(August 23, 2013)
Ever since dining at his previous internationally acclaimed restaurant “Susur” a couple of times several years ago, we have been fans of Chef Susur Lee (Susur closed in 2008). “Bent” is his latest restaurant, which opened in Toronto in August 2012, as a family collaboration. Lee is in charge of the kitchen, his wife Brenda Bent designed the decor, and his sons Levi and Kai Bent-Lee oversee the dining room experience. (www.bentrestaurant.com)
The majority of the menu is made up of courses that are meant to be shared by everyone at the table. For our party of 2 our waitress recommended that we order 3 to 4 different items. While sipping our delicious cocktails (the Elder Goose and the Yuzu Bourbon Sour) we studied the menu and finally narrowed our choices down to 4.
The first course, the Spicy Tuna and Watermelon Ceviche, arrived sooner than expected. The tuna and watermelon simply melted in your mouth. We were not even through our second bite of the ceviche when our second course arrived, the Lobster Taco Wraps. The “tacos” were actually taro chips in the shape of a taco shell filled with delicious lobster in a chipotle tomato/onion aioli. Great presentation and taste! However, as a result of the rapid arrival of these two courses we were starting to feel a bit rushed and unfortunately the pace of the arrival for our remaining courses did not slow down much. Taking the time to savour our food, the atmosphere of the restaurant and each others company is important to both Kurtis and I, so the overall pace of our dinner was becoming a little disappointing.
The third course to arrive was the Duck Confit Spring Rolls. Amazing, scrumptious, “to die for”… This dish almost made up for the fast pace of our service :). The last savoury course to arrive was the Curry Marinated Rack of Lamb, which was a close second to the duck. The lamb was extremely tender and the curry marinade and sauces were an excellent compliment to the meat.
Since our food arrived so rapidly we didn’t get to the Sake until the 3rd course or so. We left the Sake selection up to our waitress and she selected a small bottle of the Yoshi No Gawa Dry Sake. I had never tried Sake before and I quite liked it.
And after all of that our waitress was actually able to tempt us with the dessert menu. We each ordered one of each of the Chocolate and Hazelnut Mousse and the Warm Banana and Chocolate Chip Cake. Both desserts did not disappoint. I was very full after all of that, but it was certainly worth it.
We will definitely be visiting Bent again!
Spicy Tuna and Watermelon Ceviche
Duck Confit Spring Rolls
Curry Marinated Rack of Lamb
Warm Banana and Chocolate Chip Cake
Chocolate and Hazelnut Mousse
(We did not capture a very good picture of the Lobster Taco Wraps, so we’ll have to go back and try them again :))
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