OCCO Kitchen
4240 Innes Rd., Orléans, 613-824-1200, occokitchen.com
Open: Sunday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Prices: burgers $14 to $18, mains $15 to $26
Access: no steps to front door or washrooms.
My, how OCCO Kitchen has grown.
About 14 months ago, chef Mark Steele opened the tiny, take-out-focused OCCO on St. Joseph Boulevard in Orléans. (In fact, OCCO stands for Orléans Catering Company.) Its specialties were, and remain, well-crafted burgers, tacos and fish and chips. Although OCCO meets only the most basic definition of a restaurant — not even 10 people can sit at its counters to chow down — it attained, and maintains, the top ranking among more than 2,100 Ottawa restaurants at tripadvisor.ca.
In early April, Steele opened a new OCCO Kitchen, also in Orléans, that definitely qualifies as a restaurant. In a large mall on Innes Road east of Mer Bleue Road, the new OCCO is a 200-seater that has replaced an Asian restaurant, such that two big teppanyaki stations currently sit unused in the expansive dining room.
I ate twice last week at the new OCCO, keen to see if Steele, who has been executive chef at the Delta City Centre, Ottawa Marriott and Algonquin College, could work his fast-food magic on a somewhat larger menu in a much larger space. The meals that my friends and I ate were by and large satisfying. There were a few mild disappointments, and overall, our experiences didn’t live up to the expectations that you might have for Ottawa’s “top” restaurant. But with its made-from-scratch practices, extremely fast service and nods to local ingredients and beers, OCCO stands out from the chain and premium casual restaurants that are its main competition.
At a mid-week lunch, OCCO was barely busy, and it was easier to size up the ambience. Its dining room is grey-walled and black-seated with faux barnboard and orange accent panels mitigating the starkness. A back-wall bar, though, is more snazzy. Canned music leaned to gritty blues, and service was speedy but roadhouse casual.
The food was more styled and better tasting than the usual roadhouse fare. Deep-fried starters — hefty cod cakes ($9) that point to Steele’s Newfoundland roots, pakora fritters with chunks of local heirloom veg ($7.50) — made good first impressions thanks to clean flavours, a minimum of oiliness and some plucky enhanced mayos for dipping.
OCCO’s chowder ($6 for a cup) prompted high hopes, as the menu says that it was a winner at the P.E.I. International Shellfish Festival. My cup, a lightly creamy concoction dotted with whitefish, shrimp and carrots struck me as solid, but not remarkable. The cobb salad ($7.50 for a sizeable half-order) was about as good, and would have been better had the grilled chicken been more moist.
OCCO needs more desserts. For now, there’s just one — a dense, cinnamon sugar doughnut ($7.50) that was not as good as the espresso gelato served with it.
At an early dinner last weekend, OCCO was so packed with families and at least one large party that walk-ins were waiting more than half an hour for a table. But the greeting staff were attentive while we waited and, later, after we had ordered, all of our dishes flew out at once from the kitchen with short-order efficiency.
Again, a deep-fried starter made some of us smile. This time, it was a plate of superior, crisp-battered chicken wings served with a savoury waffle ($13.50). Another notable success was the tender, toothsome Mexican-styled corn cob ($6.50), a slightly messy, but irresistible combo of sweetness, spiciness and butteriness.
Flour-tortilla tacos ($5 each) were large, appealing and accessible, although true taco aficionados will find better in Ottawa, if not Orléans.
Of our main courses, the best ones were the beefiest. The reputation-making Candied Bacon Cheese Burger ($18, including a side dish) was massive, meaty, and all of its fixings were distinctive and complimentary. I usually steer clear of poutine, but this time I didn’t, and I did not regret it. The New York striploin steak ($26, including a side), ordered and served rare, was fine on its own and better with its bone marrow jus. A slab of hot-smoked salmon ($22) was delicious, but on the small side. Chunks of grilled pork tenderloin ($22) were a little overcooked.
These “big plates” relied on the mix-and-match design of Steele’s menu. Those pakoras available as an appetizer were designated side items with the steak, salmon and pork, and again were much appreciated. Generously, the menu also grants guests a second side of their choice with those mains. We found a Caesar salad to be fresh, but lacking in punch and underdressed, while the OCCO signature salad was more interesting, thanks to some playful pomegranate-tapioca pearls (I think that’s what they were). Root chips, too cold and greasy, were the night’s one conspicuous dud.
We skipped dessert. Even so, we spoke of the big, new OCCO as a place worth returning to when our travels took us again to Orléans.
