Kuidaore Izakaya Bar and Grill
420 Preston St., 613-422-7537, kuidaoreizakaya.ca
Open: Monday to Thursday noon to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday noon to midnight, Sunday 5 to 10 p.m.
Prices: small plates $15 to $15, raw dishes $6 to $20, ramen $11 to $15
Access: steps to front door
As long as I’ve been on this beat, which is nearly six years now, I’ve wanted an izakaya to open in the Ottawa area and thrill me with its Japanese small plates.
Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto — never mind Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka — are blessed with izakayas (Japanese pubs with affordable, interesting food). “But Ottawa lags behind them,” I wrote — in May 2012, no less.
That month, I gave a mixed review to an Elgin street restaurant, matter-of-factly called Izakaya, which less than three years later became the Waverley. A year later, I wrote, in less-than-thrilled terms, about Haru Izakaya in Gatineau, which is still open. In terms of local izakaya action, until very recently, those two businesses, which embraced Asian fusion dishes beyond an izakaya’s mandate, have been the full extent of it.
So, when Kuidaore, which calls itself an izakaya bar and grill, opened last November on Preston Street, where the Korean restaurant Le Kim Chi had been, I wondered, but with reservations, if it would provide the full-on izakaya experience I’ve been waiting for.
I’ve eaten three times there, and my bottom line is that I like Kuidaore, but wish I liked it more. My fondness for the place would increase if there was a little more precision and sparkle to its food, and if it went deeper into the kind of dishes that make an izakaya an izakaya.
You could say that with its extensive menu, Kuidaore places at least three bets. It serves about a dozen kinds of sushi, plus 10 more raw-fish dishes, such as tartares and poke bowls. Its kitchen offers 10 kinds of ramen, which, like sushi, isn’t usually so fulsomely offered at an izakaya. And then there are 20 items such as gyoza dumplings, tempura dishes and other deep-fried items that step into izakaya-fare territory.
As widely as I ate at Kuidaore, I came across some dishes that satisfied, but didn’t wow and items that were alright, but prompted at least a little nitpicking. In Kuidaore’s favour, I should say that I think its prices are in line for what you get.
The ramen soups ($11 to $15) that I’ve sampled were respectable, with none of their components terribly amiss. Certainly, they were the hearty, warming options best suited for a January deep-freeze. But I did think that the broths for the tonkotsu black and tan tan (spicy) ramens could have been more deeply flavoured and rich.
Tonkotsu black ramen at Kuidaore
Tan tan ramen at Kuidaore
Karaage ramen at Kuidaore
Some simple Japanese staples here — miso soup ($3) and crisp, unoily deep-fried shrimp ($9) — were well-made and clearly worth ordering again. Chicken karaage ($7) were large, well-fried and tasty deep-fried morsels, but also a little fatty. Gingery pork gyoza ($6.50) were nice, but would have been better with a more marked finishing sear.
Shrimp tempura at Kuidaore
Chicken karaage at Kuidaore
Pork gyoza at Kuidaore
Of two more filling options, the pork cutlet with curry and rice ($13) was up to scratch while the okonomiyaki ($10) struck us as a bit odd. While that Japanese savoury pancake isn’t exactly refined eating, the version at Kuidaore, made with bacon as its protein, was particularly sloppy and too-sweetly sauced, and it bewildered us with julienned cabbage on top of the pancake rather than inside it.
Tonkotsu (pork cutlet), curry and rice at Kuidaore
Okonomiyaki (Japanese savoury pancake) at Kuidaore
The chef’s 10-piece choice of sashimi and nigiri ($20) was a mixed bag. The unadorned raw fish and seafood tasted fine, although pieces of salmon seemed a little overly wet and two pieces of surf clam were marred by a bit of grit or sand. Better were the samples of salmon, mackerel and white tuna, some sauced and lightly torched, on rice. (I could have put white tuna in quotation marks because last fall’s report by Oceana Canada found that in four of five cases in downtown Ottawa, “white tuna” was in fact escolar, an oily fish that the conservation-focused charity derided as “the laxative of the sea” because it can upset stomaches. We were fine, though.)
Assortment of sushi at Kuidaore
We also tried two more raw-bar creations. The tuna poke bowl ($13) struck me as under-dressed and lacking in salt and acidity, but its rice and crunchy elements were good. The geisha roll ($15), a special concoction featuring crab, shrimp, avocado and cucumber, was enjoyable, although the taste of the torching done to the topping of shrimp and crab was strong.
Tuna poke bowl at Kuidaore
Geisha roll at Kuidaore
Skewers make up a separate category on Kuidaore’s menu and we went for sticks of marinated, grilled squid, quail eggs, which had been battered, and chicken heart ($3 each, more or less). They were take-it-or-leave-it items.
Skewers at Kuidaore
We only tried one of Kuidaore’s desserts, a serving of deep-fried black sesame ice cream ($8). While the serving was massive and the ice cream was a hit, the coating itself didn’t do much for us — better would have been the straight-up ice cream for $5.
Deep-fried black sesame ice cream at Kuidaore
Food aside, Kuidaore, which seats about 30 people, appealed strongly with attentive, easy-going service and a modern but uncluttered renovation that gives pride of place to a striking mural featuring icons of Japanese pop culture from Godzilla to Gundam to a samurai to a geisha to origami cranes. The sound system plays spirited Japanese rock and pop, and if any more enticements to a younger crowd are needed, there are creative cocktails, a few Japanese beers, a half-dozen sakes, and the option to combine beer and sake as $5 “sake bomb” cocktails.
It occurs to me that I’ve left explaining Kuidaore’s vowel-heavy name for last. It’s a Japanese expression meaning “to eat oneself bankrupt.” says the restaurant’s website. Kuidaore is more of a pleasant, middle-of-the-pack place, I think, and my bank account won’t be in any danger unless the eatery upgrades to the izakaya of my dreams.
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Peter Hum’s restaurant reviews
