Ottawa Foodies

We recently went to Les Fougères and had a very enjoyable meal. The service was good except that it started off a little slow as there was a table of two with a reasonably well-known political commentator/flack in need of a certain amount of attention resulting in some neglect of other customers that is unusual here (I hope).

I had the following:

Virgin Caesar

Salad Fougères – mixed greens tossed with sautéed home-smoked lardon bacon, fresh chèvre and homemade vinaigrette

Grilled lamb tenderloin with a roasted cumin, chili and garlic rub served on a yellow lentil and tomato sambar with crisped eggplant chips, basmati rice, onion chaat masala, lime pickle, poppadum and minted yogourt

Classic vanilla crème brûlée with biscuits

Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee

The virgin caesar here is really well-made, flavourful and enjoyable, and highly recommended when you know that you have a long drive home after eating here (my sister, unlike me, can walk home from there).

The salad was a joy to eat with the fresh greens in an understated vinaigrette and a really creamy chèvre, but it was all really there to set up the oh-so-tasty lardons.

The grilled lamb dish was delicious, with many flavours and textures that added interest and made for a very enjoyable meal. The lamb tenderloins were a rare treat, the masala nicely spiced, the sambar lovely on the eggplant crips. The only niggling thought I had about it at all was that it was safely seasoned and didn’t challenge my tastebuds with any thrusts into unknown or challenging territory, and there was no heat from chilies that I noticed - even the lime pickle was tame (what I buy is firey). All in all, niggling aside, it was a dish that was excellent, with quality ingredients nicely seasoned, an attractive plating, and colours, smells and flavours to satisfy the senses. I had a smile on my face eating the last bite, knowing it was all so tasty and well-prepared, with all the elements harmonizing. Satisfaction.

The crème brûlée with biscuits was all about the creamiest crème with a huge expanse of brûlée that satisfied my craving for a really good crème brûlée. The biscuits weren’t memorable.

The Yrgacheffe coffee was memorable - I love that it comes in a mini-bodum - it was the best cup of coffee I’ve had in a while - rich, full-bodied and delicious.

Others in my party enjoyed the “Risotto with East coast lobster and summer vegetables, poached wild Arctic char and zucchini fritti” and the “Wild mushroom and brie pie with homemade chutney and salad”. One thoroughly enjoyed her “Palais Royal – dark chocolate mousse and praline crunch”. I have forgotten what else they had - I guess I didn’t have any tastes!

I went to Les Fougères last weekend and was looking forward to having a really great meal, based on the recommendations I've heard over the years. Unfortunately, things didn't turn out that way. There were 5 of us at the table and 4 of us ordered their 16th anniversary tasting menu. Sadly, the majority of the plates, although beautifully presented, turned out to be big letdowns. As each plate came out, we waited for something that would really give us something to rave about. But it turns out that many of them were only "okay". It was almost like the dishes weren't balanced somehow. Definitely no wow factor here. We were kinda stunned. Maybe they were just having a bad night in the kitchen. At the end of the meal, I had even thought about ordering their creme brulée thinking that I needed some kind of saving grace for this meal. But after 10 dishes, I just couldn't bring myself to order anything else. Don't get me wrong, the meal wasn't bad. It was just okay. And certainly not something that I could recommend to others to try.

On the positive side, my sister, had decided to order off the menu instead of having the tasting menu (Salad Fougères and the Rack of Lamb) and she was very happy with her meal. And as others have described, the service there was impeccable. Friendly, attentive and well paced.

I will give this place another chance because I can't strike a restaurant off of my list based on only one try even though they stumbled so badly on this outing. Has anyone else tried the tasting menu recently and, if so, what was their experience like?

Third restaurant of our stay-cation (and for our town visitor), and it lived up to the expectations generated by the reviews here, both the positive ones but also w/ some hints of Ashley's slightly less positive ones (see below).

First, the positives:

* Their backyard garden epitomizes what this place does well -- locally grown / sourced ingredients. People looking ideas for their own backyards could do FAR worse than stopping here, ideally, in the middle of the summer when in full bloom.

* My salad reflected that garden, esp. w/ the edible flowers on top. It was very pretty: i felt guilty digging in (and i don't eat w/ my eyes, particularly).

* a tempura "bean fries" we shared were a great finger-food. Our guest thought they nailed the tempura -- light & crisp, highlighting the veggies.

* our soups were excellent, one a wild 'shroom and the other tomato-orange something.

* Quebecois beers were priced @ $4.95'sh or so. I could be wrong, hopefully not ... but i remember wondering why i pay $1-2 more at a place like Trio. (real estate, convenience, public transport ... i guess.)

* nicest (screened-in) wrap-around veranda i've sat on!

The slightly less than excellent:

* the grilled unagi (eel) appie sat on some sort of green salad that was (for our guest) simply too oily in relation to the unagi (which itself is oily). I ended up testing her greens and tended to agree. That noted, there was nothing left of the eel itself, and between the two of us, nothing left on her plate. :-)

I'll definitely be back for a second lunch sometime.

I have been here twice now - once for supper and once for brunch - and it was excellent both times. I have a chef friend who took me there and even though it is a bit out of the way, it is well worth the trip. Very good service and wonderful food, and not too expensive. I would say this is the kind of place you would take your parents or friends if you want to impress them without blowing the budget. Also I like the little shop with goodies to take home!

I take visiting VIPs out to dinner a lot, and this is one of the few places I will go for business and for personal dinners (I try to keep them segregated after over friendly servers at Meditheo chatted about my personal life in front of business associates!)

This is the best possible kind of restaurant. Exquisite food, fresh ingredients (in the summer out of their own garden), good mix of old favourites and new experiments on the menu. Locavore before it was all the rage. Amazing ambience, ultra professional service that is gracious without being cloying or obsequious.

The staff is knowlegable and honest (they don't pretend to recommend things when they don't know them).

example: I called during a busy lunch time (from Toronto airport duty free shop) to get a recommendation for an icewine gift (trying to remember what I'd tasted and liked at Fougeres--I'm not an icewine fan) and they pleasantly connected me to someone who gave me great advice.

Very classy place. I've been here for many business dinners to impress out of town guests, my husband and I celebrate with anniversary dinners here and try to have lunch here every Valentine's day. An extended weekend lunch at Fougeres with girlfriends (lots of giggling and wine) is one of my fondest memories.

It is not cheap but well worth it. They do an amazing job of being serious about food and wine and restauranting while maintaining a very relaxed atmosphere. Not stuffy at all. One of the nicest touches is wildflowers/flowers from their garden in unpretentious small vases on the tables.

Food: the salade fougeres is a favourite of mine, duck confit is a specialty. Their gourmet spins on tourtiere are interesting (but a bit rich for me). They have very imaginative soups and desserts. Fine wine list too.

There's a little retail shop attached with takeout tourtieres, pizzas, salad dressing, things like that and a lovely mixture of gourmet food items, kitchen stuff, local products and nifty things. Great for gifts or a litte treat.

This is Quebec, Outaouais, and Canada at its best!

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!

Hi Ashley,
I can't help but reply to such inane commentary. You DID overcook the pie... that's why it was dry. Also, how can you trust a kid to enjoy fine cuisine? They would rather eat a Big Mac than a duck confit... does that mean that Big Mac is better??? I hope not.

I had the mushroom tourtière here at brunch once and it was excellent! A nice variety of mushrooms, with different flavors and textures. It was served with a homemade ketchup and relish that were also excellent and a nice light salad.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

Hi Ashley,
For your information, french bread should never be served hot. EVER. If it is, then it means that you are not experiencing real French cuisine. And I know what I'm talking about: I'm French. From France. So I know a little bit about culinary tradition! :o)

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!