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.
