Ladies and La Persaud (CLOSED)

Eeek! Steak tartare!

I recently had the honor of escorting 3 bootiful (aka. beautiful) ladies, including @thepolishviking and @andrealauder to La Persaud for dinner. A dim lit, romantic looking restaurant, the perfect setting for this bovine to wine and dine my companions.

English Pea and Quinoa Rissotto

We started off with a pulled pork corquette, bootifully crisp on the outside, soft and moist on the inside. Next, we  shared some perfectly cooked mussels in a sweet chicken beurre blanc, tomato concasse, basil & truffle aioli with warm baguette. 
I was absolutely shocked to see my dining companions had ordered steak tartare with potato chips. Although I didn't partake, they informed me that the saltiness of the chips was a great balance to the sweetness of the meat.

The mains consisted of Oxtail Tortellini with frisee & micro basil salad, crispy parmesan thuile, sauce vert, which was probably the most disappointing dish of the night. Everyone agreed that it was overly salty and had a chewy texture. 

Grilled salmon with quinoa rissotto and butternut squash puree

The grilled pacific salmon with quinoa risotto, preserved lemon & chive butter was so buttery, moist and tender that only a fork was required. @andrealauder described the butternut squash puree as "sunshine in your mouth". Lastly, the best dish of the night was the English Pea and Quinoa Rissotto with butternut squash confit, porcini mushrooms. One bite was not enough for any of us and @andrealauder had to eventually fend us off to eat her main.

Lemon Curd Tart

To finish the night, we had a trio of cheese, accompanied by crackers and fig jam, verre jus and apple gelee. The Valdeon was the one least enjoyed by all, a semi-soft cheese made of goat and cow's milk. The texture was ashy and tasted purely of salt. The Chévre Noir, a firm, black, goat’s milk was quite enjoyable, and the prosecco, a firm cheese made of cow's milk, you could distinctly taste the prosecco grapes that it was aged in.
@andrealauder once again picked another winning dish, the lemon curd tart with citrus creme fraiche and a walnut thuile. The tart was delectably lemony without being overly tart, and the crust was just the right thickness with a great crunch.
Overall, a very memorable meal and I look forward to my next visit.
More pictures on Flickr.

Update September 6, 2012 - I went and revisited La Persaud, and their chef and menu have changed. A new chef is slated to begin September 15, 2012. Their menu today was extremely condensed, and unfortunately in the interim it was not very good. Not sure if they had the new chef in the kitchen or not today, but their charcuterie plate was very little food for a lot of money, and the pates were more of a terrine as they were not spreadable. The seafood pate was extremely fishing smelling and tasty as well. The braised lamb was tender, but lacked seasoning, and the presentation felt a bit haphazard with the jus all over the plate. The accompanying potato pave was extremely salty and dense, not beautifully crispy on the outside and soft inside as it should be. The female human said the grilled steak with frites was ok, but nothing spectacular. The chocolate coffee opera cake was too dense and sweet for our liking, although we all shared it, we couldn't eat more than half of it. The passionfruit puree did help cut the sweetness a bit by adding a bit of tartness to the dish. Overall, I hope their new menu and chef will restore La Persaud's food to the quality and level of our first visit and this second visit will just be a bad memory.

Bistro La Persaud
8627-91 St
Edmonton, AB

UPDATED (January 2013): CLOSED