L'Abattoir

L and I decided to head to L'Abattoir before she headed for her month-long vacation, and we were both really stoked to try this place because of the rave reviews. L'Abattoir has also recently been listed as number 23 of Canada's top 50 restaurants on Vacay.ca!

We arrived at 6pm to a completely empty dining room, which was very nice as it made us feel like VIPs (hahaha). It filled up within the next hour of course.

After ordering, our waiter brought out a complimentary basket of bread: Bacon brioche, anchovy twist, sesame crisp

I love that there were three different kinds of bread to try! They were warm and soft (except for the crisp), and were a great start to the meal.

I started off with their drink special that day, which was recommended by our server. I believe it had an absinthe base, cucumber, and a hint of passionfruit:

Look at that cheeky glass! Our server made sure to turn the lady towards me when he set the glass down. The drink tasted very refreshing and I liked it a lot.

For my appetizer, I got the Veal Tartare: Rye bread, turnips, sorrel, topped with crispy beef strands

This dish had such a good balance of flavours. The tartare was melt-in-your-mouth delicious, the turnips added a good sour tang, and the beef strands gave the dish a nice bit of saltiness.

The entree I chose was the Pork Shoulder Cooked in Milk: Turnips, kale, salsa verde

This pork was tender, flavourful, and abso-freaking-lutely delicious. You know how sometimes kale tastes gross? (Don't lie to yourself, you know you hate kale). Not in this case! Even the kale was good.

Lastly, the dessert - Earl Grey Tea Pot de Creme: Whipped milk, lemon shortbread

I found this too be a little bit too sweet, and the earl grey flavour was too subtle. It's not horrible, but I couldn't handle having a lot of it.

The service at L'Abattoir is one of the best I've experienced. Our waiter was knowledgable, friendly, attentive, and incredibly accommodating. My water was never empty, and at the same time I did not feel as if he was hovering around our table.
This place is definitely a must-try!