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domus café
domus café would be a unique experience in any Canadian city and we are lucky it have all to ourselves here in Ottawa.
The café is dedicated and focused on Canadian, regional and seasonal cuisine. That means fresh organic produce from local farmers, meats and fish from the best parts of the country, seasonal specialties as nature brings them to harvest during the year.
We had decided to try domus at the last minute and arrived just before seven o’clock without a reservation. We managed to squeak in before the room filled up with other more responsible diners who had managed to call ahead.
The interior of domus is almost a season in itself. With its soft yellow walls and shaded rust trim the café is like a constant breath of spring. The large front windows invites copious amounts of light to pour in no matter what seasonal turmoil is going on outside.
Water was served as was a choice of breads with a dipping sauce of canola oil and a light wine vinegar.
Our server arrived, one of three that manage a room that could seat up to 40. She asked if we wanted drinks and returned promptly with them, ready to answer our menu questions and tell us about the evenings specialties.
The menu was that culinary curse that one occasionally runs into. How do you choose when you want to try it all?
With our servers gentle nudging we decided to share a grilled endive and asparagus salad($14) Lynn choose one the specials, a wild west coast Halibut ($32) while I decided on a menu choice, Tempura Perch ($29.) Both came with the same collection of fresh seasonal vegetables.
The salad was heaven. A pure white endive which had been blanched and then lightly grilled was topped by three short plump spears of asparagus, also grilled, and flanked with spring sprouts on gentle shaves of red onion, semi-soft dollops of Ontario goat cheese, all drizzled with a light CPCO vinaigrette (Cold Pressed Canola Oil.)
Our mains arrived. Lynn’s Halibut was light, flaky and moist. The medley of vegetables included sprouts, mushrooms, fingerling potatoes and the same, or so it seemed, three spears of robust asparagus that had peeked through our previous salad.
My Tempura Perch was wanting. Tempura is something I know and love. I had asked when I ordered if the fish was just battered or tempura battered – there is a difference. The batter was weak and flat, not at all like a good tempura batter which is light and softly crispy. My vegetables were a mirror reflection of Lynn’s.
I can understand, in a way, the efficiency of a common vegetable serving but when I saw one of the flank steak specials go by I thought maybe the plate could have used a different approach to the potatoes.
Asparagus and fingerling potatoes seemed to be the seasonal theme of the day leaving one to wonder what happened to the now available fiddlehead?
We ordered a dessert, a medley of lemon tastes. Three examples of lemon on one plate, a mix that included a lemon sauce, a lemon cake with a dollop of lemon sorbet and a lemon pudding that was thick and sweetly tart.
domus café is a rare treat. The food is above average and fresh, fresh. The dedication to organic produce could use a little widening of the network or at least a little more work marrying the dishes to the accompanying vegetables in a more imaginative rather than just a practical way.
A last note is the wine list. It is pretty extensive and representative. In keeping with their theme to pursue local there are a few choices of Prince Edward County wines that aren’t available anywhere but in Prince Edward County which is just down the road from Ottawa.
Our bill was $107 for a shared salad, two entrees, a shared dessert, a juice and a glass of wine.
The experience and quality was just short of being beyond measure.
But we did wonder if success might have devolved into a formula, if the sense of the Canadian culinary adventure might have been set adrift somehow by the lure of a Henry Ford approach to plate presentation.
domus café
87 Murray Street
613-241-6007
www.domuscafe.ca/
domus café would be a unique experience in any Canadian city and we are lucky it have all to ourselves here in Ottawa.
The café is dedicated and focused on Canadian, regional and seasonal cuisine. That means fresh organic produce from local farmers, meats and fish from the best parts of the country, seasonal specialties as nature brings them to harvest during the year.
We had decided to try domus at the last minute and arrived just before seven o’clock without a reservation. We managed to squeak in before the room filled up with other more responsible diners who had managed to call ahead.
The interior of domus is almost a season in itself. With its soft yellow walls and shaded rust trim the café is like a constant breath of spring. The large front windows invites copious amounts of light to pour in no matter what seasonal turmoil is going on outside.
Water was served as was a choice of breads with a dipping sauce of canola oil and a light wine vinegar.
Our server arrived, one of three that manage a room that could seat up to 40. She asked if we wanted drinks and returned promptly with them, ready to answer our menu questions and tell us about the evenings specialties.
The menu was that culinary curse that one occasionally runs into. How do you choose when you want to try it all?
With our servers gentle nudging we decided to share a grilled endive and asparagus salad($14) Lynn choose one the specials, a wild west coast Halibut ($32) while I decided on a menu choice, Tempura Perch ($29.) Both came with the same collection of fresh seasonal vegetables.
The salad was heaven. A pure white endive which had been blanched and then lightly grilled was topped by three short plump spears of asparagus, also grilled, and flanked with spring sprouts on gentle shaves of red onion, semi-soft dollops of Ontario goat cheese, all drizzled with a light CPCO vinaigrette (Cold Pressed Canola Oil.)
Our mains arrived. Lynn’s Halibut was light, flaky and moist. The medley of vegetables included sprouts, mushrooms, fingerling potatoes and the same, or so it seemed, three spears of robust asparagus that had peeked through our previous salad.
My Tempura Perch was wanting. Tempura is something I know and love. I had asked when I ordered if the fish was just battered or tempura battered – there is a difference. The batter was weak and flat, not at all like a good tempura batter which is light and softly crispy. My vegetables were a mirror reflection of Lynn’s.
I can understand, in a way, the efficiency of a common vegetable serving but when I saw one of the flank steak specials go by I thought maybe the plate could have used a different approach to the potatoes.
Asparagus and fingerling potatoes seemed to be the seasonal theme of the day leaving one to wonder what happened to the now available fiddlehead?
We ordered a dessert, a medley of lemon tastes. Three examples of lemon on one plate, a mix that included a lemon sauce, a lemon cake with a dollop of lemon sorbet and a lemon pudding that was thick and sweetly tart.
domus café is a rare treat. The food is above average and fresh, fresh. The dedication to organic produce could use a little widening of the network or at least a little more work marrying the dishes to the accompanying vegetables in a more imaginative rather than just a practical way.
A last note is the wine list. It is pretty extensive and representative. In keeping with their theme to pursue local there are a few choices of Prince Edward County wines that aren’t available anywhere but in Prince Edward County which is just down the road from Ottawa.
Our bill was $107 for a shared salad, two entrees, a shared dessert, a juice and a glass of wine.
The experience and quality was just short of being beyond measure.
But we did wonder if success might have devolved into a formula, if the sense of the Canadian culinary adventure might have been set adrift somehow by the lure of a Henry Ford approach to plate presentation.
domus café
87 Murray Street
613-241-6007
www.domuscafe.ca/
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