So I heard about this new restaurant that was opening up in the Yonge & St. Clair Area. How I heard about it is irrelevant. All that needs to be known is that I heard it was opening and that the food was expected to be very good. So being the connoisseur that I am, I decided to haul two of my closets friends (who were, by the way, very willing to join me) to test out this new eating establishment. Turns out, it was not a mistake.

The restaurant is located at 2 Rosehill Avenue (hence the name). It is located two blocks south of St. Clair just east of Yonge. There isn't really much of a sign but it's the first building on the northeast corner. You really can't miss it. It looks alright from the outside, but could really use a larger indicator since you have to walk right up to the frosted glass doors to see that this is indeed Two Rosehill.

Upon entering, you'll discover a very extravagant, yet warm and inviting atmosphere. The restaurant is very large (although I must admit I did not look around the entire place) but the architectural adornments are such that you don't feel intimidated like you're at a stuffy old palace. The decor was beautiful and the table settings were set for a formal dinner. Despite being quite empty the friendly and lively buzz made it less stuck up and snooty. In fact, it allowed us to feel at ease and comfortable. The dominant colour of the restaurant was a deep rich chocolate brown colour but the use of burgundy and a creamy light yellow colour kept the room from seeming too dank. Use of candles and fresh flowers also helped to liven up the restaurant.

Service was attentive almost to a fault. The hostess was very nice but it was very odd that she refused to give us a requested table (as opposed to the one they reserved for us) because during the course of our entire meal no one came to sit at that table. She told us it was reserved but no one ever came. And even if it was reserved, they could take our original table. But whatever. I didn't let that bother me too much. It was just another one of the many oddities of the night's service.

Instead of the standard whipped butter to go with our beautiful basket of bread (which was by my standard only "okay" bread), we were given a small dish of deliciously fragrant hummus. I've had better hummus, but this wasn't bad and it was interesting to have it served in place of the "usual" (not to knock fresh whipped butter or anything, because that stuff is awesome too).

To open, we were served a little something to "clean our palate." It was a single scallop that was served cold with some crisp onion strings. The dish was very well garnished and the taste was clean and fresh (that's right... onion strings, clean and fresh. you figure it out). I have no idea what it was called, and I really should've asked but it slipped my mind.

On with the main course. I ordered the chicken breast entree. The menu read,

Chicken Supreme
corn fed breast of chicken, truffle potato cake and oven roasted mushrooms.

I would've ordered the veal, except they said that they didn't have any artichokes (which is one of the main reasons I had for considering the veal) so I opted for the chicken. Quite honestly, this dish was very good. All except for the fact that it was a bit salty and I don't actually remember there being any over roasted mushrooms. The selection of vegetables that came with this entree were very tender and refreshing, but the menu said mushrooms. The chicken breast was amazing. It was succulent, very tender and just had the all-around goodness that should come from a "corn fed breast of chicken." I have no idea as to whether it was Lilydale or Maple Leaf Prime, but whatever, it was like a little piece of poultry heaven in my mouth. Okay, I'm sure the poultry don't think that it's heaven, but you know what I mean.

The vegetable side that came with this dish was comprised of carrots, caramelized baby onions, and leeks, topped with a fresh sprig of parsley. The truffle potato cake, which served as the bed for the chicken breast, is what I would call glorified mashed potatoes, but it tasted really good. It wasn't a huge quantity of starch (which is always important for the maintaining of a girlish figure) but enough to deal with the saltiness of the jus that flavoured the dish. The caramelized baby onions are an interesting touch. I've never had whole baby onions before (maybe I just don't get out enough) but I found them to be very tender and well roasted. More importantly, I didn't leave the restaurant with a severe case of onion breath so it was all good. No comment on the leeks since I didn't eat them. I'm not much of a leek person.

The third person commentary about the

Linguini
linguini with caramelized scallops, summer asparagus and ginger poached mussels

comes from the fact that both my friends ordered it. I didn't try their dishes for some reason (don't remember what that reason was) but maybe I should have. One of them kept telling me how good it was and that I should really try it next time. Anyways, the linguini looked amazing. They were very well plated and it looked as though the kitchen didn't skimp on the seafood. This dish came with smallish sized mussels (5-6 of them, I think) and enormous scallops (3-4). I'm talking the biggest scallops you can find. Both girls commented that the dish was incredibly tasty and flavourful, but the cream sauce was very heavy and buttery. A very yummy dish and highly recommended, but if you're thinking of a light meal, you're better off with my chicken entree.

Amazingly, both entrees were fairly priced at $22 each. I'd say its extremely good value for those monstrous scallops. Unfortunately, the coffee that was served to me at the end of my meal was less than stellar. It was your regular drip coffee, but it should be hot. It should be so hot that it should melt my sugar cube immediately and have wisps of steam emanating from it. It had neither quality and left me lusting for a cup Tim Horton's. $3.50 for something that wasn't even fit to be compared to the $1.14 I often shell out at Tim's. Luckily, I was very well satisfied from my entree that I didn't give my coffee much thought.

A word about the peculiar service. For starters, we never really had "a waiter" for our table. It was like a collective of waiters. There was the first waiter who came to take our drink order, then a waiter who brought us bread, another waiter who came to inform us that there were no specials because it was opening night and that the kitchen did not receive their order of artichokes and then the strangest waiter of all who was neither dressed like the other waiters nor had any common sense.

This last waiter was dressed in casual black clothing and made strange comments. When he was taking away our wine glasses he said, "So no wine for you ladies tonight?" Well quite obviously. You were told to take the glasses away. And then, shortly after the entrees were brought out to us, he came by and asked if he could take away our bread. Now, there were the three of us, sitting at a table for four. So the bread was clearly not in our way. Most establishments only take the breadbasket away if the bread is finished or if the basket is interfering with the table space. Neither of these were the case. We told him he could take the bread away and then he said, "Did you ladies want to take a few slices to go with your entrees?" Well, if he thought that we might want some, then why the heck was he taking it away in the first place?? It couldn't have been because they needed more baskets since the restaurant was far from full. In fact, I'm inclined to believe that we were the only paying customers there. There were only two other tables occupied and one table was clearly either friends or family and other table was a television news anchor who was likely invited as a guest. To top it all off, he reached across the table, to take away the small dish of hummus. Now, most of the night, the other waiters were very good about not reaching in front of the patrons and walking around the table to fill water and stuff. But this guy clearly has never been trained to be a waiter. I probably over tipped, but I figured that everyone else was doing a stellar job so I'm not going to penalize them for one waiter's oddities. They could also probably be better trained to refill our water glasses, but I let that go too.

All in all, I'd say there weren't too many flaws with the place. The service could use a bit of work, and I wasn't too impressed with the "no artichoke" thing. The freakishly cold lower level was also a big turnoff since that's where the washrooms were located. The decor was fabulous and the food was amazing (notwithstanding the coffee). So really, no complaints here. Final standings for Two Rosehill is:

Service
Ambiance
Food

I will definitely go back to test for consistency (so expect another review sometime in the future).

Their webpage is www.tworosehill.com and there you can find location and menu. I will probably go back and check out their lounge scene, but so far, I'd have to say I'm quite happy with their dinner scene.