I love Ottawa. It’s beautiful and you can get anywhere in 30 minutes or less, your blood pressure in tact (I’m talking to you St. Clair Avenue). But there is one problem—the Pub Epidemic. The streets of Ottawa are lined with Irish pubs, one literally next to another. Sure, there are a few gems but overall it’s time to drop the college flashback. What do you say O-town? Let’s enjoy a drink and a meal that didn’t come from a freezer or tap. It’s time to go to The Shore Club.
Atmosphere is Everything
Located within the newly renovated Westin Hotel, The Shore Club is in the heart of Ottawa’s Byward Market. Designed to achieve an Art Deco Aesthetic, the space calls to the look and feel of the great ocean liners of the interwar era. Now in its third year of operation, The Shore Club is an established purveyor of mighty steak and wondrous seafood.
Inside the split-level dining room gives every table a private and intimate feel while a menagerie of pendant lamps candles and chandeliers radiate a warm romance. Patrons of the bar will find themselves under an ambient light installation encourages a confident, “I’ll have a Manhattan.” Under the bar lights, you can sip on one of many seasonal signature cocktails (ingredients made in house) or chat with the in-house sommelier to find perfect wine.
Where to Begin?
Equally excited about the food and drink, I sit down with sommelier and manager Jamaal to talk options. The list of signature fall cocktails offers a variety of sweet, savoury and sour libations. I order the Fall Fashion, a blend of bourbon Gluhwein (made in house), ginger syrup, pumpkin and bitter. My gorgeous husband sips a Dark and Stormy complete with Kichisppi ginger beer and decrees it an excellent match to the light and smooth calamari appetizer.
I start with some plump east coast oysters from Blackberry and Blueberry Points (PEI). They’re crisp, briny and a perfect match with the recommended glass of bubbly Cremant D’Alcace. Yes, I’m on my second drink.
The Main Event
Executive Chef Floyd Wilson curates an option filled menu of seafood classics and steakhouse favourites including maple-glazed king salmon and bouillabaisse to steaks ranging from filet mignon to porterhouse. A selection of sides and add-ons mean it’s “choose you’re own adventure”. Shoestring fries, a variety of vegetables and even lobster tails are available to accompany your meal.
For me, it’s the Sautéed Prawns & Scallops prepared in a Pernod and butter. Both are creamy and light, the sauce just the right side of rich. I also order the tempura battered onions rings—they are obviously delicious.
The Mr. dives into a Rib Eye Steak complete with Port Au Jus sauce and a side of sautéed baby beets. The steak is amazing but it’s the thick and flavourful Port Au Jus that puts it over the edge. All my life, I never knew…
The Ending is Sweet
\With the bar filling up and the atmosphere dimmed, we are easily tempted by dessert making space in our bellies for a light and smooth Crème-brûlée and a chewy-sweet Old Fashion Chocolate Brownie-classic!
After a glass port and final sigh we get up from our table to head for the exit. We pass the bar and I am delighted to see it is lively and filled with patrons. But the thing that excites me most is line up of people just outside the door not waiting to get into the pub.
Visit the The Shore Club for lunch, dinner or enjoy a happy hour special at the bar. And for those in search of a little romance, The Shore Club has cooked up a swoon-worthy Valentine’s Day Menu! Visit The Shore Club’s website or call for details.
The Details:
The Shore Club – Ottawa
11 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1N 9H4
EMAIL ottawa@theshoreclub.ca
TEL (613) 569-5050
Open Monday to Sunday
The writer was a guest of The Shore Club Ottawa.
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