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Milestones Grill & Bar
Category: Restaurants Canadian (New) Canadian (New) [Edit]
185 Stone Rd WGuelph, ON N1G 5L4
(519) 836-8882
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Has TV:
- Yes
One review for Milestones Grill & Bar
1 review in English
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Review from Catherine F.
Guelph, ON
1/17/2011
His Goatness and I had errands to run, and got a late start to the day, to boot. Darting hither and yon all over Guelph through the sticky brown slush in the waning winter afternoon, and ending up at WallyWorld (again) after not finding (again) a product that was internet-guaranteed to be in this one shop, I suddenly had the brilliant idea that tonight might be a good night to try Milestones.
Milestones opened recently in the giant shopping cluster containing the Metro supermarket, Canadian Tire, Zellers and other giant box stores...sneaked in under the radar, with no fanfare, and no giant signage. It's located immediately behind the Montana's Cookhouse, which also opened within the last few months, but rather than shooting for that "rustic" themed giant-sized portion appeal, it presented a slick, swanky upscale facade with a window filled with flames and happy hipsters glimpsed drinking and talking, surrounded by seductively sparse modern decor. Reminded HG and me a bit of the Doug Fir, back in Portland...even though it's a chain, we were looking forward to trying it.
Nor were we disappointed. A Monday night, and their "Girls' Night Out" special was in full swing (4 Bellinis, 4 cocktails for $40), yet we were seated promptly. Interesting lighting fixtures, neither too bright nor too dim, lighted our way into the sunken dining area, where we were tucked into a table for two that (for once) wasn't too small to dine on. Our server, Julie M, appeared like a genie from a bottle, handed us menus and took our off-the-cuff drink orders (neither of us felt like a Bellini, but HG did avail himself of the special on Corona).
The menu is FULL of truly delectable-sounding offerings. I haven't seen such an appealing menu in a long time, honestly; instead of the usual one or two items that fit my evening's particular cravings, there were at least a half dozen entrees, and practically every appetizer listed, that I wanted to eat RIGHT NOW... but I kept my cool and settled for one of the seasonal "inspirations": harissa chicken. Julie, bless her, was all prepared to explain what harissa is, but I lit up the moment she mentioned the dish...I take real delight in North African cookery. HG ordered the grilled sirloin with Chilean crab and shrimp.
After Julie wrote down the website where I order my spices from (Zamouri Spices--shameless plug), she sailed off with our orders, and our drinks arrived. My Bombay Sapphire dirty martini with 2 olives was certainly dirty...the olives the bar used were S.A.L.T.Y., and that's saying something, coming from me (salt is my favorite flavor). Thus, the dash of olive brine used to dirty up the martini was a bit like a dissolved salt lick. Also, the olives tasted like the cheap variety, a little freezer-burned. I gave it a B.
HG's Caesar salad arrived next (we watched with amusement as the salad-delivery person tried unsuccessfully to hand off the salad to the diner at the table next to ours, was sent away, and returned like a yo-yo with a chagrined look on his face to our table). No fresh cracked pepper was offered, and I was disgruntled, until Julie sailed by and pointed out that we had our very own pepper grinder on the table, thank you very much! Bonus! While the Romaine was crunchy, and the dressing nicely flavorful (one of the better I've tasted), with plenty of shaved Asiago, the house-made croutons were a tad soggy--thus giving away the fact that the kitchen cheated and had the salad pre-mixed. Bummer, that.
I noticed on the drink menu that the sour apple martini was actually made with green apple juice and a wedge of sour green apple... I splurged and ordered one. It arrived very quickly, but while it was an improvement over most renditions of the drink, it still had a bit of that sticky-sweet canned taste to me...Julie told me that I could order a TART version next time I was in, with muddled green apple and no sour apple schnapps. I approve! Alas, while the menu featured hot cocktails (something I love, and never see enough of), the bar wasn't set up to make Spanish coffee with the full show (which is half the joy of the drink).
Entrees arrived: lovely presentation and portions (my photos don't do them justice). The broccolini served with my dish was a bit too al dente...I had to tear the heads off with my teeth and discard the stems. The rice (what, no couscous?) was meh. But the chicken was GORGEOUS. Meltingly tender, spiced and grilled to perfection, with a tangy lemon mint yogurt sauce that brought the whole dish together spectacularly. A+ on the chicken, and the best chicken I've had in a restaurant, ever. HG's steak was rather more rare than he ordered, but utterly delish.
Great service, lovely food, many choices. Great addition to Guelph!
