The Scallops Pan-seared at Lapointe’s in Ottawa were not quite as advertised on the menu, but were still good enough for a 3 out of 5 Rating.
I have eaten many meals at the Lapointe Seafood Grill in Ottawa’s Byward Market over the years, and have generally enjoyed everything I have ever been served. I was a little bit disappointed with the appetizer of Grilled Scallops you see pictured above because they weren’t quite as advertised on the menu. That being said, it was still an interesting dish and I liked it overall.
The description of the dish on the menu appeared as follows:
Now, first, I have to say that the plating job in this case was really sub-standard, which really detracted from the quality of the dish. The arugula was largely replaced with spinach, and was haphazardly strewn on the platter, as were with the scallops and the orange, which was in ragged pieces and not sections.
The scallops, however, were very nicely grilled, having been seared to a caramelized crispiness on the outside while being tender, and still slightly translucent on the inside. Grilling scallops takes a deft touch and many, many restaurants fail to do the job properly, but Lapointe managed it very well in this case.
I am not sure what happened to the ‘maple espresso’ dressing promised in the menu, though, as neither of these flavors were apparent in what I was served. Possibly the kitchen had none on hand due to some disaster or other, and had to improvise, but what I received was not what I was looking forward to trying. Whatever it was, however, was tangy, and slightly sweet, and not all that bad.
What I really enjoyed, here, aside from the nice grilling job, was the pairing of orange, nuts and scallop. I am not a huge fan of Pecans overmuch, and would prefer, say, Hazelnuts, or the like, but the flavor combination here worked very well. The dish may have disappointed on a couple of counts, but the overall result was pretty decent.