Fancy Dinner at HOB NOB restaurant & wine bar

On one of our recent visits to the Niagara region, we dinnered at the HOB NOB restaurant located within the Charles Inn.  Like many of the other restaurants in the region, they serve farm-to-table cuisine using fresh ingredients found in the area and this definitely makes a big difference!

The Charles Inn is a mansion located along the main street of Niagara-on-the-Lake.  This area of the city reminds me of Main Street Unionville; filled with boutiques and historical buildings/structures that have been left intact. The exterior of the hotel was very picturesque and fit right in with the other shops and houses on the street. The restaurant itself was very cozy and we were seated in the main dining area by one of the windows overlooking the street.

Amuse-bouche
Cold asparagus soup

The waitress brought around a small portion of cold asparagus soup to start off our meal.  While I'm generally used to having hot soup, this was very refreshing on a hot summer day.

Hand Rolled Potato Gnocchi ($15)
Confit chicken, maitake mushrooms, dried cherry tomatoes, Niagara Gold & parmesan cream, parmesan tuile

The hand rolled gnocchi came highly recommended by our waitress and it did not disappoint!  While the dish looked rather small, it was extremely filling. The crunchiness of the parmesan crisp, the tangy dried tomatoes, and the savoury chicken each complimented the subdued flavour of the gnocchi well.

Grilled Tenderloin of AAA Ontario Beef ($38)
Yukon gold croquette, asparagus, creamed spinach, herbed hollandaise, simple jus

As per my request, the steak was cooked to medium and this was executed perfectly.  The meat was very succulent and moist.  While I am generally not a fan of hollandaise sauce, I did not mind having this on my steak at all!  The steak came with a large portion of creamed spinach and asparagus. The Croquette was potato mash goodness enveloped in a crispy panko shell.

Pan Seared Atlantic Salmon ($26)
Red quinoa fritter, baby bok choy, sunchoke puree, crisp fried sunchokes, caper beurre blanc

The atlantic salmon was also no slouch - the skin was seared to a golden brown, crispy and packed with flavour. The flesh was cooked just right (possibly by sous vide?) with plenty of flavour and little to no fishiness. Delicious fish aside, I believe the unsung star of this dish is the red quinoa fritter! Like the croquette from the other dish, the red quinoa fritter was also lightly battered with bread crumbs.

We will most certainly come back during our next visit to the Niagara region!