Starlight

Last week F and I decided to get a reservation to that restaurant we had a gift certificate for. We took the reservation for last night. The gift certificate was for the Ciel! restaurant (Sky!). It is the restaurant that took the place of the old turning restaurant of Quebec, ehich had existed for some time. This is the kind of view you can get from the restaurant:

F and I started with a white wine frim St-Sévère, in Quebec. It was surprisingly good, light and refreshing. I then had smoked salmon on a blini with blood pudding sauce. There was a lot of smoked salmon, so that was a definite plus. The blood pudding sauce qas also excellent. It was a bit unexpected with smoked salmon, but it worked well together. The blini was a bit big, though. F had mackerel gravlax: his portion was smaller than mine, and it was a bit too spicy for him. He got to compensate with the next course, though: cheese. It might be unsusal to have cheese as a second course, but oh well, the Gilmores have it with cocktails. (I am rewatching "Gilmore Girls" on Netflix, in case you were wondering.) We told the waitress we would like three pieces of cheese, anything but blue cheese. She didn't tell us what we got, but she said they served a lot of cheese from the Charlevoix area, not too far from Quebec City. The cheese was great, even though we didn't know what we were having, and it was served with beets and candied nuts. I believe there was a bit of ginger in the nuts. We also got warm bread at that point. Some critics say warm bread is a restaurant gimmick, but it is always appreciated. 

By the time we were done with the cheese, we were also done with the wine, so F had a beer from the Sherbrooke area, we believe, and I had a cocktail, the Général Montcalm. It was made with bourbon, maple syrup, lemon juice mint and apple juice. Judging by the ingredients, I thought the cocktail would be pretty similar to the one I had at L'Atelier, except for the apple juice. Well, the apple juice complemented the bourbon nicely. It made the cocktail sweeter, but I could still taste the bourbon. The drink was surprisingly refreshing for a bourbon cocktail.

For the main course, I had wild boar osso buco with beans, kale and orrecchietes, which are round pasta. That dish is usually served with rapinis instead of kale, but the kale was fine. The meat had a pretty strong taste. The sauce was great and tasted of herbs I couldn't manage to identify. There was a bit too much pasta for the amount of meat, but the whole dish was quite a satisfying portion.

After our main courses, F and I were too full for dessert, so that will be for another time. I would perhaps come back there in the day, to have a different view. However, it isn't a restaurant I will be going to regularly, because it was a bit expensive. The rhythm of the service is nice, though, for an evening when you want to take your time. A reservation is probaby essential, because we went there on a Sunday, which is usually a slower night, and there was a good amount of people, especially for a January night, when less people go into restaurants. Perhaps it will be less crowded as  the "new restaurant" factor fades out.