Riviera
62 Sparks St., 613-233-6262, dineriviera.com
Open: Monday to Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., 5 p.m. to close, Saturday 5 p.m. to close, closed Sunday
Prices: starters $9 to $22, pastas $18 to $55, mains $28 to $44
Access: no steps to front door or washrooms

For decades, Spark Street has been in desperate need of revitalization. Everything from condos to cars to a casino has been suggested in recent years to liven up the too-quiet pedestrian mall a block from Parliament Hill.

My food-centric two cents: Sparks Street needs more restaurants like Riviera, which opened there four months ago just west of Elgin Street.

After too many last-minute attempts to score prime-time dinner reservations there, I finally ate at Riviera twice this month. 

Before any of the pricey but wow-worthy dishes landed at our table, we were struck by Riviera’s big-city feeling and stylishness. Yes, it has an air of youthful hipness, as do many of Ottawa’s neighbourhood-but-destination restaurants. But perhaps more so, and probably necessarily so given its proximity to the Hill, Riviera thrums with success, power and history. If wheeler-dealers have missed Hy’s Steakhouse since its February 2015 closure, Riviera could be a plausible replacement.

Built in 1869, the premises has been many things — originally a jewelry store, a financial institution through most of the 20th century, and for a few years until 2014 a shop catering to stamp collectors. Now, it’s a magnet for the spiffily suited and dressed-down alike. All make merry in a long, alluring, neo-classical, high-ceilinged space. Grey-panelled walls, faux Greek columns and marble flank guests on one side. On the other, cooks in black and ball caps preside over a gleaming diner-style open kitchen.

The kitchen crew shares the inviting 70-foot bar, fitted with banker’s lights, with bartender Stephen Flood, formerly of the Black Tomato. He doles out posh, creative or classic cocktails. Mad Men-ish liquid lunches do seem apropos.

Other retro touches abound, from the Riviera-branded Royal Doulton dishes to the ’50s rock and roll and vintage jazz I’ve heard playing, not too loudly. Edgiest at Riviera is its understated taxidermy fetish — on its west wall is deer’s-head artwork that nods to St. Hubertus, patron saint of hunters, while two rabbit heads decorate the bar.  

About 80 people can sit at tables on leather banquettes or cushion-less wood tables, 26 more, including some walk-ins, can settle in at the bar, and a private table seats 10 in the former bank manager’s office.   

Riviera’s owners and chefs are Matthew Carmichael and Jordan Holley, who already have hits on their hands with three-year-old El Camino and one-year-old Datsun on Elgin Street. They’re more casual, downstairs spots that cater to fans of Mexican and Asian food, respectively. 

Tacos and steamed buns aside, Carmichael and Holley have fine-dining chops and experiences under their aprons, with stints at one or both of Social, Restaurant E18hteen, Domus Cafe and Perspectives between them. For this kitchen duo, the “New Canadian” food at Riviera, from raw-bar apps to house-made extruded pastas to short ribs on polenta, is nothing like a stretch.

Overall, the frequently tweaked one-page menu is not about pushing boundaries, but rather delivering very well-made and familiar but dressed-up comforts.

I’ve started with the most punchy thing on Riviera’s menu — some heat-forward confit tuna belly “‘nduja” (normally a spicy Calabrian spreadable pork indulgence), slathered on Riviera’s oh-so-fluffy brioche bread ($8). It served as a jolt of flavour before more refined appetizers followed.

Tuna ‘nduja at Riviera 

Chowder ($19) was a thing of beauty, more like a composition of spot prawns, tiny scallops, mussels, chunks of potato, bacon and corn, all cooked with finesse and then swaddled, not submerged, in a creamy but complex broth.

Spot prawn and scallop chowder at Riviera

Carmichael’s penchant for and prowess with seafood were also clear in his take on wedge salad ($16). The steakhouse fave came well-dressed with a garlicky, anchovy-perked dressing and, best of all, lavished with impeccably cooked, sweet Nordic shrimp.

Wedge salad at Riviera

The first time I ate octopus in Ottawa was at Restaurant E18hteen when Carmichael was at the helm. Two big cephalopod tentacles re-appeared at Riviera, made tender, simply grilled and criss-crossed, served with shishito peppers, romesco sauce and chilies to amp up the flavour ($20).  

Octopus with romesco sauce, shishito peppers at Riviera

Two pasta dishes struck me as being more about protein and sauce rather than the made-at-Riviera noodles — not that I’m complaining. A rustic, chunky pork shoulder ragu ($20) was very good. Even better was lobster lasagnetti ($30), generously meaty and blessed with a deeply-flavoured, bisque-like sauce that cried out for brioche for sopping. 

Lobster pasta at Riviera

I’ve sampled three of Riviera’s four mains and found that beef and fish slightly edged out fowl.

Deboned beef short rib ($32), sitting on polenta and topped with horseradish, was completely on point, toothsome and tasting of a long, wine-y braise. Lacquered black cod ($44) served on a carrot purée was as good as that dish could be, a captivating balance of buttery roasted fish and multiple sweet notes. The pressed half-Cornish hen ($28) did a little less for me, despite its crisp skin and sumptuous mushroom sauce. 

Short ribs at Riviera

Black cod and carrot purée at Riviera

Pressed half Cornish Hen at Riviera

Three desserts ($10 each) sweetly extended the restaurant’s upscale but accessible vibe. Best was a fantastic slice of chocolate peanut butter tart, drizzled with salted caramel, vanilla-tinged whipped cream and sponge toffee. The flourless chocolate cake, surprisingly cool, was bettered by a coffee sauce and shavings of cocoa nibs. In a wide-bowled glass came a deconstructed lemon tart — a heap of lemon curd, studded with broken pastry and topped with lavender meringue.

Chocolate peanut butter tart at Riviera

Flourless chocolate cake at Riviera

Service has been as crisp as the staff’s shirts.

Almost exactly a year ago, I lauded Datsun’s elevated Asian food and relaxed digs. Now, I like Riviera’s power-player fare and cool-capital space even more. If Carmichael and Holley have another restaurant up their sleeves, Ottawa, or at least Sparks Street, could use it.

phum@postmedia.com
twitter.com/peterhum
Peter Hum’s restaurant reviews

Sutherland Restaurant, Bar and Coffee House
224 Beechwood Ave., 613-741-7980, facebook.com/sutherlandrestaurant
Open: Weekdays 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., weekends 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., 5:30 to 10 p.m.
Prices: Small plates at dinner $9 to $18
Access: No steps to front door or washrooms

It’s good to see that Ottawa chef and restaurateur Warren Sutherland has moved beyond ribs, pork butt and pizza.

No offence to SmoQue Shack and Slice & Co., the two casual downtown eateries that Sutherland in recent years opened but this year left. It’s just that, given Sutherland’s initial successes at Sweetgrass Aboriginal Bistro, which he and his then-wife Phoebe opened in the early 2000s, we know that the New England Culinary Institute grad is capable of more ambitious and interesting food.

That’s what we hoped for from Sutherland, his eponymously named Beechwood Avenue restaurant that opened in early November. For the most part, interesting and appealing small plates are what we received.

Located on the new Kavanaugh condo building’s ground floor, Sutherland’s latest venture is a two-sided space that seats roughly 100. In the larger dining room, blonde wood and well-lit plants along one wall dial back the industrial feeling. The bar-side nook appears more cosy.

The restaurant caters to its condo-dwelling neighbours by serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. I ate dinner there twice this month, trying a dozen items — almost the entirety of a menu — and four desserts.

My first visit, with a pescetarian, was more satisfying than its meatier followup. I don’t necessarily blame the second visit’s dishes, though, which were well designed but generally less well executed. That Sunday night, when Sutherland, we were told, was off, the cooking just seemed a bit wobbly. Some items were either too salty or not salted enough, and a protein or two not cooked with sufficient precision. None of the missteps was egregious. But they did add up.

Sutherland’s small-plates scheme does improve on the less thought-out regimens at some other Ottawa restaurants. Elsewhere, dishes can land on tables when they’re ready (even if they’d be better enjoyed in a different order), and with the assumption that items will be shared (even if some plates don’t really lend themselves to dividing and devouring).

Instead, Sutherland’s dinner menu is split into “cold,” “warm” and “hot” plates, all priced between $9 and $18. We were told that the kitchen thinks of them as courses for individual guests who should each order two or three plates, rather than the stuff of family-style dinners. That said, we did make sharing work. 

Our first visit’s opening wave of cold and warm dishes presented hit upon hit.

Vegetarian poke ($9) slyly recast the Hawaiian raw-fish-with-dressing treat. Cubes of cucumber, squash and more stood in for poke’s usual well-seasoned tuna and played well with seaweed, soy and sesame. A pretty, nuanced and likeable plate featured morsels of king crab, offset by fennel, pickled celery and apples on a big slather of lemon mayo ($18).   

Vegetable poke at Sutherland

Crab cold plate at Sutherland

More earthy was a blob of made-that-day burrata (a fresh, semi-soft Italian cheese, $12), bolstered by its puddle of garlic, sun-dried tomato and balsamic, and scooped up with crostini. We’d scarcely polished off the cheese when our three hot plates landed. 

Burrata in sun-dried tomato and garlic at Sutherland

My pescetarian pal, and indeed all of us at the table, appreciated Sutherland’s fish of the day (Arctic char, $16), which shared a bowl with a lightly spicy Brazilian-inspired moqueca de camarao sauce. We were equally pleased by the crispy deep-fried tofu with beans ($14) that was smoky enough to recall SmoQue Shack’s barbecue fare and a soupy, substantial mushroom risotto ($15) garnished with crisped slices of king oyster mushrooms. 

Arctic char fish of the day at Sutherland

Crispy tofu at Sutherland

The Sunday dinner began with a plate of Sutherland’s cured trout ($12), which for all of its nice components featured over-salted fish. Better were the flaky-pastried pork dumplings ($12) with a sweet sauce and best was what Sutherland calls charcoal chicken ($10), two Asian-themed lettuce wraps that starred well-marinated, smoky thigh meat.

Cured trout at Sutherland

Pork dumplings at Sutherland

Charcoal chicken at Sutherland

The night’s hot dishes were uneven. Duck confit ($18) was beyond reproach, hitting the right textural and taste notes, and nicely paired with diced, compressed apples. But an otherwise attractive and well-thought-through pork plate ($16) was let down by its over-grilled piece of loin and too-salty accompaniments. Striploin steak ($18) was properly cooked and very well sauced, but the meat needed some of the excess salt in the plate’s massive potato pancake. The butter-poached shrimp that came with gnocchi “galettes” ($16) struck some at the table as way too cool for a hot dish.

Duck confit at Sutherland

Pork loin and sausage at Sutherland

Striploin steak at Sutherland

Poached shrimp and gnocchi “galettes” at Sutherland

We were blunt with our feedback about that dish when our server asked, and happily, at the end of the night, we weren’t charged for it. That bit of accommodation, plus some very tasty, homey desserts, erased our resentments about slips that had come before.

A scoop of house-made chocolate ice cream ($4) was dark, intense and not too sweet. Just-as-good vanilla ice cream topped a nicely raisin-y, spot-on, hot apple crumble ($8) and some squares of potently rum-sauced bread pudding ($8). 

Apple crumble at Sutherland

Jamaican rum bread pudding at Sutherland

Sutherland (the restaurant) clearly adds some extra dining sizzle to New Edinburgh and Rockcliffe Park, and its best dishes justify a chef naming his place after himself. On that Sunday, though, a bit more care with some dishes would have given the kitchen even more to be proud of.

phum@postmedia.com
twitter.com/peterhum

Sutherland Restaurant, Bar and Coffee House
224 Beechwood Ave., 613-741-7980, facebook.com/sutherlandrestaurant
Open: Weekdays 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., weekends 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., 5:30 to 10 p.m.
Prices: Small plates at dinner $9 to $18
Access: No steps to front door or washrooms

It’s good to see that Ottawa chef and restaurateur Warren Sutherland has moved beyond ribs, pork butt and pizza.

No offence to SmoQue Shack and Slice & Co., the two casual downtown eateries that Sutherland in recent years opened but this year left. It’s just that, given Sutherland’s initial successes at Sweetgrass Aboriginal Bistro, which he and his then-wife Phoebe opened in the early 2000s, we know that the New England Culinary Institute grad is capable of more ambitious and interesting food.

That’s what we hoped for from Sutherland, his eponymously named Beechwood Avenue restaurant that opened in early November. For the most part, interesting and appealing small plates are what we received.

Located on the new Kavanaugh condo building’s ground floor, Sutherland’s latest venture is a two-sided space that seats roughly 100. In the larger dining room, blonde wood and well-lit plants along one wall dial back the industrial feeling. The bar-side nook appears more cosy.

The restaurant caters to its condo-dwelling neighbours by serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. I ate dinner there twice this month, trying a dozen items — almost the entirety of a menu — and four desserts.

My first visit, with a pescetarian, was more satisfying than its meatier followup. I don’t necessarily blame the second visit’s dishes, though, which were well designed but generally less well executed. That Sunday night, when Sutherland, we were told, was off, the cooking just seemed a bit wobbly. Some items were either too salty or not salted enough, and a protein or two not cooked with sufficient precision. None of the missteps was egregious. But they did add up.

Sutherland’s small-plates scheme does improve on the less thought-out regimens at some other Ottawa restaurants. Elsewhere, dishes can land on tables when they’re ready (even if they’d be better enjoyed in a different order), and with the assumption that items will be shared (even if some plates don’t really lend themselves to dividing and devouring).

Instead, Sutherland’s dinner menu is split into “cold,” “warm” and “hot” plates, all priced between $9 and $18. We were told that the kitchen thinks of them as courses for individual guests who should each order two or three plates, rather than the stuff of family-style dinners. That said, we did make sharing work. 

Our first visit’s opening wave of cold and warm dishes presented hit upon hit.

Vegetarian poke ($9) slyly recast the Hawaiian raw-fish-with-dressing treat. Cubes of cucumber, squash and more stood in for poke’s usual well-seasoned tuna and played well with seaweed, soy and sesame. A pretty, nuanced and likeable plate featured morsels of king crab, offset by fennel, pickled celery and apples on a big slather of lemon mayo ($18).   

More earthy was a blob of made-that-day burrata (a fresh, semi-soft Italian cheese, $12), bolstered by its puddle of garlic, sun-dried tomato and balsamic, and scooped up with crostini. We’d scarcely polished off the cheese when our three hot plates landed. 

My pescetarian pal, and indeed all of us at the table, appreciated Sutherland’s fish of the day (Arctic char, $16), which shared a bowl with a lightly spicy Brazilian-inspired moqueca de camarao sauce. We were equally pleased by the crispy deep-fried tofu with beans ($14) that was smoky enough to recall SmoQue Shack’s barbecue fare and a soupy, substantial mushroom risotto ($15) garnished with crisped slices of king oyster mushrooms. 

The Sunday dinner began with a plate of Sutherland’s cured trout ($12), which for all of its nice components featured over-salted fish. Better were the flaky-pastried pork dumplings ($12) with a sweet sauce and best was what Sutherland calls charcoal chicken ($10), two Asian-themed lettuce wraps that starred well-marinated, smoky thigh meat.

The night’s hot dishes were uneven. Duck confit ($18) was beyond reproach, hitting the right textural and taste notes, and nicely paired with diced, compressed apples. But an otherwise attractive and well-thought-through pork plate ($16) was let down by its over-grilled piece of loin and too-salty accompaniments. Striploin steak ($18) was properly cooked and very well sauced, but the meat needed some of the excess salt in the plate’s massive potato pancake. The butter-poached shrimp that came with gnocchi “galettes” ($16) struck some at the table as way too cool for a hot dish.

We were blunt with our feedback about that dish when our server asked, and happily, at the end of the night, we weren’t charged for it. That bit of accommodation, plus some very tasty, homey desserts, erased our resentments about slips that had come before.

A scoop of house-made chocolate ice cream ($4) was dark, intense and not too sweet. Just-as-good vanilla ice cream topped a nicely raisin-y, spot-on, hot apple crumble ($8) and some squares of potently rum-sauced bread pudding ($8). 

Sutherland (the restaurant) clearly adds some extra dining sizzle to New Edinburgh and Rockcliffe Park, and its best dishes justify a chef naming his place after himself. On that Sunday, though, a bit more care with some dishes would have given the kitchen even more to be proud of.

phum@postmedia.com
twitter.com/peterhum

From chef-driven hot spots to family-run holes-in-the-wall, Ottawa’s restaurant dining was fine in 2016.  

In the past 12 months, a steady stream of ambitious and distinctive eateries distinguished themselves, including Fairouz, Rustiek, the Whalesbone on Elgin St., Bar Laurel, Riviera and Feast + Revel.

That’s not to mention some more humble but worthy mom-and-pop joints such as Karuna Cafe, a Sri Lankan eatery in Chinatown, and Tamis Cafe, which serves Filipino fare in the Glebe. A diverse collection of Middle Eastern and Central Asian kebab restaurants also did right by me in 2016.  

Looking back at my 100-plus meals out this year, I found that many of my favourite dishes came from the above-named restaurants. Veteran eateries that I revisited, such as the sleekly renovated Les Fougères in Chelsea and Allium on Holland Avenue, also chipped in. Below, you’ll see my faves in a dozen categories.  

But first, a few caveats. I’m not singling out Ottawa’s best food, or even the best dishes at these restaurants. They’re just the dishes that, even now, I’m most craving: the eats that hit the mark, according to my taste buds and aesthetic sense.

Also, be aware that some dishes below have likely dropped off of restaurant menus, and that my picks aren’t necessarily wholesale recommendations for the restaurants.

Tuna sashimi at Whalesbone on Elgin

Best appetizer/small plate: Whalesbone on Elgin’s tuna sashimi somehow tasted that much bigger and better than similar dishes elsewhere do.

Honourable mention: The toothsome, umami-rich octopus accented by capers and dulse at Feast + Revel in the Andaz Ottawa ByWard Market.

Spot prawn and scallop chowder at Riviera

Best soup: Spot prawn and scallop chowder at Riviera raised the Maritime staple to high art.

Honourable mentions: At Rustiek, vichyssoise perked by Dutch mustard, a scattering of crisp shallots and a dollop of quark, was outstanding. At Bilal’s Kabab, Aash, a heavily herbed soup of house-made yogurt, noodles and ground meat, was hearty, homey and comforting. Last but not least, the tonkotsu ramen at Sansotei Ramen.

Bar Laurel’s Croquetas de Iberico

Best snack: Bar Laurel’s croquettes of Iberian ham were delicious, molten, impeccably fried and paired with a punchy salsa verde that cut their richness.

Honourable mentions: Fairouz’s warm flatbreads with muhammara made with red pepper, pomegranate and walnuts, or with slick, cool labneh, OCCO Kitchen’s Mexican corn cob. 

Pesto’s Italian Delicatessen had our best sandwich. 

Best sandwich: The porchetta sandwich at Pesto’s Italian Delicatessen, warm with peppers and onions or cold, showcased deeply flavoured meat piled high inside a crusty bun, with a morsel of crackling included if you were lucky. 

Honourable mention: Filet mignon sandwich at Pita Bell.

Foul and Fatteh at Les Grillades on Colonnade Road

Best vegetarian dish: Fatteh, a tangy, nutty Middle Eastern breakfast dish at Les Grillades, lifted pita, chickpeas and yogurt to a sublime level.

Honourable mention: luxurious kashk o’bademjan, that combined eggplant, onion and whey, at Caspian Kabob.

Whalesbone Elgin’s Ling cod in padano brodo. Wayne Cuddington/ Postmedia

Best fish: At Whalesbone on Elgin, the lingcod in padano brodo warranted draining the bowl of all its contents — perfectly cooked fish, plump manila clams, chunks of double-smoked bacon and that ultra-savoury fish-stock-meets-cheese-rind broth.

Honourable mention: Impeccably crafted lacquered black cod with carrot purée at Riviera. 

Lobster lasagnetti at Riviera

Best seafood: Lobster lasagnetti at Riviera might be more about perfectly cooked seafood and bisque-like sauce than noodles, but it was delicious to the last speck.

Honourable mention: Les Fougères’ “Mouth of the St. Lawrence,” made with Grand Banks scallops, potted Matane shrimp, a raviolo filled with luscious salt-cod brandade and mussels in a concentrated mussel stock.  

Crab curry at Karuna Cafe

Best spicy dish: Crab curry at Karuna Cafe delivered profound flavours for those willing to get their hands dirty.

Honourable mention: Chicken 65 at Karuna Cafe.

Peter Hum loved Feast + Revel’s duck platter, with its roasted duck breast, smoked and cured duck “pastrami,” duck confit, fried duck wings and a plenty of rich duck liver aioli.

Best bird: Feast + Revel’s duck platter celebrated multiple preparations, from roasted duck breast, smoked and cured duck “pastrami,” duck confit, fried duck wings and a plenty of rich duck liver aioli.

Honourable mention: Piri-piri Cornish hen at Whalesbone on Elgin.

Dry-aged steak at Bar Laurel

Best beef: Bar Laurel’s 80-day dry-aged, 20-ounce ribeye steak with demi-glace, salsa verde, fingerlings, enoki mushrooms and broccolini was a splurge that rewarded with concentrated, funky beefness and chewy fat that was too tasty to squander.

Honourable mention: Perfectly braised short ribs at Riviera.

Pomegranate molasses lamb loin at Fairouz

Best lamb: At Fairouz, lamb loin was strikingly seared but still perfectly pink and sweetened with pomegranate molasses. Every component on the dish, from tamed bitter greens to a “couscous” of cauliflower to streaks of smoky red chermoula, a North African sauce, was wonderful.

Honourable mentions: Mexican-influenced rack of lamb at Allium, whole lamb leg ouzi at Pita Bell

Bar Laurel’s Basque Cheesecake.

Best dessert: Bar Laurel’s warm Basque cheesecake, made of goat cheese and mascarpone, was phenomenal — light, fluffy, tangy, sweet.

Honourable mentions: Fairouz’s hibiscus cream dessert, Rustiek’s thick, perfectly crusted apple pie, Riviera’s chocolate peanut butter tart, the vegan chocolate pâté at Tamis Cafe, Allium’s banoffee pie.

The restaurants:

Allium
87 Holland Ave., alliumrestaurant.com

Bar Laurel
1087 Wellington St. W., barlaurel.ca

Bilal’s Kabab
4055 Carling Ave., No. 3, Kanata, bilalskebab.com

Caspian Kabob
1729 Bank St., Unit 105, caspiankabob.ca

Fairouz
343 Somerset St W., fairouz.ca

Feast + Revel
325 Dalhousie St., ottawa.andaz.hyatt.com

Restaurant Les Fougères
783 Route 105, Chelsea, Que., fougeres.com

Les Grillades
111 Colonnade Rd;, lesgrillades.ca

Karuna Cafe
820 Somerset St W., karunacafe.ca

OCCO Kitchen
3018 St Joseph Blvd., Orléans, occokitchen.com

Pesto’s Italian Delicatessen
471 Hazeldean Rd., Kanata, facebook.com/pestositaliandeli/

Pita Bell
1846 Carling Ave., pitabell.ca

Riviera
62 Sparks St., dineriviera.com

Rustiek
51 Rue St-Jacques, Gatineau (Hull sector), rustiek.ca

Tamis Cafe
103 Fourth Ave., facebook.com/tamisottawa/

Whalesbone on Elgin
231 Elgin St., whalesbone.com

Related

• Peter Hum's best bites of 2015
• Review: Allium
• Review: Bar Laurel
• Review: Bilal's Kebab
• Review: Fairouz
• Review: Feast + Revel
• Review: Les Fougeres
• Review: Les Grillades
• Review: Occo Kitchen
• Review: Pesto's Italian Delicatessen
• Review: Pita Bell
• Review: Riviera
• Review: Rustiek
• Review: Tamis Cafe
• Review: Whalesbone

Full House Asian Cuisine
1766 Carling Ave., 613-798-5697, fullhouse1766.ca
Open: Sunday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m to 10:30 p.m.
Prices: most dishes $10 to $17
Access: Steps to front door can be avoided by using walkway from the parking lot behind the restaurant

Late last month, after meal after meal of roast turkey, turkey barley soup or turkey shepherd’s pie, we craved something different.

We decided to reset our palates at Full House Asian Cuisine on Carling Avenue, just east of Maitland Avenue. The eatery, which is almost six months old and has been nicely renovated, takes the all-embracing approach that’s common with most new Asian restaurants in Ottawa.

Its main, multi-page menu seeks to please with North American Chinese hits (chow mein, orange beef, some dumplings), Vietnamese dishes (pho, vermicelli), Thai items (red curries, lemongrass stir-fries) and more. Meanwhile, a separate, Chinese but bilingual menu intrigued the turkey turkey-fatigued spice-hounds and culinarily curious among us with Szechuan and Northern Chinese dishes as well as more daunting items. (We resisted the spicy blood in chili oil.)

Pork dumplings at Full House Asian Cuisine

Shrimp har gow at Full House Asian Cuisine

The soups offered here have been strikingly diverse but all had in common house-made stocks. A meal-sized bowl of wonton soup lacked noodles but its dumplings and broth satisfied. The meat in the barbecue duck soup made for much chewing and wrangling.

Wonton soup at Full House Asian Cuisine

Barbecue duck noodle soup at Full House Asian Cuisine

Simon Xu had emailed me about a massive, urn-like crock that the restaurant had imported from China to help make some more esoteric soups. We tried two single-serving bowls that were crock creations. Black chicken with Codonopsis Pilosula, a woody root, struck us as a more of a warming, healthful tonic. Minced pork and pear soup surprised us with its unbroken clump of meat. 

Black chicken soup at Full House Asian Cuisine

Pork and pear soup at Full House Asian Cuisine

Among the main dishes, the more cautious eaters favoured crispy orange beef with its broad sweet notes. Pork stir-fried with lemongrass, featured lean meat and had clear, punchy flavour. Stir-fried lamb with cumin balanced heat and spiciness well, even if its meat had too much tenderized mushiness to it.

Orange Beef at Full House Asian Cuisine

Lemongrass pork at Full House Asian Cuisine

Stir-fried lamb with cumin at Full House Asian Cuisine

Morsels of fried spicy chicken with Szechuan pepper, garnished with an unnerving amount of dried chilies, were pleasantly meaty, and they delivered the wished-for heat and tingle. 

Fried Chicken with chilies at Full House Asian Cuisine

The Szechuan-pepper tingle was just as pronounced with Full House’s rustic ma po tofu (tofu cubes with minced pork in a spicy sauce). Spiciest of all was a bowl of tender white fish fillets in spicy Szechuan oil, garnished with more dried chilies.

Ma Po Do Fu at Full House Asian Cuisine

Fish in Szechuan chili oil at Full House Asian Cuisine

Eggplant with minced pork and spicy garlic sauce, also known as fish-fragrant eggplant on other menus, was chunky and oily but tender, and pleasantly sweet and sour. More rustic were chunky of sweet-salty braised pork belly. Braised beef brisket was flavourful but best appreciated by connoisseurs of texture who like rubbery tendons and membranes as well as pliant meat.

Eggplant in Garlic sauce at Full House Asian Cuisine

Braised Pork Belly at Full House Asian Cuisine

Brisket Dry Pot at Full House Asian Cuisine

Jiangxi noodles with pork were toothsome and spicy, although the fish and beef brisket that followed them were significantly spicier. A more gentle, starchy choice was fried rice with soft-shell crab, which even had a current of sweetness to it. 

Jiangxi noodles with pork at Full House Asian Cuisine

Soft Shell Crab Fried Rice at Full House Asian Cuisine

After the jangle of flavours at Full House, I’ve never felt the need for dessert beyond the fortune cookies offered with the bill. 

For Chinese food fans, and that would include the predominantly Chinese clientele that I’ve seen during two of my visits, there would seem to be no shortage of hearty dishes that reassure, thrill, and perhaps even challenge at Full House. 

phum@postmedia.com
twitter.com/peterhum
Peter Hum’s restaurant reviews

Das Lokal Kitchen and Bar
Where: 190 Dalhousie St. 613-695-1688, daslokalottawa.com 
Open: Weekdays 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Prices: mains $23 to $29
Access: no stairs

On the first Monday of 2017, it was a special, once-a-week Swiss dinner starring melted cheese that lured me to Das Lokal Kitchen and Bar.

At the cosy European-themed eatery in Lowertown, Monday-night menus now feature raclette, the convivial, DIY meal that prompts guests to heat and combine morsels of meat and veg with melted cheese. Also offered are varieties of tarte flambée, the savoury Alsatian flatbread. Both items are in short supply in the Ottawa area, so good on Das Lokal for making the effort.

The restaurant’s raclette and tartes flambées, of which more will be said later, are just the latest novelties at Das Lokal, which I reviewed favourably a little more than three years ago, soon after it opened. Since then, Das Lokal has also seen a tweak in its ownership, turnover in its kitchen crew, and an expansion of its hours and its menus to increase its draw as a neighbourhood haunt.

While the restaurant is evolving, one constant has been its appealing ambience. Das Lokal’s 48-seat space — formerly the Portuguese restaurant Casa do Churrasco and before that, a Kentucky Fried Chicken location — remains a relaxed, inviting huddle of rustic wood tables and fur-cushioned metal chairs. (My preferred place to sit is in one of the comfy banquettes at the back of the dining room.) Candles, hearts and stars add warmth, while red lamps over the small bar and a mounted deer’s head add pizzazz. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, a pianist entertains nightly at the white spinet beneath the deer’s head.

I’ve had three recent meals at Das Lokal — that Monday night dinner, a regular à la carte dinner and brunch. Respectively, they were disappointing, much better and best. 

Raclette is humble fare that relies on the quality and generosity of its ingredients and the efficacy of its equipment. Das Lokal’s first raclette night this year underwhelmed on both counts.

Among the materials for our raclette dinner were Oka cheese (rather than true Swiss raclette cheese), prosciutto, roast potatoes, onions and cornichons. While nothing was off about those items, we felt there should have been more ingredients for us to combine and enjoy. Even the raclette photo on Das Lokal’s website shows a more sumptuous spread.

And while deluxe raclette gear involves a table-top grill (for vegetables, meats and even seafood) with a second level (for melting cheese on a smaller metal tray), Das Lokal’s set-up was too simple and low-level, consisting only of tea-candle-heated metal trays that slowly warmed cheese. 

Raclette at Das Lokal

More satisfying were the tarte flambée options — we liked the one with bacon, onions and mushrooms, supplemented with Emmenthal cheese. So, those flatbreads, along with the still-available à la carte options, should be preferred on Mondays until Das Lokal raises its raclette game. 

Tarte Flambée at Das Lokal

Comparing Das Lokal’s concise but appealing menus for dinner, lunch and brunch, it’s clear that the restaurant tries to get the most bang out of its supplies, reframing select proteins and specialties in different dishes. Duck confit, a main at dinner, is also a tarte flambée topping at lunch. Arctic char and short rib are mains at dinner, and respectively star in a lunchtime salad and sandwich. Any time is a good time for beer-braised bratwurst or spatzle. 

All of the menus were created by Berlin-raised chef Robert Fuchs, who left Das Lokal a few months ago. Sous-chef Kalidas Cappuccino is running the kitchen until a new chef, coming from Austria, takes over in a few months, I’m told. Generally, the current dishes strike me as a little more traditional touch less refined and creative than they were when Das Lokal opened, with chef Harriet Clunie, who now runs the kitchen at the Beechwood Gastropub in Vanier.

That said, the best dishes at Das Lokal were well conceived and nicely executed. They were hearty without being heavy, and made welcome nods to the pillars and tastes of German cuisine.

Three appetizers at dinner were fine meal-starters. The board featuring bratwurst, sauerkraut, salad and potatoes pleased from end to end, but most of all with dill-flecked, crisped yet creamy potatoes. Generous slabs of pork belly, were just a touch over-seared but were definitely meaty and layered in their succulence and flavour. Gingery parsnip soup was thick, warming and potent.

Bratwurst appetizer at Das Lokal

Pork belly appetizer at Das Lokal

Ginger parsnip soup at Das Lokal

Among the mains, seared Arctic char was prized for its crispy skin, moist flesh and lemony sauce. Duck confit with spiced red cabbage and a cherry reduction was made to the same commendable standard. The pork rouladen was liked for its tangy, pickle-studded stuffing but lost marks for the dryness of the tenderloin. Short rib was fine but shy of special, and its sauce seemed overly thickened.

Arctic char at Das Lokal

Duck confit at Das Lokal

Pork rouladen at Das Lokal

Short rib at Das Lokal

Some desserts here have been eye-wideningly massive, including a bread pudding garnished with meringue and dulce de leche, and a two-slice, not-too-sweet serving of Black Forest cake, more traditional than the deconstructed version served at Das Lokal when it opened.

Bread pudding at Das Lokal

At our brunch visit, toothsome, well-seasoned spatzle with mushrooms and a poached egg, bolstered by a side order of thick house-made bacon, was a winner. The pleasures of rösti potato pancakes were a bit obscured under well-salted gravlax and dill creme fraiche, but the combination was awfully good. Austrian shredded (“Kaiserschmarrn”) pancakes were admirably fluffy and sufficiently sweet without the maple syrup on the side.

Spätzle, mushrooms, poached egg and bacon at Das Lokal

Rösti, gravlax and poached egg at Das Lokal

Austrian shredded pancakes at Das Lokal

Also at brunch, we enjoyed not only the food but also the brightness of the room, the hubbub of the crowd and the speed of service. It was most clear then that Das Lokal has endeared itself to its regulars, who won’t likely let a little under-stocked raclette dim their estimation of the place.  

phum@postmedia.com

twitter.com/peterhum

Das Lokal Kitchen and Bar
Where: 190 Dalhousie St. 613-695-1688, daslokalottawa.com 
Open: Weekdays 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Prices: mains $23 to $29
Access: no stairs

On the first Monday of 2017, it was a special, once-a-week Swiss dinner starring melted cheese that lured me to Das Lokal Kitchen and Bar.

At the cosy European-themed eatery in Lowertown, Monday-night menus now feature raclette, the convivial, DIY meal that prompts guests to heat and combine morsels of meat and veg with melted cheese. Also offered are varieties of tarte flambée, the savoury Alsatian flatbread. Both items are in short supply in the Ottawa area, so good on Das Lokal for making the effort.

The restaurant’s raclette and tartes flambées, of which more will be said later, are just the latest novelties at Das Lokal, which I reviewed favourably a little more than three years ago, soon after it opened. Since then, Das Lokal has also seen a tweak in its ownership, turnover in its kitchen crew, and an expansion of its hours and its menus to increase its draw as a neighbourhood haunt.

While the restaurant is evolving, one constant has been its appealing ambience. Das Lokal’s 48-seat space — formerly the Portuguese restaurant Casa do Churrasco and before that, a Kentucky Fried Chicken location — remains a relaxed, inviting huddle of rustic wood tables and fur-cushioned metal chairs. (My preferred place to sit is in one of the comfy banquettes at the back of the dining room.) Candles, hearts and stars add warmth, while red lamps over the small bar and a mounted deer’s head add pizzazz. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, a pianist entertains nightly at the white spinet beneath the deer’s head.

I’ve had three recent meals at Das Lokal — that Monday night dinner, a regular à la carte dinner and brunch. Respectively, they were disappointing, much better and best. 

Raclette is humble fare that relies on the quality and generosity of its ingredients and the efficacy of its equipment. Das Lokal’s first raclette night this year underwhelmed on both counts.

Among the materials for our raclette dinner were Oka cheese (rather than true Swiss raclette cheese), prosciutto, roast potatoes, onions and cornichons. While nothing was off about those items, we felt there should have been more ingredients for us to combine and enjoy. Even the raclette photo on Das Lokal’s website shows a more sumptuous spread.

And while deluxe raclette gear involves a table-top grill (for vegetables, meats and even seafood) with a second level (for melting cheese on a smaller metal tray), Das Lokal’s set-up was too simple and low-level, consisting only of tea-candle-heated metal trays that slowly warmed cheese. 

More satisfying were the tarte flambée options — we liked the one with bacon, onions and mushrooms, supplemented with Emmenthal cheese. So, those flatbreads, along with the still-available à la carte options, should be preferred on Mondays until Das Lokal raises its raclette game. 

Comparing Das Lokal’s concise but appealing menus for dinner, lunch and brunch, it’s clear that the restaurant tries to get the most bang out of its supplies, reframing select proteins and specialties in different dishes. Duck confit, a main at dinner, is also a tarte flambée topping at lunch. Arctic char and short rib are mains at dinner, and respectively star in a lunchtime salad and sandwich. Any time is a good time for beer-braised bratwurst or spatzle. 

All of the menus were created by Berlin-raised chef Robert Fuchs, who left Das Lokal a few months ago. Sous-chef Kalidas Cappuccino is running the kitchen until a new chef, coming from Austria, takes over in a few months, I’m told. Generally, the current dishes strike me as a little more traditional touch less refined and creative than they were when Das Lokal opened, with chef Harriet Clunie, who now runs the kitchen at the Beechwood Gastropub in Vanier.

That said, the best dishes at Das Lokal were well conceived and nicely executed. They were hearty without being heavy, and made welcome nods to the pillars and tastes of German cuisine.

Three appetizers at dinner were fine meal-starters. The board featuring bratwurst, sauerkraut, salad and potatoes pleased from end to end, but most of all with dill-flecked, crisped yet creamy potatoes. Generous slabs of pork belly, were just a touch over-seared but were definitely meaty and layered in their succulence and flavour. Gingery parsnip soup was thick, warming and potent.

Among the mains, seared Arctic char was prized for its crispy skin, moist flesh and lemony sauce. Duck confit with spiced red cabbage and a cherry reduction was made to the same commendable standard. The pork rouladen was liked for its tangy, pickle-studded stuffing but lost marks for the dryness of the tenderloin. Short rib was fine but shy of special, and its sauce seemed overly thickened.

Some desserts here have been eye-wideningly massive, including a bread pudding garnished with meringue and dulce de leche, and a two-slice, not-too-sweet serving of Black Forest cake, more traditional than the deconstructed version served at Das Lokal when it opened.

At our brunch visit, toothsome, well-seasoned spatzle with mushrooms and a poached egg, bolstered by a side order of thick house-made bacon, was a winner. The pleasures of rösti potato pancakes were a bit obscured under well-salted gravlax and dill creme fraiche, but the combination was awfully good. Austrian shredded (“Kaiserschmarrn”) pancakes were admirably fluffy and sufficiently sweet without the maple syrup on the side.

Also at brunch, we enjoyed not only the food but also the brightness of the room, the hubbub of the crowd and the speed of service. It was most clear then that Das Lokal has endeared itself to its regulars, who won’t likely let a little under-stocked raclette dim their estimation of the place.  

phum@postmedia.com

twitter.com/peterhum

Mason-Dixon Kitchen and Bar
424 Preston St., 613-422-7880, masondixonottawa.com
Open: Monday to Thursday, 5 p.m. to midnight, Friday to Saturday, 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Prices: small plates $8 to $16, large plates $15 to $28
Access: stairs to front door, restrooms downstairs

There’s a saying among barbecue competition judges that savouring the ribs, brisket, pulled pork and chicken served at such events will ruin restaurant-made barbecue fare for you.

Typically at those competitions, cooks toil single-mindedly over a few racks of ribs or a batch of chicken thighs to select the absolute best specimens to be served, just as soon as they’re ready, to a small group of judges. Restaurants can’t be as perfectionist and need to be pragmatic. Their kitchens typically slow-cook barbecued meats in bulk and in advance, reheating meals for fans of smoke and spice.  

All that said, as someone who’s judged at barbecue competitions, I try not to be too hard on usually too-dry, restaurant-made barbecue, especially if the care and cooked-in flavours tell me that an aficionado is in the kitchen.

But as a barbecue judge and ordinary eater, I’ve been frustrated by the food at Mason-Dixon Kitchen and Bar, which opened in mid-October on Preston Street.

Ottawa native Henry Besser-Rosenberg is its chef and owner. He attended the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts, was the chef at the Vancouver barbecue restaurant Buckstop and has competed in many barbecue competitions. So Mason-Dixon’s general manager, Casey Walsh, wrote me in an email last fall that put the restaurant on my radar.

Naturally, my hopes were raised. But at three dinners — one in late November, another just before Christmas, and one last week — those hopes were too often dashed.

Mason-Dixon’s menu is a mix of more chef-y, barbecue-influenced items plus two traditional meats — pork spare ribs, which we were told were smoked for six hours before reheating, and beef brisket, which we were told was smoked for 14 hours. Curiously, there’s no pulled pork on the menu, although it’s well liked and the easiest barbecue meat to prepare.

My impression, after having the ribs and brisket three times, as well as seven other items, is that some big improvements are needed regarding a menu that intrigues but, in execution, too often disappoints.

The most positive thing I can say is that my experience at Mason-Dixon has improved with each visit. However, the first two visits were seriously problematic.

At our first dinner there, both ribs and brisket (combos for $37 and $60) were dishearteningly bad.

The brisket was extremely bland, poorly trimmed, overly fatty and chewy. The rack of ribs came a half-rack at a time because the kitchen wasn’t properly stocked with ready-to-reheat ribs. The first half-rack was just so-so, flavoured with a mediocre dry rub, accompanied by a container of unremarkable sauce. Arriving much later, the rest of the full-rack order consisted of rib tips and trimmings rather than ribs proper, apparently cooked to order but very tough and under-seasoned.

Ribs and brisket combo at Mason-Dixon Kitchen and Bar

In Mason-Dixon’s defence, our server had warned us the kitchen was low on ribs. But given what we received, it would have been better not to serve the second half-rack at all. 

At our second dinner, spicy Nashville chicken and waffles ($17) included chicken thighs that were more oily than spicy and a waffle that had a hair in it. To its credit, the restaurant’s response to that foreign object was apologetic in the extreme — our entire meal was free.

Spicy Nashville chicken and waffles at Mason-Dixon Kitchen and Bar

Now, let’s just say those flops were unlucky abnormalities that could be struck from the record. I’d still be left with the assessment from my third visit — the eatery’s core items, ribs and brisket, were too dry and above all under-seasoned. While great barbecue is a wondrous and tender melding of meaty, salty, spicy, smoky and sweet flavours, Mason-Dixon’s specialties get a check mark for smokiness, but that’s about it.

Another ribs and brisket combo at Mason-Dixon Kitchen

The eatery could also use one or more better barbecue sauces. More side dishes beyond fries and cole slaw (both OK here) also wouldn’t hurt. Finally, the price of the barbecue meats here would be a little steep even if they were better.

I can recommend two appetizers. A starter of grilled shrimp ($14) won us over with plump, well-seasoned and not overcooked shrimp, as well as its corn and chipotle purée. A newer item on the menu, poutine, made with smoked pork cheeks and mushrooms ($14), was everything you wanted from poutine and more. My teenage dining companion pronounced it the best poutine he’s had, and I liked it too.

Grilled shrimp with corn and chorizo at Mason-Dixon Kitchen and Bar

Pork cheek poutine at Mason-Dixon Kitchen and Bar

But other appetizers lacked the craft that would have made them deeply enjoyable.

A smoked mushroom tart ($11) was interesting, but its pastry should have been warmer and the dish should have been more punchily flavoured. A smoked marrow bone ($16) was just OK, somewhat smoky but a little short on marrow goodness. There was a side salad to cut the richness of the marrow, but that accompaniment could have been sharper and brighter. On a smoked beet salad ($11), there were some nice touches including crisp-exteriored balls of fried goat cheese. But the beets were over-smoked.

Mushroom tart at Mason-Dixon Kitchen and Bar

Smoked bone marrow at Mason-Dixon Kitchen and Bar

Smoked beet salad at Mason-Dixon Kitchen and Bar

For dessert, we’ve passed on the bourbon-hard root beer float in favour of some warm, house-made chocolate cookies ($6) that were alright but not exceptional.

Warm, spiced chocolate cookies at Mason-Dixon Kitchen and Bar

Mason-Dixon takes over at its address where two Thai restaurants had been in recent years. The remade interior is distinguished by light-hearted artwork featuring food on the walls. The bar stocks seven bourbons, a dozen or so craft beers and $12 cocktails. 

Service has been friendly and at times very casual. We would have preferred it if, at one visit to our table, a server hadn’t smelled of cigarette smoke — even at a restaurant that serves smoked food.

The kitchen here is open late, until midnight on weeknights and 2 a.m. on weekends. Perhaps as a wee-hours haunt, Mason-Dixon works best. More broadly, as a purveyor of barbecued delights, it has much work to do.

phum@postmedia.com
twitter.com/peterhum

La Noodle
179 George St., Unit 102, 613-216-9028, lanoodle.ca
Open: 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily
Prices: soups and noodle dishes $8.95 to $12.95, cold dishes and appetizers $3.95 to $8.95  
Access: no steps to front door, washrooms

According to Chinese superstition, you should eat noodles to mark Chinese New Year this weekend, and the longer the noodles, the better.

The reason, if you can use that word to support a superstition, is that noodles symbolize long life.

My advice to the superstitious, then, is to head to La Noodle, which opened in Lowertown in mid-October, at the foot of a high-rise at George and Cumberland streets. (A second La Noodle opened in Kanata Centrum earlier this week.) 

To be clear, La Noodle doesn’t serve French pasta, although its name suggests it might. Instead, it’s a far-flung franchise — the sole one in Canada, apparently — of a Chinese business with roots in the northwestern Chinese city of Lanzhou, renowned in culinary terms for its noodles.

Those noodles are known as lamian, and if it helps, you could think of them as the older, more rustic cousin of ramen. The key thing about lamian, in China and at La Noodle, is that the noodles are freshly made by hand, with an expert chef twisting, stretching, folding and pulling a blob of dough until it’s manipulated into strands of noodles that match a customer’s ordered thickness. Then the noodles are cooked and wind up in soup that relies on powdered bases sent from China, plus water and beef or pork bones. 

La Noodle is the first lamian eatery in Ottawa, and at the cheap and casual 40-seat restaurant with blocky wooden tables, you can catch a glimpse of the chef working behind the cash area if you position yourself properly. You might wonder why its owners aren’t making a bigger visual deal about the unique noodle-making. After all, there’s a set piece in a Jackie Chan movie in which Chan, not fighting or running for a change, demonstrates his prowess at lamian noodle-making. Perhaps naively, I wish there was a noodle cam at La Noodle that broadcasted the chef’s exploits to TV screens in the dining room. 

If you could snag a perfect view of the noodle-making, it would look like this: 

Over three visits, friends and I have explored as best we could the menu of about 10 appetizers and 16 soups, offered in medium or large sizes and generally distinguished by the kind of meat they included. We’ve been frustrated at times because certain items haven’t been available. I still have to try the spicy Szechuan dandan noodles with pork and peanut sauce here — they were out the three times I requested them.

What we did sample were hearty but well-made dishes with authentic, big and even brusque flavours. The big caveat is that if you’re seeking nicely trimmed, fat-, bone- and gristle-free pieces of beef, pork or lamb in your soup, La Noodle is not that kind of restaurant. More refined, and pricier, Asian soups are to be had elsewhere.

Of the starters, we most enjoyed dry tofu in chili oil, which consisted of resilient, noodle-like strands of bean curd skin, swimming in a spicy but not incendiary oil. Seaweed salad was a similarly textured treat, but flecked with pungent raw garlic.

Tofu with chili oil at La Noodle

Seaweed salad at La Noodle

For an intrepid eater, a braised pig’s foot, which can also be ordered in soup, was a fall-apart mess studded with flavourful meat. Steamed chicken in chili oil was generously portioned but the steaming had happened some time ago so that the chunks of bone-in chicken were cold and tough. 

Simmered pig’s feet at La Noodle

Steamed chicken in chili oil at La Noodle

The signature soups here are beef-based, in keeping with precursors in Lanzhou that go back more than 130 years. The so-called traditional soup featured thinly sliced beef, which was gristle-flecked. I’m prefer the slightly pricier soup with braised beef which was usually succulent, if fatty or membraned. With both soups, the stock was robust, the herbal hits were appreciated and slabs of daikon filled things out. 

Traditional beef noodle soup at La Noodle

Braised beef soup at La Noodle

The lamb soup featured slices of gamy, fatty lamb and a less intense broth. The pork bone broth soup was my least favourite, with a broth that appealed less and had a pig’s-leg joint with scant bits of meat on it.

Lamb and noodle soup at La Noodle

Pork bone broth noodle soup at La Noodle

Beef and pickled cabbage soup at La Noodle

Fresh and toothsome, the noodles in every bowl lived up to their billing in the restaurant’s name. As for the seven choices of noodle sizes from about an inch wide to angel’s hair, just know that the bigger the noodles, the more chewing you’ll do. For what it’s worth, a friend who has friends from Lanzhou told me they like the thinnest noodles because they absorb more flavour from the broth and can be melt-in-the-mouth good. 

If chewing is your thing, you can also opt for the chunkier, sliced noodles, whittled from a hunk of dough into boiling water and then added to soup. 

Customers can bolster their soup with a smoky chili sauce at their tables or an optional, soy-and-spice-marinated, hard-boiled egg.

The restaurant is unlicensed and there are no desserts available beyond bubble tea. But you didn’t come to La Noodle for booze or a sugar fix, which in any case wouldn’t do a thing for your longevity.

phum@postmedia.com
twitter.com/peterhum

Le Maçon Pub
61 Rue Principale, Gatineau (Aylmer sector), 819-557-1661, lemaconpub.com
Open: Tuesday to Friday 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Saturday to Monday 5 to 11:30 p.m.
Prices: dishes $9 to $18
Access: steps to front door

No offence to humble Québécois casse-croûtes, but hot chicken sandwiches have never ranked very high on my list.

As much as I like chicken and french fries, maybe it was a bad encounter with some too-salty, sludgy gravy, soggy white bread or flavourless, light green peas from a can that turned me off. 

Happily, the hot chicken sandwich ($14) at Le Maçon Pub, which opened last fall on Aylmer’s main drag, is another bird entirely. When I tried it just before Christmas, the dish wasn’t quite haute cuisine hot chicken, but it was pretty close.

Its flavourful meat was from Gatineau’s Ferme Aux Saveurs des Monts, the bread was grilled sourdough, the gravy tasted true and chicken-y, the fries were massive but properly textured inside and out, the peas were bright green and, for good measure, there were crisp chips of chicken skin as garnish. 

Score one for the pub and its 31-year-old chef, Kyle Mortimer-Proulx. 

Formerly the chef at the meat-forward, high-volume Lowertown Brewery and, before that, the discerning vegan destination ZenKitchen, Mortimer-Proulx now helms the kitchens for Le Maçon and the restaurant upstairs from it, the fancier and even newer La Maison Conroy. 

The two eateries replace Le Bostaurus, an upscale steakhouse that opened in late 2012 in the handsome stone building built circa 1855. Le Maçon retains the trappings of a casual pub — TV screens galore tuned to sports, a selection of video lottery terminals — but it’s also a renovated, comfy-seated, stone-walled place. At the bar, 16 beers, most of which brewed in Quebec, are on draft.

Fish and chips at Le Macon Pub

Beef stroganoff ($15) was portioned on the smaller side but still heartily flavoured, featuring chunks of braised brisket, the frequently tough cut properly tamed, in a bowl of well-seasoned spaetzle.

Beef brisket stroganoff at Le Maçon Pub

Creamy seafood chowder ($9) comforted with mussels, salt cod and bacon as well as potato and celery. The slice of grilled sourdough on the side was a nice touch. 

Seafood chowder at Le Maçon Pub

 

Duck wings at Le Maçon Pub

Charcuterie at Le Macon Pub

We skipped the terrine of the day, which included not only pork and lamb but also duck hearts, thereby hinting at the edgier interests of Mortimer-Proulx’s cooking. (This is the same young chef whose Gold Medal Plates entry a few years ago featured duck testicles.)

Surprisingly, there was just one dessert on offer when I twice visited Le Maçon — a square of pecan-studded bread pudding with bourbon caramel and crème anglaise ($7). It was good, even if it didn’t pull out all the stops. 

Bread pudding with bourbon caramel at Le Maçon Pub

Perhaps the most more lavish meal-enders are at La Maison Conroy. I’ll have to find out. Happily, the downstairs pub’s satisfying dishes make me optimistic about Mortimer-Proulx’s elevated offerings upstairs. 

phum@postmedia.com
twitter.com/peterhum
Peter Hum’s restaurant reviews

Sidedoor Restaurant
18-B York St., 613-562-9331, sidedoorrestaurant.com
Open: For lunch Monday to Friday 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., happy hours Monday to Friday and Sunday 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Nightly for dinner from 5 p.m. on
Prices: two tacos for $10, sharing plates from $12 to $34
Access: steps down to dining areas from front door 

In April 2011, not long after Sidedoor opened, a Citizen reviewer called that ByWard Market restaurant “refreshingly unlike anything else in Ottawa.”

Two things struck my predecessor as unique. First, there was Sidedoor’s eclectic, globe-spinning fare, including dressed-up tacos, posh dishes with Asian roots and fresh, fancy doughnuts. Then, there was the elevation and creativity that Sidedoor’s non-Mexican, non-Asian chefs, Matthew Carmichael and Jonathan Korecki, brought to their food.

Ultimately, Carmichael and Korecki moved on. Carmichael left first, in 2012. His subsequent, successful and cheaper Elgin Street restaurants, the taco-based El Camino and the hip Asian-food hub Datsun, make it seem like Sidedoor was a bit of an incubator, or at least a proof of concept. Korecki, a finalist on the 2012 season of Top Chef Canada who made fresh, fancy doughnuts for the TV show’s judges, left Sidedoor last summer. 

Now, Sidedoor’s kitchen is in the hands of Ben Landreville. But based on the two meals I’ve had recently there, it’s as if Korecki and even Carmichael never left.

I mean that in a good way. The impression Sidedoor has left is that it’s polished the dishes that have come to define it, resulting in favourites that stay on the menu, iteration after iteration. From what I can see on paper, there was scarcely a meaningful change between Korecki’s last dinner menu and the current one. Indeed, several dishes that my predecessor praised also made me happy, almost six years later.

But to start with a more recent addition to Sidedoor’s menu, there’s its sophisticated spin on ramen. It’s available only at lunch, which itself is a development over time, as Sidedoor didn’t do lunch when it opened.

Sidedoor’s take on the iconic Japanese soup is pricey — $12 to start, plus up to $5 for your choice of additional protein. But refinement like this shouldn’t come cheap. The dashi-based broth was big and complex flavour-wise but not heavy; the noodles — made in-house daily, we were told — were thin and much less chewy than what’s typical; and slices of pork belly were exceptional, deliciously meaty and charred. 

Ramen available at lunch at Sidedoor in the ByWard Market.

Also at that lunch visit, tacos (two for $10) reflected deft hands in the kitchen, although we preferred the crispy fish tacos over the daily cajun shrimp special, which was thrown off-balance by too much sourness.

Cajun shrimp and crispy fish tacos at Sidedoor

Vietnamese salt-and-pepper calamari ($14) is a dish that dates back to Sidedoor’s earliest days, and with good reason. While the portion wasn’t large, every piece achieved that textural mark for superior fried squid, and was seasoned, not in need of the sauce that lesser calamari cries out for.

Vietnamese salt and pepper calamari at Sidedoor

Last Friday, I returned for an early dinner, and was seated in one of the upper-level cubbyholes of Sidedoor’s multi-sectioned, multi-level dining area. From that cozy vantage, we had good view of the well-lit atrium where we’d had lunch, and the bustling bar area. For all its modularity, Sidedoor still feels like a cohesive, attractive, modern place to eat — perhaps the fine, enveloping stonework is to blame. 

At that dinner, we went taco-less and sampled from the offering of 10 smaller and six larger plates, all meant for sharing. We wound up liking the latter more than the former.

The pricing of the smaller plates, which were specially bundled at three for $35, did appeal. But even with some savings, we weren’t quite feeling the value proposition.

The betel leaf wrap did impress with its pristine raw salmon and crisp pickled vegetables. The pork belly came with the sweet, sticky glaze that Chinese barbecue pork aficionados love. Toothsome, well-seasoned pork siu mai dumplings improved on their dim-sum inspirations served in Chinatown, but four of them seemed skimpy for the discounted price of $11.66, never mind the usual $14 asking price.

Betel leaf wrap at Sidedoor

Pork belly char siu at Sidedoor

Pork dumplings at Sidedoor

Three larger plates seemed more special and worthy of their main-course prices. (We did have to order some rice and very good fries on the side.)

Butter-poached lobster in a Thai green curry ($34) was impeccable and irresistible. The kitchen was generous with the perfectly cooked luxury seafood, and the curry was bursting with richness and bright, spicy flavour. “I could eat this all day,” my dining companion said.

Lobster Green Curry at Sidedoor

Sumptuous pieces of striploin steak ($29.50) received a nice umami boost from shiitake-enriched jus and potent, preserved tomatoes. 

Striploin steak at Sidedoor

Chicken ($29) here paid homage to Peking duck with skin that was magnificently crisp. Some of its meat was moist and some was less so, but the big puddle of savoury sauce helped to address shortcomings.

Peking-style half-chicken at Sidedoor

We finished both meals with doughnuts (three for $7.50) — topped with melted Olivia chocolate, made with white chocolate and cranberries, dusted with cinnamon sugar, and made with Granny Smith apples. Warm, fresh, fluffy and not at all oily, they were among the city’s best doughnuts.

Chocolate-dipped doughnuts at Sidedoor

Various doughnuts at Sidedoor

Service was attentive and pleasant, and we appreciated the happy-hour discounts on food, wine and cocktails, which lessen the impact of other lofty prices. 

I see on Sidedoor’s website that a special Valentine’s Day menu pops up for next Tuesday, offering some dishes that appeal, including some presumably spicy Chengdu-style chicken, a duck breast dish and a smoked eggplant course.

If Sidedoor’s daily menu one day does receive an overhaul, perhaps Landreville will move these novelties into the regular rotation — although I understand the logic of leaving a menu of deservedly popular hits well enough alone.  

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Pelican Grill
1500 Bank St., 613-526-5229, pelicanseafoodmarketandgrill.com
Open: Monday to Wednesday 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Thursday to Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Prices: mains $17 to $42
Access: no steps to front door or bathrooms

I’ve spent some time at the Pelican Grill this month trying to sort the old from the new.

The restaurant itself is very well-established, having last year marked its 20th year in the Blue Heron Mall on Bank Street. Meanwhile, its sister business under the same roof, the Pelican Seafood Market, turns 42 this year.

In late 2015, there was a major makeover for the Pelicans that nearly doubled their combined space. The restaurant now seats about 60 at a mix of wood and metal-topped tables with much reclaimed wood figuring into the look. Where the fish counter used to be, there’s a new centrepiece oyster bar with several beers on tap. One constant that has carried over is the collection of large, framed photos of Pelican staff happily holding fish. They are still prominently displayed on the restaurant’s walls.

Of course, a succession of chefs has been responsible for the food at the Pelican over the years, with the ByWard Market stalwarts Trisha Donaldson and René Rodriguez notable among them. Now, the young chef and Algonquin College grad James McMillan is in charge, having worked his way up in the Pelican’s kitchen.

My predecessor, Anne DesBrisay, reviewed the Pelican four times between 1997 and 2010. In short, she liked the restaurant quite a bit in its early years but with her last review, she was less impressed, and she suspected that too many shortcuts and pre-made products marred the kitchen’s efforts.

Keen for an update, I’ve found, after three visits, that the Pelican did basic fish and seafood items well enough, and that the stars of each dish, whether they were pan-fried, steamed or deep-fried, arrived at our table moist and tasting of freshness.

Meanwhile, more than a few dishes, including some that have been on the Pelican menu since DesBrisay’s visits, could have been punchier, more concentrated or more complex in the flavour department.

That said, this is a restaurant with no small number of regulars among its clientele, which also skews to the older end of the spectrum. If they prefer the reassurances of food that’s more comforting and accessible than novel and thrilling, that counts for a lot.

“We never want to be a trendy restaurant,” Jim Foster, co-owner of the Pelican businesses, told me this week. “We’re not that cool,” he kidded.

Regulars and newcomers alike should agree that the Pelican’s dark, freshly baked, seed-studded rolls are a nice and even gracious meal-starter, especially now that bread on the house falls under the “old-fashioned” category.

It was also hard to fault the crisp and un-greasy wild halibut and fresh-cut chips ($17 for one piece). Among other deep-fried items, crab cakes were massive, meaty, clean-flavoured and well-fried, but they seemed somewhat under-seasoned on their own, much in need of their miso aioli. Calamari ($12) with a harissa-spiked mayo made a similar impression.

Halibut fish and chips at the Pelican Grill

Crab cakes at the Pelican Grill

Calamari at the Pelican Grill

A lunch-time bowl of mussels ($17) was very generously portioned, but there could have been more richness and savouriness to its white wine and cream sauce. A cup of clam chowder ($5) was tasty, but fell short of being special.

Mussels in white wine, garlic and cream sauce at the Pelican Grill

Cup of clam chowder at the Pelican Grill

A dinner serving of seafood stew ($30) had chunks of halibut, a king crab leg, mussels, clams and shrimp — all fresh and enjoyable. I wished though that the tomato-studded broth had more depth and authenticity.

Seafood stew at the Pelican Grill.

At that dinner, pan-roasted trout ($26), crisp-skinned but moist and finished with a hit of salt, was the best entrée, well supported by its roasted fingerlings, sautéed kale and cauliflower cream.

Trout main course at the Pelican Grill

A serving of scallops with pork belly, served with apple parsnip purée and French beans, should have been perfect for its $42 price. But the sear on the scallops could have been harder, the food could have been piping hot when it hit the table and the plating could have been more artful.

Scallops and pork belly at the Pelican Grill.

A lunch-time Niçoise salad ($19) was enjoyable, even if it raised some questions. Why did the seared tuna have a slightly sweet, barbecue-like dry rub? What happened to the grilled octopus that the menu had listed? Happily, the swap-in — perfectly cooked, pristine shrimp — was delicious.

Niçoise salad at the Pelican Grill.

Red Thai curry shrimp ($19) was chockful of veg and its shrimp satisfied, but the curry was a little toned-down heat-wise.

Red thai curry shrimp at the Pelican Grill

Speaking of desserts, the Citizen reviews of 2006 and 2010 mention just one: crème brûlée. For two of my three visits, the only dessert mentioned by the server was — wait for it — crème brûlée ($6.50). It was maple-flavoured, as it was in 2010, and if I can borrow my predecessor’s words, it was “more pudding than custard, but comforting nonetheless.”

If you compare the Pelican’s food to other seafood and fish options around town, I think you would find more wow-worthy and memorable fare elsewhere, but also a considerable amount of lesser stuff.

But for Pelican regulars, that might not be the meaningful comparison. They might take the shortcomings I’ve mentioned as mere quibbles rather than big disappointments, if they take them at all. What draws them back, I suspect, are consistency and the pleasures of fresh, albeit less than dazzling, seafood and friendly service.

“You want to update (the menu) but you also don’t want to alienate,” Foster said. Point taken.

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Peter Hum’s restaurant reviews

Citizen
207 Gilmour St., 613-422-6505, facebook.com/citizenoftown, instagram.com/towncitizen 
Open: Thursday to Monday, 6 p.m. to late
Prices: small plates $9 to $16
Access: no steps to front door, washrooms

First off: With a name like Citizen, how could a restaurant be anything but a winner?

But seriously: the downtown eatery that could just as aptly been called Marc Doiron’s Follow-Up, Vegetable-Forward, Small Plates Club served some of the best and most interesting dishes that I’ve had so far this year at a just-opened place.

My expectations were high, given chef-owner Doiron’s acclaimed food at his first restaurant, Town, on Elgin Street, around the corner from Citizen, which is on Gilmour Street. The two restaurants share a single kitchen and also a few dishes.

But Citizen, which opened in early January where a hair salon had been, is its own place. It’s more casual in look — not that Town is at all stuffy — and a little lighter and more cosmopolitan in menu. At Citizen, which is open just four nights a week, well-crafted, distinctive and even visually intriguing small plates appeal to a contemporary palate with finely calibrated combinations of flavours and textures.

At my two visits during the last week, those plates even ate frequently like big plates. Doiron had packed so much complexity, taste and richness into some of them that we were surprisingly sated. 

One small piece of advice: choose carefully from Citizen’s menu to maximize contrasts. It’s not that we’ve had any duds. But I can say that on our first visit, we overdid it on the menu’s meatier, umami-rich and cheese-bolstered dishes. Better would have been a more diverse dinner, with the contrasts afforded by some of the varied and no-less interesting vegetable dishes that we tried on our second visit.  

Citizen’s most recent menu lists 16 items, of which I’ve sampled 12. (Apologies to the stuffed dates, pecorino potatoes, olives and lavender almonds.) 

Of that dozen, what am I craving? For one thing, the exemplary beef tartare ($14), well-seasoned, brightened by salsa verde and topped with a parmesan wafer, and then served sumptuously with toast rather than the usual, frequently too-dry and crumbly crostini or crackers. The tartare is a carry-over from Town’s menu, and understandably so.

Beef tartare at Citizen

Just as good was Citizen’s potato salad with smoked brisket ($15), which was a well-rounded dish that sang with acidic and herbal notes along with the humble, but elevated spuds, and meat that was notably smoked but not overly so.

Smoked brisket and potatoes at Citizen

I’m very keen on the Moroccan-inspired complexities of Doiron’s grilled eggplant dish ($16), joined by morsels of braised lamb and couscous salad, perked by a preserved lemon and almond gremolata but also cooled and rounded out by coconut yogurt.

Eggplant and lamb at Citizen

Roasted squash and charred radicchio salad ($9) was a deceptively potent treat, with miso-tinted brown butter amping up its savouriness and a lime crema adding a citrus-y pop.

Squash and radicchio at Citizen

Falafel ($9) were impeccable, and seemed like a deluxe version of the ubiquitous Middle Eastern deep-fried chickpea street food, given the lavish beet hummus and miniature but impressive salad of sprouted lentils, chickpea and pickled beets on the side.

Falafel and beet hummus at Citizen

Harder to split, but worth that effort, was Town’s fried chicken sandwich ($16), which was hefty, moist and taken in Korean direction with a lightly spicy gochujang mayo, even as coleslaw, pickles and prosciutto cotto broadened its appeal.

Spicy fried chicken sandwich at Citizen

Five leaves salad ($12) thrummed with umami thanks to its buttermilk anchovy dressing and heavy scattering of parmesan and sieved egg yolk.

Five leaves salad at Citizen

Charred broccoli ($10) interestingly nodded to Spain, with its thick, filling sauce based on ajo blanco (a garlic and almond soup), manchego cheese, pickled grapes and toasted almonds. I did wonder, though, if the broccoli could have supported more roast-y goodness.

Charred broccoli at Citizen

Yams and chorizo ($12) borrowed smartly from Mexican cuisine, supporting its stars with crisp strips of tortillas, a tomatillo salsa, a black pepper crema and pickled onions. The dish was a bit of a flavour muddle when fork met mouth, but it was still good.

Yams and chorizo at Citizen

Roasted carrots maintained some crunch, and shared their pretty plate an odd but effective combination — an appealing sesame brittle, a slurry of pesto, tobiko and candied mandarin.

Roasted carrots with goat cheese sauce at Citizen

I mention the scallop crudo ($16) — another dish available at Town — last because the sweet skew of its brown butter, hazelnuts and fruit made me think of dessert. While I was a little unsure about it, my friend thought it was the best dish of the seven at our dinner. 

Scallops with brown butter and hazelnuts at Citizen

Speaking of dessert, there was just one on Citizen’s menu, and after the globe-trotting of other dishes, it was as Canadian as could be. Doiron’s pouding chômeur ($9) was an indulgent, traditional meal-ender of white cake in maple sauce, fancied up with a bit of apple compote. 

Pouding chômeur at Citizen

Like Town, Citizen is a long, narrow, cosy space with a bar opposite tables. Stocked at that bar are some well-chosen bottled beers and interesting, mostly Old-World wines, some of which are available by the glass. Citizen does not take reservations, but was full or about to be full, predominantly with a hip, youthful clientele, when I visited.

Currently chef Michael Frank, formerly of the late, lamented Mellos in the ByWard Market and the consultant behind the food at Bar Robo in Chinatown, has a Monday night cooking residency at Citizen. Frank’s mini-menus to date, on display at Citizen’s Instagram page, have toured different cuisines, from Filipino to the Caribbean to Bavaria.

I haven’t tried any of Frank’s Monday night specials, but it’s a safe bet that they’re good. If they can match Doiron’s best efforts, they would be stunning. 

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Peter Hum’s restaurant reviews

Makita Kitchen & Bar
589 Bank St., 613-422-6688, makitakitchenbar.com
Open: Monday to Thursday 11 a.m. to midnight, Friday 11 a.m. to close, Saturday 10:30 a.m. to close, Sunday 10:30 a.m. to midnight
Prices: small plates $9 to $14, larger plates $15 to $22
Access: no steps to front door or washrooms

It had been a while — almost 20 years — since I’d had another restaurant dinner while a nearby TV showed a kung fu movie.

Two decades ago, that striking juxtaposition took place in Hong Kong. A few weeks ago, it happened again at Makita Kitchen & Bar on Bank Street, in the north end of the Glebe. 

Makita, which happens to mean “due north” in Japanese, opened in November where the Indian restaurant New Nupur had been since 2001. Significant renovations have created an appealing open space of brick walls, black walnut tables and large, monochromatic paintings reminiscent of Chinese ink brush work. There’s an aquarium embedded in the wall of the vestibule, a golden Buddha at one end of the bar, and on the back wall is perched the TV. We caught glimpses of Shaolin monks, probably seeking some bone-crushing vengeance, while we ate our steamed buns and ramen.

The food and ambience attest to the Asia-philia of Caroline Murphy, Makita’s general manager and the former chef de cuisine at Town, and Makita’s chef, Elliott Gosselin, who previously cooked at the Manx for seven years.

They’ve hopped on the bandwagon for Asian-inspired small plates, displaying a wide-roaming interest in flavours and dishes from China, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. Of course, Ottawa has more than a few such places, Asian-run or not. Some are more authentic, some are more fusion-focused. Makita falls in the trendier, more loose and creative end of the spectrum.

How’s Gosselin’s cooking? Over three visits — one at dinner and two at lunch — I’ve eaten with mixed results. A few dishes were quite satisfying, but more dishes elicited constructive, if not major, criticisms. To sum them up, there was often a need for greater finesse and attention to detail.

The dish that topped our list was Makita’s chicken wings ($12), which were massive, crisped on the outside but juicy inside, and given a Vietnamese-Thai twist with ginger, scallions, umami-rich fish sauce and potent bird’s eye chilies (which we requested on the side). The fame of the well-known Portland, Oregon restaurant Pok Pok is based on a similar dish, among others, and Makita’s bang-on execution of something related helped to show why that is.

Chicken wings at Makita Kitchen Bar

Among other snacking items, the pork and shrimp spring rolls ($4 for two) were fine and by the book. More interesting was Gosselin’s version of shrimp toast ($9), the indulgent deep-fried dim sum dish. Its paste of minced shrimp, cilantro and betel leaf was undeniably tasty, but we also thought the cooking had been a little harsh, leaving the treats too dark and crunchy.

Spring rolls at Makita Kitchen Bar

Shrimp toast at Makita Kitchen Bar

Similarly, a too-dry spicy fried chicken sandwich ($8), served at lunch, stumbled due to overcooking. Better at that meal was a moist burger made with patty of pork and shrimp ($10).

Crispy chicken on a bun at Makita Kitchen Bar

Shrimp and pork burger, kale salad at Makita Kitchen Bar

Makita’s three salads ($6 and $12) were interesting counterpoints to the protein-forward dishes. Some tweaking, though, would have helped. The soba-edamame salad’s dressing needed more brightness and punch, and the soba noodles were too soft. The kale salad, made with seaweed, butternut squash, pumpkin seeds and a yuzu vinaigrette, intrigued, although it could have equally been billed a kale-seaweed salad given the prominence of the latter. The papaya salad was fine, if on the milder side.

Papaya salad at Makita

Soba noodle salad at Makita Kitchen Bar

Given the efforts and dedication that specialty restaurants put into making reputation-defining ramen or pho, I’m usually a bit surprised and also wary when one or both of the iconic soups show up elsewhere on much wider menus. I tried Makita’s ramen ($15) a few weeks ago, and while it basically met the definition, its noodles, unceremoniously clumped in the bowl, were a let-down.

Ramen at Makita Kitchen Bar

The ramen has since left Makita’s menu, and chicken pho ($12) has replaced it. I had a bowl of pho this week, and it was just OK. Best about it was its copious amount of chicken. It struck me as odd though that it was laced with slivers of bird’s eye chilies such that spiciness overwhelmed the broth’s good points and obviated the use of the Sriracha on the side. Kudos though to the kitchen for offering to make me a second, chili-free bowl when I raised the matter.

Chicken pho at Makita Kitchen Bar

Makita’s versions of steamed buns ($5 each), the most trendy Asian snack of the moment, fell somewhere in the middle of the Ottawa pack. The buns themselves were freshly made in-house, which was a notable plus. Makita’s pork belly bun relied on the classic template, with its slab of fatty-good meat, hoisin and cucumber. A green curry pulled pork bun was good, but could have used more curry flavour and heat. Vegetarians get their own Middle Eastern-themed bun, made with falafel, pickled turnip and garlic aioli. On the whole, bigger jolts of flavour and savouriness would raise the Makita buns’ standings in the field.

Steamed buns (coconut curry pork, left, and pork belly, right) at Makita Kitchen Bar

Makita takes a Korean spin on fried chicken and waffles ($18) which, while not as unusual as it seemed on paper, had its ups and downs. The moist, flavourful chicken was a plus, but more questionable was the marriage of potent kimchi with waffles that seemed neither hot and fresh and that became soggy. 

Chicken and waffles at Makita Kitchen Bar

Hanger steak frites ($22) were better, with meaningfully marinated meat and a ginger-green onion topping. Nori-dusted fries were interesting, but frankly, rice topped with furikake (seasoned seaweed sprinkles) would have been better.

Steak and fries at Makita Kitchen Bar

Desserts were a strength at Makita — well-priced at $6, creative and satisfying — from the Vietnamese coffee cake with Moo Shu green tea ice cream to the Asian pear bread pudding with green tea whipped cream to an Asian pear turnover with sake-infused chocolate sauce.

Coffee cake in the foreground, Asian pear bread pudding in the background at Makita Kitchen Bar

Turnover in chocolate sauce at Makita Kitchen Bar

Butter tart at Makita

The restaurant is admirably local in its choice of craft beers, Top Shelf gin and vodka, and produce. 

Overall, I give this almost four-month-old restaurant credit for its vibe, reasonable prices and its enthusiastic exploration of foreign cuisines. But it will also take more precise practice and execution, and even boldness — kind of like those kung fu masters on TV — to make consistently delicious and impressive food.

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Peter Hum’s restaurant reviews

Meatings Barbecue
2807 St. Joseph Blvd., Orléans, 613-407-8788, meatings.ca
Open: Tuesday to Saturday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., closed Monday
Prices: personal samples $22, family platter $75
Access: steps to front door

The first time someone brought the Orléans business called Meatings to my attention, I quipped, “They’ve opened a singles bar for carnivores?”

It turns out I was half-right. The tiny, two-month-old eat-in and take-out joint on St. Joseph Boulevard is Ottawa’s latest barbecue eatery. There, couples and families are more than welcome, especially if they are keen on locally sourced renditions of barbecue’s “big four” meats — chicken, pork ribs, pulled pork and brisket.

Meatings is an offshoot of a five-year-old catering company of the same name launched by Orléans brothers Mat and Joey Flosse, who are 26 and 22 respectively. Since 2012, the brothers have been doing on-site barbecuing and smoking, specializing in whole-pig and whole-lamb feasts. Mat Flosse told me this week that his St. Joseph Boulevard location was originally intended to be no more than a prep kitchen and office, but the jump to making it a tiny restaurant, with its smoker nestled in a shed by the parking lot, was an easy one. Ottawa barbecue lovers should be very, very glad.

From left, Joe Flosse, Carol Hunt, and Mat Flosse, the three owners of Meatings, a new BBQ restaurant and take-out on St Joseph Blvd in Orleans with the family platter that features the following: St Louis Pork Ribs (counter clockwise from lower left), Smoked Chicken, Pulled Pork, House Made Pickles, Deep Fried Cornbread, Grandma’s Pecan Tarts, Grilled Cornbread, Herbed Onion Buns, 14 hour Smoked Brisket, and on the table House Made Cole Slaw, and Mac and Cheese sprinkled with crushed Cheezies.

Mat Flosse, one of three owners of Meatings, a new barbecue restaurant and take-out on St Joseph Boulevard in Orleans checks on ribs in the smoker at the back of the restaurant. 

Last week I and some buddies ate a swath through Meating’s concise but well-organized menu. For maximum sampling, we ordered the family platter ($75), meant for four people, which included the aforementioned meats, three sides of our choice (we went for smoked beans, mac and cheese and Caesar salad) and two of three desserts (spears of grilled pineapple and deep-fried cornbread).

We sat at the communal table — between it and 10 stools, Meatings seats about 20 people — and about 10 minutes later, the fully laden metal tray hit our table. Once we had polished off most of the platter, the consensus was that Meatings turns out some of the best and most authentic restaurant-made barbecue in Ottawa.

We appreciated that Meatings emphasizes meats that have been bolstered with spice rubs before their low-and-slow smoking. Here the barbecue and hot sauces that elsewhere can be a remedy for under-flavoured meats are very much optional. Meatings’ ribs, brisket and pulled pork were robustly and appealingly seasoned, but not so much as to get in the way of the flavours of the meats, which were locally sourced from Lavergne Western Beef in Navan. All that said, Meatings does offer a fine house-made maple-tinged barbecue sauce, if sauce you must. 

The cooking of the red meats left them not only nice and succulent and noticeably but not overly smoky, but also crusted with crisped, spiced exteriors — “bark” as barbecue aficionados like to say. The brisket — thick-cut, savoury and moist with well-rendered fat — was especially pleasing. Meanwhile, the pieces of dark-meat chicken that we tried were more delicately seasoned, clearly smoked and very moist.

Pork Ribs on the family platter served at Meatings, a new barbecue restaurant and take-out on St Joseph Boulevard in Orleans.

Smoke Chicken and Pulled Pork on the family platter served at Meatings, a new barbecue restaurant and take-out on St Joseph Boulevard in Orleans.

I was glad when Mat Flosse told me that his meats are not pre-cooked, cooled and reheated before being served, as is much more common and which usually makes for dry, tough meat. Instead, Meatings cooks ribs and chicken for its lunch and dinner rushes, and is able to hold its brisket and pulled pork at temperature without needing to reheat (and degrade) it.

“We’re a couple of young lads with no culinary training,” Mat Flosse said. Apparently, to turn out some great barbecue fare, none is needed. He did say he has done research in recent years in Tennesee, Florida and even Argentina to be inspired by how experts there grill and smoke.

Meanwhile, the sides at Meatings were not mere afterthoughts. Smoked beans were delicious, tasting of smoke, maple syrup, thick-cut bacon and brisket grease. Similarly, garlicky Caesar salad was kicked up a notch with in-house smoked bacon. Mac ‘n’ cheese tasted of from-scratch goodness. 

Mac and Cheese and House Made Cole Slaw on the family platter served at Meatings, a new barbecue restaurant and take-out on St Joseph Boulevard in Orleans. 

Desserts satisfied a craving for something small and sweet. Grilled and then cinnamon-sugared pineapple spears were the most refreshing. Pecan tarts, made by the Flosses’ grandmother, were fine, while deep-fried cornbread with a maple dipping sauce was heaviest. The latter did lose something in its inevitable cooling while we ate our meats and sides.

Grandma’s Pecan Tarts on the family platter served at Meatings, a new barbecue restaurant and take-out on St Joseph Boulevard in Orleans. 

Deep Fried Corn Bread on the family platter served at Meatings, a new barbecue restaurant and take-out on St Joseph Boulevard in Orleans. 

Beverages maintained a local focus, from made-in-house lemonade and ice tea to Pop Shoppe soft drinks to Beau’s beers to Flying Canoe Hard Cider to Navan-made Domaine Perrault red wine.

I don’t associate barbecue meals with options for gluten-averse diners, never mind vegetarians. However, the listings on the wall above Meatings’ cash keeps those dietary restrictions in mind, specifying which sides and desserts qualify.

There is even a savoury option for vegetarians — “pulled” jackfruit. The canned tropical fruit tries to emulate pulled pork after being hit with Meatings’ pork rub, smoked and shredded. The result, however, retains some of jackfruit’s intrinsic sourness.

My very carnivorous buddy tried one bite of the jackfruit and said, “That’s it for me.”

But it was no big deal if the faux pulled pork didn’t hit it out of the park. Nearly everything else we tried at Meatings was good enough to instil deep-seated cravings for primal barbecue satisfaction. We’ll be back.  

Caravela Restaurante
3712 Innes Rd., Unit 3 in the Rio Can Centre, 613-424-9200, caravelaottawa.com
Open: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily
Prices: mains $15 to $34
Access: no steps to front door or washrooms

While dining recently at Caravela in Orléans, the newest Portuguese restaurant in the Ottawa area, I asked our server what I thought was an innocent enough question.

Seeing “arroz de marisco” on the menu, with its matter-of-fact translation “seafood rice” below, I inquired whether the dish was like paella. “Oh, it’s much better than paella!” was the server’s reply.

That was sufficient recommendation for me. Some minutes later, I was presented with a wide bowl that certainly met the definition of seafood rice, with a heavy emphasis on the former. There was rice, swimming in lots of seafood broth, but much of it was obscured by all the clams, mussels, and fish filets. Most daunting was a jumbo shrimp the size of a small kraken.

Another gregarious Caravela staffer — it might have been owner Fernando Diniz — clapped me on the shoulder when he saw my dismay. He told me I could grapple with the shell-on beast more easily with my hands than with cutlery. I asked the indulgence of my dining companions, rolled up sleeves and got to work, peeling. The shrimp, plus everything with it, was quite good. 

That anecdote, in a shrimp shell, tells you what I think of Caravela, which opened in an Innes Road mall in December. My two dinners there have been marked by generously sized dishes, fresh ingredients and uncomplicated, homey preparations. Service has been casual and chatty, as likeable as the complimentary bread with red-pepper butter and small, tasty olives that have started our meals. 

The restaurant’s feel is cut from the same cloth. It’s an attractive, compact place that seats roughly 50 and represents Portugal well, from its immense abstract map-mural to the soccer playing on the TV behind the bar.

Caravela’s website calls its food “fine cuisine,” which I think overstates things. Instead, typical Portuguese appetizers were well-made and mains were classic, robust and protein-forward, with starches and vegetables that were of secondary importance. With most, leftovers were practically guaranteed.

Of the appetizers, deep-fried salt cod and shrimp cakes ($6 for an order of either) were small but spot on, brimming with the right flavours and textures and not at all oily.

Salt cod cakes at Caravela

Shrimp cakes at Caravela

Caldo verde ($5), Portugal’s famed potato kale soup, was smooth and simple. Grilled octopus ($14) was fine texturally, although not as upscale as similar appetizers in Ottawa, and its jalapeno purée was jarring. While starters of chorizo, either flambéed ($9.50) or in a wine sauce with vegetables ($10), featured good sausages that were imported into Ottawa, those dishes in the end didn’t wow us.

Caldo verde at Caravela

Grilled octopus at Caravela

Flambeed chorizo at Caravela

Chorizo in wine sauce appetizer at Caravela

Cod, either salted or fresh, figures in several preparations at Caravela. A rendition of seared and roasted fresh cod topped with vegetables ($23) was alright, but I liked even more the hearty but satisfying hash of salt cod, scrambled eggs, French fries and onions ($22).

Cod with vegetables at Caravela

Salt cod, eggs, fries and onions at Caravela

Beyond cod, we’ve had a fine catch of the day that was a small, whole sea bream, likewise seared and roasted and topped with vegetables.

Grilled and roasted Sea Bream at Caravela

Alcatra ($28), an Azorean beef pot roast served with slices of sweetened bread, is heavily promoted in Caravela’s menu. It had good flavour, but was a touch more dry than my friend would have liked.

Portuguese pot roast at Caravela

Pork and clams ($21) — a mish-mash of tender, marinated meat, briny bivalves and potatoes — were pooled in paprika-coloured oil and offset by bits of pickled vegetable.

Pork and clams at Caravela

Piri-piri chicken ($15 for a half-chicken, $27 for a whole one) was moist and well-seasoned, but more subdued spice-wise than similar birds served elsewhere around town. A whole chicken came with fries, that seemed like spuds that had been pre-cut elsewhere, and salad that were notable above all for their mammoth portions.

Whole piri-piri chicken at Caravela

For those who somehow had room, house-made desserts, including a lady finger cake, a caramel mousse and a chocolate peanut butter tart, were good rich meal-enders. If macaroon-like coconut pastries made out-of-house are available, get an order, because they were fine treats. If you order the made-in-Montreal egg tarts, you might want to ask for it to be warmed up, as the refrigerator-cold ones that we had missed the point.

Ladyfinger cake at Caravela

Caramel mousse at Caravela

Chocolate peanut butter tart at Caravela

Coconut pastries at Caravela

Egg tarts at Caravela

Caravela is the second Orléans restaurant in a row that I’ve considered, and happily so. Ottawa’s eastern suburb is welcoming some worthwhile and even standard-setting eateries, and the roving diners from across the region should take note.   

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Sur-Lie
110 Murray St., 613-562-7244, surlierestaurant.ca
Open: Tuesday to Sunday 5 to 11 p.m., closed Mondays; brunch and lunch services are planned
Prices: mains $22 to $42, five-course tasting menu $80
Access: steps to front door

Until today, the only time that Nick Berolo appeared in the pages of the Citizen was in 1999, when the then-20-year-old was written up for his graffiti skills — and for renouncing the vandalism that went with them.

Nearly two decades later, it’s a different kind of artistry that makes Berolo, 38, noteworthy. He’s the chef at Sur-Lie on Murray Street, which opened Feb. 11, and his dishes make big first impressions. Better still, the food from the Ottawa-raised chef, who studied fine arts at Concordia University but then wound up cooking in Montreal until he returned to Ottawa almost two years ago, is as delicious and well-conceived as it is beautiful and involved.

While Sur-Lie’s website describes its food as “locally inspired modern French cuisine,” it feels above all like a confident and experienced chef’s personal expression. What I’ve eaten and seen has stressed the “local” and “modern” parts of the description. The “French” factor has been most apparent in Berolo’s love of cooking techniques, both old-school and beyond, and in the deeply and lucidly flavoured sauces that have accompanied lean, often sous-vide-cooked, meats. 

We had one grand dinner at Sur-Lie last week, although it wasn’t without a twinge of remorse. The new restaurant replaces Murray Street Kitchen, which was much-loved and celebrated thanks to chef Steve Mitton’s fondness and aptitude for charcuterie and carnivore-based eating. After eight years, that restaurant had its final service on Dec. 31. By then, the partners who would open Sur-Lie had already bought the building. After six weeks and extensive renovations, Sur-Lie opened, with Neil Gowe — a hands-on co-owner along with being a long-time Ottawa sommelier — on site.

Owner Neil Gowe (left) and Chef Nick Berolo are the pair behind the newly opened Sur-Lie on Murray Street in the Byward Market. Julie Oliver/Postmedia

Sur-Lie feels more spacious than Murray Street did. The charcuterie-showcase aspect of the bar is gone — Sur-Lie takes a more haute-cuisine tack — and the dining room, flanked by pale green walls and a white brick wall, has more presence. It’s a classy, comfy place, outfitted with black banquettes and cushioned seats, and the service, which included visits by Gowe and Berolo to our table, was very personable and knowledgeable.

There were different ways to go with Sur-Lie’s one-page menu of eight smaller items and eight mains. For example, our server said that the mains were quite shareable. Meanwhile, the restaurant also offers a multi-course tasting menu. For now, it can be ordered by single customers and not only by everyone at the table, and I decided to take Sur-Lie out for that deluxe spin, while my dining companions went for an appetizer and a main each.

Before any appetizers arrived, we received a lavish and promising tray of fresh, warm buns and flaxseed crackers, accompanied by butter and a puddle of dill oil. These on-the-house treats disappeared quickly.

The two appetizers were generously portioned, tasty, sleekly composed conversation pieces.

Berolo presented medallions of rabbit ($18), crusted in pumpkin seeds, in a still life with squash purée, bits of confit rabbit leg that mingled with black trumpet mushrooms, pomegranate seeds and a superior jus. A single squash raviolo topped the tallest piece of rabbit. 

Rabbit small plate at Sur-Lie

Beef tartare ($18) deviated in look and feel from the classic French template. The minced, raw beef fillet that snaked across the plate nodded more to Asia, as our server had advised, with meat that was highly accessorized with bits of fermented cabbage, grilled romaine heart, pickled carrot and ginger vinaigrette, while dabs of cashew purée and miso-cured egg yolk added extra pops of flavour. A purist would probably have wanted more forthright beefiness, but as deviations go, Berolo’s was interesting and well executed.

Beef tartare at Sur-Lie

Mains were massive and brimmed with well-chosen components.

Three sea bass filets ($28) were properly roasted and stood up their red wine reduction, while sunchoke, brussels sprouts and black trumpet mushrooms completed the plate. Three large pieces of beef filet ($38) sopped up their sherry-bolstered jus, as did shapely cylinders of fondant potatoes, blue foot mushrooms and more.

Sea bass at Sur-Lie

Beef fillet at Sur-Lie

The tasting menu ($80) consisted of Berolo’s choices for the night, which were three appetizers and a main course, all scaled down, a pre-dessert and then a lavish dessert by pastry chef Gabriel Messier, who previously worked at the posh Quebec City restaurant Laurie Raphaël.

This parade of food’s overture was as simple as most of its follow-ups were complex. Berolo sent out a single oyster, sitting on a bed of small black stones, its meat hidden by a mound of grated frozen foie gras. I wondered how an oyster minus the usual contrasting hit of acidic brightness or heat would fare, but I wasn’t disappointed by Berolo’s less common indulgence.

Oyster and foie gras at Sur-Lie

Next came a down-sized plate of raw sea bream, adorned with trout roe, cucumber, pickled onion, dill oil and celtuce. Despite its size, the course was a study in refinement blessed with transformed and pristine ingredients and well calibrated hits of saltiness and crunch. Then, frozen foie gras made a return visit, as an oblong of the stuff sat in the basin of a bowl along with compressed apple, parsley purée and leek. Our server then poured smooth but humble potato soup into the bowl. I thought the soup was a bit under-seasoned, but other than that, the dish was sleek and comforting. 

Sea bream crudo at Sur Lie

Potato soup with foie gras at Sur-Lie

The star of the tasting menu’s main course, two medallions of rosy venison, came with their own chocolate juniper jus, plus accompaniments that offered different kinds and levels of sweetness — strips of spiced sweet potato flan that brought pumpkin pie to mind, date purée, candied pecans, disks of apple and lovely, mild Tokyo turnips. 

Ontario Venison with sweet potato flan, Tokyo turnips, puree, candied pecans, apple chocolate juniper jus. at the newly opened Sur-Lie on Murray Street.

The eating became sweeter still when Berolo brought out a box of clementines. It turned out that three (one for each of us at the table) of the fruits had been candied and halved so that their insides could be replaced by a satisfying, not-too-sweet chocolate mousse. After that fine bit of trickery came the elaborate dessert of triple-layered shortcake that included a strip of chocolate ganache, intense raspberry sorbet, a pert little lime marshmallow and more. 

Raspberry shortcake dessert at Sur-Lie

Cocktails here are classically styled while Gowe’s well-curated wine list stresses French and Canadian bottles and includes some good by-the-glass picks.

Le Hibou Kitchen & Bar
757 Riverside Rd., Wakefield, 819-459-8883, cafelehibou.com
Open: Monday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Friday 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Sunday, 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Prices: appetizers $ 7 to $15, main courses $16 to $25
Access: fully wheelchair-accessible

Since it opened in the fall of 2009, Le Hibou in Wakefield, just across the street from the Black Sheep Inn, has offered two kinds of food under one funky, charming, wooden roof.

At the spacious, vibrantly painted 70-seater filled with assorted retro furniture, wooden pews and owl-themed bric-à-brac, there’s no shortage of accessible crowd-pleasers such as nachos, burgers, and fish and chips. But owner Una McDonnell also wanted some finer, more globally inspired fare on Le Hibou’s menu. “It just flies out the window — people are thrilled not to have to drive to the city,” she told me this week.

For this Ottawan, the reverse has also been true, meaning that in recent weeks, it was the appeal of those unique, international dishes that lured me to Le Hibou. No offence to the solidly made basics, but during my two recent visits, dishes such as octopus with kimchi, labneh and black garlic, and pork belly with bacon dashi and noodles made the biggest impressions.

They’re the work of Arif Khalid, the 32-year-old chef who joined Le Hibou last October after stints cooking at the Piggy Market, Salt Dining and Lounge, and Play food & wine. Before that, Khalid, who received his culinary training at Vancouver Community College, cooked at the noted Toronto restaurant Splendido. A Kuwait native of Pakistani and Welsh descent, Khalid also credits his travels in the Middle East, England, China and North America as influences.

At Le Hibou, Khalid’s best dishes — currently served throughout the day from a single menu — have been complex, colourful, made-from-scratch creations, deftly and intriguingly seasoned, locally sourced yet worldly and thoughtful in outlook.

At a Friday lunch, we tried one more humble dish and three fancier ones.

If you can call poutine refined, you could say that of the butter chicken poutine ($15), made with superior fries, a savoury but not-heavy gravy and crumbled chicken sausage sourced from the fine birds raised at Ferme Aux Saveurs des Monts in Gatineau. While beet salads elsewhere are usually pretty perfunctory, or have come and gone, Le Hibou’s “beet study” ($11) showed some imagination, combing a square of cooked beet with a splash of raspberry-beet purée and a smear of goat’s cheese mousse, thinly shaved raw golden beets, pumpkin seeds and arugula.

Butter chicken poutine at Le Hibou in Wakefield

Beet dish at Le Hibou in Wakefield

With his elevated beef and octopus dishes, Khalid pulled out the stops. 

The “Persian” kebabs ($25), made with grass-fed beef from Hale Farm a few kilometres up Hwy. 105 from Le Hibou, were packed with flavour, and the meat shared the plate with Le Coprin mushrooms, a crescent of lentil purée, dots of garlic sauce, and black hummus, made with chickpeas darkened with black tahini, black sesame seeds and squid ink.

Persian Kebab black hummus, black split peas, garlic sauce and Le Coprin mushrooms at Le Hibou in Wakefield.

Khalid told me this week that he’s been working on his kebab recipe for more than a decade, tweaking its technique and 28 ingredients — everything from cumin, coriander and turmeric to allspice, fenugreek, pomegranate powder, tandoori spice mix and black cumin.

Meanwhile, the chef’s octopus appetizer ($15) was a harmonious, multicultural success, featuring a tender, harissa-braised tentacle with accompaniments that forced us to scrape the plate so that none of the goodness  — house-made kimchi, labneh (Middle Eastern strained yogurt sweetened with olive oil), hits of house-fermented black garlic and squid ink-infused tempura bits for crunch — would go to waste.

Octopus braised in harissa, served with kimchi, labneh, black garlic and squid-ink tempura bits, at Le Hibou in Wakefield

At our second visit, on a Tuesday night when Khalid wasn’t working, the dishes more often than not gave off sparks, although the plating seemed a bit less disciplined and a dish or two would have been better had they been warmer upon arrival.

Four plump, battered tandoori-spiced shrimp ($9) were fun to nibble on. So too were planks of deep-fried tofu ($7) with a rousing sesame sauce. The “English Sunday Dinner” ($14), which featured a Yorkshire pudding garnished with morsels of braised lamb, pea and mint purée, and potato purée, was a nice conceit, but we found the more direct, cheaper starters more satisfying.

Tandoori shrimp, foreground, tofu fries and “English Sunday dinner” (lamb and Yorkshire pudding) at Le Hibou in Wakefield

Tofu fries at Le Hibou in Wakefield

“English Sunday dinner” — Yorkshire pudding with lamb, pea and mint purée, potato purée, at Le Hibou in Wakefield

An Ottawa-raised friend visiting from Japan had to have mussels and fries ($16), a dish that she says she orders repeatedly when she’s back home. She was happy with the quality and generosity of Le Hibou’s serving. McDonnell says mussels and fries have been on the menu since opening day.

Mussels and fries at Le Hibou in Wakefield

I had the hefty Hale Farm burger ($17), a sturdy handful fortified with bacon, aged cheddar and a persuasive, sweet-spicy house-made barbecue sauce. It was good, but could have been juicier, and I envied my friend’s perfectly roasted pork belly, nestled in a bowl of fine, smoky bacon-dashi broth, with shiitake mushrooms, noodles and punchy pickled chilies ($24).

Burger and fries at Le Hibou in Wakefield

Pork belly and noodles at Le Hibou in Wakefield

Another friend’s cod dish ($23) was an interesting mix of flavours and textures, from its fish that had been marinated in buttermilk and Indian spices and then poached, to its turmeric aioli, sautéed Swiss chard and tandoori-spiced tempura bits. However, the dish was a touch too cool and visually it seemed sloppy and overloaded, and therefore confusing. Some explanatory words from our server when the dish landed would have helped.

Buttermilk spiced cod at Le Hibou in Wakefield

Most of the desserts, visible in a showcase beside the bar, have been baked goods from Une Boulangerie dans un Village in Chelsea. We’ve had small-portioned sweets — the lemon tart ($7) brought in from the bakery, dense little mocha tarts made in-house ($4) — and both hit the spot as meal-enders. 

Mocha tarts at Le Hibou in Wakefield

In the past, years before Khalid took over the kitchen, I enjoyed a few non-working visits to Le Hibou during the summer when its irresistible 60-seat patio was open. Khalid told me that his current menu will lapse in late April or May, and because of booming summer business, “a much more simplified menu, yet still introducing international flavours” will kick in. 

Given that, I’d recommend trying Khalid’s more involved dishes sooner rather than later to see what his cooking is about. Or cross your fingers that he can still get his flavours dancing on those simplified plates during the height of summer.

Xiang Zi
1121 Meadowlands Dr. E., Unit E, 613-225-3313
Open: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily
Prices: up to $14.99 for eight pork buns, noodle dishes and other items up to $11.99
Access: One step to curb outside front door

I was fortunate to have had lunch at Xiang Zi this week with a friend who can read Chinese characters.

It’s not that I’d have been lost without him. The half-year-old restaurant has a bilingual menu that lists items in Chinese and reasonably good English. But the hand-written marginalia on its photocopied pages gave me extra incentives to order a few dishes, including a bowl of wonton soup that struck me as right up there in the annals of all the wonton soups I’ve eaten, both home- and restaurant-made. 

“The bowl is very big and has lots of wontons in it,” my friend translated, happily reading the menu’s forthright annotation. Not only was that description accurate — the $8.99 bowl was easily shared among three — but the soup was simply a knockout. It contained more than a dozen pork dumplings that were meaty and thin-skinned, its broth was splendidly savoury yet light, and its atypical-to-me ingredient was a generous scattering of seaweed that sent the soup’s umami level deliciously soaring.

Wonton soup at Xiang Zi

Seaweed is something I hadn’t come across during decades of devouring wonton soup. But it wasn’t the only surprising or unique aspect of Xiang Zi.

A small, minimally adorned but handsome place in the corner of a crowded parking lot’s mall in Parkwood Hills (the Latin Bistro was formerly here), the restaurant is run by Northern Chinese expats from Beijing and Tianjin, a large city about 150 kilometres southeast of Beijing. They offer a nicely contained menu of very affordable items. Here, the emphasis is on made-to-order steamed buns, a common street food in Tianjin, and noodle dishes, but other intriguing dishes are worth trying too. 

During my three visits to Xiang Zi, we’ve enjoyed some unpretentious but well-made dishes with appealing, direct flavours. 

We’ve tried just two of eight cold appetizers — a small dish of sugared, vinegared cucumber slices ($3.49) and a mound of bean-curd-skin “noodles” with a lightly sour dressing ($3.49). Both were refreshing, but weren’t must-orders. Maybe the beef shank and tripe appetizer, or spicy pigs’ ears, would have impressed us more, but truth is, we were prioritizing buns, noodles and more.

Sweet and sour cucumber at Xiang Zi

Tofu appetizer at Xiang Zi

All the more reason to go for the dumplings is the fact that the first thing a customer sees upon entering Xiang Zi is the workspace, behind a window, where staff make dumplings to order. 

We’ve tried several varieties of no-frills steamed buns, all containing porky stuffings augmented with green onions, minced leeks or sour cabbage or a bit of shrimp and leek ($11.99 to $13.99). Arriving piping hot in their steamer and eight to an order, the buns were fluffy-doughed and tasty, and a dip into a saucer of black vinegar, perhaps spiked with chili oil, added extra zing. For those who like crispness, the buns can also be ordered pan-seared for an extra dollar, but they then are also less fluffy and more chewy. 

Steamed buns at Xiang Zi

Pan-fried pork and leek buns at Xiang Zi

We can recommend both generously portioned noodle dishes here. Beijing noodles ($11.99) were thick and ropey and came with an array of accessories — bits of pork belly in a pungent, salty sauce that relied, I think, on fermented black soybeans, minced raw garlic, coriander leaves, julienned radish and cucumber, and more soybeans. The hodgepodge was hearty and filling.

Beijing noodles at Xiang Zi

Much thinner and pliant noodles, available hot or cold, came doused in a creamy sesame sauce ($8.99), and with strips of chicken as an option for an extra dollar. There was a bit of Szechuan pepper sting to the sauce, but only in passing. 

Sesame noodles at Xiang Zi

The sesame sauce appeared again as a dip for items ordered from their own menu page for what struck us as a more modest, dry version of the hot pots served at other Chinese restaurants. We enjoyed vermicelli, wide, bean-curd-skin noodles, deep-fried tofu puffs, shrimp balls and black fungus, seasoned with bits of chili and Szechuan pepper, but gently so.

Beam curd skin, bean curd puffs vermicelli and other hot spicy dip items at Xiang Zi- pic by Peter Hum Ottawa Citizen Photo Email

Because a recent New York Times article expounded on the “joys of jianbing,” based on a roving reviewer’s samplings of the griddle-cooked Chinese crepe, I was keen to try Xiang Zi’s jianbing ($3.50), which is a rare example of the dish in Ottawa.

As were the dumplings, the crepes were made in view of customers, and it was a fun to watch close-up, from seats beside the window on the workplace. A staffer — in fact, on three visits it’s always been the same woman — swirled a scoop of batter onto a circular griddle and then broke and spread an egg on it. Hoisin and chili sauces added sweet and spicy layers of flavour respectively, while green onion and cilantro contributed vegetal brightness. Then came, fried wonton wrappers, for crunch. If you order optional sausage, you get — surprise! — pieces of hot dog, not that we complained. Once it’s ready the crepe is folded and brought to the customer. 

Tianjin crepes (Jianbing) at Xiang Zi

The Times story and other reports online make it seem like jianbing is a foodie trend waiting to happen, with food trucks and the like North Americanizing the Asian staple with more deluxe fillings. We liked but didn’t love our jianbing at Xiang Zi, but we look forward to trying other renditions. Above all, we thought that the crepe needed to be eaten quickly, before sogginess set in. 

Stir-fried Chinese “salted” pancakes ($9.99) came as a bowl of substantial, savoury, doughy strips in a flavourful brown sauce, mixed with bits of pork and cabbage. Here, “savoury” might have been a better word than “salted” on the menu.  

Stir-fried salted pancake with cabbage and pork at Xiang Zi

Millet congee ($2) was a small bowl of simple-as-it-gets porridge. It made us think of couscous in water. I knew people who had  a similar, rice-based slurry as a meal-ender, but at Xiang Zi, rightly or wrongly, we treated it as a palate cleanser.

The restaurant’s friendly servers have tried to answer questions about dishes, although with mixed results. Of course, I’d have received better answers had I queried in Mandarin.

Xiang Zi is not licensed and it serves no desserts. The sound system has played Chinese pop music, including in one instance, a song set to the strains of Auld Lang Syne, which was yet another pleasant surprise at the premises.

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Peter Hum’s restaurant reviews