establishment is cozy…great for a special evening.

AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT: There were definitely a few things not up to the high level Red Ox Inn has set over the years. However what did irk me was when our server offered a particular wine in lieu of what we had tried to order. Our bill indicated a price that was higher for the replacement bottle. Cardinal rule of etiquette - if an establishment offers a more expensive wine in place of what the customer ordered, it should be at the price of the bottle the customer originally ordered.

RATING CATEGORY: While there were enough faux-pas to bring Red Ox Inn down from its exalted 9 and 9+ out of 10 plateaus, it still rates an easy 8 and is still one of Edmonton's elite dining choices.