Queen & Shaw : The County General featuring Jonathan Goodyear

Last weekend, The County General restaurant teamed up with Top Chef Canada Competitor Jonathan Goodyear to serve up a special six-course tasting menu. Goodyear was joined in the kitchen by Splendido chef and The Country General co-owner Victor Barry to create this exclusive experience. The feature menu was offered for two days only and all the hype had the restaurant fully booked days in advance.

We started off with two of the restaurant's signature cocktails: the County Drive In (pictured on the left) and the Sunday Picnic. For some reason, I always feel a little strange ordering drinks with seemingly arbitrary and overly cutesy names, but these were so good that I'm willing to overlook it and order them again.

The Country Drive In : Bourbon, Lime Juice, Cream Soda - 2oz, $12
The Sunday Picnic : Rum, Cinnamon, Vanilla, Root Beer - 2oz, $12

Hard liquor and soda pop always remind me of the days when my idea of a cocktail was rum & coke, but neither of these drinks taste anything like a high school house party. In both cases, the flavours are perfectly balanced: a little sweet, a little sour, and just the right amount of boozy kick.

It's lucky that I was so into my drink, because the first course took 45 minutes to arrive! Considering we had a reservation and the entire menu was chef's choice, this was a bit frustrating, but at least I was good and hungry by the time the food finally appeared.

I won't describe the food itself in detail since it's no longer available, but here are some photos to give you an idea of what two great chefs can come up with when they put their heads together.

oyster with yukon gold potato puree and potato chip garnish
(you can't see the oyster, but it's hiding under the puree)

salmon and beef nigiri with ginger teriyaki sauce 

crispy tofu with kewpie mayo and apple slaw

chicken with black bean paste, mayo, & cilantro

steamed pork bun with pickled veg & cilantro
(this wasn't included in the prix fixe menu, but was offered as an optional add-on between regular courses)

lamb with fresh chickpeas and pickled onion

beaver tail

The food was good overall, the nigiri and chicken courses were nothing special but the rest was fantastic. I found that the sauces on the nigiri and the amount of rice overwhelmed the flavour of the meats. The chicken itself lacked any seasoning and didn't have much flavour but the black bean paste helped balance it out a bit. The other courses were all delicious and featured a combination of tangy, crispy, and fresh flavours. The pork bun add-on was one of my favourite courses and I'm glad we got them since the portions were not very large and I think I would have been left hungry without that extra little course.

The true disappointment of the evening came when we got the bill. The prix fixe menu was advertised in The Grid and on The Country General twitter feed as $25 per person. I confirmed this price over the phone when I made our reservation; however, when the bill arrived we were charged $29 per person. To make matters worse, when we were sold the extra course we were told the pork buns were $3 each, but on the bill they came to $4 apiece. None of these prices are necessarily unreasonable but I resent the false advertising. I understand that it may have come down to a miscommunication on some level between the many people involved in making the event happen, but it's bad business when a company refuses to acknowledge their advertised prices.

All-in-all, I'm glad we went for the experience. I'm always up for the adventure of a chef's choice menu and I love being able to try a number of different dishes in one meal. The price issues left me with a bad feeling when it comes to customer service at The County General, but I'll probably still go back one day. I've heard good things about their regular menu, and it may be that a shift back to business as usual is all it will take to avoid similar misunderstandings.