Ottawa Foodies

It's one of the things my SO and I love about Juniper. They have portion size right. Three courses and you are pleasantly full, not crazy stuffed. Their food is always innovative and excellent. I just think they nail it.

In fairness, my SO doesn't agree w/ me on the portion size: she thought her's was fine, and your comment, Pam, reminds me that i should've added that point.

Being vegetarian might be a factor, as might the fact that i usually opt for a glass of wine or scotch instead of dessert. But, in any case, i was nowhere near stuffed and would have eaten more bread had it been served w/ my scotch. (maybe i am a glutton?)

For what it's worth, the fiancé and I always leave Juniper absolutely stuffed.

Better half and i went to J'per a couple nights ago (our second visit in the past year). The food was tasty, innovative and artfully presented.

Wild garlic soup and a fiddlehead salad started us off. Both shined, the salad an excellent combo of fresh greens and drizzled w/ a dressing i'd describe as vaguely Japanese. The soup was v. tasty, savoury and fresh ... yum, yum. Perhaps foreshadowing what followed, though, i could have eaten 2-3 times the portion served.

The mains were a pan roasted halibut fillet for her and a "west Quebec mushroom and spinach pavé with asparagus-cippolini onion pine nut compote and dried tomato pesto" for myself (desc'n from J'pers website).

Again, both were impressive in their visual presentation and in taste. Kudos for the emphasis on local ingredients (the halibut, notwithstanding, of course).

The downside is that were it not for the bread on the table, the bottle of wine ... i would have left feeling a bit hungry. Were it not a $26 plate ($32 for the halibut), i'd have ordered a second of the same. I make this point as one who would not be described as a glutton, nor (always) sensible about money. 4-5 asparagus speers, a couple cherry tomatoes and baby carrots enveloped the mains on both plates. I can understand the labour that went into the pavé, but I won't be insulted by a few more vegetables on the plate, damn it! I promise to not gorge in a manner embarrassing to the well-healed, but I'm not anorexic either and don't think the visual presentation would have been unhinged w/ more asparagus, etc.

Value consciousness aside, we decided we might return to mark a birth-day or a seasonal change or a project bonus. Or, just to sit in the lounge / patio to nibble on starters over a beer.

I have been to this restaurant a number of times and the food has always been interesting, but the prices are leftovers from the high tech boom days. I would try Tartuffe in Hull for a really fine french bistro meal at a reasonable price.

Beware though that Tartuffe is in an old house that was not sound proofed, so it is noisy and there is little privacy there.

I have yet to try Baccara and Signitures, but find french bistro in ottawa best at Beckta's.. which I also consider expensive.

I was in the Bordeaux wine region last year and the prices in Ottawa are comparable, but I thought France was three times more expensive generally. The food was much better than french bistro in Ottawa.

Unfortunately the photo does not do this justice...

Dalhousie Highland Blue Cheese and Pecan Tart in a yeasted pastry with crème fraîche ice cream. Paired with a '03 Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs, Mendocino/Napa/Sonoma.

Who ever invented crème fraîche ice cream is a god in my books! Delicious. I loved the fact that I had my very own personal pecan pie. Light, flaky pastry and sharp blue cheese were an excellent combination.

Bravo!

After a palate cleanser of grapefruit ice, at least I think I remember that correctly, we were on to the meat course.

Chinese Spiced Organic Beef Tenderloin with Braised Short Ribs served in a star anise scented broth with baby bok choy and a '03 Whitehall Lane Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa Valley.

Again they did not disappoint. The beef was tender and cooked to medium rare and the short ribs were tender - melt-in-your-mouth tender. I am always amazed that a kitchen can turn out that many meals all at the same time and not have the meat overcooked and/or cold.

Last course was the dessert!

The third course was also delicious, so delicious we finished our course and I forgot to take a photo!

We had West Quebec Mushroom and Pommery Ravioli Poached in Butter (which sounds so bad for you, but tastes so good!) with wild mushroom confit and pinot noir drizzle. This was served with '00 Crane Canyon Pinot Noir.

Anything poached in butter has to be good and this was no exception, although I am sure it is not good for your arteries! The pasta was a little underdone for my taste, but the flavours contained within were well matched with the Pinot.

The photo is of the Cured Duck Magret with Sun-dried Tomato Gremolatta with wild rice blini and syrah-pepper puddle. This was paired with a '04 Justin Vineyards Syrah, Paso Robles. The duck was tender and cooked to perfection, the puddle was tasty, the blini wasn't my favourite, a little dry.

There was more to come!

Next was a Smoked Ham Hock, Roasted Tomato and Roasted Fennel Risotto with caramelized vegetable compote. It was paired with an '03 Noceto Sangiovese, Shenandoah Valley.

I love risotto and this was amazing: the rice was tender-firm; the ham hock, tomato and fennel were perfectly balanced; the wine was smoky and flavourful. It was not a typical Sangiovese, according to those who know more about wine than I.

I also have to admit that we loved the serving plate/bowl for this dish.

We went to Juniper for our third wine tasting event, the first at the new restaurant... I really enjoyed the larger space. My partner did not enjoy the fact that he couldn't see over the wall of the booth to the other side of the restaurant (I couldn't see either, but it didn't bother me as much). We could see that this would make it easier for the restaurant to host larger groups and still be able to have half of the restaurant open for regular business.
Another plus was that it appeared that the new space was quieter than the old space. I don't know if this was because we were in the aforementioned booth. We were also informed by one of the owners, who is very open to suggestions about the "view" from the floor to ceiling windows, that they are going to have a patio in the summer which is very exciting. They will construct a wall between the car lot and the restaurant.

We were there for the California Wine Dinner. We had been to two other tastings which were both very enjoyable (Australia and Spain).

The first course was an Apple-Apricot Curry Glazed Atlantic Lobster with coconut almond pesto, yoghurt cheese and an apricot curry reduction. It was paired with an ’05 Mcmanis Viognier. We all felt that the appetizer suffered from a flavour overload, although every single flavour was delicious in itself. The wine was nice, not too sweet and went quite well with the appetizer.

Next course...

I had an amazing Lychee Martini here.. not sure if it's still on the menu but can highly recommend.