Cooper’s Gastropub
25 Cartier St., 613-237-2111, ottawaembassy.com
Open: 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily
Prices: mains $14 to $29
Access: hotel’s front door is wheelchair-accessible, steps to the entrance closest to the restaurant
There’s definitely an art to writing an enticing menu.
Take, for example, the menu that’s been in force for a few months at Cooper’s Gastropub, the restaurant inside the Embassy Hotel on Cooper Street. It is smartly stocked with buzzwords and signifiers that instil confidence and raise expectations for interesting, above-average dinning.
The ricotta, pancetta, fries and doughnuts are house-made. The pickerel and lamb are from Ontario, the mushrooms are from the West Quebec business Le Coprin Mushrooms, and the beer in the onion soup is from Nita Beer Company in Nepean. From herb-lemon roasted croutons on the Caesar salad to lightly creamed sherry-veal jus on the mushrooms on toast, to brown butter “maitre d’hotel” on the striploin steak, there are mentions of sophisticated touches that you would associate with a gastropub that pays attention to delicious details. Meanwhile, the prices appeal, as not a main course cracks the $30 mark.
It has mystified me, then, that more often than not, the food at Cooper’s has let us down. We’ve eaten two dinners and a lunch there since last fall, and experienced a few items that were likably passable. Too many dishes, though, fell short of their menu descriptions and seemed to us to reflect a stumble or two in the kitchen.
Our best fare came at lunch this week, when we tried the “five-napkin” burger ($14) and the fish and chips ($17). While the burger’s meat could have been more juicy and less salty, its fresh garnishes, condiments (especially a tangy tomato jam) and overall heft left a positive impression. While battered pickerel was more puffy than crispy and a touch oily, the fish was clean-tasting and well supported by its lime-dill tartar sauce. Fries with both dishes were respectable, and both dishes were visually pleasing.
“Five-napkin” burger at Cooper’s Gastropub
Fish and chips at Cooper’s Gastropub
But at two previous dinners, the food was both more ambitious and less satisfying, including some starters that felt too sloppily made. An appetizer of grilled shrimp ($11) got its seafood right, but the rest of the dish — seemingly warmed-up beluga lentils, corn fritters, some of that house pancetta, and indistinct sauces — seemed thrown together and fuzzy. A plate of mushrooms on toast ($12) also felt as if it had been made with heavy hands so that flavours and textures were muddled.
Grilled shrimp and lentils at Cooper’s Gastropub
Mushrooms on toast at Cooper’s Gastropub
Escargots ($11) were promised “soft,” with black garlic brown butter and Asiago cheese under pastry, and “crispy,” with crunch from panko and almonds, and an espelette pepper-spiked creme fraiche. But either way, they were dull and underwhelming.
Escargots at Cooper’s Gastropub
Onion soup ($9) was too salty. Somewhat better was a well-stocked seafood chowder ($10), although its shrimp, smoked salmon and mussels impressed more than its broth.
Onion soup at Cooper’s Gastropub
Seafood chowder at Cooper’s Gastropub
With some of the main courses, the potential of the dish was there, but frustratingly, there was a lack of finesse or flavour. The braised Ontario lamb shank ($25) was one of the better mains, although its plating seemed very thrown-together, its jus seemed tired and its gougère pastries lacked lightness and were too cold. Beef short rib stroganoff ($25), while hearty and made more interesting by its walnut-based “crumble,” lacked deep, cooked-in flavour.
Lamb shank at Cooper’s Gastropub
Short rib stroganoff at Cooper’s Gastropub
A pot pie of chicken, chorizo and cashews ($25) was not bad, although the crunch of the cashews was done away with in the baking. Smokey elk and pulled pork meatloaf ($24) was not as good as the mashed potatoes and red wine jus that came with it. Forbidden black rice “risotto” ($23) was a mushy, ugly flop.
Chicken chorizo pot pie at Cooper’s Gastropub
Smokey elk and pulled pork meatloaf at Cooper’s Gastropub
Forbidden rice “risotto” at Cooper’s Gastropub
A striploin steak ($29) ordered medium rare came to the table significantly undercooked and was sent back. It returned cooked to medium, but did not offend as much as the side order of “Asiago tossed” onion rings, which left a jolting aftertaste that persisted unpleasantly beyond dessert.
Striploin steak with onion rings at Cooper’s Gastropub
The best dessert we tried was a slab of dark chocolate and pistachio terrine ($8) that hit the mark, although its banana-cinnamon fritters were leaden, disagreeable and tasted only vestigially of banana. House-made doughnuts ($8), which were only available at one of our dinners, were big and heavy.
Desserts at Cooper’s Gastropub
It’s too bad that I hit Cooper’s on what were, in a best-case scenario, two off nights. It’s a modern and attractive enough rectangular room that seats about 50 or so on comfy seats and banquettes. There are TVs at either end showing sports or news to help solo travellers pass the time. The restaurant’s long bar faces a food-themed graphic that, like the bottles of pickled goods on the shelves, suggests that a good meal awaits.
Like everyone else in Ottawa, I’m feeling these days as if spring can’t come soon enough. Maybe the same fresh start is in the cards for Cooper’s when its spring menu kicks in. Hopefully that document will be as well-written as its winter predecessor, but yield better executed fare.
ALSO IN THE NEWS:
LeBreton Flats redevelopment talks have failed, NCC says
Ottawa airport rail link would cost Transpo $4M annually compared to current bus service