drawn into the drawing room

My girlfriends and I braved the arctic cold temperatures and tried out the The Drawing Room at Le Passage which had been getting a lot of press for its recent opening. The basement restaurant is warmly lit with cushy seats, glossy tables and of course the Gold Coast requisite of a good looking staff. We started off with a look at their short but creative cocktail list. The bartender...ahem, I mean mixologist offered some great recommendations. I didn't want anything sweet, so she suggested the Gloom Lifter (Jameson Irish, Hennessy VS, fresh lemon-sour, and fresh raspberries). It took her a good 7 or 8 minutes just to prepare the ingredients which included fresh lemons and raspberries that she crushed and painstakingly strained into the shaker. The outcome? One very thick and fragrant martini that was warm and refreshing all at the same time.

When we were seated, our waiter walked us through the short menu of small plates. We decided on the 'fish and chips', burger, crispy fried rice and ahi tuna bruschetta. The bruschetta was very delicious and easy to share. The crispy fried rice was simple yet filling and the burger was just delectable. I thought the execution and presentation of the dishes were thoughtful and original except for the fish and chips. The battered fish bites reminded me of the cod nuggets that used to come out once a month at my dormitory dining hall in college - fish fry can only be done one way I suppose...don't even bother trying to spruce a classic item like that up.

The portions were slightly larger than typical small plates and easy to share. We topped off our meal with the brownie and ice cream dessert. The brownie was very decadent and was a nice finish to our dinner.

Our server offered to set up a table for us at Le Passage next door, but none of us had the desire let alone the possession of a disposal income to spend the $500 minimum on table service, so we opted to just hang out at the large bar, have some drinks and people watch. Overall, I spent a total of $35 bucks for dinner and about $15 for two drinks at Le Passage after.

A pretty good deal for 4 hours of fun with the girls.