Ottawa Foodies

And, finally, crème fraîche crème brulée with coconut.

Love those extra-wide ramekins. Good for accumulating crust.

The crust was great, and the tanginess of the crème fraîche marries well with the fruit and coconut, not to mention the crust itself.

Here's the dessert that my gal and I shared: Flourless chocolate "beast" with strawberry coulis and espresso whipped cream.

Probably a good one to split, since it is dense as all-get-out. Tasty.

We each got a glass of Otima 10-year tawny Port to go with it, which rounds things out spectacularly. Everybody should have a bottle of tawny Port and a bottle of Southbrook Framboise in their cupboard, in case some chocolate shows up unexpected.

Final main (sorry for the blurriness): pork tenderloin with lentils, beet greens, and . . . oh, I forget. I wasn't eating it.

Loin done to perfection, and the lentils were similar to the ones that I got with my meal the last time I was there. Red-wine vinegar and stuff? Mmmmm.

Vegetarian main: cauliflower fritters with quinoa, apricot, date, and tomato.

Really nice cauliflower. Quinoa is a good stand-in for cous-cous in this Moroccan-type preparation, since it's got the added nuttiness and mouthfeel that couscous doesn't have.

Here's my main: strip steak with spiced fingerlings, green beans, and sauce choron.

A lighter alternative to steak frites. Good portion size, and the beans were cooked just right.

Internet tells me that sauce choron is a béarnaise that has cooked, diced tomato in it. One of the secrets apparently is to cook the tomato until the liquid's all but evaporated, so that you don't dilute the sauce.

It was delicious, and I'd drink it by the jug if I could.

Main: halibut with truffle oil-infused beans, lardons, baby zucchini, and veal jus glaze (?)

Flaky fish, and a good dose of truffle oil in the beans. If there's one thing that I've learned about the Wellington Gastropub, it's that they do enjoy their bean sides. That isn't a complaint. I frigging love beans.

Appetizer: Tomato salad with goat cheese and a whole stack of other things that I can't remember.

There was also a red pepper soup with pistou, but I didn't get a good picture of it.

Went to the Wellington Gastropub last Thursday for . . . actually, I don't think there was a reason other than "man it's been a while since we ate here."

Delicious Art-Is-In bread. The baguette-type one struck me as being particularly friggin' delicious. Toothsome and a bit nutty.

Served with a dish of olive oil-balsamic and a dish of fine sea salt.

It's simply one of the best place in Ottawa: nice decor, superb foods, good wines, friendly staff, great beers. They put their hearts and souls in what they do!

We showed up here Wednesday night without reservations and the place was just booming! I was amazed, gratified, and worried that we'd never get a table. It took a little bit of juggling by Shane one of the owners, but after 5 minutes he did manage to clear something for five. Two of us were there already and the other 3 were yet to come.

It would be almost a half hour before the other 3 showed up, and when they did, they'd said they'd been waiting at the top of the stairs for 20 minutes . So as glad as I was to get a table without a reservation, it seems they have some work to do in situations like this to get the logistics straight.

The food was fantastic all round. I just had a salad and the lentil and bacon soup, since I'd already eaten. The rest of my party each had a main course and all of us were extremely satisfied with our meal. The bread you get beforehand is especially spectacular!

While not really a comment on beer from this vendor, I just had to respond to FF's comments on Guinness. If you don't like the relative harshness of Guinness, you should head over to Ireland. The Irish all swear it doesn't travel well, and I thought they were full of it. But it's true. Guinness in Ireland is as you describe: heavy, dark, but smooooooooth and creamy. It's just the perfect drink. Though "perfect" is a dangerous word when talking about taste.

The really big Irish fans insist it has to be sampled in Dublin, near the brewery, as even trucking it to the outer counties reduces the quality. This might be going a little too far, so to speak.

I really enjoyed the Amsterdam Two-Fisted Stout (presumably from Toronto's Amsterdam brewing company). Although the waiter "warned" me that it's dark like Guinness, this beer is the way Guinness *should* be. Heavy and dark, but with a smooth and delicious flavour. No overpowering bitter burnt flavours like Guinness... A pint of Guinness is too much (hence the existence of Black and Tan). A pint of this Two-Fisted Stout is spot on!

The only downside of their beer selection is that the other four draught choices tonight were all yellow beers: three lagers and one pale ale. The beers I love most always seem to be red (or at least orange).

The owners took a broad range of input when coming up with the beer menu, including the opinion of some local craft brewers. They serve an excellent selection of Ontario Micro Brews and British Ales which attracts beer geeks from all around the Ottawa Valley. Definitely go here for the beer.

I sampled a glass of the Shingleback Shiraz (South Australia) and enjoyed its sweetness and complex fruitiness. I'm generally one to sip my wine between courses rather than with the food, so this worked out well. Unlike most wines it even went well with dessert. Anyways, I have yet to meet an Australian Shiraz I don't like.

They have an extensive selection of wines by the glass here, so if you like to sample a few different ones it's a great place to be!

Success!

I believe it was "beef tartare with crostini and truffle oil" on the menu.

Generous portion, marries well with their "house"-level Pinot. Were I to make it at home I'd probably boost the acidity a bit (maybe more capers?), but this was full of beefy goodness.

We've had the steak tartare here. We thought it was very tasty, and the portion was quite large (so large that, had I been eating it alone as a starter, I would have been too full for my main -- but, perfect for sharing).

I can't give unilateral "yay" or "nay" on the steak tartare here yet, because it wasn't available on the menu when I went. They did, however, make some up for me right special. It was good, but I'm not sure if it was the recipe they normally use.

I hear they make the ice cream in house. Every time we've been there, we've lucked out since they made peanut butter ice cream on those occasions! Delicious!

For 7 bucks you get 3 small scoops of exquisitely delicious gourmet ice cream. Extremely yummy!