Ottawa Foodies

Since I had a dinner function here a couple of years ago, been meaning to come back for dinnner again but have only made it here for lunch last year.

Went there for dinner with my sister. Wed night is when the have the 4 course special with a bottle of wine for $99.95 per couple. My sister is a vegetarian and when I called for reservation they said it should not be an issue and the chef(s) can do something special.

The 4 course menu for today was
* shrimp ceviche with lemon cream
* mushroom veloute with truffle oil
* Pork loin with carmalized ?, potato puree
* chocolate pot of creme

For vegetarian they did
* chef's salad
* apple and jerusalem articoke soup
* ricotta and pumpkin ravioli
* chocolate pot of cream.

There is a choice of a bottle of white wine, a bottle of red wine or $25 credit toward other choices. The white was stoney creek Chardonnay 2010 I think or red wine - a Portugese one which I did not catch. Was never a fan of Portugese reds although had some vino verde a long time ago and they were okay. Not very much of white wine drinker these days but more reds. With my sister not much of a driker due to allergies except for ice wines, the server suggested that they do wine pairing for mine and bring a small glass of ice wine for my sister with dessert.

Service was very good starting with the sourdough bread, drinks/wine pairing and all the courses.

All the food were very good and well cooked although nothing was what I consider spectacular. Definitely a decent evening out with a good meal in a nice surrounding and pretty decent deal for around $105 plus tax and tip.

2

I took my parents there for lunch to celebrate their anniversary about 2 weeks ago. Been traveling and busy so had not had a chance to review it. I choose this since the dining room was very nice and the food is very good quality and tasty and I had great service on a previous visit. Also my Mom went with my sister to my business school graduation just south of paris a while back so thought she might enjoy it.

When I tried to make a reservation online there were no space for my preferred day. I called to check and asked if a table can be available if one arrive at opening at 11:30 and would likely finish around 1:00pm so they can seat another table. I normally would not have double check but the patio had additional seatings which I don't think they figure in for reservations in case the weather prevent it from being used. The person taking the call checked and called back and said I was confirmed for lunch.

The menu for the week was

Seared salmon sashimi salad,
arugula, Ponzu vinaigrette
or
Classic potato and leek soup,
double smoked bacon foam, crispy leeks
• • •
Confit duck leg,
white bean cassoulet, seasonal vegetables
or
Atlantic cod, clams, chowder
• • •
Red wine poached pear, chocolate cremeux, orange foam

When seated, the seasoned server that was great a few weeks ago quickly came with the menu and another came with bread and butter. It was a crusty polane bread if I remember correctly. Not fresh from the oven and warm but tasty. There seem to be a few more students serving in the dining room, likely due to it being busy.

My mom choose the potato and leek soup and both my dad and I choose the salmon sashimi salad to start. My dad loves salmon but not into raw fish so I asked if it can be cooked more then just seared. Timing was a little off since the soup came about 4 or 5 minutes before the salad so my mom started eating while we waited. She really enjoyed the potato and leek soup with the bacon foam.

The salmon salad came but the student server was not sure which was the well done one and which was just seared and both looking as if they were medium rare to medium. Upon the question, she took it back to ask and returned saying one was the cooked but that looked more rare then the other so she may have gotten it mixed up so we end up requesting it swapped around. The salmon was good but the ponzu vinaigrette was a bit too salty.

My mom as expected choose the duck and cassoulet but surprisingly my dad choose that also. I selected the cod with chowder.

The duck confit with the white bean cassoulet was pretty substantial. Both of them really enjoyed it but thought the portion was larger then they would eat so insisted on giving me some to taste. The duck confit was well done and the cassoulet was very tasty althought I would have preferred the bean slightly more cooked. The cod came with 4 clams and some chowder. I discretely passed them some cod and a clam each to taste. It was nice but the duck confit and the cassoulet was the winner.

the poached pear was nice but surprisingly my dad really liked the orange foam over the chocolate cream. I thought he was a chocoholic like me lol..

Service was prompt and friendly but not as seamless as previous visit but I understand that since they are training chefs and giving them experieince serving too. When the seasoned server came with the bill as requested and asked how it was, I said we enjoyed the duck and cassoulet but I mentioned that they were not sure about which salmon was well done and who it was for and had to ask. I know it was special request but since this is a training environment, I wanted to provide some feedback. She said it was noted on the order but guess the communication got lost in the kitchen but she will followup.

Overall a very tasty and pleasant meal in an historical house with good to excellent service.

Sorry was with my parents and did not want to embarrase them so no pics

While I was there at Le Cordon Bleu, looked at their leaflet about demo and demo/practical courses. When I was living in Paris, I went to some demos at Le Cordon Bleu and it was a lot of fun.

Demo/practical is $275 for 1 day (cannot remember pricing for multiple day courses) but you can do the demo only for $60. uhmm I been missing the nice breakfast pastries from paris so maybe I will do the one for croissant, etc.

1

The watermelon carpaccio was not a success and the pomegranate gelato was meh but the passionfruit gelato was excellent.

I would have preferred a coupe de glace with 2-3 scoop of the passion fruit gelato.

Did not feel like wine even though they had chablis and pouilly fuisse by the glass. What what looked to be decent California wine available by the glass too..

Being a nice summer day, I asked if they had ice tea but they only had sweetened Nestea stuff which is pretty nasty. Asked what they had in terms of tea selection, if one can be made into an unsweetened ice tea. The lemon mint sounded good but I choose the white ginger peach since it is a little unusual. The server was nice enough to offer to brew it for a bit before pouring it into a glass with ice and some lemon. Great customer service.

Only issue on the ice tea is I asked for Splenda but they gave me sweet and Low.. For a class act like Le Cordon Bleu, they should have a selection of white sugar, raw sugar, and different type of sweeteners.

I think sometimes the students help out in kitchen or dinning room as experience. The main server was very experienced and she was excellent looking after a lot of guest with some occassional help from a younger girl that might have been a student and someone that is experienced and helps out when a lot need to come out. Seems that some of the guest came before since one at the next table (with the baby) was mentioning the strawberry gazpacho and creme brulee from other week(s).

The house Le Cordon Bleu is very nice and there are several smaller private rooms in additon to the main dining room and the bar room. There is also a very nice patio where I found out about halfway through my lunch when a couple decided to dine outside and exited by a door in the dining room. It has a nice view of the fountain and the garden but also see a little bit of the construction on Laurier.

Bill was $28 plus tax so with a 20%+ tip it was $38. Overall a very good meal.

2

I have been on a fish and seafood kick for over a month now.. I choose the rainbow trout for the main course. Was a little tempted with the NY Steak salad.

The rainbow trout was a decent sized filet with nicely crisped skin. I would have preferred it to be slightly more seasoned with more pepper and maybe a bit more salt if the creamed corn was not a touch overly seasoned with salt. The seasonal veggies were asperagus and zuchinni but a bit misleading since asperagus is not really in season any more. I think it would have been more appropriate to have green beans or something else rather than the asperagus.

I see a lot of people with the NY Steak salad and it looked very good. The steak was thinly sliced with greens and dressing.

The lobster bisque was excellent. Only tiny fault is I found a tinsy bit of lobster cartilage in the foam between the croutons. The flavour is very deep and flavourful but not heavy like the one I had in Provincetown on my trip.

Sorry I took a bite of the crouton befere remembering to take a picture.

Most of the people during the lunch service were having the lobster bisque.

Le Cordon Bleu Bistro @ Signatures is the new name that combines
* Bistro Cordon Bleu (lunch Wed-Fri) and
* Signatures by Le Cordon Blue (dinner Wed-Sat).

Trying to look into options for a good celebration meal next month for my parents anniversary. Options are dinner, lunch or brunch.

Had dinner here last year and looking to try lunch to see how it compares. Lunch is a 3 course menu for $26 with
2 choices for appetizer,
2 choices for entree and
single option for dessert.

The menu is different each week and the menu for the month is displayed on the website starting at the end of the previous month.

The choice this week are
1. Lobster bisque, cream friche, brioche crouton
OR
Papaya Salad with Taro chips
2. NY Steak Salad
OR
Rainbow Trout, creamed corn, seasonal veggies
3. Watermelon Carpaccio with passion fruit and Pomengranate geleto

When you arrive, fresh baguette slices comes out in a basket with butter mixed with apples and caramelized onions. The baguettes were fresh and still warm and I ate one and half basket of the baguette before asking them to remove it please...

The Bistro Cordon Bleu for lunch and Bistro Cordon Bleu @ Signatures for dinner are both open Wednesday now.

Our alumni group meet there Friday night end of September there for dinner.

The service was very good and we had a nice leisurely meal. With a 3 bottles of wines (1 white and 2 red) and 3 course a la carte selection for each plus tax and tip came out to be around 90 dollar.

I had escargot, slow cooked lamb and cream brulee and all were excellent. Others all said their main course were very good to excellent.. Tuna starter was very popular and a lot went for lamb, steak or rabbit.

When the pinot grigio someone choosen was out of stock, the sommeliar substituated a more expansive french dry white at no extra charge.

They have a very good promotion for 4 course menu without wine for $59 and with wine for $80 but only 2 of us were up to the full menu so end up going a la carte.

The Bistro is now open on Wednesday and they are running a special for Cctober of 4 course menu with wine for $89 a couple.. $45 pp would be an excellent price for that deal.. wish I had someone to go with lol..

1

I have highly recommended this place to my friend last year and my friend had their company's Christmas dinner at Bistro Cordon Bleu this year. The dinner was very bad! Once I get a chance to upload the photos, I will share our experience. The food portion was a bit ridiculous and the service was good in the beginning and then our server disappeared and we had to pour wine ourselves. Anyway, I removed my "thumbs-up" rating.

If you like old-school approach to cuisine, this is the place for dinner (available from Thur through Saturday only). Note that their dinner is prepared by chefs and not students (only lunch is prepared by students).

Each dish was beautifully presented together with excellent professional service. Compared to the menu price at Perspectives, Le Cafe, Aroma and others, their menu price is relatively a good deal for what you get.

One good thing I like a lot is how the tables are arranged. Each table is not closely adjacent to each other. The environment is quiet and is very suitable for a romantic dinner.

Our pumpkin soup was perfect and delicious! I can have another plate of this soup.

Ashley the dessert in question looks like tarte tatin

openfaced caramelized apple tart

I can't remember the name of this dessert (but you should know what it is from the photo). The server told me that this dessert needed an extra 10 minutes of preparation. I told her that I always had patience for good dessert.

I can't remember what that was. Something like puffy pastry with a variety of ice cream in between. My friend told me that it was delicious as it looked.

Bravo to the pastry chef here!

My husband's chocolate mousse accompanied by green tea (or mint?) ice cream was perfect. He was a happy man after he finished this dessert.

My hubby's steak was perfectly cooked! Just the right portion for him.