Ottawa Foodies

3

Table d'hote's dessert, classic French style pear tart with almond cream. Tart was very fresh, not too sweet. I really enjoyed it with vanilla ice cream.

3

My husband's main
Pork medallion with garlic flower, tomato and old cheddar sauce. he really enjoyed it.

3

Duck “foie gras” mousse with cider form Mister Jodoin extre 4,95$ on regular table d'hote price.
it was very good. I enjoyed it with cava.

4

Family dinner at L'oree du bois.
Table d'hote menu starting at $40.75
We asked french onion soup from their everyday menu instead of table d'hote soup. It was the best onion soup ever!!

Over all food quality and service was great.

Picture
Salmon mousse

2

I visited l'Orée du Bois on July 24th, with a group of 6. The service was great, and the food was perfect. Portions are generous, even on things that use expensive ingredients, where some restaurants tend to be skimpy. The gazpasho was nice a refreshing. I had morels as an appetizer, and I'm sure there was at least a full cup of morels in that dish. I also tasted some of the delicious foie gras fondant as the portion was too big for my husband. My main was ris de veau (lots of ris de veau!) and shrimp, also delicious. I finished with a nice light bavarois. Well, it tasted light, but I'm sure the main ingredient is cream. Hey, it was for my birthday!

The sauces do tend to be fairly salty, as in "regular level of salt of traditional French cooking" salty, not "someone dropped the salt shaker in" salty. Not something that bothers me as I don't have health reasons to limit my salt intake (salt is only bad for some people). But I'm sure they can accomodate requests for low salt or suggest dishes for those on a low salt diet (or those who just don't like salty food). In my experience, they are very good at accomodating special requests (vegan dishes, alcohol-free sauces, etc).

They seemed to have many more people than they expected on a Tuesday (place was almost full when we left), which slowed the service a bit, but nothing unreasonable.

If they learn it's your birthday, they decorate your dessert plate (chocolate writing and sparkler), which is nice, but, even nicer, they don't sing or do other silly things when they bring it to you!

4

So I'm apparently the only one who has commented on L'Oree du Bois in the past year? We went last night for a birthday celebration and it did not disappoint. Every time we go, I am impressed with the service, the food, and also the fact that it is such tremendous value for the money.

There are many choices on the 4 course table d'hote menu for about $40. The restaurant will allow you to cherry pick items from their regular menu to substitute for the table d'hote. Many offerings were things I have never seen on other menus in Ottawa - rabbit kidneys in puff pastry, for example.

I began with a lemongrass/curry fish soup that was velvet smooth and pretty much spectacular as soups go. Good reports also on the cream of green spring vegetable soup.

My second course was salad of fresh matane shrimp with asparagus, nicely served with a creamy herb dressing and dots of curry sauce. Other appetizers included mousse of foie gras and a rosette of house smoked salmon on a bed of celeriac shreds, both very well reviewed.

For my main I selected the magret of duck with foie gras (an $11 upcharge to the table d'hote price). The foie gras was a very generous portion and the taste and texture were a slice of heaven that I selfishly declined to share with my companions. Duck was served rare and tender, and richly sauced. Accompaniments were mashed potato trio, asparagus custard, and a ratatouille timbale. Sides were the same with all the other mains, which included a memorable rabbit with wild blueberries and filet mignon in a port reduction, both of which were excellent.

This was a birthday celebration, and the restaurant decorated a special dish for the birthday girl as shown. Trio of fresh sorbets - lemongrass, raspberry and mango. I had the plate of house made chocolates which were very good, but the portion was of a size that I would characterize as "dainty". The winner of the desserts was an impressive terrine of 3 chocolates.

Service throughout was impeccable, yet relaxed and friendly, and the sophisticated 11 year old birthday girl was made to feel very special. With four generous glasses of wine two glasses of house made lemonade, and coffee, the total bill including tax but not tip was a little over $200. That, in my opinion was a real bargain, considering the quality of the food, the excellent service and the lovely country atmosphere we experience over a nearly three hour dining experience.

L'Oree du Bois is only about a 15 minute drive from downtown Ottawa, and It really deserves to be near the top of peoples' lists for special nights out.

2

wonderful place and great value! They will do special lunches here for 25 or more, and today we went for a group lunch with 45 people. The atmosphere is very cozy, without being overly cute or fake quebec rustic. Service was friendly and efficient, and after we were seated we were presented with specially printed menus with our menu options. Appetizers were served family style and included 3 different apps to be shared at each table. App 1 was warm bread, wild boar terrine with blueberries, pork rilletes and a selection of olives and pickles. The boar terrine was my favorite, and it was actually more like a roughly chopped paste, soft and flavorful. The second app was a fresh salad of greens and julienned carrots with a passion fruit/raspberry vinaigrette; a nice follow up to the meats and good quality but not exceptional. Third app was a delicious blend of wild mushrooms roasted in an herb and wine sauce served with tiny crescents of spiced puff pastry on the side. The mushrooms were rich and buttery and we all savored every morsel.

For mains, we were each given a choice between salmon, roast chicken, duck confit and a pasta dish. Reports on all the mains were very positive. I had the confit duck leg in a green peppercorn and sage sauce. The duck was rich and succulent, with a complexity that provided many layers of flavor with each bite. the texture was very tender. There was a tiny tian of spring vegetables that was crowned by a fresh asparagus tip, a bit of roasted tomato and three rosebuds of buttery mashed potato that proved a perfect vehicle for soaking up the sauce.

For dessert we each received a wedge of mango/chocolate/passion fruit mousse - light and tangy; a small dark chocolate cup containing caramel crisps and a dollop of whipped cream and a tiny tumbler of fruit compote - a refreshing mixture of berries, pears,rhubarb and apples.

They managed to serve all 45 of us at the same time, with everything perfectly cooked and/or at the correct serving temperature. With a house made iced tea and a coffee, including taxes and gratuity, the bill came to only $38 per person. This felt like an amazing value for such fine food in a wonderful setting, with unrushed and friendly service that stretched pleasantly to about 2 1/2 hours. L'Oree du Bois is only about a 15 minute drive from King Edward and Rideau, and I expect that their regular dinner offerings are as exemplary as today's luncheon.

A group of us went to L’Orée du Bois in Chelsea last night. My first impression as I walked in was how cozy it seemed inside. Dim lighting, warm and inviting, but much busier and larger than I expected from the outside.

So many choices of meats on the menu made my selection quite difficult – duck, rabbit, deer and wild boar. I finally decided to go with the table d'hôte of duckling, which I believe was somewhere around the $38 to $40 mark but couldn't find the price on the menu (and forgot to look closely at the bill afterward).

The first choice I had to make was for the soup. I went with the shrimp bisque with cognac and tarragon. It was an extra $2.75 and worth every penny. It's velvety texture was bursting with flavour and the tiny pieces of shrimp throughout were meaty and nice.

Next came my appetizer. This is where I was the most stuck. The mushrooms in a puff pastry with herb sauce were very tempting. I did get to try some and they were rich and flavourful. I was close to getting the duck foie gras mousse but since I was getting duck for my main I decided to go with the smoked salmon mousse with cucumber. Very light and super smokey – this dish was a fantastic choice.

My main, while very good, was my least favourite of the dishes. Brôme lake duckling with white turnip, port and mushroom sauce. All the “cookie-cutter” sides were yummy. 3 swirls of mashed potatoes that looked like they were made with a cake decorating bag and a perfect cylinder of turnip topped with little pieces of chopped asparagus. The duck, drowning in a smooth sauce had bits of soft onion that added a nice overall texture. The duck itself was slightly dry but with the sauce turned out ok.

I ordered the Domaine de la Cavale red wine from France, which in the menu seemed to be the choice to make. A lighter wine than I normally like but still pretty good. And finished off with a glass of port to go with my dessert, the homemade chocolate platter. Small pieces of dark chocolate in various shapes and sizes decorated the plate. In the centre, a dark chocolate cup with a creamy filling and bits of toffee that tasted a lot like a Skor bar – it's what made the plate. My husband wasn't going to get his dessert so I got it for him to share with the others – dark chocolate mousse and caramelized hazelnut. That one was a winner all around and went beautifully with my port.

My brother's nougat, although stunningly prepared, lacked flavour.

The service was good. A bit slow at the end but overall, very efficient. Because there were 8 of us, the tip was included in our bill. We tried to leave a bit more but our server was adamant that we were paying only what was on the bill, which I found to be kind of weird. It wasn't even 15%! After a few back and forths, we gave up and gave him only what he asked for.

I went for dinner on Friday with a group of friends. The table d'hote is a great deal for $34, and they allow you to substitute anything off the regular menu, with some items having an additional surcharge, which they do tell you up front. I started with a carmelized onion soup with maple and allspice, which was very tasty although I felt it should have been a bit thicker, and lacked maple flavour. Next I had a seafood mousse, which was quite good. My main course was a trio of lamb, including a filet, tongue and what was described to me as reproductive organs (testicles?) served with couscous. The couscous were a bit dry, but the meat all had a nice contrast in textures and flavour. Fro dessert I had a brandies fruit platter, with blueberries, raspberries and cranberries. It was fairly small in portion, and tasted VERy strongly of alcohol.

All in all, a great meal for the $34 price tag.

The soup was okay. One half of our group ordered Red lentil, curry and mint soup and one half ordered Tomato & Lavage cold soup since one of our friends recommended to try the cold tomato (she told us that she tried cold tomato soup during their cruise vacation and was very refreshing). My hot soup was not bad although I found it a bit salty. Our friend told me that the cold tomato soup at Royal Caribbean was way better, but the tomato soup here was still good.

P.S. The photo didn't turn out great since I didn't use the flash.

Most of the ladies ordered Mushrooms in a puff pastry with garden herbs and the men ordered Crab flan with their garden herb sauce. The mushrooms I had was tasty (it would be perfect if the chef can reduce the salt amount a bit). My friend also said the same thing. For the crab flan, the men said the favour was not good enough, but still ok. However, the presentation was excellent.

The main course was supposed to be the highlight of our meal. But it turned out to be very disappointing.

Anne Desbrisay wrote, “Of the main dishes, duck impressed most, a bronzed confit, crispy-skinned and moist-fleshed, served in a creamy peppercorn sauce.” So, 6 of us went for confit duck without hesitation. But the menu indicates that the duck confit was served with oyster mushrooms, port and endives sauce (not peppercorn sauce). So, I don’t know if the chef had changed or twisted the duck menu. Anyway, two others ordered quail, confit with miniature mushrooms and savoury sauce.

Well, the duck leg confit had no crispy skin. The duck legs were certainly marinated with lot of salt (we all said the same thing) – very salty meat! The worst part was the sauce, so salty that I can only manage to eat few bites. 6 of us can’t continue to eat their ducks and had to STOP. We told our server that the ducks were too salty for us to eat. Actually, I didn’t like the aroma from the duck (whatever herbs they used or was it the aroma from the endives?).

When we told our server about our ducks, he immediately went to inform the kitchen and came back to tell us to order something else. This was very much appreciated. So, to make it easier for the kitchen, 6 of us ordered their pasta mixed with shrimps, and chicken with olive oil, dried tomato, garlic flower and basil. Unfortunately, the pasta we had was also salty. However, the pasta was better than the duck in terms of saltiness. But the chicken was overly dry. So, I ended up just picking up the shrimps and ate few bites of the pasta. At this point, we all lost our appetite to eat already. The other 5 also can't finish the pasta!

What about the quail our two friends ordered? They said the quails were okay, but a bit overdone and still edible.

P.S. My friend later talked to her Québécois colleague when she went back to office on Monday. I quoted what my friend wrote, “my colleague told me that Duck confit (duck legs slowly simmered and preserved in duck fat) is supposed to be salty (but not overly salty) – it is a classic French way of cooking and preserving duck legs. The process involves curing the duck legs in salt for several hours before scraping off any loose salt and gently cooking them in duck fat (could be slow cooking in an oven) for couple hours. Once the duck legs are cooked, leave them to cool in the fat. At this stage the duck legs can be sealed in the jar to be stored in a cool, dark place (such as a cellar or fridge for up to 6 months) before eating. If the duck legs are too salty, the sauce should not be cooked too salty.” Bingo! The problem was that both the confit duck and the sauce were all salty. I am sure shredded confit duck will make a good salad with fresh green mix. The saltiness will be balanced out well.

My strawberry and blueberries tulip with tarragon wasn’t impressive. My husband’s mango and dark chocolate cake was okay, nothing to blow me away though after I tried one bite. The crème brulee was excellent according to two gentlemen (actually it did look very good).

I didn’t order coffee since I already had my coffee at le Nordik in the afternoon. So, I wanted to order something soothing. I followed my friend and ordered lemongrass tea. My hubby followed me. Another friend ordered Camomile tea.

Well. I have to tell you that I don’t like this kind of “lemongrass tea” (definitely not the one you had in Thai restaurant). There was a fresh mint(?) leaf in the pot. I only took one sip and stopped. It just reminded me of the smell from industrial soap. But I didn’t say it out. I looked at my husband. He also stopped after couple sips. I asked him how his tea was. He said the tea smelted like industrial soap. I was laughing and my friend was also laughing.