For Hamilton, it’s new year, new restaurant. From the dependably delicious restaurant group lead by Jason Cassis and its masthead Aberdeen Tavern, the Diplomat opens on King William to itching anticipation. Where once stood a pioneering hipster bar, Baltimore House, with Victorian furniture, local bands and tasty brews, the elevated dining room is the new home for classic Canadian dishes in a polished setting.
The exposed brick walls flanking each side of the divided dining room are blank and bare save for a timely Star Wars themed Maxell mural. But the plain walls only accentuate the finer details, like the turquoise tiled wall behind the bar and teak-trimmed ‘70s era-inspired chairs; it’s a clean space that’s comforting yet reclusive to the atmosphere and food.
When dinner turns to late night, to the same effect of Radius, the Diplomat, on a recent Friday night, attracted the bi-weekly-haircut, brimming-with-testosterone bros who filled the cacophonous space with mating calls. That’s a trade-off as the new restaurant scene, with steeper prices and steadily less adventurous food prompts the affluent middle class. However, that’s no downturn by any measure.
Only somewhat recently classics like steak tartare and ceviche have been showing up on menus up and down James, Locke and King William. At the Diplomat, there’s a steak tataki that’s executed with classic carpaccio composition – with crispy sesame wafers and sweet matchsticks of juice-bursting Asian pear accentuating and complimenting the untraceably seared slices of tenderloin – that’s drizzled with a teriyaki glaze sending it eastward to Japanese shores. Being the Diplomat, the restaurant’s menu cherry picks traditions of many cultures, especially the Brooklyn tradition of expert cocktails.
The Proud Mary is a riff off a dry Manhattan with brown butter-infused bourbon and banana syrup adding a savoury-sweet dimension. There’s also an earthy-fresh gin concoction with sage called Good Advice. They’re perfect to get things started or carry you through the night. When starting, the crab rangoon is fun, but heed the server’s recommendation of the deviled eggs: they’re luscious, smooth and playfully dusted with sweet and smoky mustard and more peppery sesame crunch.
Dinner speaks volumes to the approachability of a bistro, with a handsome meat-and-potatoes vibe that’s perfect this time of year. The heavily seared cast iron chicken is impressively golden and punched up with smoked root veg while the winter veg biryani is hearty, earth-conscious and Indian inspired. The hen of the woods pasta is an umami bomb that’s an impressionist taste of a deep, dark forest and the better choice if you’re homing in on noodle dishes. The chili crab and sticky pork has hand-cut rice noodles and fluffy lumps of crab, but doesn’t come together as well.
The heritage pork chop doesn’t quite benefit from the mint chimichurri, but it’s still a juicy, expertly salted and perfectly charred chop that earned top bite at the table. With a French-influenced celeriac and blue cheese gratin, it’s meat-and-potatoes meets cosmopolitan class. In a sense, it’s pure culinary diplomacy.
.mike 