Terre Rouge Restaurant — Restaurant in Markham

TL;DR - Five star service / 2 star meal (at best) / two star value.

Longer review because these price ranges come with elevated expectations.

Have always been wary of "French" restaurants, and even more so when it's like this one... "Modern French". Why? Because it basically screams "$50+ for two bites of food" and "we're not really French cuisine, just French sounding". Granted, I'd be okay with it if they were the best things I've ever eaten/tasted but as you know, that is hardly the case for 95% of the time.

Despite my gut instinct, I reserved a table tonight to celebrate our anniversary as we didn't want to go all the way downtown. Plus, I had been curious about this restaurant having passed it numerous times during the summer and wanted to go on their patio. Before reserving, I did look at the menu and many items sounded delicious. Unfortunately, many of the dishes did taste better in my imagination than their actual food...

Appetizers: Escargot; Lobster and crab cake; Baked Oysters Au Gratin. Would have ordered their Thursday special which was 'unlimited $1 oysters' but they sold out by the time of our reservation (8:15pm). Nothing to write home about for any of these. Flavour was mild for all and the baked oysters were tiny. Lobster and crab cake was decent but you aren't missing out.

Mains: Lobster tail with squid ink pasta; Steak au Poivre (10oz striploin w/ peppercorn sauce); upgraded to Truffle Frites and also added a side of lobster tail.

The pasta was actually good and the only thing we can recommend without hesitation. Priced reasonably at $39 since the lobster tail was a decent size, unlike the side... Which was $28!! Do you see the size?? Laughably small, barely bigger than a lime wedge. If you think those two pieces next to the steak are jumbo shrimp, you are sorely mistaken... that's the 'lobster tail'. I hope their jumbo shrimp is larger than that. If you STILL want to add a side of lobster tail as you're reading this, you may as well spend an extra $11 and order the pasta instead. I have never seen lobster tails smaller than jumbo shrimps / prawns. They were cooked well, but horrifically overpriced.

"Truffle Frites"... Don't even bother. No truffle flavour whatsoever, but server was nice enough to not charge after we informed her. The 'frites' are essentially Costco style fries, but quadruple the price. Good, but again, overpriced. Funny thing, if you look at the picture of their frites on the outside, they look nothing like what they serve.

Steak... Ordered medium rare and got it medium. I asked the server to ask the chef if it looked medium rare. They cooked a new one... And it came out rare... But at that point, I was too hungry to wait for a third. Not juicy at all. I'm sure you can cook a better one at home.

Dessert: Coconut creme brulee. Finally, something else we can recommend. Portion was sharable between us. You can taste the coconut and wasn't too sweet. Plus the fresh fruit was a nice complement to it.

Ambiance: 'Nice' place - first-date appropriate, lol. Smaller than I expected though and quite noisy on the main level. I asked to be moved upstairs because that's where the only guest washrooms are located (my wife is pregnant and those stairs would have been a nightmare to take multiple times). Pretty sure they can be subject to an accessibility lawsuit...

Service: Our server was Yusi and she was fantastic! Very attentive, friendly, and understanding when we gave our feedback about the food. If not for her, I'd easily give a 1* rating.

Overall, at these price ranges, I would have been better off choosing Milestones across the street. Oh, and don't bother filling out the 'special occasion' section when reserving, they didn't acknowledge or...

French-inspired Comtempotary fine dining option came to Markham! Right beside the Markham VIP theatre. Chef Forrest Liu is a young talented chef who the chef at Carmen’s Steakhouse for couple years and When he was there, Carmen used to be my go-to fine dining place in Downtown. Super happy for him to open his own restaurant! The meal begins with the classic accompaniments of well-toasted garlic bread, kosher pickles, kalamata olives and creamy cottage cheese spread. Here are some of my all-time favourites:

Spicy Steak Tartare: Usually I'm quite picky about raw beef as tartare often has very high requirement of the meat quality with very impressive sauce, or else, it will be plain. Terra’s Steak Tartare is one of its dish that I wish I would have more: the size of the chop is just about right that it would not be too big that you feel the meat is loose or it will not be too small that you feel like you are swallowing minced beef. You can taste each piece of the Canadian Prime Tenderloin with Quail Egg and a very subtle sour vege (I haven't figured out which vege it is - I will guess it is mixed with a hint of aioli) which brings out the sweetness of the beef very naturally. The spiciness is also very unique amongst all beef tartare and a perfect fusion match!

Miso Black Cod: the key to grilled black cod is the sweetness, tenderness, and the creaminess, and Terra got all three of them! Every bite just melted once the fish touches your tongue and the taste of miso distinguish it from any other Black Cod. The Spinach Risotto uses overnight slowly-cooked chicken broth as base (or else it won't have the savoury flavour) and the saltiness matches perfectly with the sweet black cod (maybe a bit too salty for me, just a small recommendation). You can also get the Black Cod as a main on the regular menu.

Canadian Prime Ribeye: this is one of the recommended main entree that represents the name of the restaurant. Generally speaking, it is cooked a bit over than the normal standard. That is because the outside is quickly fried such that it is crispy outside and tender inside, and this is what makes the steak special. I would say the steak is not as exessively impressive after trying out their amazing selections of appetizers. It is definitely fining dining performance for the couple of times I tried.

45 Day Dry Aged New York USDA Prime Striploin. This was introduced last year as a selling point because it is usually aged for 28 days but Forest decided to do 45 days for a more flavourful steak. But I think it is salty again without adding any additional spice to it. The tenderness and flavour were both fantastic. (As you can tell, I'm pretty tired typing right now and this review took me so long to finish = = but it's worth it!!! XD)

Out of the four different kinds of desserts that I've tried: Coconut Creme Brulee, Chocolate Decadence Cake, 50 Shades of Soy, and the Osmanthus Cheesecake, with the first two are still available on the main menu but the last two are only tasting menu and seasoanl offering; my favourite is the coconut creme brulee which has a thick layer of crusted peanuts (or other nuts) on top of the traditional french recipe. The Chocolate Decadence Cake is made with coffee creme, anglaise, and vanilla ice-cream, and it's definitely a pleasure for a sweet tooth. I sugguest Forrest should also make the 50 Shades of Soy from the tasting menu to the main menu (essentially Soy Panna Cotta, made with Shortbread Crumble and Black Sesame Ice-cream), which I really liked from the...

It’s rare for me to write such a review but felt it’s worth sharing. Made a reservation and requested 2nd floor for a quieter environment if there’s space. When arrived, we were seated on 1st floor right behind the speakers above our heads. Had to ask server (the only one there, the person whom help made the reservation on the phone and probably the manager) to turn down the volume and even himself agree it was too loud as he had a difficult time hearing me. When I went to the 2nd floor for the washroom there was not a single customer up there which seem they didn’t care about my reservation request on the phone. Can understand it would be difficult going up and down the stairs being the only serve there but he should have said something in advance, especially since I phone him an hr before arriving to remind the restaurant about our request. Nothing was said about that the entire time we were there. Food quantity was ok, it was edible without complain but nothing to be excited about, similar to a low end bistro that normally charge 25% less in price and offer much more in volume. Half the main menu (brunch) was not available on weekday. Had to ask for bread for the escargot and steak tartare but it never came. We ate half the steak tartare as is without bread after waiting 20/30mins and asking the serve several times. Water was never refill. Had a difficult time finding the chicken in the chicken pasta. Asked to upgrade to truffle fries and didn’t mind paying the extra but got regular fries. Order 2 bone marrow and was charged 3. Called in and was mentioned to give full credit card information over the phone for a refund. Went back to restaurant to get a refund for the extra charge. Then server told me for reservation they require 18% tip, suggesting to leave him more tip after receiving the extra charge for the bone marrow refund. Gave him 30 in tip at time of bill for cutting 3 steaks for us. Told him about our experience, he said nothing and I left. It’s a shame because the location is convenient and wanted the visit here more often. It’s not real fine dining and not a relaxing cozy family restaurant. Given the service provided to my family, atmosphere on 1st floor, lack of authentic French taste from France, lack of flavour complexity of food and volume of food to price ratio, don’t see the value of returning beside being...