Reviews

	Anne DesBrisay, Ottawa Citizen
	Review date: 2008-09-14 You enter the Big Easy and are immediately greeted by a casually elegant gent with a Texas drawl and a Magnum PI moustache. He introduces himself as Val Belcher. Depending on your preferred milieu, you either know that name from CFL history or, more recently, from the Lone Star Texas Grill chain of restaurants. Mr Belcher played for the Ottawa Rough Riders football club for some six seasons, and then ran what became the Lone Star Group, which included the Big Daddy's Crab Shack eateries. In his football days Val was an offensive lineman. These days he is a welcoming restaurateur. But he gave up the multiplex restaurant world in 2005. Now he only runs Big Easy's, a New Orleans style seafood and steak house. Open since June on Preston Street, the plan, Val tells us, once the street has been fully ripped up and reassembled, is for a large patio to be built in the front. For now, there's a large bar with a long oyster bed, where you can drink, slurp and watch some TV, and a dining room that seats about a hundred. Some tables are polished wood or black granite, some are surrounded by chairs, others by upholstered booths. The space is burgundy, cream and clubby looking, with just the faintest charming whisper of the New Orleans bordello about it. Jazz, blues, R 'n' B, and a bit of Zydeco play in the background. I've had two really quite good meals here. Big Easy's isn't the seafood restaurant of my dreams - the cooking doesn't soar to new heights. - but when you're talking seafood, freshness is just about everything. You cannot make really good seafood dishes without it, and the Big Easy has fresh covered. Though Big Easy's is mostly about seafood, it is also about steak. And I had a big fat ribeye here that was absolutely fabulous. They are doing lots right. The menu, to start, is fairly short. (In a seafood-steakhouse with a southern theme, that is a wonder.) The wine list caters to a range of tastes and budgets, with good choices by the glass. Service knows the menu and has a neighbourly, casual vibe I don't usually find in a steak house. Good bread and caramelized butter arrives and we order a half dozen Caraquet oysters, juicy, plump, salty sweets from New Brunswick. They come on a metal plate with grated horseradish, and with a quartet of sauces. The gumbo is homey, as a gumbo should be - a thick, subtly spiced and steamily rich briny bowl, dense with sweet shrimp. The crabcakes are real winners: a hamburger sized patty of solid crabmeat, the flavour is vivid, the spicing is bang on, the crust is nicely grilled, the construct is livened with lemon. If you order the spinach salad with wild mushrooms you will not find the earthy, rooty flavour you seek, for these are mostly white button mushrooms with the odd bit of reconstituted somethings. Stick with seafood and order the grilled squid. You will be rewarded with a large plate of very fresh and tender tubes, smeared with arugula pesto, served with a side of wilted greens similarly smeared. It would make a complete meal for $12. Among the house specialties, the halibut baked with crab and creamed spinach arrives overdone, a bit dry, and I could live without the pernod - it's a flavour too many. Better is the etoufée - one jumbo shrimp crowns the rice, small shrimp float in a rich, well peppered, sauce around it. Some may find the jambalaya a bit timid, still - this is a tasty, well-constructed dish of al dente linguine with sausage, moist chicken, fresh shrimp, red pepper, in a spirited Creole sauce. Why steak houses all feel the need to offer asparagus year round remains a mystery to me. But do order it in May when it's local and eschew it in September. Order instead the creamed spinach or the sautéed vegetables. Steaks here are well bought and well grilled. Big Easy's desserts are old-fashioned southern-America, and the best of the trio is a pecan-sweet potato pie. Or, you could order another round of Caraquets.

	Paula Roy, Ottawa at Home
	Review date: 2008-10-30 Take a tour of Ottawa's favorite steakhouses. When you’re craving protein, sometimes only a big, juicy steak will do. There’s something so elemental and satisfying about a perfectly grilled steak, glistening on your plate with your favourite side dishes. But whether you like it rare, medium or well-done, not all steaks are created equal. It takes exceptional beef and a careful kitchen to deliver a steak that makes the grade. Ottawa at Home’s unabashed carnivore, Paula Roy, set out to answer that timeless question – where’s the beef? Al’s Steakhouse Ottawa’s very first steakhouse is still one of its most popular, with two locations at 327 Elgin St. and 3817 Richmond Rd. in Bells Corners. As the only steakhouse in town to grill over live charcoal, Al’s steaks have a subtle, smoky flavour. Not only does the restaurant start with Sterling Silver beef, it also has its own in-house butchery which gives greater flexibility when accommodating special requests. Steaks come with a salad, vegetables and a choice of potatoes or rice; sides available à la carte include homemade onion rings, caramelized onions, and béarnaise sauce. For a real winner, I recommend checking out its French-style Black Pepper Steak served with Cognac Sauce – you won’t be disappointed. Baton Rouge The Baton Rouge restaurant at 790 Earl Grey Dr. pairs a funky atmosphere with fabulous food. Like its downtown counterpart on Albert Street, Kanata’s Baton Rouge is a welcoming spot with a diverse menu – punctuated with delicious sauces, dressings and marinades – prepared on-site from fresh ingredients. The prime cuts are sized from eight to 16 ounces and come with a house or Caesar salad and either potatoes or steamed seasonal vegetables. Sautéed mushrooms, coleslaw, baked beans, or hot cinnamon apples are also side options. I think the restaurant’s bone-in rib steak, grilled over a wood fire, is as tender and juicy as you’ll find anywhere. Big Easy Seafood and Steak House One of Ottawa’s newest restaurants, Big Easy’s at 228 Preston St., dishes up top-quality beef, flame-grilled to perfection. In the tradition of many of the finest international steakhouses, the steaks are served à la carte with a robust menu of sides from which to choose, many reflective of Big Easy’s New Orleans influences. The fresh Oscar Crab Sauce, a combination of lump white crabmeat with asparagus and hollandaise, is a delightful accompaniment, as are the Dirty Rice and Coconut Ginger Rice sides. You can even enjoy creamed spinach with your steak – a truly classic steakhouse side dish. Hy’s Steakhouse Hy’s Steakhouse, located at 170 Queen St., has long been known as Ottawa’s ultimate “see and be seen” place. With its opulent decor, extensive wine list and expert servers, Hy’s is likely the swankiest place in town to enjoy a perfect steak. Traditional cuts of the finest well-aged beef are grilled to order and come with your choice of potatoes or rice. My personal favourite is its Steak Neptune – a butterflied filet mignon topped with fresh asparagus and blue crabmeat, smothered in hollandaise sauce. And while steak does trump all at Hy’s, you might also be tempted to try its tableside-prepared combo: Caesar or spinach salad, Chateaubriand steak and Bananas Foster. The Keg The Keg is ubiquitous enough to be comfortably familiar, for many good reasons. The ByWard Market and Hunt Club locations are very nice, but for a special steak experience, The Keg Manor at 529 Richmond Rd. in Westboro offers up the same great food in a gorgeous 175-year-old stone mansion. I’d recommend its Chipotle Onion Sirloin that delivers a zingy punch of flavour – it’s a well-trimmed, nicely marbled steak seasoned and grilled to order, then smothered in herbed cheese, sautéed onions and a chipotle pepper sauce. Favourite sides include the sweet potato fries and the sweet and spicy snap peas. A special touch: The Keg even offers sirloin steak on its children’s menu. Written by Paula Roy