The Oakwood

We took my parents to The Oakwood last weekend. As usual, everything was solid.

As it is a place to share dishes, we decided to order three "appetizers" and three "main dishes" to share:

Flying Porks, maple mustard: This was well marinated and well cooked. The meatballs were tender and juicy. The only downside is that the sauce drips down the sticks so your hands get kind of sticky after touching the sticks.

Fried Octopus, bacon aioli, pickled shallots, komatsuna: The octopus was wasn't as crunchy as I had hoped, but the flavours mixed well together. The only downside was there wasn't enough on the plate.

Halibut, bacon lardon, shimeji mushrooms, lentils, kale, crackling: The halibut was so perfectly cooked, it melts in your mouth. It went really well with the lentils and kale. The crackling didn't really add much to the plate and was kind of distracting. The sauce spread on the side of the plate was also unnecessary.

All Canadian Poutine, brisket, fries, curds, gravy: I didn't realize this poutine had meat in it. All I saw on the menu was the word "poutine". I'm glad the brisket was there though, as the rest of the dish was really, really salty and needed the sweetness of the brisket to balance out the flavour. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough brisket to balance off the fries and gravy.

Saltspring Mussels, tomato coconut broth, cornbread biscotti: I think this dish would be better if it were served with baguette or a softer type of bread. While the cornbread "tasted" interesting, it did not serve the purpose of absorbing the sauce at the bottom of the pot, which was very Asian, extremely flavourful and rich.

For dessert, we had the trio of masons, which included: the Maple Creme Caramel, Pecan Shortbread, Cranberry Gel; Peanut Butter & Chocolate Mousse, Coffee Pistachio Feuilletine; and Goats Cheesecake, Blueberry Compote, Ginger Crumb. Although all three were delicious, the party favourite had to be the Peanut Butter & Chocolate Mousse. The Goats Cheesecake was my favourite in particular as the balance of flavours between the tartness of the blueberry and the creaminess of the goat cheese went really well together.

All in all, we had a really good time and will definitely return.