Beckta - dining experience

As a treat (and because it has been on our bucket list for months AND because it’s in Lonely Planet) we decided to go to Beckta for dinner. It’s one of the best restaurants in Ottawa if not Ontario.

I apologise in advance - I don't remember everything that was on the dishes we ordered/were given, so I did my best with the captions, but you can see that many parts I couldn't remember! Especially the appetizers that are on the tasting menu and not on the online menu! 

Beckta is tucked away on Nepean Street in downtown Ottawa. A charming brick house, it’s beautifully decorated inside and the décor and ambiance is instantly calming. I was so excited! Despite being ten minutes early, it was a Sunday night so we were shown straight to our table, a cosy booth in a corner (one of the best ones we were later told). Our friends, Pip and Isaac (featured in several of our pics from earlier posts) arrived after checking that some guy with a broken leg who had fallen off his bike was ok. Nice people do still exist.

Our neighbour is a sommelier at Beckta’s sister restaurant, Play, and he knew we were coming so the first round of drinks – bubbly! – was on him. Made me feel a little bit like a rockstar J. We sipped and perused the menu and finally decided what we wanted. Canapés were served which was unexpected. Isaac works in the kitchen at Beckta so he explained to us how the canapés cleanse the palate so that the actual courses don’t taste funny due to smoking or drinking coffee or something beforehand. Fancy, but a brilliant idea! We ate those before I could take a picture.

Amazing bread and butters! 

Then we ordered our entrees. Our server returned shortly with several plates and told us that ‘the chef apologises for hijacking your menu.’ That was fine with us! We had four separate, unique appetizers which we shared. Loved them all! So much flavour and they were so carefully and delicately arranged. We also were served bread and delicious whipped burnt butter. The bread was amazing; fennel and date. We later asked for more bread. And then some more. Mmm.

Asparagus and radish salad. 

Pork belly with an amazing salad and shredded coconut. 

Tagliatelli with house-made ricotta and fried olives. 

Salmon, lobster knuckle and scallop. 

We ordered wine, but instead of choosing ourselves, we asked them to pair it with our entrees. Pip and I had ordered the duck and Will and Isaac ordered the steak and salad. Still so excited! When the entrees arrived I quickly snapped some pics before we tasted the beautiful creations. Divine. There were lots of ‘omigoodness, I don’t know what that is but it’s soo good!’

Quebec Magret Duck -  Pan roasted breast, sundried cherry gnocchi, arugula, early summer succotash, Chanterelle mushrooms,  fresh cherry cumberland sauce.

My duck was delicious, several slices with crunchy fresh vegetables (even the baby corn!), sweet gnocchi (best I’ve EVER had as I don’t usually like gnocchi!), mushrooms and even something that we suspected was porkbelly. Will’s steak was melt-in-the-mouth tender and was accompanied with a lot of mushrooms, like King Eryngii, which I have been wondering how to pronounce for a while!

Steak and salad - pan seared striploin, grilled romaine, rosti potato, mushroom saute, grilled radish, fava beans and blue cheese fondue.

It was amazing. And then it was time to order dessert. In true unoriginal style, Pip and I were both drawn to the ‘cookies and cream’ and the boys immediately decided on the raspberry cheesecake with exploded raspberries. Will: ‘if there’s cheesecake on the menu, that’s what I’m ordering’ haha. The desserts looked so delicious and they did not disappoint! With fresh raspberries and caramel fennel sauce, our brownie was made with oatmeal and was rich and dark. We even had sugared tarragon and a cup of raspberry milkshake! Will’s cheesecake was light and fluffy and its base was graham cracker and basil. His exploded raspberries are apparently made by doing something crazy with nitrogen oxide (I think). Red currants were also stacked on his cheesecake.

Cookies and cream - Oatmeal cookie brownie, raspberry milkshake, fennel butterscotch, sugared tarragon and raspberry tuile. 

Raspberry cheesecake - cinnamon basil graham crumb, exploded raspberries, spice box fudge, huckleberry molasses and fresh currants. 

Petit fours! 

Then after we’d scraped our plates clean they brought us petit fours to finish up. Apple fritters and thyme shortbread. Did I say amazing? I’m running out of adjectives to describe this wonderful foodie experience! Not the cheapest but worth every cent! I will definitely be thinking of these dishes for many months to come. It’s Tuesday and I’m still dreaming of those tasty delights!