ottawa foodies

Just wanted to see what others think about cheese plates served in restaurants. I really enjoy having a nice cheese for dessert (or before my dessert) and keep being disappointed by what I am receiving.

The other night I went out for dinner. The cheeses were all great but...they served it with very salty rice crackers that made one of the cheese, that was already fairly salty on its own but delicious, taste like a salt lick. I only had one of the crackers and was going to ask for some bread but for dinner they were serving a herb bread so I knew that would do nothing for the cheeses either?

At another restaurant I had the cheese plate which all were very poor quality, nothing exciting and they had drizzled honey over the nuts and blue cheese. I guess they were trying to make the hum ha cheese taste better but it made it very unpleasant to eat as my hands were sticking to everything. The bread they served were rolls that seemed like they were from the supermarket & price club crackers as well. At least they were neutral tasting.

I could go on & on. What I just don't understand is how with all of the amazing cheeses in this area how the cheese plates in the local restaurants could be bland?
And for the restaurants that go to the effort to source the great cheeses why they feel the need to serve flavoured breads with them or salty crackers that take away from the cheeses flavour?

A simple bread/plain crisp, sliced apple/pear &/or grapes are always a good match. Why complicate bliss with try-to-be-trendy accompaniments.

Ouch. Those sound awful.

I had a great cheese plate at Absinthe Restaurant.

I've also had a good cheese plate at Empire Grill, surprisingly. That was a while ago though, I wonder if they still have it?

A cheese plate should be a simple presentation that emphasizes the flavours of the cheese, so no overpowering crackers or flavoured breads. My last memorable cheese plate had a pita chip, local brie, locally made bleu, walnuts, figs in port sauce, and an organic raw milk cheddar.

That is funny you said that because both of the places you mentioned I was disappointed with the cheese plates. They helped to sparked this topic.

The cheese at Absinthe the other night was great but it was there that had the salty rice crackers & flavoured bread?

The empire grill had neutral bread but the cheeses were pretty boring. That was a year ago, maybe it has changed.

Where was it that you had the 'memorable' cheese plate?

LOL... well, with Empire Grill, this was a while ago so I can't remember the exact cheeses, but the cheese was very good and was served simply with an assortment of fruit, I vaguely remember an aged manchego on the plate.

Absinthe did not serve their cheese plate with rice crackers when I ordered mine, in fact, I would venture to say that serving rice crackers on a cheese plate is tacky and unpalatable. I do remember having a plain baguette and herbed bread with it.

My last memorable plate was actually in VT, which is why I didn't bother mentioning the location! LOL, it was at Three Tomatoes in Burlington, and I had a grilled ribeye with port reduction and polenta with braised swiss chard. I had a local seasonal beer with the meal... it was excellent... I never miss that restaurant when I go there.

I recall that Beckta had a lovely cheese plate, included on thier dessert menu.

Also, Petit Bill's Bistro has cheese tapas plates. You can choose which type of cheese you would like for a few dollars each, so you could mix and match the cheeses that sound interesting to you, if you wanted to order a few plates. These are (or at least used to) be served with crackers (not salty over rice kind lol, a nice neutral kind).

Cheese plates are something I prefer to do at home; they aren't much of a draw at a restaurant. I've found in the past, that the cheeses we've got were ones that we can just buy locally. It might be a way to try some new cheese, but I'd prefer to do that (more cheaply) by just going to a store and getting something interesting (or even better, visit the producer). If I thought that I could get something that wasn't available locally it might be more tempting.

The cheese they serve at the Wellington is very good - I don't recall what they served with it though.

Drizzling honey on them? Yuck. I think I'd have sent that back. Especially when it is ruining a blue cheese.

I know there's another thread on cheese, perhaps I should post this comment there or something instead, but Nicastro on Wellington has a great cheese selection and the proprietor isn't shy, he'll let you try out some cheeses and he's actually knows when certain cheeses are "ripe", or best for eating... mmm mmm... I'd bet if Caffe Ventuno had a cheese plate, it would be fantastic!

I normally don't order cheese for dessert at restaurants for the simple fact I'd rather pick and choose my own cheeses from the grocery store.

That being said, Black Cat has a 'Quebec Cheese Plate' on their dessert menu and I've heard nothing but praises about the restaurant.

Don't be so quick to write off the honey on cheese thing! A good grana padano or gorgonzola drizzled with honey can be delicious, especially if served with walnuts.

However, it doesn't sound like the cheese plate MMaF is describing was like that. ;)

I agree the honey did make the blue cheese taste much better than it would have on its own but was very messy to eat.
The cheese plates are very nice at the wellington.
Never been to Petit Bill's on wellington, have to check it out.

I love Cheese plates!

About4-6 times a year I will make a 5-7 course meal and there is always a cheese plate involved. I have gotten to know one of the cheese stores in the market reasonably well (I can never remember the name though - its the one closest to Irving Rivers)and one of the people there is quite helpful in suggesting stuff for a cheese course.

In restaurants I have really enjoyed them at some places outside the Ottawa area. However, I have had some good ones in Ottawa. One surprisingly good one was the first time we went to the Nordik Spa and order 2 massage with a wine and cheese. I was not really expecting much other than cheddar and alike. Much to our surprise there was lots of cheese and lots intersting Quebecois cheeses. However, when we went back the next time and ordered it (instead of purchasing the massge/wine and cheese package) it was not nearly as good. Don't know if we got something better the other time or whether there cheese offerings declined.

I seem to recall Le Baccara's cheese course being quite good (that was a few years back and I can't remember the specifics other than it was a meal for the ages!)

cheers!

As I was reading through this thread, I was going to mention where I had a nice cheese plate and medicinejar mentioned it!
Le Nordik Spa had a great wine and cheese plate IMO...a few Quebec cheeses served with some red seedless grapes, caramelized nuts (walnuts I think?), dried cranberries, and a couple nice pieces of breads that had raisins in it. Very enjoyable after a few hours at the spa...with a glass of wine of course!

I've had damn good cheese plates at Perspectives, Beckta, and Les Fougères. I don't always go for the cheese plate—it's hard to say "yes cheese no dessert" but easy to say "no cheese yes dessert"—but I haven't been disappointed yet.

I had a decent cheese plate a year or two ago across the river in Hull, at a little place called The French Quarter ( www.ottawafoodies.com ) I reveiwed it then, and from my memory although the plate was mostly soft cheeses (brie, etc) it was quite tasty. There was bread with it, but it was the fresh fruit served with it that made it really complete. My 2 cents (3 cents USD)?

The Canadiana Tea at Chateau Laurier comes with a great cheese plate. From what I remember they were predominantly, if not all Quebec cheeses and they were delicious.

Hi Summer,

Worth the drive is mariposa, Suzanne puts out a lovely cheese plate and sells many of the cheeses. If you want some divine cheese for your wine nights email my sister in law at Moonstruck here on Salt Spring their Bleus are amazing.

I agree Mariposa does have a great cheese plate.
Moonstruck cheeses use to be my lunch almost daily for a while, love the baby blue I think it was called?
Thanks for tips everyone, guess I just need to keep trying & maybe asking more questions before I order them instead of assuming it will be good.

I've had a wonderful cheese plate at Allium - although I believe they have listed as an appetizer.