Guest Restaurant Review V

Anne here with “the obligatory guest restaurant review”. On Thursday night, before our Algonquin trip, Sarah and Ian took Stephen and me out for a meal. We started the evening in an Irish pub in the Byward area of Ottawa. Stephen tried some local lager (although for some reason was offered Tennants Super by the waitress) and I had a Diet Coke (get me!). After the leisurely drink, and a spot of lady-looking from the boys, we meandered off to the restaurant.

Ian and Sarah had booked a table at Luxe, a rather smart looking restaurant in town. We arrived at the restaurant and were seated in a booth. Ian chose a rather tasty bottle of Canadian wine and I chose a champagne cocktail for Sarah, who was being indecisive.

For dinner, Ian started with the mussels and followed those with the veal. Stephen had crab cakes and then chicken, I had crab cakes and duck, and Sarah had bruschetta and chicken. At least she ordered chicken. She received tuna and it had to be sent back. (Clearly our accents make it hard to understand the word “chicken”. The next day we were at the café in The Canadian War Museum and got cheeseburgers when we’d asked for chicken burgers. Canadian fools!)

The wine was fresh and fruity, but unfortunately the pregnancy police were out in force that night. Whilst the waiter was happy to top up Ian and Stephen’s glasses, I wasn’t allowed more than one glass. Stephen attempted to give me a top up at one point, but the waiter quickly wrestled the bottle from his hands and divided the remaining alcohol between the boys’ glasses.

My crab cakes were tasty although they possibly contained some seafood of undetermined origin. The duck was lovely even though I committed the crime of having it well done. However, my mushroom risotto was a bit stock-cubey and the jus was far too strong.

Stephen reports that his meal was “nice”. So that’s a big help. He also says the men’s toilets were quite classy.

The service was a tad slow, although we didn’t mind too much as we had lots of rubbish to talk about. Sarah’s cocktail had a fly in it, but she received a fresh one for free, even though she told the waiter that she’d just drink the fly and then order another one – classy lady!

We had a lovely evening with lots of laughs, however we decided that it wasn’t good enough to go back again, we would rather try out all the other lovely restaurants in Ottawa.