Marben

Marben have been on my to-eat list (which by the way is pretty long) for a while and I finally make it there this Sunday....and I was very glad we went =D

Love how reclaimed wood is everywhere, from the undulating birch-ply and barnboard sculpture that spans the dining room to the cabinet behind a little counter where they sell various pickles and preserves.

Bare bulbs shine out from Mason jars and bird cage

Enough about the decor and on with the food.... start with a bottle of white wine and homemade breads that was served with a very yummy herb infused vinegar & olive oil.

 The online menu is not very updated, so excuse me if I'm not very exact for each dish and I was a very disappointed  not to find the pork belly on the menu which everyone raves about... Marben's menu consist of tapas (small) style dishes and they recommend to order a few different one to share...

Our first dish was a stuffed artichoke.. when I tasted the first piece, it was great, soft and flavourful and went perfectly with our white wine... but the second piece, the artichoke was a bit tough (maybe overcook)

Gnocchi w/ fried kale & onion on a squash puree... it was so full of flavor from the kale & onion and the gnocchi itself was melt in your mouth good (>O<)

 

Marianne’s Duck Breast w/soft polenta, carrots, beets, parnsnip (the fries looking strips), honey gastrique (a sauce made by deglazing honey with vinegar). It is cooked sous vide to a ruby centre and then seared to give the skin a crust and the honey gastrique expertly complimented the duck and the veggies perfectly. Love every single part of this dish, so delish =P

Dennis’ Roasted Beef w/ pommes kennedy, turnips, brown butter hollandaise. Look at how pretty the layers of the pommes kennedy looks (picture on the right), the turnips itself was cook to perfection w/ a sweet glaze and the beef itself was cook just right ; moist, just rare enough, flavouful even without the sauce... I guess that's the advantage to have an in-house butcher where each dish are name after the supplier and for this dish it's supplied by Denise and Dennis Harrison of Dingo Farms in Bradford.

And we finish with my favorite dessert, a bread pudding and in this case it was Apple Bread Pudding... just looking at the picture make me want to go back right away =P

Even the bill came in a mason jar which is very cute (^-^)

I would definitely go back to try their Burger since a lot of reviews says it's their best dish and also after seeing a picture of it in my favorite foodie's blog: Chronicles of a Food Junkie I want to try it even more =P  I'm also crossing my fingers that the Pork Belly will be back on the menu by that time.

 See my 2nd post of Marben here