Haven Wine + Cheese Bar offers a minimalistic yet unique selection of dishes, providing a special experience for its customers with the diverse flavors that each dish provides. The bar provides cozy indoor and outdoor seating areas with lively music and a bright atmosphere, making it a great spot for friends to gather together and enjoy its delicious menu.
Bruschetta: 8/10 ($15.00)
With a classy and neat presentation, the bruschetta is just as good as it looks. Served as three pieces of sourdough topped with pears, prosciutto, chili crunch, Gorgonzola cheese, and a drizzle of honey, the flavors perfectly blend together to create a sweet and crispy sensation. The dish is a clear work of precision, and overall, it all comes together nicely. However, the Gorgonzola has quite a prominent flavor, which slightly dominates the rest of the sweet and savory flavors of the bruschetta.
Cauliflower Bisque: 6/10 ($15.00)
Like the bruschetta, the cauliflower bisque is well plated, with a slice of sourdough bread and a drizzle of truffle oil to top it off. The consistency of the soup is satisfyingly smooth, and the cauliflower effectively balances the flavors. But the strong flavor of the sourdough sharply contrasts the milder flavors of the soup and overpowers the dish as a whole. The bread mutes the already mild flavor of the incredible soup, and should have been excluded or substituted for another type, such as brioche or focaccia.
Chef’s Special: 4/10 ($29.00)
This dish, served with melty cheese, porcini cream, wild mushrooms, slick cavatelli, and a drizzle of truffle oil, has a mouth-watering presentation. The mushrooms embedded throughout the pasta add a nice texture and kick, but the cheese is the dish’s downfall. After only one bite of the pasta, the cheese creates an overwhelming saltiness subtracts from the savoury notes of the truffle oil and porcini cream. This leaves the dish too salty for one to even finish, ruining the pasta’s delicious flavors.
Kielbasa Plate: 6/10 ($27.00)
The kielbasa meal is presented in an organized manner, featuring a juicy, sizzling sausage accompanied by a potato and fennel salad, juicy pickled vegetables, tangy mustard, and a crispy baguette. Overall, the dish is average and lacks any outstanding flavor. The components also lack freshness, tasting pre-heated, which detract from its authenticity.
Matcha Cream Cheese Mousse: 7/10 ($13.00)
The matcha cream cheese mousse comes in an adorable little bowl, the dish having layers that each provide a different surprise of flavors. The thick matcha mousse resides at the bottom, the silky strawberry gastrique sauce above it, then comes the crunchy cocoa nib cookie crumble, and, lastly, the soft strawberry compote rests on top. The fruity flavors of the strawberry blend perfectly with the matcha mousse. The crunchy chocolate-flavored nibs add a perfect contrast between the soft and smooth textures of the strawberry sauce and mousse.
Yet, the consistency of the mousse is a bit too thick, making it slightly difficult to scoop from the bowl, and the strawberry compote is a somewhat unnecessary add-on. While its fruity flavors are lovely, the mushy texture doesn’t blend well with the rest of the dessert, making the overall flavors unbalanced and somewhat off-putting. Overall, it is a truly wonderful dish that blends its flavors together remarkably well, despite the lack of harmony between certain textures and consistencies.
