ALARM TURNS TO APPRECIATION AT NOM NOM CANTINE
After no more than five minutes sitting at a corner table at the new restaurant Nom Nom Canine, I was fit to be tied. My three dining companions stared at me bug-eyed, listening to my rants about how my booking a table at this new restaurant in the W Hotel was a huge mistake.
“It’s near the Highlights Festival site,” I explain to no one in particular, “so I thought we could head up there after eating. And I heard that this place was good.” Yet all signs pointed to the opposite.
To begin, they had no record of my reservation. On top of that, the room was almost empty — an ominous sign for a restaurant on a Friday night. Our waiter was friendly but hesitant, and the cocktail I ordered tasted like a Gwyneth Paltrow detox potion. Then there was the decor. With swaths of fabric draped here and there, it looked like something pulled together in a high school gymnasium for a grad dance. To be fair, the restaurant had been open just short of a month, but as the bloggers had already been invited, I figured they were ready to be reviewed. Fearing the worst, I ordered a few dishes and actually made a reservation at another restaurant across town just in case.
While waiting, I regaled my friends with a short history of the dining space. When the W Hotel opened in 2004, two of the biggest draws were its cool bar (named Wunderbar, no less) and its even cooler restaurant, Otto. Designed by architect Miguel Cancio, the visionary behind the über-trendy Buddha Bar in Paris, Otto was populated by the city’s beautiful people. As for the decor, multi-colour stripes covered the walls, cone-shaped chandeliers hung over the tables and curved banquettes were framed in giant bubble paper. It was all very, very. Yet all trendy things must come to an end, and the last time I reviewed Otto in 2008, the cool crowd had moved on and the food had fallen into the dreaded truffle oil/ balsamic vinegar squiggle mode.
In 2016, the restaurant was revived as ÊAT (which stood for “être avec toi”), but that incarnation lasted only two years. Chef Grégory Faye, former sous-chef of Maison Boulud, came on board last fall and, paired with Washington-based consulting chef, Erik Bruner-Yang, launched the new French-Asian hybrid Nom Nom Cantine in mid-January. As for the former Wunderbar, it will be relaunched next week as Bartizen, specializing in cocktails made with Quebec-made gins. So it seems things are moving at the W Hotel.
But back to my table on that slow Friday night. About the time I was telling everyone to get ready to leave, two dishes were served: duck wontons and shrimp dumplings. I dipped my spoon into the duck broth, which is rich and laced with just enough soy to enhance the meaty flavour. Oh! And the wontons are deliciously dense and ducky. Lovely. The shrimp dumplings are even better. Shrimp dumplings are often dull and pasty, but these babies have real shrimp flavour, perfect al-dente wrappers and a welcome nubbly texture, thanks to the addition of tapioca. Two bites in, I cancel my reservation across town, tell my friends to put down their coats and declare: “We’re staying!”
Most every dish that hit the table after that was a winner, especially paired with the Catherine et Pierre Breton Vouvray we chose from the sharp but short (and somewhat pricey) wine list. Though it arrived in a cloud of potent fishy aromas, the tuna mi-cuit tasted great, with its base of avocado, bracing citron sauce and twirl of sweet-potato ribbons overtop. We’ve seen dishes like this often in fusion restaurants, but this rendition was more than just the usual twist on sashimi.
Other standouts include a pork roulade that featured cubes of pork belly coated in Chinese BBQ sauce and topped with arugula and sliced Parisian mushrooms. Served with an interesting if not successful smear of chestnut purée (that our waiter misidentified as hazelnut), the dish won me over solely because of the tangy-fatty, melting pork.
Then there was the monkfish tempura enhanced with a coconut-curry dipping sauce as well as a scattering of fried shallots and herbs. The generous chunks of monkfish were fresh and juicy, and the contrast with the crisp tempura coating had us greedily fighting over the last morsels. Same scenario for the Taiwanese fried chicken nuggets. Coated in a nuc cham (fish sauce) caramel over just the right amount of breading, with bits of marinated cabbage to add a little zing, this candy-like chicken had me thinking of General Tao, but more spicy and feisty than sticky and sweet.
The dish of the night was the moo shu guinea hen that consisted of sliced guinea hen breast served with hoisin sauce, green onions and pancakes alongside. We smeared on the sauce, added the succulent slices of hen, and topped it all off with ribbons of scallions, before rolling up the pancakes and wolfing them back in three bites. I’ve enjoyed this dish in the past with duck, but the guinea hen was a welcome change, as the meat was just that much more tender. Yum!
Any disappointments? The yellow chicken curry wasn’t as bold as expected. Made with a light, as opposed to coconutcreamy sauce, and paired with root vegetables, it was more spicy “made-with-spices” than spicy “hot” and topped with shaved fennel, providing added texture if not much in the way of flavour.
As for the Nom Nom rice bowl, assembled on a base of beef curry paired with a fried egg, pickled vegetables and herb garnish, I was sad to see they chose ground beef as the meat cut as the mouth feel wasn’t all that appealing. For dessert, we tried two. One was a chocolate mousse served in a verrine that was better than expected, but nothing to write home about. The other was a dessert poutine made with churros (in the place of fries) and marshmallows (standing in for cheese) with a caramel sauce (gravy, doh!). It was kind of fun, even if the churros were undercooked.
Full marks for originality though, in this restaurant that, despite a few weaknesses in the early days and a name that hardly does justice to the seriousness of the cooking, delivers quite the satisfying dining experience.