Now, you’ll find no shortage of funky French food in Toronto — Jules Bistro, Le Select, Le Papillon, Maison Close, Maison Selby, Cafe La Gaffe… just to name a few. But we’ve found this one place on Queen St West that’s pulled ahead of the competition by a nose. La Palette is not just serving up your everyday steak frites, y’see, they’ve got a secret ingredient — it’s horse, of course!!!!
Now, people mighta been pissed when they found horse meat at Burger King about 10 years ago… but if it tasted like this, they’d really have nothing to complain about. This horse tenderloin was nice ‘n tender, melts in your mouth and nicely seasoned. They say on the menu they can only cook it rare — mine came out more medium rare, which is how I like my steak anyways.
Put it this way: I would not say neigh to eating horse again!!!!
But you KNOW we can’t go to a French joint and NOT have escargot — that’s a major no-no, bro! And these were some of the most tender snails I’ve ever had, served up with plenty of garlic butter, and topped with chives and chopped peanuts. Man, I’ve never seen nuts served with this dish before. It’s pretty nuts… and nuts is good!
But you KNOW I’m still hungry like a horse after all that horse meat, so I’ve definitely still got room for dessert. And while they might have 4-5 desserts to choose from, ya know what they say — it’s gotta be crème brûlée. La Palette really nailed this dish, with the hard, crunchy crust and creamy inside. But it has gotta be the smallest crème brûlée I’ve ever seen. I’m pretty sure I’ve had ramekins of ketchup that were bigger than this! (To be fair, it’s only 5 bucks, so there’s that.)
And yes, I am that guy who goes to a French bistro and asks what beers they have on tap. Well, I asked if they had Kronenbourg — and they actually didn’t, but steered me to this Czechvar Dark Lager instead. A couple of these, and we’re back in the saddle again, Aer-bro-smith!!!!
Burgers, Bacon & Beer 