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Octopus Steamed at the Chinatown Restaurant in Halifax

Octopus Steamed at Chinatown

Octopus Steamed at the Chinatown Restaurant in Halifax

Squid is a much more common Dim Sum item than is Octopus. When I ordered the Dim Sum dish you see above at the Chinatown Restaurant in Halifax I was rather expecting chunks of Octopus tentacle but this turned out to be very small Baby Octopus, which, really, might as well have been squid, all things considered. The taste and texture were very large the same, and, in terms of cookery technique, this selection fell somewhere in the middle of the range.

Octopus Duo at E18teen

In: Notable Restaurant Dishes

Octopus Duo at E18teen in Ottawa’s Byward Market

The Octopus Duo at Restaurant E18teen in Ottawa was an appetizer consisting of grilled Octopus tentacles, and something referred to as an Octopus ‘Carpaccio’. The grilled Octopus was excellent, but I am still at a loss to understand how the other half of the duo was given its name. It was interesting, I have to say, but not something that I would really care to try again.

Octopus Grilled at EVOO

In: Notable Restaurant Dishes

Octopus Grilled at the EVOO Restaurant in downtown Ottawa

EVOO, which I have always presumed to stand for ‘Extra Virgin Olive Oil’ is a terrific Greek restaurant in downtown Ottawa. I have only made two visits there so far, but both meals were excellent and the place is well worth a stop if you find yourself in Canada’s capital. In any event, Octopus tends to be something that Greek restaurants do very well and I can never resist either an appetizer, or main course featuring it, especially if it is grilled. The Grilled Octopus at EVOO actually fell just a little short of being worthy of top marks, but I still enjoyed it very much.

Octopus on Black Risotto

In: Notable Restaurant Dishes

Octopus on Black Risotto at Play, Food & Wine in Ottawa.

This little dish I had at Play, Food & Wine in Ottawa a while ago was listed on the men as: Grilled Octopus with Black Rice Risotto, Saffron Mayo and Cipollini. Now, I love octopus and order it often when I see it, but in this case, I probably wouldn’t have bothered writing a post about it except for the interesting accompaniment of black rice, which was something I had never tried before.

Tako Karaage at Sushi Nami

In: Notable Restaurant Dishes

Tako Karaage at Sushi Nami Royale in Halifax, Nova Scotia

I have had a good number of excellent dishes at the Sushi Nami Royale Restaurant in Halifax, but this appetizer dish of extremely tiny, whole baby Octopus deep-fried in starch coating and served in a Kakejiru broth was so good I forgot to photograph it until I was half-way through. Perhaps you can take my word for the fact that original presentation was excellent.

Octopus at Brothers Bistro

In: Notable Restaurant Dishes

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.

Octopus Vinaigrette at Ken’s

In: Notable Restaurant Dishes

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.

Octopus Grilled at Sabor

In: Notable Restaurant Dishes

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.

Octopus Sashimi at Kiko Sushi

In: Notable Restaurant Dishes

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.

Octopus Grilled at Spiga

In: Notable Restaurant Dishes

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.