Back to the Drawing Board
The grilled rabbit parfait at Czehoski (Toronto) sounded just crazy enough to work. It didn’t. Bland and awkward (fishing rabbit and lentils out of a parfait glass is no easy task), it no longer haunts the menu.

Old Is New
Retro dishes were reappearing on menus this year in refreshingly updated forms. In Vancouver, the funky and affordable little Cassis Bistro is offering both fondue and raclette, while Urban Diner (Edmonton) just sticks to serving traditional fondue. The best throwback dish of the year is from Versa Restaurant-Bar (Quebec City), where they take the carny classic Pogo hot-dog-on-a-stick and update it as a delicious battered organic pork sausage mounted on a fried spaghetti handle.

Tastes Better than It Sounds
Pan-fried scallops with lard served at Garçon! (Montreal).

Tastes as Dull as It Sounds
Pseudo-sushi – vegetables and fruit rolled up in organic brown rice – at The Coup vegetarian restaurant (Calgary).

Bathroom Confidential
The perfect loo would have trough-like sinks like those we admired at Métropolitain Brasserie (Ottawa). And if Karl Lagerfeld ever designed a prison, the washrooms might look like the austere but elegant metal-and-stone ones at Decca77 (Montreal).

Our Home and Native Land
The hottest look in restaurant decor this year is Canadiana chic, from the wood-panelled menus at Version Laurent Godbout (Montreal) and walls at Garçon! (Montreal) to details like the kitsch faux-firewood pile at Ô Chalet (Montreal), pine-tree wallpaper at Jun i (Montreal) and the earthy name of The Laurentian Room (Toronto).

Better than a Doggy Bag
At Version Laurent Godbout (Montreal), which promotes itself as one of Canada’s first boutique restaurants, you can bring home the utensils, the saltcellars, the plates… even the chairs you sit on. Some of the pieces are designed by local Quebec artists and everything’s for sale. They’ll even deliver.

Cheeky Seats
When you spend as much time in restaurants as we do, a good seat is crucial. We especially liked the mauve bucket seats at George (Toronto), but we also got a kick out of the fur-backed seats at Jun i (Montreal) and the cowhide barstools at Ô Chalet (Montreal).

Better than a Treadmill
Somewhat incongruously, a pool table sits behind a small divider separating the dining room from the kitchen at Mirlycourtois (Winnipeg). It does make for a fine way to work off some of the excellent but rich food of chef Bernard Mirlycourtois.

You and the Night and the Music
Short of employing their own DJs, like they do at Cassis Bistro (Vancouver), most restaurants would do well to follow the example of places like Panache (Quebec City) and Le Club Chasse et Pêche (Montreal), where personal iPod mixes provide well-chosen music broadcasts throughout the restaurant. We also enjoyed the eclectic mix at Blue on Water (St. John’s), where Elvis Costello and Spoon played alongside the Gotan Project (a band we expect to hear much more of in restaurants). The Willow on Wascana (Regina) played Neil Diamond with no apparent irony and Fifty Two 80 Bistro & Bar (Whistler, B.C.) spun a French chanteuse’s cover of “Light My Fire.” And, while the singer at the Blue Chair Cafe (Edmonton) wasn’t bad – in an early Tom Waits way – we just wish he’d put some shoes on. We’re eating.