odd duck | wine & provisions — Restaurant in Kitchener

I want to start off by saying I'm rooting for the Odd Duck, which recently was recognized by the Michelin guide (and well deserved)! My four star rating is just that I think they're really good, but they could be great.

The staff is wonderful, both personable and knowledgable about the menu and ready to ask questions if they don't know the answers. The restaurant itself is charming too - you have a small store at the front and then pass by an open kitchen before being seated in a comfortable dining area.

I was with a group of 4: my husband, and then another couple he's friends with that I was meeting for the first time. We were told that we should consider 2 dishes per person, and 6-8 for a group like ours with the intention of sharing. I love the chance to get to try many different things, so sharing seemed like the way to go.

With that said, some of these dishes were much more challenging to share than others. We got the fried oyster mushrooms (easy to share), eggplant (easy), leek (difficult), roots (medium), duck (medium), crab & shrimp (hard), and mushroom main (easy). To this point, I would suggest going as a couple or with a friend you're quite comfortable with as the dishes feel easiest shared between 2 and not as large of a group. Minor, I know, but still worth mentioning.

The food itself was delicious. Stand outs to me were their mushroom dishes (both fried and the main), crab & shrimp, and caramel apple dessert. I loved these for being incredibly thoughtful dishes, wherein the star of the dish was never minimized, and other elements brought in textural surprises or nuanced tastes to compliment what was being featured.

The only thing we had that I felt was a miss was the seasonal pumpkin dessert, and for having had 9 dishes with only 1 being a bit lackluster means to me that Odd Duck has 5 star potential!

The things that brought this to a four were the pacing, cutlery, and challenges sharing after it had been suggested we do so. With so many plates, I acknowledge the challenge but sometimes it felt like we were waiting quite a bit of time for the next bite of food. While the staff was attentive and refreshed our plates and silverware multiple times, there were a few dishes (leeks, and duck come to mind) that I wish we would have had a sharper knife. Knowing that we planned to share everything, I also wish that we'd been armed with that sharper knife to help divvy everything up accordingly.

With that said, I would absolutely return to the Odd Duck. I love that they use fresh, seasonal ingredients and do a great job with them. I hope that when I return some of the things that made them a four have been easily remedied and the experience is a...

We were drawn into this place by the reviews first and a promising menu to follow. Once we arrived, we were greeted quickly by the host and rushed to make a decision on whether the 3 of us wanted to sit inside or outside. In fact, the host decided for us. We'd sit inside. After we were seated, we were then greeted by another staff who introduced us to the menus and concept of Odd Duck; the plates are all shareable and we'll want to order about 5 or 6 plates to start. They offer wine pairings and we can use the QR code to browse the wine list/cocktails. Our server would be with us shortly. At a first glance, we can see that the whole place has a very casual 'hipster' vibe to it. This is apparent from the staff and their apparel. It's akin to having brunch in the West end of Toronto in the Junction but the staff just woke up and put on whatever was at their bedside. There is a sole chef cooking and preparing all the food, and he already looked a bit overwhelmed. Our actual server finally arrived and retold us the concept of Odd Duck, emphasizing the shareable nature of their dishes. We proceeded to order 8 items off their menu. Imagine our surprise when each dish that arrived was a micro plate, with way too much much going on. There must have been over 100 different components over 8 plates. I'm very curious how it's possible for the chef to have everything fresh and execute service alone. It makes no sense. Every dish would be more fitting at a fine dining establishment as an individual course. No part of any dish was of a shareable nature at all. To share 5 tortellini's between 3 grown men is comical. Mixing all the components to get some of the dishes to be balanced while trying to share it is impossible. In what world can these dishes be shareable when there were items like aggressively pickled turnip quarters that would have had to be cut and mixed in to share and overly acidic sauces that needed to be mixed in completely to have a chance at balance with no instructions?? The proteins were sad, the portions were small and the only thing that could fix the emptiness of our bellies and the lingering smoked cinnamon from the duck plate was to go home and order a pizza. This restaurant gets 1 star for overcomplicating while underwhelming and failing to deliver in any way, on their promise of fresh...

Inventive and playful fine dining food in a relaxed setting. The plates are great for sharing, but I just ate alone and enjoyed the whole thing myself! Odd Duck is very local/seasonal focused and it's menu constantly changes to reflect this. They are also tip free and pay a living wage to all employees which I love.

I started the night with the Autumn Hash made of parsnip mash with brussels sprouts, radish, parsnip chips, fingerling potatoes and blood orange. The later was surprising but added a great citrus pop that brought the whole dish together perfectly. It was my favorite of the night.

Next was the rabbit 2 ways with fondant potatoes, smoked vegetables and blackberry reduction was good for the most part but the potatoes were a bit undercooked. The smoke veg against the blackberry reduction was great.

Beef shank terrine is not something I would normally order but I was so intrigued by guava beer caramel that I had to try it! The terrine was a bit dense, but the guava beer (it was honestly more of a sauce than a caramel) was a revelation and i found myself just going back to it again and again scraping the plate to get every last drop.

The "Layers" dessert was huge...perhaps to big! I was glad for the generosity but the thickness of some layers made it hard to get all of them in one bite. The top layer of miso brown butter mousse was the best thing I tasted all night. The orange gelee below was a bit too thick and marmaladey and sadly overpowered the above mousse. The white chocolate and brownie layers below were wonderfully decadent. The Orange and Cardamom sorbet packed the perfect punch and was a refreshing offset.

I am not much of a drinker and was happy to see them include a low and no alcohol cocktail list. Casa Pinata's Tepache was a fun discovery. It is fermented pineapple juice much like a kombucha with cloves and cadamom which reminded me a lot of mulled wine. I loved it.

All and all I loved my experience at Odd Duck. While there were some missteps the chefs are obviously exploring and trying new things and that is what I absolutely love. Odd Duck won't be for everyone, but if you love adventurous seasonal cuisine this is the perfect...