For the Love of...: ...The Lake House (Calgary)

Overall - 8/10
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Food - 8/10
Service - 8/10
Ambiance - 9/10

 Three months after our little girl made her debut into the world, we've finally managed to get out as a couple again and indulge in our favourite past time: eating good food.  We chose to dine at The Lake House, which boasts views overlooking Lake Bonavista.  We imagine dining here in the summer would be ideal when the patio is open and the time of sunset is well past 8 pm.  The interior is spacious with an intimate and cozy ambiance, highlighted on this chilly November evening by the large wood burning fireplace.  

We chose the "lake house fish plank" as our appetizer, which included candied salmon, pickled trout and veg, grilled mackerel, scallop mousse, smoked salmon, marinated olives, pickled red onions and citrus crackers.  Our favourite on the board was the candied salmon and sweet pickled onion.  The subtle flavour of the scallops in the mousse was a bit overpowered by the dill but we did enjoy the rich texture. The pickled trout dish left us divided, one of us felt it was overly tart and the crackers too "doughy" but the other really liked the punch of vinegar when paired with the salty crackers.

For our mains, we had the wild atlantic scallops with braised pork cheeks and grilled angus ribeye.  The scallops were perfectly fresh and cooked to just the right texture.  The braised pork cheek was disappointingly dry however, the bed of truffle potato gnocchi, tomato ragout and mushrooms were delicious.

As expected, the ribeye was perfectly grilled and the quality of the meat was top notch.  What set this dish apart from other great steaks we've had, was the generous amount of smoked garlic demi glace and unique horseradish butter that was served over the potato rosti.

For dessert we indulged in the sticky toffee pudding which was served with brown butter ice cream, praline sauce, pecan crisp and sous vide apples.  This was the perfect ending to our meal and is the closest to the sticky toffee pudding we had in London.  The texture of the pudding was truly "pudding-like" (soft, mushy in-the-best-way interior) and not just a cake as we've experienced frequently with other desserts that claim to be a sticky toffee pudding. 

Overall, we were happy with our experience at The Lake House and would consider going back again.