REVIEWS

A few months, tweaks make big difference

Pam Grant, Times Colonist

Published: Thursday, March 20, 2008

HERON ROCK BISTRO

Address: 4-435 Simcoe St., Victoria

Open Sunday to Thursday: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday: 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Major credit cards and Interac accepted. Wheelchair accessible.

Rating 4

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Call it Murphy's Law, but no matter how experienced a restaurateur is, there are inevitable teething pains to overcome in any new operation. Accordingly, I won't visit a new eatery until it has been operating for at least a couple of months, let alone write about it.

Mary and I first visited the Heron Rock Bistro six months after it opened. The decor was an odd mix of new fixtures with wall treatments and booths leftover from the former operation. Though service was polite, it was lacking and an interesting-enough menu bore uneven results. My review suggested that while there was potential, there was work to be done.

We dropped by again recently to see if things had changed and indeed, they have. New booths, interesting local art and an uncluttered bar have transformed what was once an awkward space to a room comfortable in its own skin.

If the menu is terribly different, it wasn't apparent to either Mary or me, with one notable exception. Each evening, a three-course menu is offered consisting of a mixed salad of organic lettuces, with sliced apple, toasted seeds and crunchy lardons or soup (recent selections have included cream of cauliflower and roasted tomato and red pepper) followed by an entrée (fettucine Bolognese with local lamb in place of the usual beef, seared sablefish with goat cheese and saffron risotto, or Cowichan Bay free range chicken baked with olives, garlic and red wine paired with curried cous cous) and your choice of dessert, average price about $24.

Though tempted, we decided to go a la carte.

We began with a shared platter of house-made crostini, grainy mustard, baked Brie, a plump bulb of caramelized garlic, fresh red grapes and chicken liver mousse, the latter being something Mary liked better than I did, finding it a little heavy on the brandy. All things aside, it was a nice start to a meal and great value at $11 and I would order it again. Diners can also build their own platter from various items including the above and additional options including mixed olives, smoked salmon mousse, duck and port pate, and various cheeses.

On our previous visit, I had ordered steak-frites (AAA reserve strip loin, currently offered in four sizes from $21 to $29) and while I can recall no major issue with the meat, to say the potatoes were flaccid would be an understatement -- they were quite simply the worst frites I have ever encountered and had Mary not ordered this dish, I would have because I wanted to see if whoever was in the kitchen could produce something edible.

I am pleased to say they did, her steak being accompanied by a mountain of crisp potatoes served with aioli for dipping. Though the menu noted shallot and balsamic butter with the meat, her steak was swimming in a sauce of some manner, which she summed up as "weird," an opinion I shared after tasting it. It could be that butter had melted and combined with the meat juices before it hit our table, but we agreed we would order it without next time.

Moules-frites devotees can enjoy their mussels in a variety of ways including the traditional garlic, parsley and white wine as well as creamy curry with cilantro, pesto cream or with diced chorizo, tomato and banana peppers.

I pondered duck confit paired with local greens dressed with orange and coriander vinaigrette or braised Saltspring Island lamb shank served with merlot-enriched pan juices, but the albacore tuna won out in the end. Crusted with a little sea salt and black and white sesame seeds, it was cooked exactly as I requested and was as visually appealing as the accompanying lightly pickled beets, broccolini and baked squash.

We passed on dessert that evening, which gave me an excuse to return later. I dropped by for brunch the following weekend to find the place packed. Despite this, I was sitting at a table with a menu in less than three minutes.

I began with an excellent take on a clubhouse sandwich made with lightly curried chicken instead of turkey and a green salad that though largely composed of the ubiquitous organic greens that I have come to loathe, was lightly dressed with a balanced vinaigrette that enhanced the flavours of the various lettuces.

My sandwich was bigger than I expected, so I read my paper and watched as the staff tended to customers' concerns and was delighted to see that even though they had large tables with big food orders, a couple of tables with elderly women having toast and tea were treated with equal concern. Mary and I had witnessed the same kindness during our dinner from servers who took the time to chat with an elderly gentleman. Over dessert (a Callebaut chocolate dome filled with chocolate mousse) it occurred to me that the people who work here must have pretty good karma. I sincerely hope so.

RATINGS

Rating 1 Below bad

Rating 2 Below average

Rating 3 Average

Rating 4 Above average

Rating 5 Excellent

© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2008

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