On Saturday evening Kelly and I celebrated our four-year wedding anniversary at town on Elgin Street. We’d heard many good things, so it had been on our radar for sometime, and we were really looking forward to our reservation. The restaurant is sophistically and minimalistically decorated, including bare bulb lights, a large painting of a woman’s hand holding octopus, unique touches such as the clipboard menu and the file folder receipt holder, all set it apart from other stock restaurants.
- town’s clipboard menu
Additionally our server, Kerri, was friendly and knowledgeable about our all our menu choices (describing in detail the short rib cooking process), which really enhanced our experience.
We started off by sharing a couple of small plates, the ricotta stuffed meatballs and the chicken liver crostini with rhubarb and bacon. We each had our own main, Kelly had a half order of the tagliatelle with chicken meatballs, salt cured foie gras (pretty sure that’s why she ordered it) and pecorino romano; I had the cavatelli short rib ragu with pine nuts. We enjoyed each dish, but nothing seemed to stand out, the “wow” factor described to us by others seems to be missing. We weren’t left hungry though, no room for dessert!
All in all, our experience was pleasant; we enjoyed the atmosphere and appreciated the nuisances that give town character. Perhaps we’ll wait until a summer menu comes out before we return. ~gL
Stuffed Ottawa 