|
|
|
JULY 1 / 2002 |
BACK TO ARCHIVES |
| Russian Tea Room My friend, Christine, and I met for lunch last week at the Russian Tea Room, located at 10312 Jasper Avenue. We had both been here on several occasions and have had mixed reviews. Some occasions have been top notch, while others were less than dazzling. So I was anxious to see how the establishment would fare with a fresh new chance. Christine and I decided to share an appetizer. We selected the Crab Cabs, which were mushroom caps filled with a creamy crab mixture and topped with melted cheddar cheese. The mushroom caps were served in an escargot dish. Without a doubt, these crab caps were outstanding. We thoroughly enjoyed more than enough for two. As a single appetizer, it would be quite a filling selection. The mushrooms were sufficiently cooked, yet firm enough to hold up to rather heavy and well-laden loads of crab and cheese. We can both highly recommend this particular appetizer. For lunch Christine went with the daily quiche, which came with a small salad. I decided to play the role and ordered the Russian Combination Plate. This consisted of essentially of cheese perogies, kubassa, sauerkraut, and white rice. Quite typical, quite pleasant and quite copious. It was definitely the full-meal-deal. The meal was actually rather plain, with the kubassa being the most flavorful item of this selection. However it was certainly reminiscent of meals I remember from Eastern Europe. Although Christine seemed to enjoy her quiche, I found it ordinary at best. Her salad was watery and lifeless. Years ago, I swore I would never try to guess how old the salad is in any restaurant review. I have never been tempted to do otherwise, until now. I ordered a glass of red wine, which is the smallest glass of red wine I have ever received as an accompaniment to dinner. Further, our waitress kept forgetting to bring us glasses of water, although we asked a couple of times. We were too full and too pressed for time to try any of their desserts. The Russian Tea Room features an impressive assortment of unusual cheese cakes, kirsch tortes, chocolate cake, strudels and the like. On several occasions I have stopped in with friends for an afternoon dessert and coffee and have completely enjoyed myself. Based on past experiences, and a review of the variety which they still continue to feature, I can heartily recommend their desserts. Service is for the most part prompt and friendly. We had some problems paying when their Interac machine seemed to be having problems. We had decided to pay cash, but they insisted on finishing what had been started and going array; and took our names and phone number in case we were billed twice. It was just that sort of day. The cost for the one appetizer that we shared, our meals, one glass of wine and a soft drink was $34.00, which strikes me as high. BEST POINTS: AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT: RATING CATEGORY: |