The Rowan
915 Bank St., 613-780-9292, therowan.ca
Open: Tuesday to Sunday 5:30 to 10 p.m., lunch and brunch services are planned
Prices: starters $8 to $15, main courses $25 and under
Access: no steps
When is a British restaurant in Ottawa not a pub? When it’s the Rowan in the Glebe.
Opened in late July by Simon and Ross Fraser, the sibling chefs behind the much admired Fraser Café in New Edinburgh, the Rowan replaces the Zazaza pizza eatery on Bank Street with a more interesting dining option that still has casual appeal. Ottawa restaurateur Ion Aimers was behind that Zazaza, as he still is with the Zazazas in Hintonburg and on Beechwood, and he is involved with the Rowan too.
The new place seats about 45, on moulded plastic seats or on a hard wooden banquette or at a small bar. The floor is concrete, and all of these hard surfaces make me believe a colleague who told me that the Rowan was not only packed, but also far too loud, on recent a Saturday night. I visited when the Rowan was not so crowded, and I sat near the front, and didn’t have issues with the volume.
I like the ambience of the Rowan — with its green wall and mural, its back-of-room open kitchen, and its array of lights casting a cosy glow come twilight. And I like its astute, friendly service and the considerable craft apparent in the food even more.
The kitchen, under the command of chef de cuisine and Fraser Café alum Kyle Decan, updates familiar dishes, perking them up with sour, acidic and strongly herbal touches in line with a contemporary palate. Here, mayo can come with the hit of curry, dill, malt vinegar or za’atar. Pickled beans, shallots, carrots and beets frequently adorn plates, almost as frequently as watercress, that quintessentially British green.
The Rowan’s menu is a taut one-pager containing a few snacks, almost a dozen starters, a few sandwiches, several “roasts” (meaning the most sizable main courses), and a few vegetarian options. There are a few echoes of some dishes I’ve seen on Fraser Café menus, but generally the food is somewhat more simple.
After some warm and complimentary sourdough rolls, I’ve begun with a few smaller items. Potato crisps ($5) were not chips but more like small, shatteringly crisp potato nests, served with a pot of thinned sour cream dip. An oxtail “sausage roll” ($13), bolstered by some bracing mustard, was indulgently flaky and meaty.
Potato crisps at the Rowan
Oxtail sausage roll at the Rowan
Six slabs of tuna crudo ($15) impressed with their size, tenderness and freshness, even if they needed just a bit more salt. The pickled corn strewn on the plate added colour and subtle sweet-sour pop.
Tuna crudo with pickled corn at the Rowan
Of the main courses I’ve tried, one was the great standout — a marvelously roasted half-chicken ($24) with perfectly crisp, perfectly seasoned skin as well as moist meat throughout. Elements on the rest of the plate needed to be assertive and they were, including a big dollop of tart coriander chutney, fenugreek potatoes, and radish and cauliflower for crunch.
Roast half chicken at the Rowan
Indian tweaks were seen again in one of several vegetarian mains — spiced chickpeas and quinoa fritters ($19) — even if its grilled, squidgy, salty halloumi cheese was more Middle Eastern than Indian. But the hearty bowl of spiced chickpeas was like a streamlined version of chana masala. The zucchini quinoa fritters had me thinking pakoras — and very good ones at that.
Spiced chickpeas and quinoa fritters at the Rowan
Braised lamb ($25) was a pot of richly flavoured, tender and occasionally fatty meat and potatoes, with a minted cream sauce and smashed peas on the side.
Braised lamb at the Rowan
A mound of humble sirloin steak ($25) presented and ate very well, with suitably massive wedge fries that were perfectly textured inside and out. They were even better with the accompanying malt-vinegar mayonnaise.
Sirloin steak at the Rowan
I dined both times with some committed carnivores, so the trout filet that looked so good at a neighbouring table went untried. To its credit, the pork pie ($21) fulfilled expectations for a moist, savoury treat, while the accompanying pot of au jus added another layer of richness.
Pork pie at the Rowan
Three desserts comforted rather than wowed.
Chocolate pudding ($8) was smooth, dark and authentic, topped with roasted almonds, strawberries and whipped cream. Apple fritters ($7) were well-made, but needed something extra to be memorable. Simplest was a bowl of strawberries in a puddle of cream, adorned with a chiffonade of mint ($7). Two sticks of perfect, warm shortbread elevated that bowl.
Chocolate pudding at the Rowan
Apple fritters at the Rowan
Strawberries and cream at the Rowan
If the Rowan isn’t a pub, it’s probably a gastropub — although in Ottawa, the Wellington Gastropub, which got there first and set the bar high, practically has a lock on that term.
Certainly, the Rowan has the culinary savvy and ambition to do a gastropub proud, but it serves just 10 beers, plus 10 red and 10 white wines, almost as many whiskies and some cocktails.
Gastropub? “Modern British,” as some websites say? “A place to eat. In the Glebe,” as its own website says?
Call the Rowan what you will. Just go and tuck in.
phum@ottawacitizen.com
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