This is a farm-to-table restaurant and is a hidden gem, literally since it is not in the tourist area of Niagara Falls. The restaurant has its own farm located in Niagara Falls. The restaurant is inside the Stirling Inn & Spa Hotel.
We ate there before over 10 years ago, but it was not a farm-to-table restaurant at that time.
The menu is now a three-course fine dining dinner at $99, with a few mains with up-charges. There are also curated wine pairings with each dish. You can order extra appetizers at $12 each. This was useful because I went with my mom this time and she could not eat much so I ordered two extra appetizers for her.
You are able to order each dish separately but will be charged room-service rates, which they implied would be far more expensive. So it seems the Stirling Inn guests can order room service from this fine dining restaurant.
Each table comes with complimentary bread (raisin bread and sourdough bread) along with soft honey butter. The farm raises they own bees to produce their own honey, which they also sell in jars.
We were also given complementary apple cider to start.
I ordered the following for my $99 meal:
1. Fall Harvest Quinoa and Greens. Goats cheese fondue, roasted roots, shaved fennel, crusted pistachio, ginger pear dressing.
2. Birch Syrup Glazed Loin of Canadian Red Deer. I chose the deer to be cooked medium rare. Braised raisin and blue cheese purple cabbage, pan-fried sunchokes, walnuts, red currant jus.
3. Apple Pie Spice Mille Feuille. Sugar filo, citrus mascarpone, salted caramel shortbread, apple gel.
I also ordered a glass of Pepsi, for which didn't appear in my bill (shh, don't tell anyone!).
My mother ordered the following two appetizers:
1. Roasted Farm Beets. House smoked veal tongue, red cabbage slaw, farm fennel puree, seabuckthorn gel.
2. Chili Citrus Grilled Octopus. Charred apple ginger cabbage, pickle pearls, dill labneh.
Every dish was superbly presented and tasted fantastic! The service was also superb. Our server was Mel. The seating area is elegant.
The Fall Harvest Quinoa and Greens had the right mixture of tastes, and the goat cheese was subtle.
The smoked veal tongue was cooked just right.
The octopus was cooked perfectly; other restaurants tend to overcook it. My mom loved it so much she was tempted to order another one to take home but it won't taste the same reheated.
The red deer was juicy and tender (since it was medium-rare) and the raisins were a nice touch.
The Mille Feuille didn't look like a normal one; it was the chef's interpretation. It had soft and crunchy parts and wasn't overly sweet.
There is free WiFi from the hotel. The restaurant is wheelchair accessible. There are 2 wheelchair ramps if you enter from the restaurant's main entrance and then you must take the hotel's elevator down! There are separate male/female washrooms (that are also wheelchair accessible) downstairs in the hotel part; wheelchairs must take an elevator. There is free parking in the hotel's parking lot.
Review 2022-030 read more