For our monthly group dinner we planned an evening at George. A fancy, yet comfortable dinner location on Queen St. in Toronto. When we walked in I was actually surprised by the decor. It was a lot more relaxed than I had expected, which was nice. I thought it was going to be snotty and pretentious.
There were 9 of us at dinner and we got a great long table under an iron trellis sort of thing. So it almost felt as if we were in our own room. So let the dining begin!
Everyone got the tasting menus, two of us got the Vegetarian 5 course, 2 got the regular 5 course and 5 of us got the regular 7 course. If you have never had a tasting menu before, it is a lot of fun. You don’t know what exactly you are going to get, the chef basically selects what he wants to give you. George also does something a little different than what I have experienced when ordering a tasting menu. Those of us who all got the 7 would actually get different plates. We were confused at first because we thought the next course we would simply receive what the person next to us received, but we were wrong. If you didn’t get to try something you missed out! I think I did end up getting the best options, I enjoyed all of my food! I got lamb, tuna three ways, a lobster trio, foie gras, all which were delectable.
When getting a tasting menu it is recommended that everyone at the table gets the same number of courses. Of course, we didn’t and so while the 7′s were eating the 5′s did have to wait.
Along with the food, 4 of us also got the wine pairing. So with every course we received a glass of wine that fit the food we were eating. We started with a sparkling wine and moved on down to dessert wine at the end of the meal.
Let me say, I love tasting menus. I love it that you don’t know what you are getting so really you don’t have to make any decisions. And now that I’m eating a little more adventurous… fish is now included in my diet, I will try anything. And to have a fresh glass of wine with every course is fantastic also… especially when you aren’t a wine connousieur, it makes the experience that much easier.
George is definitely not cheap. For 9 of us it cost $1600 (tax and tip incl.), but I think it was worth it. It was definitely something great to experience and I’m glad I got to with good friends.