Charlotte S.
Yelp
Considered part of 2019's Canada's 100 Best Restaurants list, Fauna turned out to be a major disappointment. I wanted to treat my parents to this restaurant but not only did it miss the mark as one of Canada's best, I don't believe it even succeeded in being a good restaurant.
We ordered 3 items: Okonomiyaki ($17), Pork Belly ($19), and 80-Day Dry Aged Rib Eye for Two ($80). The first two were the recommendation of the waitress.
Perhaps a westernized interpretation, the only resemblance this okonomiyaki had to the popular Japanese street food was a soggy cabbage pancake. Gone were the distinctive tang of okonomiyaki sauce and light bonito flakes and its place were a glorified American barbecue sauce with sautéed shiitake mushrooms and pickled ginger. To add insult to injury, this $17 pancake was the size of my palm.
The pork belly was similarly underwhelming. Despite the eye-catching ingredients listed on the menu (Tamarind! Maple! "Sichuan" Pork Rinds!), their flavours were muted at best and absent at worst. Sure, we don't need to be able to taste and identify every single ingredient in a dish and layers in flavouring is good. However, when all you're getting is a pan-fried piece of pork belly with a one-dimensional mole sauce you can make at home, you start wondering: 1) where are the things you're paying $19 for and 2) is this considered false advertising?
The rib eye was nicely plated; however, the steak itself consisted of a-third, if not more, of pure fat. While we understand fat is required for flavour, the amount on that steak was excessive. A third of the original steak could have been rebuilt with those chunks of fat - and that's not including the amount we swallowed. Unfortunately, because we had shared the dish, we didn't realize just how much there was until we compared plates close to the end of the meal. Furthermore, the steak was so salty that the side dishes were necessary to mask it and even then, my lips stung even hours after.
The service was subpar, if not mediocre. We arrived to a near empty restaurant, with one other table of two. We were told that there were reservations so we would be seated at a table where the afternoon sun was blinding. They acknowledged how bright it was but made no attempts to make us more comfortable. Furthermore, by the time we left (2 hours after), the restaurant was still empty with only 10 patrons (3 tables) in total, including us. So much for reservations.
The waitress was curt and inattentive as well, refilling only 2 out of 3 glasses of water the entire time. When we raised our concerns about the steak (I'll admit, we were a bit late doing so), she was immediately defensive, saying "It's because it's dry-aged." I don't think dry-aging creates huge chunks of fat, but ok. She came back and told us the chef said, "Our beef is fatty because it's dry-aged. You need the fat for flavour [We agree but, again, that amount was excessive]. Most people like it. If you don't, you don't have to eat it [Moot point since our plates were already cleared away then. It sounded more like she was saying (or implying with her tone) we just didn't know what good steak tastes like]. Here, you can have a dessert if you're still hungry. We'll give it to you." Although the offer of a free dessert was generous, the way it was delivered made it sound like they thought we were trying to scam them. While our comment may have been ill-timed, we weren't looking to get anything out of it and didn't appreciate what her tone implied. We were too bloated from the salt and grease in our meal anyway and as such, we declined the offer.
At present time, I do not believe Fauna is befit the title of one of Canada's 100 Best Restaurants. Based on their food and service, I don't think they even deserve to be called a good restaurant. The fact that they are considered one of the best does a disservice to the many other great restaurants in Ottawa (and Canada).
