Sharing food has a good rep for good reasons – enjoyable company, the opportunity for conversation, and the ability to try more dishes are three that immediately spring to mind. Sometimes, though, it’s nice to roll into a restaurant, plunk down at the bar (our seating preference, if available) and decompress by spending some intimate, one-on-one time with your meal, focusing on flavours, ingredients and execution, without social distraction. The Mackenzie Room gets this. Hence their new ‘Riding Solo’ set menu…

That the Railtown restaurant best known for their four-person-minimum “I Want It All” menu would come up with a one-person edit of this plan is genius. The new menu ($85) will get you well-fed with five “sized-for-one” courses from their rotating chalkboard menu. Although, as per The Mackenzie Room’s usual MO, you can expect dishes included in the menu to fluctuate according to the seasonal availability of ingredients, here’s an idea of what to expect if you’re planning on “riding solo” in the near future:

• Sashimi Not — king salmon, fennel cream, calamansi, serrano
  Zucc I Am Your Father
  Trout Kraut Sprout — steelhead, cauliflower, coconut
  Of Bison Men — bison, spinach, potatoes, mushrooms, shallots
  Rhubarbra Streisand — strawberry, pistachio, tarragon

No stigma is hidden in the fine print. Only a regular-sized appetite and a love of good food are required. Lock in your reso for one here.

The Mackenzie Room

Neighbourhood: Downtown East Side

415 Powell St.

604-253-0705

WEBSITE