Mimi J.
Yelp
I finally had the chance to try this restaurant on a Friday evening after work. I went with Yasmine who was working on a piece for CBC Radio Canada on the food industry in Ottawa/Gatineau. Neither she nor I had tried this restaurant before, so it was the perfect choice! A few of my friends had already tried it, and reviews were mixed, which is why I hadn't rushed to try it already.
We arrived at about 6:00PM, and the restaurant opens for dinner at 5:30PM. By the time it was around 7:00PM, the restaurant was packed, which is a good sign! Service is polite and attentive; we chose to be seated at a high table, and it was actually the only table in the restaurant that had a view of the open kitchen, so we could see the dishes being plated; very entertaining!
The atmosphere was very cozy, dimly lit, and with just the right amount of volume. Next time, I'll sit at the bar as it seemed quite lively! We were given the dinner menu, and set to decide which dishes to choose. We tried:
- We both chose the: Rainbow trout (squash puree, bacon marmalade, pressed hash, walnut crumb); the server recommended this dish as his favourite! The fish was super crispy, and was a good portion. It came with a nice mix of vegetables, and the thick puree was absolutely delicious, and put everything together really well. It lended a salty but rich flavour to the entire dish. The walnut crumb served as presentation; what would of made the dish better is perhaps more crunchy elements, as most of it was soft/crispy.
- Flourless chocolate cake (white chocolate mint mousse/fleur de lait ice cream/cashews): this dish came with 3 rich pieces of chocolate cake, which was like a brownie in texture, and not too unique. However, I really enjoyed the honey coated cashews as they were super crunchy and went well with the mint mousse! The ice cream tasted very light, and perhaps could be swapped with something more fruity to balance out the richness of the dish.
- Blood orange tart (pistachio crumb/whipped cream/cardamom ice: I much preferred this dessert over the brownie-esque chocolate cake, as it was rich but also fruity; the perfect balance! The cardamom ice cream was SUPER strong, which is how I like it. I wish I could of eaten a whole bowl of just the cardamom ice cream! Anything pistachio is delicious, and this was no exception; it complemented the orange and cardamom perfectly!
Service was really professional, and the waiter was bilingual. When I asked which dessert was the most photogenic, he wasn't surprised and calmly pointed out the flourless chocolate cake. I actually thought the blood orange tart was prettier, so I put a picture of that on my Instagram! (magic.mimi)
Although we didn't try that many dishes, the dishes that kept coming out of the kitchen looked amazing! At one point, all the dishes and looked unique; perhaps it was part of an anniversary dinner or a special set menu? We weren't sure. But they all looked incredible, and the inticing smells wafting towards us kept making us want to order more food!
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality and comfort of the entire dining experience. I'm planning on coming back for brunch, and maybe lunch as well if I'm able to during a weekday! It's also a super cozy atmosphere which would be perfect for a date or night out with the girls!