Romantic - but not French!

[atoz]

Hello, it's my bf's birthday coming soon, and we are in our 30s. We're looking for a romantic, quiet restaurant. My boyfriend is not big on French food. I want this meal to be memorable. Any suggestions? We're open to any type of food, except fusion cuisine.
Max $80 per person. Thank you!

[atoz]

How about AREA? is this place kinda romantic6 the prices are reasonable, I've heard good reviews about the Chef.

My beau isn't into tapas.

The portions at Ferreira seem a bit small, am I right?

[Adrian3891]

It's hard not to consider places like Chevres, Anise, Brunoise, and L'Epicier anything but French. After all, what is market cuisine? Fresh, seasonal igredients, yes, but in all of these places the techniques used, dish composition, and flavour profiles are ostensibly French in origin. Thus, I'm not sure that we can seperate French and market cuisine. Anise may be a bit different from the rest of this group due to the strong use of middle eastern ingredients, but the underlying technique is, once again, French. One could almost call it fusion cuisine;). All this makes this a hard question. I would look at places like Pintxo (spanish), Da Emma (italian), Bice (italian, too pricey maybe?), cavalli (italian, a bit of a scene), or Ferreira.

[Frenchie]

Da Emma, Ferreira and mostly Cavalli are very noisy and way too expensive for the experience they give you. I second Pintxo though...very good and quiet...

[atoz]

hey thank you all very much for your suggestions!

I'll go and check out their menus online right this minute.

[Sam Ottawa]

Other not necessarily french restaurants for a "special" night out would be Brunoise (market cuisine - table d'hote around 45 - 50, so will fit your $80 with a decent bottle of wine) or Ferreira (seafoodbased portuguese, but on the pricier side).

[thomasein]

i would go with Anise. Seems to me to be the perfect solution for you.

[Frenchie]

Anise is a little expensive though... if the $80 per person includes alcohol, it wont work. Although I agree, Anise is delicious!!!

[thomasein]

Well, I would consider Anise in the same price range as Les Chèvres. One can look at their website, anise.ca; a la carte is $45 per person, without dessert. As compared to $47 at Les Chèvres including desert. However, Anise does have a bigger selection of lower priced wines. I think it is a toss-up price-wise.

[Frenchie]

I think L'Épicier and Les Chèvres might do the trick

[atoz]

Yes I've heard a lot of good comments about les Chèvres so I know the food will be good. Is it French food tho? or cuisine du march? (sounds very similar to me...) How is the ambiance? is it intimate?

[Frenchie]

Cuisine du marché and french cuisine are two different things. Although some chefs do use french techniques, the food and the ingredients differ. It is, though, closer to french than it would be from...Indian.;-)

I personnally like the ambiance at Les Chèvres very much, when it comes to a romantic dinner. It's spacious without being over done and it is perfect for a couple.

www.leschevres.com