Location:
315 King St West, Toronto
Cost: Winterlicious $15 lunch ($69 for 4)
www.marcels.com
Winterlicious has been extended until Feb 28th, and Marcel's lunch menu was quite tasty for anyone who's still keen on getting on the "Licioustrain".
Here is their lunch menu:
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Soupe du jour
Fresh daily soup
or
Salade maison, vinaigrette balsamique
Mesclun greens with balsamic dressing
or
Terrine de campagne maison
House pâté with crostini
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Filet de sole, sauce Champagne servie avec du riz basmati et légumes de saison
Filet of sole in a Champagne sauce served with basmati rice & seasonal vegetables
or
Filet de porc, sauce moutarde avec pommes purées et légumes de saison
Pork tenderloin in a mustard sauce, mashed potatoes & seasonal vegetables
or
Penne au saumon fumé, sauce rosée
Penne with smoked salmon in a tomato cream sauce
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Crème caramel
A bistro classic
or
Sorbets au choix
Daily choice of fresh sherbet
or
Glace vanille, sauce au chocolat
Vanilla ice cream with hot chocolate sauce
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The soup of the day was Beets and Carrot soup. I love beets so I had to try it. When our server brought our dishes to the table, he quite rudely requested us to move our plates to the side. We were slightly taken aback, but soon forgot about it as we indulged into our appetizers.
The soup was thick and creamy, posing a potential problem for my lactose-intolerancy, but nevertheless, tasty. It had a real "beet-i-ness" to it! 
My friend ordered the House pâté with crostini which she claimed was very good and not as fatty as can be.
For her main, she opted for the pork tenderloin in a mustard sauce, with mashed potatoes and veggies.
The rest of us went for the penne with smoked salmon in a tomato cream sauce. I was assured that there was only a "little bit of cream" in it....
Didn't look that way to me. Aside from eating around the cream sauce, I found the tomatoey chunks of salmon to be very flavourful and overall the dish was fantastic. To be honest, I had to refrain from slurping up the remaining sauce.
For dessert, we all went for the Crème caramel:
I probably should have gone with the sherbet since by this time I was all creamed-out, but it was so cold outside that the idea of crème caramel appealed to me; for some reason I thought it would be warm (?). Also, it's probably listed as a "bistro classic" because it can be made in abundance and kept aside for when it's needed (ie. for a Winterlicious crowd). It was good, but I don't think I am a fan of crème caramel [*shrug*].
All in all, a nice experience at Marcel's...and the rest of our service was totally fine.