Ottawa Foodies

Stopped here with a group from work for an impromptu lunch on Tuesday. Relaxed and modestly elegant interior with a great view at the back. I had a vegetarian fritatta and salad. The taste and textures were wonderful, turning a simple meal into something special. Accompanied with a bottle of Blanche de Chambly, my only complaint is that they don't serve beer on tap.

Service was impeccable.

The residents of Chelsea are fortunate, I would love to have a local restaurant like this!!

I've only been here once, and the memory of the place is no longer 'fresh' in my mind, but from what I remember it was quite good, and I agree that the service was excellent. We actually went because we had received, seemingly anonymously a $100 gift certificate in the mail. There was no name on it, and it took us at least 6 months to figure out which of our friends had sent it to us. It turns out it was friends who were living in the USA, who had ordered the gift certificates for us over the phone, and they had been mailed without reference to the gift giver. I'd complain about this as being bad service, but it gave us such an interesting story to tell, it was totally worth it!

This is my favorite place of all times. I have been going there for over 10 years and both the food and service are consistently excellent. Some people save this for special occaisions...but I can never wait that long. The service here is the perfect balance of proper and knowledgable yet friendly and comfortable. No snooty maîte d'hôtel here! The somelier has recently won a national sommelier award and is now competing for the international award. My best meals there (they were all great but...) were the "Menu dégustation". They serve you 6 courses each with its wine. You'll discover things you never tried and fall in love with things you thought you didn't like!

The soup of the day was Lentil Soup ($7.25). Excellent soup to start my meal! Unfortunately, the main course I had was very very bad.

My husband and I have been getting tourtieres made by Les Fougeres for 3 years now. They are still sold at CA Paradis...just got some last month...but I believe they are only sold for a couple months at the beginning of winter (?start selling them in Dec).

They have a wide variety and changes a bit each year though they have some that are 'regular'. We usually get about 5-10 in Dec before the holidays and put them in the freezer. One year we hosted a Dec 24th party for 20 some people. We put out 4 different types (2 of each) and they were a hit. Great for impromptu gueats or just a nice dinner on a cold wintery day. They serve 6 small or 5 large portions.

The caribou is without a doubt the favorite every time. I serve it with a cranberry sauce with some spices (ginger, nutmeg), OJ, and lemon juice mixed in like a cumberland sauce. I usually have wild rice or egg noodles with it and some great veggies and the meal is soooo Canadian:)

They are not 'deep dish' type tourtieres but more of a gourmet style. The trick to them is also to serve with a good sauce. Most tourtieres need some type of sauce. I really like to use peach chutney(Loblaws sells a good one), or mushroom sauce.

Before I stepped inside the restaurant, I went to check their store right next to the restaurant. I wanted to try their Tourtières. Originally, I picked up their chicken Tourtières ($15 per box). But then I asked their staff what their best seller was. She told me that their duck and caribou tourtières were their best sellers. So, I put the chicken tourtières back to the freezer and bought the duck tourtières instead.

When I went home, I put the whole box in the fridge's bottom rack to defrost for next day baking. Basically, I baked the pie in the oven at 350 degree for 20 minutes (as per instruction). When I checked it out, the crust was not brown yet. So, I added another 20 minutes. I guess that their instruction must be written based on their restaurant oven and not residential oven.

I cut the pie and asked my younger son to try it out for lunch first. I was surprised to see that the duck meat inside was only minced meat blended in together (not meat in chunk or cubes). It looked pretty dry to me. My younger son told me that the pie was okay. I asked him if he wanted another one. He told me “no, thanks”. He asked me if he can have the instant Kimchi Noodles bowl instead (those I bought from Costco).

I also let my elder son’s girl friend to try the duck tourtière. She has a very good taste bud (under the influence of her dad; her dad is a chef in the east coast). She told me that the pie tasted okay. But I asked her if she wanted more and her answer was the same as my son “no, thanks”. Instead, she ate the congee I made for lunch.

My husband and I didn’t feel like eating the pie since we were too full already. So, I wrapped the pie with Sarah wrap and put the pie in my fridge. My husband tried it out next day and he told me that the pie was okay, but nothing special.

I haven’t been able to find any place that can make pie equivalent to those Aussie pies. I missed the meat pie I ate in Australia. They were so good! Can any Australian foodies here tell me where I can find Aussie pie in Ottawa?

If you want the local version, Les Fougeres sells frozen tortieres that are great.

They have been available in the past at C.A. Paradis on Bank St.; haven't been there recently, so don't know if that's still the case.

Their Salad Fougères ($9.75) my husband ordered was also excellent! Crunchy sautéed lardon bacon tossed with mixed greens, Papineauville chèvre and their homemade vinaigrette.

Another friend tried their wild boar ($32), grilled with apple, and braised red cabbage. After our dinner, he was away on business trip. So, I waited for his return for his feedback on his dish. He later told me that it wasn't good.

This is the grilled salmon ($29) my friend ordered. My friend finished the whole plate and she told me it was not bad.

This was the pan roasted grain fed veal tenderloin and sautéed sweetbreads, served on sour cream whipped potato purée. $31 for my husband's dish. He told me it was okay.

This is the chicken I ordered ($27). According to their website, the menu reads as "Pot-au-feu of Val-des-Monts grainfed chicken with lemon, caramelized onions and fresh thyme, deboned and served with Cendré de Lune cheese from Warwick on homemade Bekings egg pasta tossed with porcini, raddichio julienne and white truffle oil".

I have to tell you that this is the worst chicken I've ever tasted - extra dry meat with bland taste. I can't finish it. It tastes as bad as how it looks. Yuk!

Bread was not warm or hot. After having so many hot breads served in French restaurants, I was very surprised to have the cold bread (basically a small roll) that was served in this restaurant!

This was the dessert I shared with my hubby - Mignardises plate with chocolate truffle,
pure fruit jelly, nuts & biscuits ($8.50) according to the menu.

It was my fault that I didn't read the menu carefully. I only read chocolate truffle and thought that it was a chocolate cake with some truffle thing (my imaginary dessert for a fancy restaurant!). I personally never expect a dessert of this sort in a restaurant (especially this highly rated one). When I order dessert, I expect something that I can't easily bake/make. If I know this is what I would get, I would definitely order something else. (The almonds nuts and biscuits were good though.)

From now on, I learn to read menu carefully so that I don't make the same mistake twice.

P.S. The cappuccino I got was only luke warm. I hate drinking non-hot coffee. Another disappointment!

This was the lemon cheesecake with ladyfingers and fruit compote ($9.50) that my friend ordered. Taste was okay. But nothing special though.