Tony de Luca

Chef Tony de Luca is a respected cookbook author as well as founding chef at Hillebrand Restaurant.
His new restaurant is located in the old town of Niagara-on-the-Lake in the Oban Inn.

So when Santa left me a $200 gift certificate in my stocking this past Christmas for dinner there, I was really looking forward to it.

Not only would I get the chance to dine somewhere new, but even better, it wouldn't cost a penny.

I spend a fair bit of time in Niagara On The Lake, and over the years  I've enjoyed many a pint at the old Oban Inn before it was redone and turned into what it is today.

On one hand I absolutely love the new spa there- O spa. It's fantastic, and I've had some incredible treatments there. It's  very quiet, relaxed and charming. Tony Deluca the restaurant, on the other hand really underwhelmed me. The decor is quite dull and kind of corporate feeling, without much character at all. Very predictable. Muzak was playing in the background that reminded me of being stuck in an elevator at my doctor's office. The service was very mediocre, in fact if I'm to be honest, it pretty much sucked. The dining room held none of the charm that it once did, the grand piano was gone as were all the interesting and often colorful local regulars that would surround it singing. They would pack the place and make it such a fun and lively place to go. It is a theater town after all. 

I'm really not sure why so many restaurants in Niagara-On-the-Lake look the same, it's all becoming so geriatric. Why not hire a proper restaurant designer and breathe some life into the place. And dim the lights for god's sake. Why must every place be so bright?

So on to the food.

I started with a Quebec foie gras cranberry gastrique brioche. pictured above. I couldn't help but giggle like a schoolgirl when it came out. Is it me or does it seem a touch phallic? either that or whoever was preparing it is a big Mick Jagger fan.

My dining companion had the Charcuterie plate which was okay. Seeing as charcuterie plates seem to be popping up everywhere these days, we were again a bit disappointed. It was nothing out of the ordinary.

For my main course I had the Quebec duck breast poached in Madeira bouillon, crackling, quail eggs and pommes rosti. It was in a word. Horrible. I actually had to send it back, and by that time my dinner companion had already finished his dinner. The service was that bad. I love my duck extremely rare, but not cold and raw with gristle running down the cut of meat. Nor do I enjoy soggy cold rosti. Tater tots would have been better. They ended up bringing it back to me completely over cooked and inedible. My partner did however,  share a few bites of his excellent Cumbrae farms dry aged beef rib eye.
Then again, how can anything form Cumbrae's be bad?

We shared the Brown sugar Creme Brulee with apple puree and raisin beignets. which was again unfortunately pretty bad. It was kind of like custard, with a side of timbits and apple sauce. Should have had the rhubarb crumble tart, but for some reason we actually listened to our servers suggestions despite her poor service up to that point. Oh well.

We left feeling ripped off, and the sad thing is that we didn't even spend a cent, but still.
I can't say that I would recommend this particular restaurant if you are in Niagara On the Lake, but maybe it was just an off night for chef Tony. It was several weeks ago, pre shaw and therefore not in the full swing of the season yet. But still, I don't think we would go back. At least not to the restaurant, the spa on the other hand...is an entirely different story.

In case you don't want to take my work for it and give it a go maybe with any luck you Will have a better experience than we did.

Tony De Luca

  160 Front St. Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
  1 866 359 6226  Tel: 905 468 2165 

Oh and Santa, next year could you make it Peller Estates instead?
 

Comments

[metro mama]

Nothing worse than spending that much money for awful food. Thanks for the warning!

I love Niagara on the Lake.

[gabriella]

I had read about this restaurant awhile back and was actually thinking to go this summer, thanks for saving us the trip!

[nomotherearth]

We went there last summer and it was a good meal. Not spectacular, but good. I was frankly just glad to be kid-free.

On another note, we had a terrible experience at Canoe the other night (we were also using a Christmas gift certificate). What do you do in this situation? Did you end up complaining about your meal?? I'm not that type of person at all, but I'm very close to taking action. It ruined my weekend - sickness ensued.

[Grace]

So sad that you had a bad experience there!

We went last year and had the fabulous tasting menu with a different reserve wine every course. There was ssomeone to explain each course and dish to us and everything was beyond my expectations. Maybe try dining as a group next time?

[Leida Schunk]

We love Niagara on the Lake & have been going there for many years. Our visit 10/26/'07 started at the Shaw festival. Saint Joan was one of the best performances we have seen, definetely four star. Unfortunately my husband & I can not say the same for our $170.00 dinner.The menu was not clear as to what you were ordering, the portions were small, the extras? a one inch piece of carrot wraped in prosciutto on a lovely plate & thimble size glass with a mix of juice was laughable. I have been to France several times & have never had a meal resembling or as clostly as the one we had at Tony De Luca's. I was born in Italy, Abruzzi, my grandmothers maiden name, was Louisa De Luca. A wonderful cook as were her four daughters, one being my mother. I hope hes Italian dishes are better then he's French!!!!!!Leida