Play Food & Wine

Hello Foodies!

My very favourite restaurant in Ottawa is Play Food & Wine, located at the corner of York and Sussex in the Byward Market.  I have lunch there almost every weekend.  I take friends and family there when they visit, hoping that they love it as much as I do.  What is it that keeps me coming back?

Well, it is in the name.  Play.  The approach to food here is playful.  Joyful.

The atmosphere is bright and upbeat, with splashes of colour provided by the red crepe draping at the ceiling and the photography on the walls.  Downstairs, you can sit at the bar, or at one of the warm wooden tables.  Upstairs is at open kitchen with bar seating looking directly in, as well as banquette seating.

The staff is exceptional.  The servers are friendly, sincere and knowledgeable, more than up to the task of answering questions about the menu and how the food is prepared.  If they don't know the answer, they find it for you quickly.  There does not seem to be a very high turnover of staff, which, to me, is a good sign.

But the main event is the food.  Play serves small plates.  2 plates make a nice meal, or they're great for sharing.

The menu changes frequently.  The only dish that has been on the menu since day 1 is the hanger steak.  I consider that dish the concession to people who do not want to be surprised by the dish that is put in front of them.  Don't get me wrong - it is very good, and hanger is a far tastier cut that the ubiquitous New York strip (the most highly overrated cut of beef, in my humble opinion) that every other place in the Market serves.  Additionally, I have never seen hanger steak in a grocery store (they do sell it at Saslove's butcher shop, also in the Market), so take it where you can get it.  But steak frites, even really good steak frites, is not exactly uncommon.  But this is a restaurant where I once had roasted bone marrow - a bone, split lengthwise, seasoned and roasted and served with grilled bread to spread the unctuous, intensely beefy marrow upon.  Other uncommon (for Ottawa) dishes that I have had there include corned beef tongue, frog legs, and a couple of different preparations of rabbit.

There are always several meatless options on the main menu, and often the soups are vegetarian as well.  One of the current selections, ancient grains with crispy smoked tofu was interesting enough to get me to order a dish with tofu.  The grains were great - a variety of colours, shapes and textures than made every bite a delight.  And I didn't hate the tofu.  The salads are always more interesting than the pile of greens for filler with a couple of choice bits you find in most non-veggie restaurants.  Recent favourites of mine have included roasted beets with quinoa and last summer's tomato salad with jalapeno cheddar fritters.  I am still asking them to bring back those fritters, or, Crispy Pillows of Delight, as I call them.  I have also recently discovered that, in addition to the meatless options on the main menu, they also have a vegan menu.  Basically, any restaurant that can make me like navy beans knows what to do with vegetables.

Today, I went for seafood.

Tuna tataki with sweet potato chips, edamame puree, and pickled onions.  There was a bit of sake poured over the fish. This dish is subtle.  It is not about in-your-face flavour.  It is not a dish that buys your love with butter and fattiness.  It is about restraint and contrast.  The acid of the onion and sake against cool, largely raw tuna and freshness of the puree.  The salty crunch and sweet finish of the sweet potato chip against the yielding flesh of the fish.

Dish two was seared scallops with sunchoke puree, snap peas, mushrooms, and pearl onions.  Provided they can get good scallops, Play almost always has a scallop dish on the menu.  The scallops are always seared perfectly.  This particular dish has a richness, found in the combination of the sweet scallop and the sauteed mushrooms, and the sweet pearl onions.  The richness is almost overpowering, until you bite into a crunchy snap pea, which cuts that intensity and gets you ready for that next bite.

I prefer to go for lunch (the same menu is served at dinner), because, 7 days a week, they have their lunch special. 2 plates for $20. For the quality, diversity and creativity, this place cannot be beat.