Ottawa Foodies

We went out to one of the most amazing restaurants last night in Ottawa: Beckta! Now this place really isn't for everyone, and be ready to fork over a chunck of change. But I must say, every penny and every hour is worth the experience!

Prawn cocktail seviche, vanilla bean custard and powdered shrimp sauce.

Halibut cake served on a herb polenta topped with goat cheese and relish.

House made fetuccini drizzled in truffle oil, served with crispy arrugula and marel mushrooms and topped with 5yr old provolone.

Raspberry and rhubarb shorbet serves with elderberry sparkling water.

Duck breast with mushrroms, tart grape jel and asperagus puré.

Strawberry and lemon mousse cake with lemon sorbet served over vanilla bean and strawberry sauce with strawberry crisps.

Strawberry glaze on a white cake and apple puffs.

I hope I have just made you hungry!

There is an option to do a wine pairing with this menu, it's well worth the extra price. Your palent gets sent on a tastebud adventure. It's amazing to feel the changes of flavour when you pair the right wine with the right ingredients. The staff are very knowledgeable with the food and the wine, and will take the time to explain something if you have questions. I appreciated that very much.

See more pictures at theovalley.blogpost.com

My husband and I celebrated our anniversary at Beckta last week, and had a lovely time. I started with the Rabbit Charcuterie platter - three different rabbit preparations served with a tangy mustard and gherkins. My favourite was the Pistachio and Bacon terrine. My husband started with the grilled prawns. Large, plum shrimp cooked just enough - delicious.

On to the mains...my husband had the duck breast with creamy grits. I'm always a little cautious about duck as it is often very fatty. This was not fatty at all, and the flavours on the plate were wonderful compliments to the duck. I had the veal "ossobuco", and if I had read the description more closely, I would have realized that this is not a traditional rich, hearty ossobuco. The description in the menu mentions veal consomme, but I didn't notice that and was expecting the robust flavours of ossobuco. What arrived was delicious, tender veal and navy beans with other tasty touches (truffles, etc) served with a clear broth. Tasty, delicate flavours, but not what I was expecting. I would recommend this dish, but caution that it is "not your mother's ossobuco".

We had a cheese course, and I can't remember what specific cheeses were on the platter. I do recall that they were delicious, and if I had any sort of memory, I could tell you where they were made, what they were made of, what specific techniques were unique to each, etc. as all of this information was presented to us along with the cheese.

We skipped dessert as we normally do, but were presented with a plate of mini bites, decorated with "happy anniversary", which I thought was a nice touch.

We enjoyed two quite special bottles of wine, which were served very professionally. In fact, the service was wonderful throughout the evening...attentive but not oppressive, friendly, but not overly so.

Our wine choices raised the total bill quite substantially - we were celebrating, after all! Without the wine, my impression is that Beckta would land somewhere in the upper half of Ottawa restaurants, but is certainly not the most expensive. Appetizers at $12-$16 and mains at $27-$39 seem quite fair given the quality of the food and the overall experience.

This is a more formal dining experience than we choose for regular everyday outings - I'm a big fan of Play, for example, the more casual sister restaurant to Beckta. Same quality of food, but you feel comfortable in jeans. Beckta is a lovely spot for those occasions when you feel like getting a little dressed up and treating yourself to a special evening.

We visited Beckta a little while ago and we were very pleased with both the food and service. We were catching a show at the NAC after and we informed them on the phone when we made our reservations. They remembered this detail and were promt and courteous. We started the meal with a cool soup that was unexpected and brought to the table- delicious. Both my husbands and my meal were superb. Of course we paid for it, but not complaining when you have sucj=h a good experience.
And our show was good too:)

Happy Birthday me, indeed! What a treat from kir royale to chocolate caramel tart. Winter mushroom risotto and sea bass in between. I appreciated the friendly and attentive service that made me feel special - and never small - because I asked questions about just about everything and because I didn't know how to pronounce a few things (oh what was that edible tuber?) It was wonderful!

Finally went to Beckta! The person I went with said it was the best meal they'd have in their life! (although close race with the boar at Allium). We didn't order an appetizer, although we'd love to try the grilled octopus. Mains were the duck, it was (Magret Duck Breast Savoy Cabbage Choucroute, Grilled Figs, Duck Confit “Beignet” and Spiked Cider Sauce), he doesn't usually like cabbage but loved the way this one was cooked. The beignet was also very delicious. I had the (Honey Glazed Chicken Chestnut Gnocchi, Oyster Mushrooms, Brussels Sprouts, Sweet & Sour Shallots and Cognac Crème Fraîche Pan Jus)... I thought the brussel sprouts were so good, I could have eaten a whole plate of them, and the Chicken was amazing. I just didn't like the Gnocchi, I've never had it before so don't have anything to compare it against I just found it a little gummy.

The dessert was Chocolate Explosion.(Chocolate Pot de Crème, Chocolate Espresso Fudge, Chocolate Malted Gelato and Molded Chocolates). The pot de creme was soooo good, I could eat a huge bowl of it, more of a milk chocolate flavour. The only downfall of this dessert was the fudge, it was two triangles approx 3.5", and it was so tough, you couldn't even get a piece off with your fork, you literally had to pick up the entire piece and take a bite off of it, I don't think it came out properly.

Friends of ours thought it was humorous we were eating there because the pictures on their website (perhaps just appetizers? not sure) make it look like you won't be getting a lot of food on your plates, but I found the portions to be quite acceptable. Yes, as per previous reviewers (on this site or another) they refold your napkin when you leave the table and they clean off your table crumbs with a little metal squeegee thing! The washrooms are upstairs. The private room upstairs looks great for private functions. There were all sorts of people in there, from jeans, to suits, to dress shirts, so I'm sure everyone would fit in. The table was a little close to the next which was a little uncomfortable at first.

i love this place. my husband and i went in for dinner and we were dressed very casually and the servers treated us not differently that then couples who where in suits. the food was so exquisite, such a treat. it was a true experience that i will not soon forget.

Mr. Nanookie and I dined at Beckta on Saturday night. We had talked about going to Beckta for over a year and just hadn't managed to get there. We used the online reservation system without a problem.

When we arrived the restaurant was full and bustling with activity, yet we were seated promptly. I ordered a Beckta Kir (sparkling wine with passionfruit purée) as an aperitif, while Mr. Nanookie had a glass of the Cava. We opted for the 5 course tasting menu (different from the 3 course Taste of Winterlude menu), as we wanted to be a little more adventurous with our meal. I was excited to try new dishes and foods that I might normally avoid. We also opted for the wine pairing, as Beckta’s wine list is so impressive that it seemed shameful not to opt for the wine pairing!

Prior to the first course, the maitre d’ and our server followed up with us regarding my ‘food’ allergy (penicillin aka most blue-veined cheeses). I was very impressed by this, as most restaurants have no clue as to what I’m talking about when I mention it and I really have no desire to end up with hives after dinner. At Beckta, they could recite which strains of penicillin were used in each cheese.

The first course featured the Ahi tuna and proscuitto, paired with a glass of Muller Thurgau. The saltiness of the cured proscuitto accented the flavour of the tuna. The second course was Beckta’s take on French onion soup: carmelized fennel with lobster consommé, with a square of pork belly confit. We were instructed to put the confit into the soup, which was very decadent. This course was paired with a Vouvray, which was a very nice match.

The third course was my favourite. Handmade pasta stuffed with mascarpone cheese, topped with puréed pine nuts, shortbread infused with blood orange. Shaved fois gras was added at the table. This was paired with Flat Rock Cellars’ 2007 Pinot Noir, which on its own is a fabulous pinot. The richness of the food matched the pinot perfectly… I am still dreaming about this course, two days later!

The main course was seared ostrich, with baked beans prepared with sambal oelek and topped with a dollop of puréed cilantro. This was paired with a South African Shiraz. We really enjoyed the variety of flavours in the course, from the flavour of the meat to the spiciness of the beans. The spice of the beans really complemented the spice in the Shiraz.

We also opted for one serving of the cheese course prior to dessert. It was nice to see local cheese reflected, as well as some other cheeses that we normally would try. We didn’t do a wine pairing on this course, though I found that the final cheese was so intense that it really needed a wine to accent its flavours.

Dessert featured a coconut panacotta with a slice of caramelized pineapple, a pineapple pot de crème, and a square of sticky pineapple cake, paired with a Cotes de Layon dessert wine. This was probably the weakest wine pairing of the night, as the acidity of the wine really overwhelmed the dessert. On its own the wine was fabulous!

Overall, we were very impressed by the quality of the food, the inventiveness of the dishes, the wine pairings and the attention to detail at Beckta. While dining at Beckta isn’t cheap, it is definitely worth spoiling yourself with a dinner there whenever you can.

Overall kind of a disappointment after all the hype here. I was expecting to be wowed like never before but the food was somewhat of a flop. I had the magret du canard which was passable (however the corn risotto was amazing) and the bison appetizer. Both were impressive but not in keeping with french food which is what I was expecting. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but everyone raves about Beckta and it didn't deliver. That being said, if you happen upon it while walking along the street it would be a pleasant surprise.

I dined at Beckta for the first time last week. The online reservation system was very easy and efficient.

My friends and I had heard all the hype, read the OF postings, as well as other articles and were eager to try the restaurant.

The dining atmosphere was simple and clean. The service was exceptional from start to finish. There multiple servers waiting on you.

We started with the complimentary amuse-bouche. Unfortunately I don't remember all the components but it did comprise a small portion of foie gras. It was my first fg experience and yes, it did melt in my mouth!

I began with the Fingerling Potato Gnocchi. It was different and quite delicious. Small gnocchi accompanied with melt-in-mouth cubes of salmon -- rare and still cooking from the heat of the salad. It was what I would describe as a warm salad. It had swiss chard and other leafy yumminess as well as little delicate chanterelles. It was a lovely starter and a nice portion. Another friend ordered the Composed Green Bean Salad and said it was quite delicious. The beans came wrapped in salty proscuitto.

For an entrée, I ordered the Wild Nunavut Arctic Char. It was my first time having char and I have to admit, I'm not sure what the difference is compared to salmon. The portion was well cooked and the skin was fabulous -- crisp and savoury from the sea salt. The char sat abed baby bok choy and baby corn. The bok choy was perfectly cooked and went very well with the soy-black bean sauce. Unfortunately the baby corn were on the raw side. The dish also came with three mini shrimp potstickers. This specific item had drawn my attention to the dish. Unfortunately they weren't anything special. If anything, I would suggest Beckta replace them with another side. The potstickers were so tiny. The filling was small and 'tough' -- it did not melt in my mouth (I was looking for more of a shrimp siu mai-type of texture). My friend and I both ordered the char and enjoyed our meal except she was not as fond of the crispy skin. Another friend ordered the Beef Tenderloin. I recall her liking the dish but not being overly excited about it.

For dessert, the three of us ordered different ones and did the sharing thing -- brilliant! We ordered the Strawberry "Shortcake" (strawberry mascarpone custard, cake-like pasty), the Pistachio-Orange Millefeuille (pistachios, round cookie-like pastry, scoop of coffee gelato, and the Salted Caramel and Chocolate Tart. The tart was the winner particularly since it was more a trio of chocolate desserts: a salted caramel and chocolate tart, a dark chocolate truffle-like flat pyramid and another chocolate item. The sea salt left the most peculiar yet brilliant aftertaste.

After our desserts, we were pleasantly presented with the complimentary dessert. Unfortunately I am drawing a blank but it was a type of mint-fruit gelato. Delish and very refreshing!

We all enjoyed our Beckta experience. We also agreed that it was not a place we would often frequent but that it was a good option to have for those times you want to treat yourself and experience something other than the norm.

I went for my birthday too!
The atmosphere in the restaurant is very nice and the service was excellent.

We had aperitif to start and the kir was very good, however, watch out as the Kir Royal is NOT made with real Champagne, it's from Australia!!

To start I had the pan seared foie gras - it was ok - certainly not the best I've had.
My husband had Fish and chips, tuna with small chips which he said was very good.

Mains:I had Digby Scallops which were cooked perfectly and my husband had beef which he said was also excellent.

The wine list is really excellent and the food overall was very good, however I didn't find it more outstanding than 'The Courtyard' for example.

The fatty, salty foie gras on top of the buttery, sweet banana bread french toast was such a perfect pairing, and then the fresh, tart and clean taste of the grapefruit salsa and greens was a welcome foil. I couldn't finish the appetizer. It was just too decadent. It would have been like eating an entire box of Godiva truffles, or having an hour-long orgasm. Just too much.

I almost always start with a beer when I visit Beckta's because they always have something interesting to serve. On tap, too.

This is in response to Zymurgist's comment re: desired wider beer selection at Beckta.

This restaurant is owned by a sommelier and it is even titled "Restaurant and Wine Bar". The emphasis is intentionally on wine. The main reason to go there is to experience Stephen Beckta's amazing wine pairing with Chef Michael Moffat's scrumptious dishes.

If you are are not a lover of wine, you may not want to eat here. The food is delicious on it's own but the menu is designed around the wine.

The place is very popular and I can't see the format being changed any time soon. Although, even with the short list of available beer, you might go anyway and query Beckta on his knowledge and beer & menu pairings. Given his genius on wine, I bet he knows a lot about all types of alcohol!

Website lists Steamwhistle, Amstel Light, Upper Canada .9, Blanche du Chambly, Stella Artois, Trois Pistoles, St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout. Small, but well-rounded selection. Though sounds like the sort of place that really could benefit from expanding their selection a bit and learning more about how to serve/recommend it like wine.

Based on some of the reviews especially from "Fat Cat" I really want to check this place out sometime. Fine dining and "non-pretentious" normally don't go together :-)

I love petits fours! mmmm
This is what you get while you pay your bill. What a way to sweeten you up!

Dessert was great if you like mousse and strawberries