Octopus Grilled at the Brothers Beer Bistro in Ottawa
Grilled Octopus is one of my favorite dishes and have eaten a lot of it in Greek and Portuguese Restaurants where they tend to treat this as a specialty. I have to say, though, that the lovely version I was served at the Brothers Beer Bistro in Ottawa pretty much outshone all of them. Not only was their Octopus grilled expertly, the dressing they used was both unusual and wonderful.
Read More →
Octopus Vinaigrette at Ken’s Japanese Restaurant in Ottawa
Ken’s Japanese Restaurant in Ottawa has since been replaced by Sushi Village for some time now, but, before it closed for good, I ate there a fair number of times. Most of the dishes were pretty decent (if not always very well plated or presented), but a few were rather dismal failures. The Octopus Vinaigrette you see pictured above was one of these.
Read More →
Octopus Grilled at Sabor Restaurant in Edmonton, Alberta
The Sabor Restaurant in Edmonton, Alberta offers both Spanish and Portuguese cuisine, including a pretty decent selection of Tapas. I visited there initially to try their Paella, but I also sampled several small plate offerings including the Grilled Octopus served in a Black Olive Tapenade you see pictured above. It was interesting, I suppose, but not especially impressive.
Read More →
Octopus Sashimi at Kiko Sushi in Ottawa
Kiko Sushi is a very nice Japanese Restaurant, situated, somewhat incongruously, in Ottawa’s Little Italy District. It is a little out of the way from where I usually stay when I am visiting the City, and, for that reason, I have only visited it once so far. All the dishes I was served, however, including the Octopus Sashimi shown above, were very nice, and made the place worth noting as somewhere to visit again.
Read More →
Octopus Grilled at Spiga
Back in the day, the Spiga Café specialized in Portuguese cuisine down in the fashionable Byward Market area of Ottawa. I had some excellent dishes there, including the Grilled Octopus appetizer you see pictured above, and I was sorry I was unable to work my way through their menu before they closed their doors for good. Everything I ate there was not only delicious, it was, I thought, always very skillfully and artistically presented.
Octopus Sashimi at Ken’s Japanese Restaurant in Ottawa
Most people think of Sashimi is being raw fish. Much of it is, of course, but there are varieties using shellfish, and even non-marine products, and some items are served cooked. Octopus is one of these, and it happens to be one of my favorites. Accordingly, I tend to make it part of my order on most visits to Japanese Restaurants.
The small Octopus Sashimi plate shown above was served to me at the now defunct Ken’s Japanese Restaurant in Ottawa (it has since been replaced by a different Japanese Restaurant). Ken’s was not a high-end, Kaiseki sort of place, and I rather think that Is well illustrated by the plating job, which, I have to say, is pedestrian at best.
Octopus Grilled at Mystiko
Octopus is a great favourite in Greek cuisine, and the Greeks are true masters at preparing it on the grill. The Mezze dish of Octopus Grilled shown above was served to me at the Mystiko Greek restaurant in Ottawa’s Centertown district and was the star offering in a really splendid meal.
The menu described the Octopus as being marinated, but I really wasn’t able to taste any particular flavoring beyond the added dressing. Possibly, some lightly acidic marinade without any additions was used to tenderize the flesh of the octopus after simmering it, but I couldn’t t detect that in taste or texture either.
Tatoyaki at Wasabi
Wasabi, a Japanese restaurant down in Ottawa’s Byward Market, was a terrific restaurant back in its day and I was saddened when it finally closed its doors. The chefs there could be very inventive and produced some uniquely interesting and delightful dishes over the years.
Sometimes, though, the culinary attempts at creativity that came out of the kitchen were just a teensy bit misguided and the results ended up being flops of monumental proportions. The Tatoyaki dish you see pictured above was, I regret to tell you, very much one of their more epic fails…
Octopus Steamed alla Parmentara
I had this dish served to me at the now defunct Empire Grill in Ottawa’s Byward Market some time ago. I am not sure what the Parmentara signifies (and a google search reveals nothing of note), but steamed octopus is not a common restaurant offering and I couldn’t resist giving it a try. It was an interesting dish, in conception at least, but the execution left a little to be desired.
Tatoyaki at Tomo
The Tomo Restaurant is an Asian fusion restaurant in the Byward market section of Ottawa. It is a nightspot as well as a restaurant, but I stopped by during the daytime for the sole purpose of trying their Tatoyaki.
For those unfamiliar, Takoyaki is a Japanese snack made of batter filled with diced Octopus and cooked in a special molded pan, and, on the menu at Tomo (which has changed since), it was described as ‘Battered octopus balls topped with house dressing, scallion and shaved bonito flakes’. Essentially, that is exactly what I got, but the execution, I am sorry to say, wasn’t all that good…