After our arrival in Ottawa this afternoon and a very brief rest at our hotel, we set out in search of a satisfying dinner. The Lord Elgin Hotel is about a 15-minute walk from the historic ByWard Market area, which is one of Ottawa’s main entertainment areas.
Winterlude is a great time because during this winter festival, many of Ottawa’s restaurants offer entertainment and special events. Our destination was Fat Tuesday’s, a New Orleans-style restaurant that is known for its Cajun Creole cuisine and contemporary dishes.
After freshening up and getting organized, we leave around 6:45 and begin our walk to ByWard Market, Ottawa’s main entertainment area. We cross Laurier Bridge, which is the scene of some of my husband’s anecdotes about the Ottawa winter chill that he experienced with the full force of it during his time at the University of Ottawa in the early 1980s.
We, too, noticed that there was a strong cool breeze coming from the Rideau Canal and, purely by coincidence, we did something smart: we headed to the Rideau Centre, the largest shopping mall in Ottawa. For about 15 minutes we were able to get in and through all the retail stores, fully sheltered from the winter wind.
Well, it didn’t take us long to get to the heart of ByWard Market, and a friendly chap at a Beavertail booth (Beavertails are Ottawa’s famous trademark cake) gave us directions to Fat Tuesday’s, home of Mardi Gras. from Ottawa. experience.
Once inside this classy yet cozy bar/restaurant, Manny Garcia, who is the general manager and one of the co-owners, gave us a glimpse of the grounds. He told us that Fat Tuesday’s was created about 4 years ago and is an independently owned restaurant (not part of any restaurant chain). Combining world-class Cajun/Creole cuisine with live entertainment and excellent friendly service, Fat Tuesday’s is a gathering place for people of all ages.
When we were there the place was packed and the waitresses were dressed in bustiers and some with face masks in keeping with the Mardi Gras theme. The staff seemed to have a lot of fun and enjoyed interacting with the customers.
Our appetites had been building appropriately and for me the snails in a white wine garlic sauce were just the thing to warm up the palate. After this tasty appetizer, I continued with a Mediterranean salad of tender vegetables with goat cheese and a citrus vinaigrette. Manny reached out and convinced us to try the Pacific Rim Seared Tuna with a pepper crust in a sweet teriyaki sauce, accompanied by grated ginger and wasabi mayonnaise. A delicate and tasty delight.
We even had the chance to meet the chef himself. Executive Chef Neil Baker told us about himself and we found ourselves in front of a true cosmopolitan world traveller.
As the son of diplomatic parents, Neil was born in Singapore and has also lived in Barbados, Kenya and Thailand. He has run restaurants in Toronto, Vancouver, Los Angeles, New York City and now Ottawa. Needless to say, Neil will be my next contact for an interview about this international lifestyle.
Neil also made a couple of interesting comments about global cuisine. He mentioned that the same culinary themes reappear all over the world. Chinese fried rice is essentially the same as Jambalaya, which is essentially the same as Biryani, with a slightly different mix of spices. And the most popular cuisines in the world are those based on the dishes of poor people.
Neil insisted we have dessert and we had Bananas Foster which is a delicious mix of bananas flambéed with caramelized sugar and rum and some vanilla ice cream with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top. I was going to stay away from dessert, but Bananas Foster totally corrupted me. I wasn’t going to worry about the extra calories since we’re going skating on the Rideau Canal tomorrow anyway.
At 10:30 every Friday and Saturday night, Fat Tuesdays serves up dueling pianos, a live show where the public can request their favorite songs from two pianists. Unfortunately today the second pianist was significantly delayed and given our busy schedule for Saturday we were unable to stay for the second pianist to appear. Virtuoso goal no. 1 played his heart out and really got the crowd going. The place was packed and everyone was in high spirits.
So, it’s just after midnight and I’m looking forward to another action-packed day tomorrow: some skating on the Rideau Canal (to eliminate that delicious banana dessert), watching the famous Bedzzz Races at Dow’s Lake, and then the Fire and Ice. Cooking demonstrations at Confederation Park right across the street from our hotel.
It’s definitely time to get some rest for a big day and sleep…
