10154 100 St
780-757-2005
Following my trip to Halifax and my visit to Obladee Wine Bar, I wanted to scout out the wine bars in Edmonton. When Passion for Pork week came up, I sent the info to my pork/bacon-loving buddy Garson, and he replied with a list of his three choices of restaurants to visit, with Moriarty's being one of them. I had wanted to visit Moriarty's for a while, so off we went.
While Andrew and Garson wanted to try the pork menu, I was more interested in their cheese and charcuterie boards and small plates. I chose to have a board with 3 selections: Rustic Pork Pate, Fairwinds Chevre, and Candied Salmon ($18) paired with an 8 oz glass of the Olivares rose wine ($9). Other additions that accompany the cheese and charcuterie board were pickled vegetables, condiments, and crackers. Overall, I was disappointed in my board. Both the pate and chevre were alright, but nothing outstanding and memorable. The candied salmon was almost unpalatable. I was expecting a dried smoked salmon marinated in a sweet seasoning mix. The stuff on my board was raw, fishy salmon with a severe lack of any sweet taste.
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| cheese.and.charcuterie.board |
In addition to the cheese and charcuterie board, I ordered a Small Plate (a reduced sized entree) of the Spring Creek Organic Short Rib ($16). The short rib was savoury and tender. It passed my standards for short rib, as I define a good short rib as one where a knife is not needed to take a forkful. On the side were a couple of stalks of white asparagus, chorizo gratin potatoes, and stilton aioli. My favorite side was the potato. I loved the crispy coating and the al dente texture of the potatoes. I was a bit confused by the aioli. While it was tasty, I wasn't sure what part of my dish I was supposed to eat it with, as everything else had enough flavor.
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| spring.creek.organic.short.rib |
I was given a little taste of Andrew's pork menu selections. The appetizer consisted of a base of cheddar grits, followed by a layer of fried pork belly, a poached egg, and a few pieces of arugula on top ($13). This was incredibly tasty and I would have been happy with this selection if I had ordered it.
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| country.fried.pork.belly |
The entree, however was another story. It was a 12 oz pork chop with a side of wild mushroom bread pudding, creamy salad greens, and peach chutney ($26). There was a major discrepancy between the size of Andrew and Garson's pork chops. But that wasn't the huge issue. When I had a taste of the pork chop, it was so heavily salted that it felt like it was corroding my tongue. I instinctively grabbed my water to chug down with the piece of meat. Both Garson and Andrew agreed that it was too salty, but didn't complain, but if that had been my entree, I would have sent it back to the kitchen. Other than the nasty pork chop, everything else on the plate was acceptable. There was a third item on the pork menu, a maple bacon ice cream, but we never got to try it as the kitchen had run out. We ended up passing on their other dessert offerings.
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| pembina.pork.chop |
The service was mediocre. At the beginning of the night, our server was inefficient and it felt like she unnecessarily interrupted our table too many times. Fortunately, it improved as the restaurant got busier. One thing I dislike about some establishments is their push for customers to order sparkling water or bottled water, which is what happened here. I could go on a rant on water quality, but I'll refrain from doing that here.
Based on tonight's experience, there wasn't enough of a draw to bring me back for a full meal, but perhaps drinks. Moriarty's would be a great, modern place to gather for happy hour drinks and light meals. I felt that they could improve on the cheese and charcuterie menu and number of items on that list. In terms of wine, they offer quite a few by the glass and bottle. An ad accompanied our bill that promoted a Tuesday night special: 2 Small Plates for $20. This is a decent value considering the price of their Small Plates range from $12-16 each. This might be the only reason why I would consider returning to eat.
3/5
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