Sunday, July 20, 2008

Navarra by René Rodriguez


Ahhh, the inspiration restaurant. The reason I started this blog. The minute I walked in I knew we were in for a good night. I asked if they had room on their back patio for 3 and she immediately perked up with "Yes, of course!" I love when the staff is happy to have you there - unfortunately this does not happen enough in Ottawa.

Deanna was our server. I'm normally a red wine drinker, but my mother-in-law was with us and she prefers white. Deanna recommended the Albarino Martin Cobax, a dry, Spanish wine. I may now officially be a white wine drinker, this wine was delicious!

The evening just kept getting better, I ordered the Fazzoletti Pasta as my starter, this plate is to die for. Crispy pig cheek, goat cheese, peas cooked to perfection - if you do anything at all, go there and eat this. I also had the Street of San Sebastian Pinchos as a main - garlic prawns, chorizo in aoli, salt cod rilletes, all amazing. My husband had the Confit of Crispy Pork Belly, this dish melts in your mouth. My mother-in-law had the Roasted North Carolina Bass with lobster mushroom sauce - need I say more? Everyone raved about their meals and I have to say, they were all amazing because I tried each one of them.

I finished it all off with the Apple Crisp and a glass of sherry. I don't normally drink sherry, but I do drink port. They didn't have an LBV port, only the tawny, but Deanna recommended the sherry. I trust everything that woman says, she was knowledgeable and confident in all areas. I absolutely adored everything about this place and will be there again soon.

If you're curious about price, it's not cheap, but it's definitely worth what you are paying for. With tax, for the 3 of us, the cost was just under $200. The wine was $48 and the sherry was $10.

I will be figuring out a good rating system for my blog. Until then I'll go with the default stars and give this one 5 stars. In my opinion, price is worth 10%, atmosphere is 10%, service and food are each 40%. Sometimes the service can outweigh the food, especially if it's bad. I've enjoyed my evenings more with mediocre food and amazing service than with crap service and great food.


Navarra on Urbanspoon

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