Ah, St. Paddy's Day: that magical holiday when we all raise a glass to Ireland's verdant patron Saint. And then raise another. And another...
This year, we heard about the Stratfordlicious restaurant series that was happening at establishments all over town, so we decided to kick off our night of green-tinged festivities at Stratford's own gastropub The Parlour, where they're offering a choice of three great courses for $39 throughout the month of March!
There are loads of spots that have put together special menus for Stratfordlicious, but hands-down The Parlour offered best patio in town for dinner and drinks on a warm St. Paddy's Day evening. Lisa started off with mussels and garlic aioli and a classic Caesar (The Parlour has a whole menu dedicated to Canada's signature tomato-clam-voddy cocktail).
Maybe it's the Slow Foodie in me, but I loves my snails. I got the escargot, and on the encouragement of the server ordered them smothered in cheese (good call!).
The chef was definitely in the St. Paddy's spirit with Lisa's creative green-themed main: grilled salmon with jalapeno salsa over a leek-potato mash and Swiss chard.
Spuds are a must on St. Paddy's, so I got a perfectly rare steak served on a pile of frites (that's French for French Fries).
There is one thing that a person can't not order at The Parlour, which is their famous (and multi-stories-high) pavlova for dessert. Lisa (now adorned with a shamrock sticker) offered to share with me...
... because I switched out the dessert for an Irish Coffee (Irish whiskey and coffee with whipped cream). I knew it was going to be a long night (we ended up stopping in at Molly Bloom's, The Pour House, Down the Street, and Backstage [not necessarily in that order]) so I figured I'd get some caffeine in me to keep me going. That along with a great meal was the perfect start to an evening of true Irish-style pubcrawling!
Stratfordlicious - which has been organized and promoted by local radio stations CJCS 1240/FM107.7 - runs all month at no less than nineteen local restaurants! Make sure you fill out a ballot for the grand prize of a Stratford Overnight Escape Package that includes tickets to the Stratford Festival, dinner for two at a great local resto, and accommodation along with Chocolate Trail tickets and a $50 City Centre gift certificate.
No comments:
Post a Comment