Ottawa Foodies

Hubby and I went to Le Café for Valentines dinner and to see a show afterwards.
I will start by saying that the service was wonderful because hubby's cousin was our server, although the service has always been good when we go there anyways.
We started with cocktails: Kir Royale for me, beer for him.
We ordered from the Valentine's menu, but the regular menu was also available if you preferred that. The Valentine's menu included the app, the main and coffee or tea. Le Café never includes the dessert - I still find that a bit chintzy.

Appetizer: wild mushroom soup with crispy pancetta for me, salad with cranberries, pumpkin seeds and feta for him - both were good

Main Course: Me - Crab cake and tempura soft shell crab on a bed of mashed potatoes with roasted white and pink beets and asparagus ($35)

Him - chicken breast stuffed with goat cheese and pistachios served with exactly the same sides as above ($30)

Both of these were good as well but - not sure about the crab served with mashed potatoes, rice would have been better. Seems like they were cutting corners or lacking imagination a bit by serving the same sides with both dishes. Otherwise the food was hot, fresh and tasty.

We had a half litre of Rosemount Estate Diamond Label Sauvignon Blanc to share with dinner. (This was VERY expensive at $27.95) OUCH!

Dessert was a little disappointing. I ordered the special Valentine's dessert which was listed as a "flourless chocolate cake" served with champagne sorbet. I have had many a flourless chocolate cake and this one was definitely not one of them.
It had three layers of light and fluffy cake alternated with what tasted like a hazelnut mousse and was filled with nuts. Nothing special (plus I don’t like nuts but none were mentioned in the description otherwise I wouldn’t have ordered it) ($7)
The champagne sorbet was amazing.
Hubby had a dessert from the regular menu: Pecan sugar pie. This was better but there were way too many pecans so it made it very dry. It came with maple ice cream which was delish! ($?)
The cappuccino he ordered was also delicious and perfectly made.

All in all a good dinner in a relaxing and comfortable atmosphere with great service but the wine is WAY too expensive and the desserts need help.
Our total bill came to $160 including tax and tip.
Would probably go back in the right circumstances. This was just really convenient because we were going to the show and with the weather it was nice to park our car underground, leave our coats and boots in the car and be able to go and have dinner and see a show without having to leave the building. Makes for a really nice evening out.

I went to Le Cafe for dinner the other night on a break. What a treat! I must be on a bit of a Cassoulet kick right now, so I tried their Winterlude Table d'hote. I started with the Mixed Winter Green Salad with Candied Pecans and Roasted Apples, with a creamy stilton vinaigrette. The salad was mostly frisee and the apples and pecans came through the mild stilton vinaigrette. It wasn’t drenched in dressing so everything kept its flavour nicely.

Then came the main course, Le Café’s Rendition of the Classic “Cassoulet”, a confit of duck (from Quebec), grilled saucisse de Toulouse and roast pork breast (from Ontario) and Sauvignon Blanc braised white beans with fresh tomatoes and herbs. Delicious! The confit was moist without being too greasy, the pork breast was perfectly cooked and the sausage was grilled, but not dry. The beans were delicious, full of tomato flavour and hint of basil maybe? I thoroughly enjoyed the meal with a Mission Hill Merlot.

Dessert was also excellent. A “Triple Tall” Parsnip Cake with Vanilla Cream Frosting. Oh my goodness. I love carrot cake, and this was similar, but different in a subtle way. Moist and delicious.

Then came the main course, Le Café’s Rendition of the Classic “Cassoulet”, a confit of duck (from Quebec), grilled saucisse de Toulouse and roast pork breast (from Ontario) and Sauvignon Blanc braised white beans with fresh tomatoes and herbs. Delicious! The confit was moist without being too greasy, the pork breast was perfectly cooked and the sausage was grilled, but not dry. The beans were delicious, full of tomato flavour and hint of basil maybe? I thoroughly enjoyed the meal with a Mission Hill Merlot.