The first time I visited Sidecar I found my steak to be chewy, and the dessert dry. But the bread was delicious; the salad fresh with just the right amount of dressing, and crispy croutons, and the coffee refills were a perfect addition to the warm bread. So I got a group together and paid them another visit. Making the reservations for a group was pretty straightforward, and the menu for $25 was hard to beat.

$25 Prix Fixe
Available from Sunday – Wednesday

Appetizers

Daily Soup
Made daily from seasonal ingredients

Mixed Greens
Fresh baby greens, ripe cherry tomatoes, crisp onion and red wine vinaigrette

Romaine Hearts
Fresh hearts of romaine, pancetta, garlic butter croutons Caesar vinaigrette

Mains

Rigatoni
Grilled eggplant, yellow zucchini, roasted peppers in a spicy tomato ragu with pecorino

Atlantic Salmon
Browned tender filet, dijon honey glaze white wine butter sauce

Pan Roasted Chicken
Crispy half chicken, smashed buttery fingerlings, fresh asparagus, natural jus

Steak Frites
Grilled 8oz top sirloin hand cut golden frites & sriracha aioli

Dessert

Tiramisu

**Substitutions can be accommodated for a nominal fee of $2, $3 or $5 to account for more expensive items

The Good

The ambiance is lovely–modern, classy and clean
They will accommodate a large group
They kept refilling our coffee and bread
The bread was amazing–warm with fresh butter on the side–so good! And I am not even a bread person!
The coffee was also amazing!—I am a coffee person 🙂
This time around the steak was cooked to perfection
The frites had just the right amount of seasoning and were crispy on the outside and pillowy in the inside
Loved the addition of the butter on the steak–gave it that extra kick of flavor

The Not-So-Good

Disliked the desserts the first time around, and we all disliked it the 2nd time. Yes, you can substitute the dessert, but we disliked them all. In comparison to their mains, the desserts needed work. Which is odd since they are doing such an amazing job with the bread!
At the end of dinner one of our waiters approached me and asked me if my friends and I only like to eat out if the meal is cheap? What kind of question was that? It was not only rude, but he also insulted the restaurant he works for by implying that they are cheap! Wow!
My dessert was missing an element, and when I asked the chef he told me he was going to get it for me–I told him I was going to take my dessert to-go, so I asked that he include it in the to-go container. On my way out I checked the to-go container and the missing piece was not in the box. I asked the chef again and he told me that they had run out. Was he going to tell me at all, or was he waiting for me to get home to find the piece missing? Personally I thought that was sneaky and unprofessional. If you can’t deliver, then step-up and admit it.

In Sum

Though there were many hits, the overall experience left a lot to be desired… being called cheap, average desserts, and sneaky behaviour killed the experience for me. And no, I don’t only go out for “cheap” meals! The nerve!

Dinner 1st Time Around…