Post Meridian

What to go there for: all dishes are completely delicious, and the prices are low for a prie fix French fine dining restaurant
One would not expect to find an exquisite French restaurant in the unfamiliar and minute town of Kensington. But that’s exactly what makes it a precious gem. Post Meridian is a French bistro by day offering delicious brunch offerings and a fine dining restaurant by night with traditional French cuisine. They offer a la carte dining in addition to prie fix menus with appropriate wine pairings at reasonable prices. Similar menu items would fare around $ 40 in the City and prie fix menus would demand upward to $ 60 at least. Post Meridian charges half that without sacrificing flavor, service, or ambiance.
It has a relatively small dining room decorated with traditional furnishing: hard-​wood floors, white linen drapes, classic style tables and chairs — it makes you feel like you are inside a 19^th century French house. Since it has a small staff, they are very friendly and the intimate space allows for quiet ambiance and amiable banter. The services are very familiar with the menu and can address wine pairing inquiries at your request.
We started off with the fromage plate: a quartet of cheeses provided by local purveyors. We tasted the samples and enjoyed discussing what cheeses tasted like ones we were familiar with. It was a tasty appetizer and a nice distraction while waiting for our main courses. What did, however, differentiate Post Meridian’s cheese plate with other places is the accompanying ginger-​pear relish. What a wonderful condiment to pair well with the bread and cheese. It had a tangy and subtle spice from the ginger and the fresh, sweet pear flavor coated perfectly the richness of the cheeses. It especially went well with the bleu-​cheese cousin offered on the fromage.
I ordered the arctic char with an oyster-​mushroom pilaf and my wife had the seared duck breast with roasted potatoes. The arctic char was cooked beautifully: perfectly seared crust with a moist, soft interior. The flavor of the fish really shined and allowed me to appreciate the natural flavor of the fish. If you want to experience what char tastes like, this is a good place to do so. The duck breasts were amazing as well. The rendered duck fat nicely coated the breast pieces and the crispiness of the potatoes made it seem like they were fried but were actually roasted. It may have been the duck fat that rendered into the potatoes that gave it an extra flavor. Who doesn’t like duck fat, anyway? The remainder of the evening consisted of complimenting the tastiness of the food. Wonderful food with great service and a romantic ambiance created a lovely dining experience.

We started off with the Latte which was served in a tall glass, bistro style. It was a little strong for me and the milk not as creamy as I am accustomed to. Definitely not my type but I reckon others might prefer this style.
I had the La Gourmand Omelette with bacon, house-​made sausages, potatoes, and Levain toast. The omelette was decent though I wasn’t really sure of the matchstick bacons in it – I happen to *not* subscribe to the school of thought that espouses the pithy «bacon makes it better.» The side of potatoes stood out and I thought the Levain toast was great!
K had the Poached eggs on Levain with gravy and potatoes. It was pretty good and she totally loved it!
We shared a side of their house-​made sausage patties which I found to be a little dry and didn’t really find it all that great.
I would be interested in trying their dinner or lunch items another day.

Post Meridian was our DINING OUT FOR LIFE choice last night — eat a scrumptious meal & support a great cause! What better excuse to indulge!
Started w/​Cream of Asparagus Soup for me — delish — wasn’t heavy or «wintery» like I imagined it was going to be (since most asparagus soups are) but it was fresh light & creamy — «springy» is the best way I can term it.
Sis got the French Onion Soup & said it ranked among the best she’s had. The cheesy bread was not Swiss but something even better that provided a strong flavor that complimented the soup broth
Main courses included Lentils w/​Chard for Sis & Rice Pilaf for me. My dish was good w/​Peas, Carrots, Asparagus & Brown Rice but Sis’ was outstanding. Those Lentils were so incredibly yummy — only reason I didn’t go for it was b/​c I hate cooked greens but for that dish, I might make an exception in the future
Desserts were disappointing for me — I read on their website menu — labeled April 2009 — that there was Sticky Toffee Pudding & a Chocolate Cinnamon Gâteau-​Flan but neither appeared on the restaurant menu — every other choice was there, word for word but not these 2 & in fact, there was no chocolate option at all… which is just criminal
Meyer Lemon Tart for Sis — she loves & said this one rocked — me? Not a Citrus Dessert fan; I passed on the other choices & instead opted for a selection of cheeses
How provincial of me!
Wine parings were decent — at first the wine wasn’t to my taste but after the dishes were served & I joined the 2 together, flavors were indeed complimented & would recommend the pairings
(although I think Millennium has spoiled me for life w/​their pairing perfection — it’s hard to match)
So overall, Sis & I enjoyed our meal, I was bummed about no Sticky Toffee Pudding or anything chocolate for dessert, but I do get yummy leftovers to look forward to for today’s lunch!