Fairouz
343 Somerset St. W., 613-422-7700, fairouz.ca
Open: Tuesday to Thursday 5:30 to 10:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 5:30 to 11 p.m., closed Sunday and Monday
Prices: small plates $6 to $17, larger plates $24 to $32
Access: steps to front door, washrooms downstairs
My dining companion, someone well-versed in the ways of Michelin-starred restaurants and Middle Eastern cuisine alike, took a bite of his falafel at Fairouz.
A smile lit up his face and he launched into a small panegyric on the virtues of this four-month-old Centretown restaurant’s refined deep-fried chickpea fritters ($11 for four).
Falafel at Fairouz
“I love it because it tastes like falafel should taste,” he said, recalling innumerable just-fried falafels he had eaten from stands and street shops in Israel. He just can’t eat falafel anywhere else in Ottawa, he added, because they’re typically reheated, soggy, dense, greasy and sometimes gummy.
He also appreciated the chef’s personal twists — amping up the tahini on the plate and in the falafel with a bright hit of dill, as well as adding heat and beauty with slices of radish topped with potently spicy house-made harissa sauce.
Based on this dish and many others, not to mention its decor and drinks, Fairouz is unique in Ottawa.
Yes, it revives the name of a well-regarded restaurant that did business in the 1990s and early 2000s at the same address, and Dr. Hussain Rahal, one of the new Fairouz’s owners, is a member of the family that ran the first Fairouz and he worked there when he was going to school.
But Fairouz circa 2016 serves elevated Middle Eastern-inspired dishes in a city where, for decades, shawarma has set a lower, cheaper standard. Chef Walid El-Tawel, whose father is Palestinian, has crafted a novel and coherent menu that taps into that side of his ancestry. His kitchen, which values from-scratch prep and local producers, executes well, but that should not surprise given that El-Tawel, just 29, was not that long ago in charge of the kitchen at Restaurant E18hteen.
Chef Walid El-Tawel, left, is in charge of the kitchen at Fairouz
Nearly everything I’ve eaten during two dinners at Fairouz has been enjoyable, intriguing and flavour-forward. Dishes have also been sumptuously and colourfully plated — a must, I’d say, as they have to match the alluring look of Fairouz, which seats about 70 downstairs plus 45 in a private upstairs room.
Designer Kayla Pongrac (Ace Mercado, Tomo, The Waverley) has re-imagined the interior of this Centretown heritage mansion as a collection of eclectic and distinctive, sleek but comfortable dining spaces complemented by Moorish wrought-iron dividers, brick work, patterned wallpaper and Pongrac’s stairway mural.
Designer Kayla Pongrac created the interior of Fairouz
There are bar-side high tables, plush burgundy couches paired with black oval tables and turquoise (“Fairouz” is Arabic for turquoise) banquettes beside white tables just in front of the window onto the kitchen. Forced to pick a favourite spot to sit in such an interesting place, I like the latter.
Service has been of a consistently high standard — polished, attentive, personable and eager to demystify El-Tawel’s dishes, which, by the way, are meant to be shared, although could still be considered roughly as appetizers and main courses.
Servers might suggest you ease into dinner with some dip ($6) and pita (house-made to order, as is everything at Fairouz) while you ponder what to eat after. Don’t pass on that prelude to the meal. I’m partial to the chunky muhammara made with red pepper, pomegranate and walnuts, or the slick, cool labneh (strained yogurt), only because the solidly made baba ghanoush is more familiar. All were excellent with warm, small, puffed up pita, although a top-up of bread ($2 per pita) was needed.
Muhumarra and labneh dips at Fairouz
Olives, baba ghanoush, pita and labneh at Fairouz
Apart from the falafel, I’ve enjoyed the fil fil kebab ($16), a spicy, better-dressed version of that meaty staple, and the sophisticated tuna maslouka ($17), which offset the impeccable, spiced and seared fish with blobs of not-too-sweet hibiscus gel, finely diced cucumbers and herbs grown in-house.
Fil fil kebab at Fairouz
Tuna maslouka at Fairouz
The only appetizer that fell somewhat short was the lamb tartare ($18), and the fault lay not so much with the lean, pristine lamb, but with the bulgur crackers. While El-Tawel might have intended his dish to be a relative of kibbeh, its crackers were a jarring, too-crunchy distraction, and the lamb was better appreciated on its own.
Lamb tartare at Fairouz
Among El-Tawel’s mains, the dish built around slabs of lamb loin, strikingly seared but still perfectly pink inside and sweetened with pomegranate molasses, was a standout ($32). 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.
Pomegranate molasses lamb loin at Fairouz
Two poultry dishes were also hits. Chicken breast ($29) that was cooked sous-vide before leaning on sumac for its potent flavour was well-matched with a warm eggplant relish, charred onions and a sweet slick of date “leather.” Luscious slices of spiced duck breast ($30) kept luxurious company with a saffron béarnaise foam, grilled mushrooms and barberry jam.
Sumac chicken at Fairouz
Duck breast with asparagus, saffron béarnaise foam at Fairouz
A less striking choice was white bass ($28), sitting on braised hearts of palm and made more exciting with a crust of dukkah (spices and nuts) and a green sauce based on zhoug, the Middle Eastern condiment of coriander, chiles and spices.
Dukkah-crusted white bass at Fairouz
Starch at Fairouz is essentially served on the side, in the form of bowls of festive rices ($12). Jawaher Rice, studded with pomegranate, pistachio, cardamom, candied orange and flowers, was the more extravagant of the two, although when I tried it the rice was overcooked and unfluffy. At my other visit, mujadarra rice, cooked in a cinnamon broth and served with caramelized onions and labneh, was spot-on.
Jawaher rice at Fairouz
Mujadarra rice
Desserts by pastry chef Marta Caferra, 30, also take the new Middle Eastern concept and run with it. We thought very highly of her lovely, delicate creation that mounted scoops of hibiscus-flavoured, thickened, semifreddo-like cream on crunchy vermicelli nests and nestled them in a tonka-bean cream, beside scatterings of pomegranate seeds.
Frozen hibiscus cream dessert at Fairouz restaurant
Playful and indulgent were some rich, posh ice cream bars ($6), in coconut or chocolate, made with Gatineau-made Olivia dark chocolate.
Ice cream bars at Fairouz
Notable among the drinks at Fairouz were cocktails tinged by Middle Eastern flavours, a smart and eclectic wine list that includes glasses and bottles of Lebanese wine, and several kinds of arak, the anise-based Middle Eastern spirit.
Only the music here has eschewed the Middle Eastern influence. Western, poppy sounds predominated. I’ve heard Lionel Richie and Stevie Wonder tunes, although late one night (dinners tend to go long) some Middle Eastern lute provided a change of pace.
Of course, Ottawans who have eaten countless kebabs and falafel might flinch at the prices at Fairouz. But, and that’s in addition to the setting and service here, El-Tawel’s creative and technical successes make a persuasive case for Middle Eastern fine dining otherwise absent absent in Ottawa.
Cut back on the shawarma and consider a splurge at Fairouz. It could be revelatory.
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Peter Hum’s previous restaurant reviews
