By the time we arrived, the place was not packed but I realized immediately that it was not stroller friendly at all due to the stairs to the main lounge and eating area. However, the hostess saw Baby J and the stroller, she then offered another waiter to carry our stroller to our table. That was very nice of her and I didn't mind that it wasn't stroller friendly after all. The environment was comfortable and we did not find it too crowded with Baby J around.
The food served was tapas style, since we went in as a group of 4 plus Baby J, we were able to order a few more dishes to try. We tried the fish tacos, lamb tacos, and pull pork tacos. The tacos were great but not much to wow about. In addition, the sauce used in the lamb and pull pork tasted similar to me. Overall, the tacos were good but the other dishes we had after were better and more interesting. The tuna sashimi was very different from what you normally would have in a Japanese restaurant. It was served with a jelly sauce with jalapeno pepper, this combination gave us a kick in our taste buds and it was very refreshing. The broiled black cod we had was well marinated but the portion of the fish was very small (as you can see in the picture). The way you eat it was to lettuce wrapped the blank cod with the provide condiments. Although the portion given for the main ingredient of the dish was very tiny, we still enjoyed it because the lettuce and condiments combined well with the fish.
The spring roll was brought to our table by mistake but we ate it (and paid for it) anyway :) Lettuce wrapped spring roll and I liked it too .... it was a lot more delicate than those Chinese spring roll from the Chinese dim sum restaurant (haha, and of course, more expensive too :P )
Highlight of the night had to be the Grilled Alberta Tenderloin!! It was cooked just right, delightfully tender and juicy! The mushroom absorbed the reduced jus was perfect too.
For desert, we had the Donut Platter, it was fresh, fluffy, and not too sweet. I almost wanted to have my hubby's share as well :P
Overall, we had a pleasant experience, the taste of the food was refreshing and well balanced and the service was good. Most of all, we had good companies to enjoy the dinner with which made the food even tastier. Food tastes great only when you are with good companies. ^^
By the way, if you are wondering if Chef Korecki was absent from his kitchen because of competing in Top Chef, we did see him in the open kitchen busy preparing meals for his customers.
Sidedoor Contemporary Kitchen & Bar
20 York Street, ByWard Market, Ottawa, K1N 5T5
TEL: 613-562-9331
Website: http://sidedoorrestaurant.com/contact.aspx
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