Assayyed Restaurant
1638 Bank St., 613-733-4343, assayyed.com
Open: Tuesday to Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., closed Monday
Prices: steaks $24.95 to $44.95
Access: small ramp to front door
The 3.5-kilometre stretch of southern Bank Street between Heron Avenue and Hunt Club Road is dotted with Middle Eastern food businesses selling everything from shawarma to kebabs to groceries to specialty breads. But only at Assayyed Restaurant can you get a halal-approved aged ribeye steak that aspires to steakhouse greatness.
Opened in the fall of 2016, Assayyed is the latest in a succession of freestanding casual restaurants at 1638 Bank St., which have included a doughnut shop, a fish-and-chips franchise, and, a few years ago, a modern Lebanese eatery called Caveau Méditerranéen. That now-shuttered restaurant was a bit of a find, I thought, and I hoped for the same kind of surprisingly good eating when I tried Assayyed this month.
A dinner and two lunches there later, I think that chef-owner Moe Hachem — who does indeed resemble the toque-toting chef whose sketch adorns Assayyed’s large, diverse and photo-packed menu — turns out some reasonably good and budget-friendly grilled meat dishes and even a fine grilled whole fish. Other dishes, however, did leave us less impressed.
The restaurant feels more cluttered than it did when it was home to Caveau Mediterranéen. It is still a collection of booths that nod to the property’s doughnut-shop days, plus a sunny, north-facing atrium that was popular with large family gatherings when I’ve visited. There’s still a lot of stonework on its walls, plus a large aquarium by its entrance. Large-screen TVs are now tuned to CBC News Network. There’s also now a shawarma counter housed within the restaurant, because selling shawarma and gyros are part of the eatery’s business model.
But we’ve been happiest with some of Assayyed’s more ambitious dishes that set it apart from its neighbours. Above all, there was a superbly grilled moist whole sea bass ($24.95). While de-skinning and de-boning was required, the reward of moist fish, bolstered by a garlicky tahini-based sauce, was worth it.
Grilled sea bass at Assayyed Restaurant
Assayyed’s 16-ounce ribeye steak ($33.95) was thinner than its peers at standard steakhouses. But it was notably well-seasoned and grilled to attain a proper char-y crosshatching and an interior that blushed with medium-rare goodness. The kitchen achieved a similar feat with lamb ($33.95) that was tender and flavour-packed.
Ribeye steak at Assayyed Restaurant
Rack of lamb at Assayyed Restaurant
These two red-meat dishes came with fully loaded gravy boats, even if the stars on their respective plates didn’t need their sludgy, thickened contents. Better were the rice and crisp, crusted fries, the grilled breads, the abundance of roasted veg and the salads that made those plates so generously portioned.
The burger man at our table ordered the intimidatingly named “gourmand burger” ($16.95), which Assayyed’s menu says was “35 per cent fat.” It was enjoyable, but fell short of the epicurean hedonism that had been hinted at, in part because the beef bacon that was promised on the menu was absent. The teenager at our table liked the look of the fajita sandwich ($14.95) on the menu, but was let down by its dry chicken.
Gourmand burger at Assayyed Restaurant
Fajita sandwich at Assayyed Restaurant
At my lunch visit last week, there were similar stumbles. Best was the chicken shish taouk ($15.95), although its white meat too was on the dry side. A filet mignon brochette ($20.95) ordered medium rare was closer to raw inside. After Hachem, who was working as our server and, I assume, our cook, took it back to the kitchen and gave it more time on the grill, the beef was much better. Veal ribs ($20.95) were too gristly and slathered in a pomegranate sauce that verged on cloying.
Chicken Shish Taouk at Assayyed Restaurant
Beef brochette at Assayyed Restaurant
Veal ribs with pomegranate sauce
On weekends, Assayyed offers Middle Eastern breakfast items. I was keen to give some of those a try because at other Ottawa venues the yogurt- and hummus-based dishes more often than not have won me over.
We steered clear of Assayyed’s more adventurous breakfast choices — raw lamb liver, sautéed heart, liver and kidney, fatteh (a dish of yogurt, chickpeas and toasted pita bread) topped with a lamb’s foot — and took comfort instead in the cold, meat-free fatteh ($12.95), fine zaatar-crusted bread ($4.95) and Ras-Asfoor tenderloin ($19.95), which nestled succulent chunks of beef in a ring of nut-flecked, dense and lemony hummus.
Fatteh with yogurt at Assayyed Restaurant
Mixed foul with beans at Assayyed Restaurant
Hummus with beef tenderloin at Assayyed Restaurant
Zaatar bread at Assayyed Restaurant
The restaurant’s dessert choices were limited to a thick saffron pudding ($5.95) made in-house and Lebanese baklava with a creamy filling is brought in. The restaurant doesn’t serve alcohol.
Saffron pudding at Assayyed Restaurant
Some would say that without serving wine, Assayyed can hardly provide a full steakhouse experience. But shouldn’t Muslim steak-lovers be afforded their own, halal-approved interpretation of ribeyes, t-bones and even porterhouses?
Yes, Assayyed lacks in posh ambience and its food was inconsistent. But it did succeed in offering a few commendable upscale dishes at a fraction of the price charged for comparable items at ByWard Market restaurants. It’s in that light that modesty becomes the eatery.
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