Sous Sol
22-222 Osborne St
Before Mise moved to its present location, it was one of my favourite restaurants, tucked deep below the bustle of Osborne Village. After a long hiatus of vacancy, Sous Sol (literally “under the sun” or “basement” in French, finally reopens this cavernous, somewhat creepy catacomb to the public.
One look at their website and you notice that they're quirky, which matches the character of the restaurant perfectly. Quirky, yes, but secretive? I’m not sure. Looking for the entrance, you can easily get lost unless you know where to go. Being a somewhat compulsive dog owner, I cannot walk by an interesting pet store without popping into Village Pet. The owners happily redirect the hoards to Sous Sol as cave seekers often stroll in for directions. If you get lost, look for the Village Pet to give you some directions (and buy something!).
I guess the place isn’t so hard to find as the dining room sits close to capacity. You get a sense of Jekyll & Hyde while witnessing the décor and the ambiance. The mishmash of chairs and tables look like someone with a pickup and no glasses went to town at a thrift store – garage sale convention. By contrast, the servers look prim and distinguished in their attending uniforms. The appearance carries over to the presentation as the staff treat you politely and professionally. Then the drinks come and the vintage McDonald’s glass evokes different memories altogether.
My greatest culinary memories come from France, which by no coincidence, features some of the greatest food on the planet. I especially miss the foods which are common in France, which you cannot get here—items like horse steaks. When I heard that Sous Sol features horse, I made it a mission to visit as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, our server tells us that they alternate between the horse tartare and the ostrich tartare—and today is ostrich day. Manitoba has plenty of ostrich farms so I roam instead to the rabbit crepe.
This crepe is both delicate and hearty at the same time. The thin and precious crepe perfectly envelops the generous dollop of meat. In its sauce, the rabbit reminds me somewhat of a sweetish barbecue pulled pork. This lovely creation is a bit heavy in salt but otherwise, spectacular.
Do you remember about ten years ago when every menu featured Chilean sea bass? Chic at the time, the sea bass commanded huge price and people happily paid, welcoming it as the new great food. Like every great fad, it faded and looking at today's menus, you rarely see sea bass. Well guess what! It's not here either—but it was when I visited! The seared sea bass tastes perfectly cooked, caramelised on the outside and barely done on the inside. The delicate seasoning leaves the delicious meat to dominate the taste buds.
I have a hard time believing that the rack of lamb really contains lamb; this looks more like sheep! The ultra-meaty slabs of ribs glow brilliantly red, cooked to rare and fire-seared on the outside. Prepared perfectly, this opulent meal cannot help but taste divine—and it does. With the cherry sauce, the complementing flavours offer a perfect marriage of flavours. Coupled with the peppercorn cream, the stringency of the pepper plus the smoothness of the cream cuts through the natural fat of the lamb like a hot knife through butter (or any knife through this oh-so-tender lamb).
Dinner concludes with complementary chocolate truffles, both dark and delectable. You only get one per person so eat fast or prepare to fight for your share!
Apparently, Sous Sol changes their menu quite often. It wasn't so long ago that I dined there and yet, neither of the mains sit on today's menu. Essentially, I'm recommending a bunch of food you can no longer get! Isn't that a bummer for you?!
All's not lost—in my experience, when a restaurant changes their menu often, they often rotate quickly too. Restaurants may frequently rotate menus for a number of reasons, including seasonal availability of ingredients, price of ingredients, popularity of item, timeliness to events, and a myriad of other reasons. My bottom line: everything that Sous Sol has put in front of me has been a work of absolute art. Go try it before it changes again!
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