Sheltered Girl Meets World

Review: Allium

I have been avoiding every elevator and taking the stairs for the last few weeks.  Why?  Because of meals like the one I had at Allium.  I know, I could have not eaten all of the foie gras, or perhaps scraped the meat off the pastry of the tourtiere, or maybe I could have skipped dessert all together..  No.  I finished every last thing on my plate last night and I have no regrets.  I might be thinking of that creamy lobster roll every step I take up to my 15th floor apartment but it was well worth it.

The five course meal was part of the monthly Omnivore's Ottawa supper club that is organized by Ron Eade - the premise being that food lovers converge on a restaurant on an off peak night and are dazzled by a special menu from the chef.  Allium offered a 5 course menu filled with decadence and a glass of wine with the main for $100 (tax and tip included).  It's a fantastic evening out, if you're a food fan and you have not attended one of these club eatings, I highly recommend you do.

As I mentioned, the food was decadent.  First course was a scallop, tuna tartare with truffle oil, prosciutto crisp and lobster roll.  This was one of my favorite courses, the tuna tartare and lobster on that fluffy white roll was wonderful way to start.  Second course was a maple duck breast, braised leg in pastry, foie gras mousse over a scallion pancake and cauliflower and goat cheese puree.  Third course was a herb salad with lemon dressing, honey, walnuts and allegretto cheese.  This was a different type of salad - it was salty, sweet, different.  Fourth course was flat iron steak, angus tenderloin cube, shank and tourtiere with a tomato relish/ketchup.  At my end of the table we were oohing and ahhing over the perfectness of the tourtiere and then we hit the shank which fell apart at the slightest touch of our forks - so tender.  Finally, fifth course, a brownie with ganache hidden underneath, ice cream on top, candied nuts, raspberry sorbet and blood orange supremes.  My favorite part of dessert was the raspberry sorbet, BURSTING with flavor.

This was an unbelievable meal.  I'm looking forward to returning to Allium and trying their regular menu - I'll be sure to climb a few extra flights of stairs for it.

Allium
87 Holland Ave

Review: The Whalesbone Oyster House

Walking into the Whalesbone Oyster House is like walking into someone’s home.  You have wonderful music playing, atmosphere, conversation and the most beautiful and delicious food.  The only problem you might have if you walk in is that you might get a seat at the bar, but you know what, that’s not really a problem because even the bar is a treat!  You’ll be able to watch the oysters get shucked and be able to ask the shucker some of the most random oyster questions that you can think of (“Have you ever found any pearls?”).

For my appetizer I chose the BC Albacore Tuna – ever so slightly charred, served with avocado, celery, cucumber, crème fraiche and caviar.  Delicate, delicious, it’s the kind of dish that makes you smile when you take that first bite and be a little bit sad when you stick your fork in that last bit of cucumber.  For my main, it was a no brainer; I had to have the Qualicum Beach Scallops.  Their sweet taste and firm texture are hard to resist coupled with Cherokee potatoes, leeks and spinach.  Could I resist dessert?  Of course not, I ordered the Snickers.  This deconstructed version of the well known chocolate bar is decadent – brownie, ganache, dulce, peanuts, sponge toffee and salted caramel ice cream – I dare you to finish it, I couldn’t.

There are so many other dishes I need to try from this restaurant; I am looking forward to my next visit. If you haven’t been to the Whalesbone, you need to go.

The Whalesbone Oyster House
430 Bank Street

Discovery

We picked up a dozen oysters along with two sandwiches at the Whalesbone Oyster & Fish Supply.  Not only have I discovered I can shuck oysters but that I love their wonderful taste!  I can't wait to try more.

Review: Merlot Rooftop Grill

 I am a sucker for a good view, especially a city view.  I find the city lights beautiful, I think it's because I like to think of all the individual people living in the city and what they’re doing to make the lights sparkle.  Get me in New York City and I will never close my eyes - I will stare out of the hotel window every night and every morning even if we are facing another building.  I think it's that attraction to city views that led me to book a table at the Merlot Rooftop Grill.  I wanted to see a view of our beautiful Ottawa all lit up, and I couldn’t think of anything better than sharing this experience with Dima on Valentine’s Day.

Merlot was offering a 5 course dinner for $65.00, the dinner included an amuse bouche, appetizer, palate cleanser, main and dessert.  The meal had two sittings, one at 5:30pm and one at 8:15pm.  Since they had set sittings those who had reserved came at the same time, causing a large line up at the front desk.  It didn’t help that the hosts were somewhat disorganized and caused further delays trying to find couples reservations, once found you were rushed to your table and left waiting for your waiter.  Our waiter seemed rushed throughout the evening - sparkling wine was brought without the sparkle, a cocktail took too long to order, wine pairings arrived after the dish it was paired with was eaten, to list a few faults.  The food was no better.

 The food was inconsistent and I’ll be honest, I am unsure if it’s the kitchens fault or the waiters fault.  While waiting for our food to arrive I watched our waiter grab plates of food put them at his station and let it sit for up to 5 minutes before he would serve it.  He would also have the food for 3-4 tables at one time and I’m unsure how he would know which tables had which dish – who ordered the steak well done or medium rare, for example.  He didn’t have a notepad, he was not assisted by a computer but he had a folded up menu that he kept referring to.  There were no crispy shallots in my tomato and black bean soup, there were soggy shallots though – is that because the kitchen messed up or the waiter let it sit for too long?  Our main course was a beef tenderloin and lobster with potato pave, braised cipollini onions and horseradish hollandaise sauce – I ordered my steak medium rare, I received it rare; Dima ordered medium rare, he received well done.  I’m not sure we got the steaks that we ordered.  I did enjoy dessert, a white chocolate trifle with macadamia nut crunch and apricot raspberry compote – sadly, my wine pairing came well after I finished it.

For the price of the menu and it being Valentine’s Day I expected a lot more from this restaurant and I am really disappointed.

Merlot Rooftop Grill
100 Kent Street, 29th Floor