Ottawa Foodies

Oh, man. They've added pickled ginger tempura to their roster of available sides. It's killer. And they serve it with a nice little tamarind dipping sauce on the side, for zippy contrast.

Pigs cheeks - Play finally let me try pigs cheeks and they were delightful. Thanks to Mike for keeping on creating great food.
I love the fact when you love a wine you sample at Play, they will tell you how to get it - my home cellar and friends thank you!

Have eaten here on several occasions and have always come out of the restaurant over the moon. The service is amazing and the food is incredible. The tapas style menu lets you try lots of different things and makes it a really great experience for a couple or even a larger group of friends. The food is imaginative, full of flavour and beautifully presented.
Although my husband and I haven't had a chance to enjoy a full night out at Beckta yet, Play is completely affordable and this coupled with the wonderful food and service makes it one of the best places in town for sure. Cannot wait to go back! (Also excited to try Beckta at some point and hope it measures up!)
P.S. You can bring your own wine and have it with dinner for a $15 corking fee.

Came here on Oct 21st for lunch with my husband for our anniversary. I can't believe I forgot to write a review!

I'll do the best I can from memory.

First I want to say that the service was absolutely perfect. It was warm, welcoming, fun but not SO casual that it lost it's sense of professionalism.

Food was really great;

-beet waldorf salad - great flavours, a little TOO much blue cheese for my taste but I'm not the hugest blue cheese fan so someone who likes it more would totally love this.

- gnocchi with mushrooms - I could have eaten about 4 plates of this. The gnocchi was fluffy, the mushroom were succulent... ok now I want to go back and have this for lunch tomorrow...

- onion rings - they were almost paper thin and they had a curry coating. They were really really super fantastic.

- I forget what dessert I got,it might have been the pear coffee cake. That seems like something I would get.

My husband got the salmon gravlax and the scallops with the apple crisp for dessert. He also really enjoyed everything.

I suck at choosing wines so I put that in the hands of our server and was not disappointed.

We will definitely be back next time we have a babysitter!

Pure class Mr. Beckta. If only all restaurateurs were as good... Happy New Year to you as well!

Wow...two reviews on one night. First of all, thank you both for posting Bigmouth and MmmmJ. Thank you also for all of the kind words, but I'm sorry that you didn't enjoy part of your experience Mmmmj. We should have never sent out crostada that was charred or undercooked fish. Some of our plates are better for sharing than others (mixed charucuterie or larger cheese plates), but most are meant to be eaten solo or shared with one or two friends. I would love to try to turn your experience around if you would be open to it. I can be reached directly at sbeckta@beckta.com and I would love to write a great final chapter to this story if you would let me. Again, thanks for all of the feedback, both good and bad. I hope to see you both again soon. Happy New Year!

Had dinner at Play last night. As always, the experience was great.

Between the two of us, we ordered just a few items:
- beef brisket with orange chili marmalade and hot mustard (delish! the beef is served cold to room temperature)
- hangar steak and frites (one of my faves)
- digby scallops (another fave)
- creme brulee (mmmmmmmmm)
- drinks galore

We were seated upstairs. Mr Beckta was around talking to some guests. The only thing I was not fond of is that I still don't think the ventilation for their open kitchen is adequate.

Besides that, the service was exceptional. Our server, CJ, was very sweet and accommodating. Made the night that much more enjoyable.

Visited Play with some girls a couple of weekends ago. To say the least, I was less than impressed with the meal and evening itself.

One of the girls I was with got burnt crostini, and uncooked fish. Simple mistakes that can be avoided, but probably came out an overly busy kitchen. Not an excuse though.

I had the gnocchi and cheese plates which were so-so. The gnocchi was flavourful, but I have made something similar at home which IMO was tastier than the 6 pieces they gave me.

I know it is small plates, but it is hard to share when there are so many people at one table. So it seems everyone just orders one or two items which leaves one wanting more.

The wine pairing seems to be the best thing about this restaurant.

I would not choose to go back on my own, but may be swayed to go back as many of my friends really enjoy this place. Perhaps next time a smaller more intimate group of two or three friends.

I got the braised rabbit pasta with raisins, mushrooms and almonds; the raisins caught me off-guard at first but after another mouthful, I decided it made the dish even more delicious. The sauce was so tasty I had to sop the remainder of it with some bread; my plate was completely spotless by the end of our meal :D

Dropping by Play after work is a habit that I've realized I should definitely develop. A friend and I stopped in for drinks and a little snack last week before diving into our Christmas shopping and we agreed it was probably the best part of the night. We arrived a tad bit early since the kitchens didn't open until 5:30 but with tasty drinks and good company (and watching sugar carmelize on top of an apple slice with a mini torch!), time flew. We both weren't too hungry so we only order one plate each. My friend got the salmon gravlax and thought it was really good ... until she tried my plate (below) and had to say, mine was even better :)

Play's sommelier, Grayson, is the nicest guy. He always goes the extra mile to make us feel welcome, and is extremely adept at providing excellent wine suggestions. He's also quite the comedian, which makes the experience that much more enjoyable.

My friend's pavlova. I tried some and thought it was excellent!

The cookies I ordered for dessert. They were good, but I prefer crispy-chewy cookies. These were very shortbread-y. As Fresh Foodie always says "my problem, not theirs" :)

From left to right - lemon poppyseed, chocolate chunk, lemon sugar.

I'm a big chocoholic as well so wouldn't have complained if there were more chocolate chunks in the chocolate chunk one ;)

My french toast.

I had no idea that Play does brunch, but there you go. Went on Sunday with a friend and was really impressed! The prices are reasonable, great atmosphere in the middle of the Market, and the food was amazing. I spent $30 with tax and tip and got:

a large pot of tea
fruit & yoghurt parfait with homemade (delicious cinnamon-honey) granola
banana bread french toast with homemade nutella
SIX cookies

Everything was amazing, but I have to say my friend's pancakes won the morning hands down. I don't normally eat pancakes (find them mushy and tasteless), but these were crisp on the outside and had the most amazing buttery flavour.

Attached - picture of the omgyum pancakes.