ICI has many good things to offer, but is neither consistent nor superlative. I eat out extensively and travel frequently and I feel that ICI is overhyped. My husband and I ordered the steak tartare au naturale, the escargots, the foie gras, the scallops, and the duck with 3 3oz pours of wine apiece. We thought: the steak tartare was well prepared but not exceptionally flavourful. The escargots were, on the other hand, really nicely prepared with a balance of flavours (especially the leek and macadamia combo). I thought the puff pastry with the dish was superfluous, but not bad. The foie gras itself was silky but the accompanying flavours seemed discordant or overly aggressive (duck prosciutto, prunes, beets, apples). The scallops were cooked well but the whole dish just failed to unify... Potatoes risotto sat unneeded at the corner of the plate until we finished the rest of the dish and than we just snacked on it instead of the bread. The duck, again, was expertly cooked but the whole flavour profile of the dish seemed lacklustre. With the exception of the escargots, none of the dishes would I order again. Finally, some notes overall: the dishes almost all had a sweet flavour profile: apples, prunes, honey etc. It was disconcerting to have one note jar throughout the meal. The waitress assured me that the rose I selected to begin the meal was dry - it was not. It was sweet. Finally, crucially, the bread basket was utterly disappointing. Soft baguettes with industrial oven prints. Really? The bread set the tone.
I have to admit that this review would have been more favourable if the prices were on keeping with the offering, but I felt that for $250, the consistency of the meal and the taste of the food should have been more complete.
ICi is by no means a bad resto, but the reviews led me to believe I would be experiencing something special. And it just wasn't.
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