Optimistically Cautious: Another Bacon: Skinny Legs and Cowgirls

May and I were late to the party. After most of the city's food critics jumped to review Skinny Legs and Cowgirls (9008 Jasper Avenue) in the spring, we tried valiantly to secure reservations to this "sort of bistro", but the timing was never right. On Tuesday, we finally made it.

Pulling into the parking lot just after five, we more than beat any rush the restaurant might have seen later that night. The dining room was tiny, a total of seven tables occupying the small space. The decor was undoubtedly charming, with a cozy, autumn-perfect color scheme of orange and red running up the walls, continued on the place settings, and in the Chinese lantern stem on each table. However, the room itself was virtually unlit and seemingly unheated, forcing us rely on the tabletop candle as not only the light, but the main heating source as well.

The menu reminded me very much of Bacon (which I visited in June, but have yet to post about) - organic, sparse, and without many dishes that appealed much to my personal taste. Our server explained that all of their plates were built to be shared. Their piece de resistance was the "mixed grill", a platter with several different kinds of meat, including rack of lamb and striploin steak, but priced at a staggering $73, it was something we couldn't stomach on that particular evening.

Instead, we ordered the Chorizo Plate (chorizo sausage sauteed with onions, tomato, cilantro and finished with red wine), and the Franco Pollo (chicken sauteed with spices, onions, tomato, lemon juice and finished with fresh cream). In hindsight, we should have also selected an accompanying carb of some kind, but as the prices of the polenta and rice plates equalled that of the chorizo and chicken items ($15!), we didn't think we would get our money's worth.

With a cool, unobtrusive Sirius Radio station on in the background, dim lighting, and an intimate setting, I could see how Skinny Legs and Cowgirls would make a good date venue. The service was all right, but erred on the side of giving us too much space.

Our food arrived on very stylish rectangular plates, coupled with serving utensils that allowed for easy sharing. Our favorite was the chorizo dish - the sweet tomatoes complemented the savoury sausage slices nicely. The Franco Pollo wasn't bad, but with a thick orange sauce, I had trouble convincing my eyes that I wasn't eating some variation of butter chicken.

While we didn't have a bad experience, May and I agreed that Skinny Legs and Cowgirls wasn't appealing enough to add to our short list of restaurants. Still, I wouldn't mind giving their mixed grill a go some time in the future...just to see what haute meat really tastes like.