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.
phum@postmedia.com
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