Royal Oak Hotel
After heading to a distant restaurant that wasn't open, I deployed my trusty Urbanspoon app. The nearest fancy restaurant was even further out.
So, here I am, in Clarendon. :)
The place is a bit rustic, with a bit of a country atmosphere. Not so much as to be toxic to humans though. :)
Rosemary roasted potatoes, broccolini, garlic butter, crispy onion rings.
The waiter strongly recommends this one. People apparently say the steaks here are the best they've had. I'm typically loath to order steaks, but I'll do it once in a while.
This is just a steak with mushroom sauce, but it's about as good as it can be. The meat is almost uniformly deep pink, and the very thin sear on the outside adds just enough charcoal taste.
The mushroom sauce isn't too salty. Often, mushroom sauce is inedibly salty.
The semiraw onions and flat batter make the onion rings more like Japanese food than Hungry Jacks food.
Mixed berries, whipped cream, blood orange sorbet.
Everything here has a strong flavour. It's all very sweet. There are two different tangy tastes (the blood orange sorbet and berries) in this dessert, which is odd but interesting.
A friendly local couple chat with me about food for a while.
This place isn't too different from a typical local pub. It's not a fancy restaurant, but the simple food here is definitely better than most.