Last night for Juli’s early birthday celebration we went to the Drake for “A taste of Iceland” LET’S GO CRAZY! 4 course prix fixe dinner ($42) from the master minds: Chef Thor Eggertsson from Orange Restaurant, Reykjavik alongside Chef Anthony Rose of The Drake.

We’ve been on the hunt for a meal comparable to the dream that is the Alberto K restaurant in Copenhagen Denmark. We’ve been to several nice local restaurants since including Canoe and nothing has come close!

Blueberry Geyser
Reyka vodka, fresh lime juice and mint w/ blueberry essence + an erupting, devils-ice blueberry fountain.

There was a parcel of dry ice tied with a red ribbon in the drink which bubbled, smoked and really made it look like we were drinking from a blueberry geyser.

The first dish and it’s great to start off with a good presentation, doing something as simple as adding milk to a dish at the table makes the meal a little more special.

Breakfast of Champions
Langoustine Jerusalem artichokes + pumpkin

A warm creamy dish with delicious fresh water crustaceans, and crunchy pumpkin hash. It really was the breakfast of champions.

Decode
Fresh cod, estragon egg, pumpernickel + herbs

The cod tasted SO fresh it almost looked raw (in a good way), it was sandwiched between mashed potatoes on the bottom and a potato chip, swimming in a creamy butter sauce that was to die for.

Rudolph goes 2 the olympics
Reindeer in pecan nuts, cauliflower, root vegetables + Madeira

really the stand out plate. The reindeer was cooked to perfection. It just had that melt in your mouth texture, paired with the crunchy pecan nuts and cauliflower mash. The flavors blended beautifully.

Duck-in-a-tub
chocolate duck, vanilla + pineapple x 3

The Duck in a tub was kind of a wild card. The duck shape made me smile and the frozen cream sprinkled all around was delicious, but I didn’t quite see the connection to the other dishes. Maybe I was looking for something with wild berries and nuts, pineapple kind of threw me off.

All in all the meal was delicious! The welcomed connection between all the dishes was that great crunch that really balanced out all the cream.

It made us miss Scandinavia so we filled out 2 ballets for a free 3 day trip to Reykjavik.
Fingers crossed!

I should also mention for all our readers outside Toronto, if you’re planning a trip to T.O. Please consider staying a the Drake hotel, even for just 1 night. It’s such a hip boutique hotel with the best hotel gift shop in town, a great brunch outdoor patio, restaurant, and bar.

For the record in the above photo I was just checking what time the Drake general store closed.