Alright, as promised, here is my review of Rush...
First of all, the decor, etc in the modern style are superb. Definitely a restaurant to impress a date. Anyhow, I toyed with getting the chef's tasting menu (6 courses - $75), but decided to pass - perhaps, next time. Mrs. Impaler and I each decided to get a salad, soup, main course and dessert, along with a bottle of wine. The cost of said meal was $220 (including tip).
I had the goat cheese salad to start...
Pickled beets, beat sponge. It was very good; nothing spectacular, but very good.
Mrs Impaler had the caesar with proscioutto...
I did not try it, but she said it was excellent...
Next, the soups... Mrs Impaler got the lobster bisque...
I tried this, and it just didn't do it for me - tasted too fishy and was too watery for my liking. She liked it well enough, but just not my thing.
I had the roasted cauliflower veloute...
It was flavoured with truffle, garlic chips and ricotta dumpling... and it was spectacular! The flavours and textures blended wonderfully - I could have just had a bucket of this for dinner. Will definitely have to come back to have again! Mrs Impaler tried it and wished she had ordered it instead of the bisque.
On to the mains... we kept ordering different things for tasting variety... I had the ahi tuna, garnished with root vegetables...
I have to say I'm not a raw fish fan, but decided to try it (to a large extent because Mrs Impaler was considering it and wanted a taste). It was very good, but... unspectacular. One of those things, where I am pleased, but have no desire to order it again. The vegetables/potatoes were savoury, but, on the whole, I probably would have preferred a rib-eye or pork to the tuna...
Mrs Impaler had the gnocchi parisienne...
It was actually quite a large portion and I wound up eating about a 1/3 of it... It was olive, dried tomatoe and goat cheese pesto. It was very good, but really, really heavy - word of advice - if you are not a glutton and want to try this dish, you skip the soup and salad. Again, would classify it as very good, but no reason to order again.
Finally, dessert, and I apologize profusely, but I forgot to snap a photo before we dug in, and decided not to photograph a "ruined" plate.
We both had the triple creme brule - three flavours (espresso, vanilla, and amaretti, with the appropriate cookie and berry garnish). This was superb, the vanilla being the best of the three, but all were fabulous. Definitely worth returning for.
In terms of intangibles, the service was impeccable - our water and wine glasses never got empty, and everything was done quickly and politely. The complimentary valet parking was nice too.
Overall, a very good experience. I was hoping for a bit more of a "wow" factor from the food, though the soup and dessert were indeed special. We will definitely go back and try something else...