Foods from North and Navy
Comments
2018 Sep 8
I'm happy to report that the food and drink are still brilliant here. Reliable quality and friendly service ensure that the dining room is packed.
We used the DINR app to score a same-day reservation at the bar on a Saturday night. The menu changes frequently so there isn't much point in going over everything in detail. The always impressive cicchetti plate is a must-have starter and the vegetarian and pasta dishes are top notch. We skipped the main plates this time so we'd have room for dessert. Good choice!
We used the DINR app to score a same-day reservation at the bar on a Saturday night. The menu changes frequently so there isn't much point in going over everything in detail. The always impressive cicchetti plate is a must-have starter and the vegetarian and pasta dishes are top notch. We skipped the main plates this time so we'd have room for dessert. Good choice!
2017 Jul 27
Finally had a chance to try this place last night for the first time.
highly recommend!
Most of our service was provided by a trainee waiter (being shadowed by a more experienced staffer). I kinda love this - that they care enough about the service in general to have the trainee working with somebody while they are still learning. Not that it seems like the trainee needs much more training, service was excellent (with one quirk that was still hysterical and has more to do with "Beable needs to learn not to order this at an Italian restaurant" than anything else).
It being a seasonal menu, raving about what I ordered seems silly, but what the hell. I started with the corn & cauliflower agnolotti, and it was delicious; little pockets of pasta served with smoked cauliflower, gorgonzola sauce, and poppy seeds.
I also had the duck with early summer beets & cherries. Also divine. The server (trainee) checked in with me when he saw that I hadn't eaten most of my beets, and I reassured him that the duck had been amazing and I just personally wasn't much of a beets eater. I considered the dish a success having eaten all of the duck and cherries and some of the beets and greens, but I still appreciate the server confirming that I was happy with the dish when he saw not all had been eaten!
My friend ordered the farfelle with chanterelles which he enjoyed, and the BC ling cod with mushrooms & nasturtiums, which I tried and was also quite good. He wasn't entirely clear on whether the nasturtiums were part of the dish, but decided they must be edible since they were n the description and seemed to enjoy them.
For dessert I ordered the mixed berries & shortcake and he ordered the tiramisu and both of us were happy with the desserts.
One of the things I do need to remember though is NOT to order tea in Italian restaurants unless I am going for entertainment value. When I ordered tea last night, they clearly had to scramble a bit to find me any, and what I ended up with was an orange pekoe decaffeinated (orange pekoe is , IMO, barely tea. Orange pekoe decaf is as acceptable as orange pekoe in that there is not enough flavour to lose). They were happy to bring me fresh lemon slices at least, which can turn even the meanest of orange pekoes into a reasonably drinkable tea.
I've made this mistake at other Italian restaurants in Ottawa too (dining with the same friend, so one of his hobbies is now being highly amused at the hijinks of watching me order tea with highly varying results at various Ottawa restaurants). Since I don't like coffee, I think for future expeditions to Italian or similar "coffee culture" restaurants, I will be better off investigating the dessert wine or similar liquer options instead. :D
I did have wine at dinner but it was something the waiter chose and I don't remember which one, but it was very nice. Looking at warby's review below (albeit a couple of years old) though, next time I think I'll try a Negroni!
TL:DR Restaurant was excellent, service was excellent, highly recommend.
Also Italian restaurants in general are coffee culture rather than tea culture, so order tea only if you are up for the ensuing entertaining hijinks.
highly recommend!
Most of our service was provided by a trainee waiter (being shadowed by a more experienced staffer). I kinda love this - that they care enough about the service in general to have the trainee working with somebody while they are still learning. Not that it seems like the trainee needs much more training, service was excellent (with one quirk that was still hysterical and has more to do with "Beable needs to learn not to order this at an Italian restaurant" than anything else).
It being a seasonal menu, raving about what I ordered seems silly, but what the hell. I started with the corn & cauliflower agnolotti, and it was delicious; little pockets of pasta served with smoked cauliflower, gorgonzola sauce, and poppy seeds.
I also had the duck with early summer beets & cherries. Also divine. The server (trainee) checked in with me when he saw that I hadn't eaten most of my beets, and I reassured him that the duck had been amazing and I just personally wasn't much of a beets eater. I considered the dish a success having eaten all of the duck and cherries and some of the beets and greens, but I still appreciate the server confirming that I was happy with the dish when he saw not all had been eaten!
My friend ordered the farfelle with chanterelles which he enjoyed, and the BC ling cod with mushrooms & nasturtiums, which I tried and was also quite good. He wasn't entirely clear on whether the nasturtiums were part of the dish, but decided they must be edible since they were n the description and seemed to enjoy them.
For dessert I ordered the mixed berries & shortcake and he ordered the tiramisu and both of us were happy with the desserts.
One of the things I do need to remember though is NOT to order tea in Italian restaurants unless I am going for entertainment value. When I ordered tea last night, they clearly had to scramble a bit to find me any, and what I ended up with was an orange pekoe decaffeinated (orange pekoe is , IMO, barely tea. Orange pekoe decaf is as acceptable as orange pekoe in that there is not enough flavour to lose). They were happy to bring me fresh lemon slices at least, which can turn even the meanest of orange pekoes into a reasonably drinkable tea.
I've made this mistake at other Italian restaurants in Ottawa too (dining with the same friend, so one of his hobbies is now being highly amused at the hijinks of watching me order tea with highly varying results at various Ottawa restaurants). Since I don't like coffee, I think for future expeditions to Italian or similar "coffee culture" restaurants, I will be better off investigating the dessert wine or similar liquer options instead. :D
I did have wine at dinner but it was something the waiter chose and I don't remember which one, but it was very nice. Looking at warby's review below (albeit a couple of years old) though, next time I think I'll try a Negroni!
TL:DR Restaurant was excellent, service was excellent, highly recommend.
Also Italian restaurants in general are coffee culture rather than tea culture, so order tea only if you are up for the ensuing entertaining hijinks.
2015 May 17
Wow! All around excellent experience. My wife and I visited on a Saturday night. Service is friendly, casual, enthusiastic and expertly shared between various members of staff. Prices are high but not out of line with the quality. The atmosphere is lively and loud but not unpleasantly so.
This menu changes with the seasons and all the food ranged from very good to amazing. I started with a perfect Negroni ($11, top left in pic) and my wife, at the suggestion of our primary server Micha, had a wonderful glass of Jeio Rose prosecco ($14). The cicheti ($3-$4 each, example top right) -- two-bite just-sharable treats with creative toppings and fillings -- were interesting and delicious.
I was blown away by the Taleggio Scarpinocc ($11, top center) -- delicate stuffed pasta resembling wrapped candies. Drizzled with reduced balsamic and caramelized shallot rings, and served on a light puddle of buttery sauce with poppy seeds, they were complex simplicity at its best!
Like all Mediterranean cuisine, Italian food shines brightest when it makes use of local in-season products like the tomatoes in the Heirloom Tomato Salad with Fresh Cheese & Basil ($11, bottom left). Similarly, the delicious salt-cod stuffed deep fried zucchini flowers ($12) are only available when they're available. ;-)
The in-house baked bread (complimentary) was stellar! Finally, after decades of crappy cotton-wool "Italian bread" in Ottawa, someone is making an Italian loaf that does justice to European breads. Light, but not too light, with that addictive succulent chewiness of perfect bread and a hint of sourdough. It was served with a soft cube of bone marrow infused butter, which we quickly wiped up using the thick slabs of gorgeous glutinous goodness. We gratefully accepted the offer of more bread with which to sop up the delectable sauces on our various plates.
Dessert was fantastic. My wife loves a good lemon tart ($10), and this square tart (cut from a larger pan) was rich and mildly tangy with an impossibly thin crust. She prefers a darker yellow sour-forward lemon curd over this one, but I definitely prefer this creamier more delicate style. My tiramisu ($9, bottom center) was wonderful. Again, pure simplicity that works because the ingredients are great!
I asked about dessert wines or digestifs and our server recommended the Amaro Montenegro ($9). Served on ice with a lemon twist, this turned out to be the perfect after-dinner treat. I'll definitely buy a bottle as an Italian addition to my beloved German and Portuguese post-meal spirits of choice, Alpenbitter and Licor Beirão. The single shot of espresso ($2, bottom right) I asked for was beyond reproach. Perfectly pulled, with a rich crema, pleasantly bitter, and accompanied by a cube of sugar and a delectable shortbread-nut cookie. It's hard not to grin from start to finish when the meal is this great.
In 21 years of living in Ottawa, this is the first Italian restaurant that didn't leave me feeling disappointed in any way. Well done!!
This menu changes with the seasons and all the food ranged from very good to amazing. I started with a perfect Negroni ($11, top left in pic) and my wife, at the suggestion of our primary server Micha, had a wonderful glass of Jeio Rose prosecco ($14). The cicheti ($3-$4 each, example top right) -- two-bite just-sharable treats with creative toppings and fillings -- were interesting and delicious.
I was blown away by the Taleggio Scarpinocc ($11, top center) -- delicate stuffed pasta resembling wrapped candies. Drizzled with reduced balsamic and caramelized shallot rings, and served on a light puddle of buttery sauce with poppy seeds, they were complex simplicity at its best!
Like all Mediterranean cuisine, Italian food shines brightest when it makes use of local in-season products like the tomatoes in the Heirloom Tomato Salad with Fresh Cheese & Basil ($11, bottom left). Similarly, the delicious salt-cod stuffed deep fried zucchini flowers ($12) are only available when they're available. ;-)
The in-house baked bread (complimentary) was stellar! Finally, after decades of crappy cotton-wool "Italian bread" in Ottawa, someone is making an Italian loaf that does justice to European breads. Light, but not too light, with that addictive succulent chewiness of perfect bread and a hint of sourdough. It was served with a soft cube of bone marrow infused butter, which we quickly wiped up using the thick slabs of gorgeous glutinous goodness. We gratefully accepted the offer of more bread with which to sop up the delectable sauces on our various plates.
Dessert was fantastic. My wife loves a good lemon tart ($10), and this square tart (cut from a larger pan) was rich and mildly tangy with an impossibly thin crust. She prefers a darker yellow sour-forward lemon curd over this one, but I definitely prefer this creamier more delicate style. My tiramisu ($9, bottom center) was wonderful. Again, pure simplicity that works because the ingredients are great!
I asked about dessert wines or digestifs and our server recommended the Amaro Montenegro ($9). Served on ice with a lemon twist, this turned out to be the perfect after-dinner treat. I'll definitely buy a bottle as an Italian addition to my beloved German and Portuguese post-meal spirits of choice, Alpenbitter and Licor Beirão. The single shot of espresso ($2, bottom right) I asked for was beyond reproach. Perfectly pulled, with a rich crema, pleasantly bitter, and accompanied by a cube of sugar and a delectable shortbread-nut cookie. It's hard not to grin from start to finish when the meal is this great.
In 21 years of living in Ottawa, this is the first Italian restaurant that didn't leave me feeling disappointed in any way. Well done!!
2015 Mar 8
Who knew the old Beckta location could be such a loud and happening place! I was there two Fridays ago for dinner and despite a few hiccups (understandable as I think they have been open less than a month), it was a very enjoyable evening.
The place was packed and although we had a reservation (8:15pm) our table was not ready so they seated us at the bar overlooking the kitchen – an interesting vantage point so we decided to stay there.
The next glitch was they did not have the wine we chose but they quickly suggested something else and brought over complementary glasses of prosecco to lessen our disappointment (a nice touch).
The menu is split up into what I am calling – really small plates, small plates, medium plates and entrees. We tried a mixture to share and were very full when we left.
From the very small plates/cicheti (which I found to be quite expensive for what you got), we had:
- Anchovy & White Bean ($3) – a single smallish piece of bread with a mound of white beans mixed with anchovies, although very tasty, was only slightly more than mouthful
- Smoked Ricotta & Fennel ($4) – same size as the anchovy & white bean, although the house smoked ricotta was particularly delicious
From the small plates/primi:
- Rise e bisi – a bowl of creamy white rice under which was hidden a mound of minted mushy peas, I could have eaten this all myself
From the medium plates/antipasti:
- Pork & Beef Polpette – three meatballs in a very flavourful tomato sauce, again I could have eaten these all myself
From the entrees/secondi:
- Turkey & Polenta – slices of turkey on top of creamy polenta surrounded by an olive and tomato mixture, although this was good it was my least favorite
All in all a welcome addition to Ottawa’s restaurant scene. I would be happy to visit again.
The place was packed and although we had a reservation (8:15pm) our table was not ready so they seated us at the bar overlooking the kitchen – an interesting vantage point so we decided to stay there.
The next glitch was they did not have the wine we chose but they quickly suggested something else and brought over complementary glasses of prosecco to lessen our disappointment (a nice touch).
The menu is split up into what I am calling – really small plates, small plates, medium plates and entrees. We tried a mixture to share and were very full when we left.
From the very small plates/cicheti (which I found to be quite expensive for what you got), we had:
- Anchovy & White Bean ($3) – a single smallish piece of bread with a mound of white beans mixed with anchovies, although very tasty, was only slightly more than mouthful
- Smoked Ricotta & Fennel ($4) – same size as the anchovy & white bean, although the house smoked ricotta was particularly delicious
From the small plates/primi:
- Rise e bisi – a bowl of creamy white rice under which was hidden a mound of minted mushy peas, I could have eaten this all myself
From the medium plates/antipasti:
- Pork & Beef Polpette – three meatballs in a very flavourful tomato sauce, again I could have eaten these all myself
From the entrees/secondi:
- Turkey & Polenta – slices of turkey on top of creamy polenta surrounded by an olive and tomato mixture, although this was good it was my least favorite
All in all a welcome addition to Ottawa’s restaurant scene. I would be happy to visit again.
2015 Feb 24
I ate here over the weekend! The food was delicious! Started with the chichetti bites platter; standouts were the ricotta/fennel/honey and the bacala bites. We followed this with the fried smelts with the citrus salad; the smelts were good (not something i've eaten much in Canada) but were served a bit cold. The citrus salad was delicious; great flavors in this neverending winter!
Final dishes were the potato/ricotta tortellini in broth (I wanted to lick the plate), and the corzetti with pancetta/walnuts/honey: this dish was a total wow for me, I could not figure out how something so simple tasted so delicious! Another little quibble was in the serving size, which was smaller than pictures I had seen on twitter/instagram. That being said, everything was still good value for money, its just something that tends to bother me!
Desserts (couldn't just have one) were the tiramisu (yummy) and their signature guiseppe luigi (Jos Louis with a twist). I found the cake part to be kind of dry so would probably stick to the tiramisu in the future. All in all a great visit and will return.
Final dishes were the potato/ricotta tortellini in broth (I wanted to lick the plate), and the corzetti with pancetta/walnuts/honey: this dish was a total wow for me, I could not figure out how something so simple tasted so delicious! Another little quibble was in the serving size, which was smaller than pictures I had seen on twitter/instagram. That being said, everything was still good value for money, its just something that tends to bother me!
Desserts (couldn't just have one) were the tiramisu (yummy) and their signature guiseppe luigi (Jos Louis with a twist). I found the cake part to be kind of dry so would probably stick to the tiramisu in the future. All in all a great visit and will return.
RiceLover
Service was awesome. Our waiter was attentive and pleasant. He carefully explained everything on the menu and seemed genuinely excited about the food himself as well.
We shared some of the appetizers and each tried something different for our main. I had the beef ribs which was very tender and sweet. The Affogato on Farinella gelato. It was excellents
I can’t wait to go back. I hope they bring back the Giuseppe Louis on the dessert menu.