Service: 3/5
Late review as we visited a month ago. We came on a night as a snowstorm and blizzard hit full throttle. When we arrived, we were seated promptly at our reservation time, followed by another couple a few minutes after at the table next to us. Right away, a conversation started between the host and the other table about the weather. As we had already looked at the menu beforehand, we were ready to order. However, the table beside us were taken care of first repeatedly (by the same server as ours), and received their drinks, apps, and mains before we received our ordered drinks. This unfortunately set the overall mood for the rest of our meal, despite the host/server being quite friendly.
Food: 3.5/5
For appetizers, we ordered the chicken liver mousse with dark cherry compote and the steak tartare. The mousse was good, but nothing exceptional and a little on the sweet side even without the compote. The steak tartare was also tasty and had a kick to it, though I wish they would have included a regular egg yolk rather than the shaved salted egg yolk as I couldn't taste it over the spice of the tartare. Unfortunately, the baguette that came with them were over-toasted and hard. We had the steak hâché with raclette and the steak au poivre for our entrées, and a side of beef fat fries. The steak and sauce were delicious (portion was on the small side), while the steak hâché was good for the winter weather but also nothing special. As my French partner explained, the dish is essentially a burger on a toast soaked in jus. The added raclette slice was very thin, so it didn't add much to the dish overall. The beef fat fries were crispy and complimented the meal.
Atmosphere: 4/5
Taverne Tamblyn has an open kitchen and a dark, cozy atmosphere that makes it feel both casual and upscale. We were seated at a table near the window which were packed close to neighbouring tables. Without anywhere to hang our jackets but the back of our chairs, it was a little uncomfortable as they were already soaked from the snowstorm, although this wouldn't be an issue under normal circumatances.
Drinks: 4/5
We ordered a Sidecar (brandy, cointreau, lemon) and La Fleur d'Or (elderflower, gin, lemon). Both were refreshing and nice with simple ingredients. read more