With hundreds of restaurants taking part in Winterlicious, deciding on which one to try can get difficult. I still remember when Winterlicious started in 2003 as a response to SARs, there were a few dozen options. Oh, how times have changed.

One restaurant that’s participated since the beginning is Jump. Their three-course dinner ($55) continues to attract diners with the plethora of options and relatively low price point. And their central location in the Financial District makes it a great option for pre-theatre or sporting event dinners.

In fact, the catalyst for my return was a pre-show dinner at the Meridian Centre. In the mood for a “classic” meal, I started with the Caesar salad that’s made with a base of romaine and kale. I recommend ordering it lightly dressed as it was much too salty, especially with the generous sprinkling of bacon crumbles. Thankfully, the Parmesan focaccia croutons were left neutral, although they were stale and hard.

Knowing that the 6oz coulotte steak is a tougher cut of sirloin, I lowered my expectations that it wasn’t going to be a juicy tender steak. And while I did find it a bit chewy, the beef was flavourful and thankfully my piece didn’t have much of a fat cap, so it was entirely edible. Cooked to a decent medium rare, the accompanying scallion whipped potatoes were silky and roasted broccolini crisp. And there was plenty of au jus and chimichurri to flavour.

The spiced apple crumb cake was fluffy and moist with plenty of diced apples baked into the cake. It was a satisfying finish, not overly heavy with a ginger crème anglaise for an added creaminess.

My friend had to get their white chocolate cheesecake ($14), which isn’t part of Winterlicious but considered a signature dessert for Jump. The cheesecake is wrapped in phyllo pastry then topped mulled cranberries. It needed more than one layer of the pastry to provide textural contrast, and it was disappointingly served cold. I’m told it’s usually a lot better, served hotter so it’s crispy outside and cool and creamy at the centre.

Looks like Jump was too focused on Winterlicious. Ultimately, I had a quintessential classic Financial District meal. While it didn’t blow me away, it was still satisfying and a great start to the evening.

Don’t we all like a great comeback story? A situation when things are spiraling downwards, then out of no where it turns around ending with victory! That’s a bit how my experience at Little Sister Portland played out.

We visited for their Winterlicious prix fixe ($45 per person) and was seated at the worst booth on the main floor: above us was an air vent blowing cold air (in the winter) and beside us was a speaker blasting music. Needless to say, we were shivering and shouting.

Luckily, before we ordered, the booth behind emptied. When asked if we could shift over, we initially received pushback from the hostess but bar manager, Robin Wynne, heard the exchange and stepped in to help facilitate the transfer. Hurray! We can now enjoy the music and I’m no longer a popsicle.

And boy did we enjoy the music – a combination of 90s and millennium hits that hadn’t been over played, yet still popular enough to bring back a sense of nostalgia.

For someone who loves vegetables but dislikes salads in the winter, the charred green bean salad was perfect. The charred beans provided a smoky aroma studded with sweet peas and fragrant pops of lime leaf and lemon grass. Despite not having much of a sauce, the vegetables were well flavoured from the herbs and a mellow heat from the chilis.  

The sapi bakar is Little Sister’s steak frites with an Indonesian Dutch twist. A hefty portion flank steak gets marinated in a spicy and sweet soy marinade and then crusted with a lime leaf and galangal sauce. The beef was flavourful and cooked to a decent medium rare.

If only the kitchen took the time to double fry the rendang-spiced fries they would be hotter and less dry. Oh well, at least there was a bit of crunch. They did pair nicely with the fresh tomato and red pepper sambal, which tasted like juicy spicy ketchup.

While I stuck with my own meal – a safety measure during the winter to avoid getting sick – sharing works best at Little Sister. Dishes are so flavourful that a few bites are generally satisfactory, and the portion sizes generous enough to go around. Even their Indonesian spiced cake arrives as two slices. The fluffy dessert topped with whipped cream and sitting in a lovely pineapple rum sauce.