5/5 for the harvest room. fancy! this is a place that you go to for a special occasion. the harvest room is the restaurant that is located inside the the fairmont hotel macdonald, the only four diamond-rated luxury hotel in edmonton. built in 1915, this hotel is affectionately referred to as "the chateau on the river." grandeur and luxury are synonymous with the hotel mac - and having a dining experience there is certainly no different.
we arrived on a saturday night (for my birthday dinner) and pulled up to the front of the hotel. the gracious attendants made us feel important right off the bat, opening my car door and offering a hand to help me out. we had them valet park the car for $16. entering into the beautiful hotel, you are transported back in time. everything is beautiful and ornate, with soaring ceilings. you know that you're somewhere special. we headed to the left, toward the restaurant, which is marked by a wrought iron sign over the entrance. greeted by the maître'd, he hung up our coats and brought us to our table. the service is at the top of it's game; they pull out your chair for you, place your napkin on your lap for you - this is exactly what you would hope to expect in a place such as this. there is also a dress code which calls for 'smart casual' but literally every man in the restaurant was wearing a suit, and i feel that you would find yourself out of place if you weren't.
the dimly lit room continues the old-opulence feeling that is present throughout the hotel. the ceiling is impossibly high, with arches, and the tables themselves are located on multiple levels. the open kitchen window is adorned with hanging copper pots. mainly the room simply decorates itself. we were seated on one of the higher levels, and from our perch looking out over the restaurant it was easy to feel impressed.
first we were given a cocktail menu. after a perusal, i settled on a tea martini, which is a martini that was actually made partly out of real steeped tea. sublime! unfortunately i didn't catch the whole list of ingredients, but in addition to the tea there were a list of other things as well. it tasted amazingly fruity, sweet and frothy. more tropical than anything else, this was easily one of the best martinis that i've ever had.
next we were presented with our amuse-bouche. an amuse-bouche is one bite that is served both to prepare the guest for the meal and to offer a glimpse into the chef's approach to the art of cuisine. this one was a salad of greens and cashews with smoked duck on top. a perfectly flavourful and delightful bite! we were also delivered a selection of bread; baguette, focaccia, and i believe a rye brown bread. these were served with truffle butter and a citrus lavender dipping oil. every single component so far was so perfectly executed - and these weren't even the parts that we were paying for.
we decided to share our starter, which was an easy choice: foie gras trio (foie gras crème brûlée, torchon, foie gras mousse with red wine, fig & balsamic jam, gewurztraminer syrup - $24.00). foie gras literally translates to "fat liver." it's the liver of a duck or goose that has been specially fattened. each component on the plate was incredible, and each so very different from the last. my favourite was the torchon, which is similar to a terrine. this preparation is the ultimate, purist experience of foie gras, since the whole raw liver is packed into a mold and cooked at low temperature in a water bath. there are very few ingredients to distract from the rich, buttery taste of the pure foie gras. this one was salty and decadent. a true treat.
next it was time for my entrée, an extremely easy choice, since it was named as one of the 25 best things to eat 2012 inedmontonby avenue magazine: the lobster ravioli (butter poached lobster tail, braised fennel, watercress salad, fennel chip, tomato concassé, bouillabaisse sauce - $44.00). to accompany our entrées, we each had a glass of malbec red wine. this was, without question, the best lobster that i have ever eaten. i have never tasted lobster so perfectly tender, buttery and perfect. it melted in my mouth and was supremely excellent. and that wasn't even the whole dish! the ravioli was swimming in a beautiful sauce, and the fact that it was bouillabaisse-based was a brilliant way to tie the entire dish together. i couldn't have been happier with this.
certainly we couldn't miss out on dessert! we shared a warm chocolate cake and drank orange pekoe tea. this was lovely. the cake was oozing with chocolate and the decorative snap basket seemed to be flavoured with a hint of truffle. we swear that we didn't dream it! an excellent end to what was most definitely an above-average dining experience. every angle of this meal was saturated in excellence. yes, the prices are high, but if you are looking for a special night out, the harvest room certainly cannot be beat.