Dinner @ Scaramouche

Valentine's Day always falls on my busiest week of midterms, so once again, it was celebrated a week later. I chose Scaramouche for two reasons. Firstly, one of my friends always raves about their coconut cream pie, and I wanted to see if it lived up to all that hype. And secondly, restaurant was running a $62 three-course Lobsterlicious special and I just can't seem to resist these prix fixe menus.

Three types of bread were served, and I had one of each. One small complaint was that the butter was really hard to spread onto the bread.

The bread basket was quickly followed by a complimentary amuse bouche: prosciutto with winter lettuce, toasted pine nuts, tarragon relish and Meyer lemon aioli. Everything tasted pretty good together, but it didn't wow me.

Even though Jeremy didn't order from the lobsterlicious menu, he had a lobster bisque to start. The soup was topped with armagnac cream and chives. For me, the soup was intensely rich, and the armagnac on top of that was overwhelming. I was slightly put off by so much alcohol in the soup.

My lobsterlicious choice of starter was the Dungeness crab ravioli with mustard greens, bok choy, radish and a uni butter sauce. The bok choy made the overall dish feel very Asian.

The single raviolo was packed with crab meat, and the uni butter sauce was absolutely scrumptious. After demolishing everything else on the plate, I soaked up all the remaining sauce with bread.

When in doubt, Jeremy always goes for the steak option- 8 oz filet mignon with porcini whipped potatoes, wild mushrooms, French green beans and Bordelaise sauce. I particularly loved the whipped potatoes, which packed an incredible punch of mushroom flavour. The steak was also executed very well, although still not as good as Jacobs & Co.

Oddly enough, I loved everything in my lobster gnocchi that was not lobster- the snap peas, carrots, pearl onions, beet, and herb gnocchi! The vegetables were bright and vibrant, and I especially enjoyed the sweet beets. On top of that, the gnocchi was absolutely lovely, as light as a pillow. I also thought that the presentation was stunning with all the colourful veggies.  

My gnocchi was accompanied with a Parisienne lobster thermidor sauce, topped with toasted bread crumbs and gruyère cheese. On paper, this was everything that I should love- rich, cheesy lobster sauce topped with bread crumbs and cheese. They certainly don't skimp out on the lobster, which I suppose should be a positive thing. Every spoonful contained large chunks of lobster meat. I couldn't believe that I could ever have too much lobster, but this was the case for me! Perhaps I just can't have too much of a good thing. 

For desserts, I wasn't interested in the three options that were available, but I went with the Araguani chocolate mousse with earl grey ice cream, lemon curd, honey tangerines and blood orange reduction because I knew Jeremy would like it. Clearly, I don't know my chocolate well, because Araguani is a 72% cocoa dark chocolate bar made by Valrhona, one of best chocolatiers in the world. I think the "mousse" was a misnomer, because it was more like a dark chocolate bar filled with chocolate mousse. As expected, it was too dark for my liking, although the earl grey ice cream was amazing! Luckily, Jeremy was more than happy to finish the rest of the dessert for me.

Meanwhile, I forced convinced him to order Scaramouche's famous coconut cream pie with white chocolate shavings and dark chocolate sauce. This was like heaven in a slice of pie! Even though it was impossibly decadent and rich, I just couldn't stop taking more and more bites! The white chocolate and coconut were such a great pairing, and the pie crust was perfectly flaky and delicate. Not great for the waistline, but it was so phenomenal that it was almost worth every calorie! I should've paid an extra $5 to upgrade my Lobsterlicious dessert to the coconut cream pie as well!

Who says you can't get full from fine dining? I was absolutely stuffed at the end of the meal! It was definitely a memorable experience, but I don't think I'll be returning anytime soon. After all, it was one of the most expensive meals that I've ever eaten, and I can't justify the price despite the generally positive experience. That said, I certainly wouldn't mind coming back for a slice of coconut cream pie! It was truly to die for!