Winterlicious 2006.2 Pangea

Pangea


What I ate:

Rainbow Trout Gravlax
Black pepper & dill cured, served with baby greens in a sturgeon caviar vinaigrette

Duck Confit
Duck legs on apple & cinnamon braised cabbage, roasted duck and juniper reduction

Pot au Chocolat
Dark Belgian chocolate mousse with brandy,
orange and triple chocolate-almond biscotti


Due to a freakish "snowstorm" in the north of the city, my dinner group of 6 fell to 2 since the others were stuck in traffic for hours and decided that they would be even later. Oh, it was just as well. It gave me some time to chitchat one on one.

I had been anticipating my return to Pangea ever since Summerlicious 2005 at which time, I ordered skate wing but was quite disappointed for a number of reasons. I've enjoyed skate wing grilled in a banana leaf on some beach in Malaysia and thoroughly enjoyed it then but I guess it was because the wine I was drinking this time around was totally wrong for this type of fish. I think some fish react with tannins in red wine to leave a metallic taste in your mouth; very unpleasant. Anyway, I stopped drinking the wine and just finished the fish as is. It was still a bit "fishy' to my liking. My companions at the time all had duck confit instead which is one of my favourite things in the world. (Ah hell, duck prepared any which way is my favourite.) I did get a sample of my friends' and was thoroughly blown away. I wanted to come back the following week, just to have the duck!

My guest and I checked in and were seated at a nice table for two. We recounted the other places we have been to so far. I told her about Flow and she told me about Epic ("very very disappointed", she said) and so we were both quite looking forward to this meal.

Pangea is very comfortable and contemporary dining room. Shaker-style tables and chairs combined with modern slick fabrics and eclectic art pieces combined to make a large room seem rather cozy. Our waiter was prompt and cordial. Oddly, all the good looking staff that I remembered from last year didnt seem to be there this time around. Nevertheless, our waiter was pleasant, and not bad looking either (save for the goatee).

My companion and I ended up order completely different things. She had the fois gras, I had the trout gravlax. She had the shrimp, i had the duck. She had the lemon cake, i had the chocolate. It was all good as we got to try each other's food.

The pumpkin (or squash) spread that they gave us with the bread was yummy! It was a gorgeously smooth texture and looked faintly like peach and cream gelato. The gravlax that I had was nicely cured and enhanced with the vinegrette. Where the caviar came in, I wasn't sure. My companion was equally happy with her fois gras and was quite thrilled at the delicate little toasts it came with.

Then it was time for the duck confit. If i remember correctly, they served 2 legs at summerlicious but this time they only served one. The duck was delicious! It was perfectly served atop the purple cabbage and flaked off the bone elegantly, it had the right spices and not a hint of greasiness or oversaltiness that one might find in an inferiour confit. This was EXACTLY what I had been pining for these several months. YUMMY!!! The shrimp that my companion had were equal in their plump crispiness.

The pot au chocolat was seductively smooth and rich and not overly sweet to detract from the bittersweetness of the dark chocolate. The lemon cake, from what I could tell was nice and fluffy and full of the nice bright lemon flavour that you would expect.

All in all, we were both well satiated with our dinners. I will definitely go back to Pangea perhaps even to eat of the "regular" menu.

Oh one added bonus, our pleasant waiter forgot to add the glass of wine that I had to the bill. Hoorayy ;-) free wine!