gezellig
Sat, 25 Jul 2015 3 Comments 
Yesterday Jeff and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. I told Jeff to look at the menus of several restaurants around Ottawa, and his first choice was gezellig. This restaurant (Stephen Beckta's third) situated in a converted 1950's bank, was a hit. It was our first visit and certainly won't be our last. We loved everything we ordered, from cocktails to dessert. The staff was awesome as well.
The view from our table right at the front window. I didn't realize that bench seat blocked the entire view of the restaurant or I would have made Jeff stand up from his seat to take this photo. OOPS.
We started with a couple of cocktails. I had the Raspberry Fizz ~ Gin, soda, raspberry simple, lemon juice. Jeff had the Tequila Sunset ~ house jalapeño and cilantro-infused tequila, triple sec, fresh lime, simple syrup.
We shared this appetizer but it was so freaking good we should have each gotten our own. Seared scallops ~ pork belly, grilled romaine, spicy cashews, charred tomatoes, balsamic, parmesan polenta. While eating my last piece of pork belly I told Jeff to shut up so I could savour the moment. Seriously.
My main was ballotine of chicken ~ ballontine of black truffle/fresh figs/chevre, steel cut oat salad, napa cabbage, chanterelle jus. I don't frequently order chicken but this was among the most tender I have ever had. (The only other time I have had chicken this moist and delicious was at Absinthe about a year ago). I had the wine pairing with this - a Pinot Noir from New Zealand - reeeeeally good.
Jeff's main was barbecue pork loin ~ boneless pork loin, barbecue demi, cheddar grits, smoked rib, collards. The grits were heavenly.
Jeff's dessert was the best he has ever EVER had. “butter finger" ~ peanut butter, white, milk & dark chocolate, graham cookie, chocolate anglaise. The guy next to us ordered it as well and agreed it was spectacular. I would go back just for this.
My dessert was cherry cheesecake ~ filo wrapped black cherry filling, liquid cheesecake, toasted pistachio, cookies & cream gelato. Glorious.
Reader Comments (3)
That looks so delicious! Happy anniversary!
Happy anniversary Kim and Jeff! Continued excellent adventures and lovely times together.
AMR
Really enjoy this restaurant too (and Play).
Thanks Gabriela and AMR! (Play is sooooo good too. Dying to go back. I'm praying hubby finds a job in his new field of heavy machinery operating so we can eat out more than only on special occasions - there are too many awesome restaurants!)