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Ottawa March 2006

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on March 16, 2006 at 12:15:39 am
 

 

Road Trip: Ottawa

16 Mar 06

 

Had a chance to explore some eateries in the nation's capital this month during a trip for training with work.

 

Lunch was served at the training centre, but the only comment I'll share on that feed is that the food was like policy and laws we see come out of Ottawa: aimed at the broad majority while pleasing nobody excessively, and favouring predictability over innovation. I also stayed at a bed & breakfast which served good, servicable breakfasts, but nothing to (literally) write home about.

 

Like all big cities, the food adventure lay in the food exploration.

 

I was staying in the Byward Market area, where I found a little bit of a French neighbourhood. As parochial and small town as it might sound, it felt more European than Canadian, having people speaking French in all the shops. For example, I found Le Boulanger Francais - The French Baker on Murray (map),

 

 

the home of "hot out of the oven at 7am pain au chocolat", a sweet croissant, flaky on the inside, golden brown crusty on the top, housing a darkish, semi-sweet chocolate filling. Guess where I started my days before my B&B breakfast? A great selection of eating chocolate, including a 99% cocoa bar that will put hair on your chest - the 99% is for REAL chocolate freaks.

 

One of my nights out I spent with my sweetie's uncle eating at the Sweetgrass Aboriginal Bistro, located across Murray from the heavenly French bakery.

 

 

 

Interesting dinner menu, with game and fish prominent in the selections. I started with the Smoked Canadian Goose Salad (Bryson greens tossed with apples, oranges, toasted walnuts, and cranberry vinaigrette)

 

The goose was roasted and lightly smoked, as opposed to smoke/cured like a goose proscuitto. The light smokiness of the meat played well with the sweetish dressing (spotted dried cranberries in the mix, too).

 

For my entree, I tried the Two Birds with One Stone (Charbroiled partridge and quail, roasted sweet potato mash, sautéed rapini, Tribal sauce)

and got nicely roasted meat, a balsamic-sweet sauce, and sweet potato mash with a richness reflecting little restraint in the use of cream and butter.

 

My (I guess you'd call him) uncle-in-law had the Roasted Pacific Striped Bass

piled high with fried leeks - I was lucky enough to taste the perfectly roasted skin attached to the tasty flesh. Next time I'm in Ottawa, I will go back and try other some of the dark meat items on the menu, not to mention some dessert.

 

Found a listing online for Wang's Noodle House in the Market,

 

touting a bitchin' Taiwanese fried pork chop noodle dish.

 

Here's what I found as a venue,

 

and here's what the deep fried pork chop noodles looked like

 

I enjoyed the crunchy breaded coating on the pork chop, as well as the veg and soba noodles, but was very surprised at finding corn in the mix - I don't have a lot of experience in Asian food, but haven't seen corn before in such dishes.

 

Have to say I enjoyed my three nights of small-scale adventures, all within walking distance (no more than 15 minutes) from where I was staying. Looking forward to (maybe) a longer stay next time.


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