Our final stop during 2009 DOV was tonight's visit to Hell's Kitchen (not the Ramsay-associated one, but a pizza joint on West 4th). We were fairly excited to try the place out, and the visit
proved pretty good overall.
The atmosphere of Hell's Kitchen was far better than Granville Room's. The music was more relaxing and not blaring, so we could still carry a conversation without yelling. The Superbowl game played in the background, keeping patrons entertained. We ordered drinks right away, and I quite loved their mango mojito (enough to order a second one later on). The attentive, friendly server also took our orders promptly.
Our first courses were of course appies: Hell's poutine and Hell's chowder. The photos (taken with my phone) don't really do justice to the delicious chowder. It looks way greasy in the pic but actually it was slightly sweet and very tasty. The poutine fries were crispy and the gravy was yummy, but I would have wanted to see more cheese and taste more of their crispy capers. The cheese was all located in one area on the top of the bowl but the fries at the bottom got no lovin'. :(
Next came our pizzas: the Aphrodite and the Soprano. Hubbs really liked the Soprano because it wsa meaty and had a spicy sauce on it. I preferred the Aphrodite; the pesto sauce did not overwhelm, the crust was thin and crispy, and adding slivered almonds to the pizza proved to give a different texture to it.
Of course we didn't finish the pizzas, and moved on to dessert with leftovers to go. Hubbs had the tiramisu and I had the creme brulee. Hubbs' tiramisu was fluffy and light, and a bit more solid than I am used to for tiramisus. I liked the more solid consistency and Hubbs ate the entire thing so I think he liked it too ;) My creme brulee was tasty (sort of like soft serve vanilla ice cream in terms of flavour) but it didn't have enough time to set, because it was runny like a thick soup. I still ate the whole thing but was disappointed that they didn't chill it more before serving.
In all, the ambience of the place made the dinner a far more enjoyable experience than it would have been had the place been noisier. The server was friendly and the service, prompt; we were in and out in an hour. The food was pretty good but not stellar or exceptional. The DOV meals were cheap though: $18/person so I guess we really couldn't expect TOO much.
I'd recommend Hell's Kitchen if you're into drinks and lounging. It would even be a good place to grab a pizza to share, but as far as fine gourmet food is concerned, you might want to go elsewhere.
Service: 4.5 / 5
Food: 3.5 / 5
1 comment:
Yum yum! That looks good!
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