I always find it hard to blog after a heartfelt blog. In the instance of subject matter, I was going to write a buffer blog describing this and lead into more inappropriate blogs. However in this time my buffer blog became natural, when on the way home from Great Grandpa's funeral we decided to stop for food. A while back while trying to find fancy restaurants for fancy people I came across a place called Hole in the Wall. The reviews for it were better than good and it sounded like a place I might like ie. Mexican food. I put it on my list of places to eat with the lady which included Taco del Mar, EE Burritos, La Casa Maya (sadly, no more) and Las Palapas.
If Saskatchewan had a top ten list of things to do here before you die, eating at Hole in the Wall would be on that list. Located just outside of Dundurn, in of all places a village called Shields, is simply put the best restaurant in Saskatchewan. I have always wanted to travel to Mexico and Italy just to eat, thinking there has to be better restaurants than Regina offers or pondering if my $100 meal at The Creek is as good as it gets. Last night I think I had that experience on a whim sitting at this wondrous Mexican inspired dreamland.
Amber and I dropped $120 on a shared meal under a menu option called El Dictador. This option starts with your choice of three appetizers from their selection. We started with a potato in goat cheese and spice, which was really good. I've never had goat cheese so my expectations were mixed. Just to be fair my thoughts were, “Well this is a great start.”
The next appy they brought out almost brought me to tears. By far, the highlight of the night, in a meal that already was amping up to be the highlight of my eating career, we ate some bacon wrapped prunes and cheese. These, hands down, were the best tasting things I have ever eaten. I may not be a culinary wizard but I think Ratatouille hit it square on the nose and this dish was rubbing it in my face. When you mix different flavours you can create something great. I would have never dreamed this dish to be that good.
Next we had a tequila flavoured shrimp and potato dish. Which, in it's own right, was delicious beyond expectations but unfortunately I was still on my high from the prunes.
Then, the salad. When I expressed my feeling to our waiter (the owner-who apologized in advance as he is not one of his usual servers) about goat cheese he remarked that there would be more cheese in the cheesecake in the salad. ??? The salad had it all. A bitter cheesecake, sweetly seasoned nuts, a light oil dressing and even edible flower petals. It was that moment when Amber remarked on the Ratatouille theory. Everything in this salad seemed off, yet it looked like it should be good and the strange blends of flavour made a unique salad experience I can hardly describe.
As we waited for our main course they brought out a delicious filler, consisting of two frozen balls of fruit. One was white, the other was red. The flavour and texture was reminiscent of slushy margaritas except you could taste the real fruit embedded in the ice while it was all held together in natural syrupy goodness that only nature could provide.
Then, almost anti-climatic the main course came out. We decided to go with the ribs, which are marked as a favourite and with the lamb. The dishes looked excellent with the lamb's medium rare glow looking like it was painted for photos. The meat was exceptionally tender and delicious. The seasoning was light and only complimented the meat. This is the stand-alone reason it was anti-climatic. In any other setting they would have been amazing, but with what we just went through, the delicious meat flavour seem very lack lustre. In a stand alone meal it would have been great and we admittedly agreed that had we chose a different main course with more separation of meat, like the duck, quail or chicken, we would have un-doubt-ably been more than impressed.
Lastly, there was dessert with tea. The tea wasn't anything special but once again the dessert kicked us back to wow mode. It was a slender, white, gelatinous square sitting on a base of raspberries. As expected the texture withheld its look but its taste started raspberry sweet with a cream filling. Then in an instant the palate of the gelatinous square turned sweet with a flavour of sweet that I can only describe as a flavour that only privileged people eat. That is truly what it felt like at that moment at this wonderful Saskatchewan find.
As I walked away from the establishment, my experience with the owner of 26 years, the knowledge that the sole advertisement for the place was through word of mouth and of course the flavour wonder of their food, I realized a few things. First off, considering the experience, the $150 plus price tag wasn't so bad, in fact, it seemed a bargain considering that it made the food in fancy Regina restaurants seem like rat poison for the same price. The atmosphere was more than great and I was full. Simply put, I have never nor do I think I will ever eat at a place quite like this in Saskatchewan... at least not until I return to the quiet little village restaurant known as the Hole in the Wall.
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