I went to SideDoor recently, located where Foundation used to be. The owners and chef are the same as Eighteen, but SideDoor is an Asian-influenced small plate restaurant. I’ll start off by gushing a bit about one of my favourite spots in Ottawa – the Clarendon Courtyard. I love the cobblestone, the old buildings, the European vibe… no wonder people take their wedding photos here so often.
Anyway, SideDoor is nestled right in the Clarendon courtyard. We started off the evening with sakepolitan and yuzu champagne cocktails at the bar – both fabulous, well balanced.
For dinner we shared the Chinese BBQ pork and soy ginger shrimp tacos, prawns, seared scallops and, in a bold move perhaps inspired by a few glasses of wine, the son-in-law egg. The tacos were beautifully presented, the flavours worked really well and lets face it, who doesn’t love eating with their hands once in a while? The seafood was cooked perfectly and the textures were great. The egg, unfortunately, was a bit too avant-garde for our palates, and I’m an adventurous eater! The kitchen was out of mussels (we had an 8:30pm reservation), which is a shame because I really would have liked to try them. There’s always next time! One of the best parts of the dinner was the doughnut platter for dessert (don't cheap out and only get one - trust me). They were warm and gooey and not too sweet...
The service was excellent – friendly, but non-intrusive – and the pace at which the plates were brought out was timed perfectly. We had a relaxing, drawn out evening and shared in some new, interesting flavours. I would definitely recommend SideDoor to real foodies who aren’t afraid to step out of their comfort zone.
SideDoor is definitely an improvement on Foundation, but I like Eighteen way better.
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