CapitalDining.ca

The visual drama of this restaurant takes place entirely outside, and La Terrasse is open only on nights when being outside is pleasurable. Which is why it's taken me many tries to get here. On 35-above evenings I want air-conditioning. If threatening skies, I want a roof.

But this particular July night was as splendid as you could possibly want and I sat on La Terrasse at a table closest to the canal below, just pinching myself.

For here was a rowing eight-shell blistering along the Ottawa River. Here were bagpipes somewhere in the distance (played by someone who knew his instrument). We arrived to a sun lowering over the Gatineau Hills and left at dusk, after a stunning light show.

All these fine things, along with the forest of trees that flanks the east block of Parliament Hill, were in our sights. We were in the heart of the city, but also in its lee, perched on padded chairs in near-complete privacy, on the hidden patio of the Fairmont Château Laurier.

Yet on this night of nights, wonder of wonders, La Terrasse is near empty.

On most of this city's patios-with-a-view-of-water the food is forgettable. Not so here. I bring you the experience of just one meal, mind, as at my second planned visit La Terrasse was closed for a wedding, and my third attempt was on a night with a downpour. But I can tell you about two starters, two main dishes and two desserts -- all pretty satisfying.

First up, a very good gazpacho, ripe with summer flavours, well balanced in terms of tang and spice, and with a refreshing lemon-basil yogurt squiggled on its thick, red surface.

A little wooden bench equipped with three paper cones containing seafood treats was our second starter. In the bottom of each cone we discover a bit of sushi rice and a little seaweed salad, and on top, a big sparkling shrimp, or a tasty lobster and dill salad, or, in the third cone, albacore tuna, thin slices of the pink fish, flash-seared tataki style. Very fresh, very nice.

We are told O'Brien Farms (from Winchester) supplies the beef for the "Capital Burger" and whether it's the quality of the beast or of the thick smoky bacon, the old Balderson cheddar or the mustard mayo, this is a superior hamburger in every way.

I would have enjoyed the seafood fettuccine more if the price hadn't seemed out of whack. It was a tasty dish, the pasta and fish properly cooked, well sauced, the charred tomatoes a nice touch, but at $32 I would hope for more than two shrimp and a smattering of lobster pebbles.

You may eat more simply (and more affordably) than we did here.

The menu tries to please a variety of tastes and needs, so on it you also find chicken wings and nachos, plus things like clubhouse and pulled pork sandwiches ($16). You also find steak and lamb and fresh fish.

Desserts are designed to make a kid happy, with a couple of tossed-in adult treats. Here are banana split boats, ice cream sundaes, and brownie bombs, plus chocolate panna cotta (delicious) and lemon meringue pie (lovely, served with a raspberry sauce and a crème anglaise that tastes of eggs, cream and vanilla).

La Terrasse offers a condensed drinks list (all wines, brief as the offerings are, available by the glass) and a children's menu. Kiddies under five eat "on the house" on this secret patio.

Cuisine: Canadian
Cost: $$$: Starters, $9 to $16; main dishes, $14 to $32

Hours: Open daily from 4:30pm to 10pm, June to September, weather permitting.

Features: Patio dining.
Accessibility: Fully accessible.

1 Rideau St., Ottawa ON
613-241-1414
website

Gy is not Oy, as first I read the sign, and I'm sure that's a very good thing. It was a Monday when I walked by, misreading the stylized two-letter word on the sidewalk sign "Oy Resto" which indicated the place was closed.

I first knew this second-floor restaurant space as the crêperie L'Argöat, then as Le Café d'en Haut. In fact, I thought it still was Le Café d'en Haut when I stumbled upon the Oy poster. Excited, I Googled it: "Oy Restaurant, Gatineau." Rien.

It was at lunch the next day I learned it was in fact Gy, short for Gyno. Which is a much finer name than Oyno. Gyno Lefrançois, together with his wife Nathalie, is chef-proprietor of this now one-year-old restaurant.

(Before I was set straight, it occurred to me I could have used the Yiddish exclamation "Oy vey" somewhere in the review if it had proved a dud. That would have been kinda fun. But as Gy turned out to be a nice little place, it's just as well.)

Gatineau needs more nice French restaurants and this one, while not yet perfect, is absolutely on the right track.

Gyno Lefrançois hails from Gaspésie. He comes to his own place in Gatineau via the wonderful Auberge Hatley, which was devastated by fire in 2006 and sent him to Arôme and Le Baccara at the Casino du Lac Leamy.

Gy is a prettier restaurant than it was in L'Argöat's days. They've smartened it up a bit with red accents, taupe walls and wainscotting. Red pads the black chairs, white linen the tables and young birch trunks decorate the corners. Daisies float in water baths and pepper mills grace every table. As in most restaurants, there are better tables than others. If you can snag one by the windows that look over the street, there's light pouring in and good people watching to be had.

A large blackboard announces the featured dishes, which complement a one-page daily menu.

A lunch special struck me as a crackerjack deal. Green soup (a spinach purée, perfumed with lime leaves and piqued with paprika oil) or a cucumber salad, followed with impeccably fresh pickerel, the pan-fried fillet resting on a buttery bed of spiced orzo, crowned with a delicious mound of caramelized leeks and served with a nice little salad. This, for $11.95

Dinner began admirably well with a trio of raw things. A tartare of steak, salmon and scallops was lovely, the beast and fish hand-chopped, lightly seasoned, and polished with good green oil.

Shallots, Sambuca and cream elevate a big-hearted serving of fresh shrimp, and if you like shrimp in Sambuca and cream you will like this.

I have three things to say about the third starter (foie gras, seared, crusted, the flesh soft, pink, served with sautéed strawberries): It was far too generous a serving, it was something of a steal at $15, and we gobbled up all of it, grinning throughout.

Of the main dishes, the tuna, crusted, rare, served with a salad of oranges and capers was better than the duck, which was too lean, the fat removed, the meat a bit overcooked and dry. We liked better the stuff that surrounded it -- a well-peppered polenta cake that boasted a gooey heart, a celery root purée, roasted carrots and asparagus, and a polished sauce sweetened with figs.

Chèvre cheesecake was light and creamy, served with fresh raspberries, and crème brûlée with strawberries suffered only from being brûléed a tad too long. But once the burnt bits of sugar were flicked off, the custard was luscious.

The wine list is short, with limited choice by the glass, and there would be room for improvement.

Chef Gy tours his dining room at dinner, introducing himself. His wife seems much more shy, almost uncomfortable with her guests. She appears to defer to her staff for table service and, fortunately, both servers who have cared for us have been delightful.

Cuisine: French
Cost: $$$: Starters, $5 to $10; main dishes, $16.50 to $28

Hours: Open: Lunch, Tuesday to Friday; dinner Tuesday to Saturday

Features: Patio dining.
Accessibility: Second floor restaurant. No wheelchair access..

39 rue Laval, Gatineau, QC
819-776-0867

I would not have said "no" to one more slice of duck. Four thin slabs didn't seem quite enough. Especially when the bird is so good. This was duck (from Mariposa Farm) on a lunch salad at Absinthe. It came with other good things - crisp spears of asparagus in a lemon-thyme vinaigrette, soft marbles of superior goat cheese, heirloom tomatoes of wait-all-year-for-it flavour, a hillock of dressed up baby arugula. It was a deeply satisfying plate of good things. My itch for more of those slices came from pure greed, and from knowing that duck is rarely done so well - the skin crisp and well seasoned, the fat rendered to a thin layer for flavour and textural balance, and the flesh itself rosy pink and succulent. I longed for more.

Absinthe chef Patrick Garland is the man behind the duck. His restaurant is now in its fourth year, feet firmly planted in its "new" location on Wellington Street, still offering a bistro formula of ever-changing market cuisine.

I had reviewed this place when the paint was still fresh, the Absinthe-green wall behind the bar barely dry. That was in 2007. This July, a driving rain forced me inside one afternoon around lunchtime, and duck seemed about right for a soggy day.

I returned for a very good dinner. It began well with an amuse-bouche shot of gazpacho, perfumed with basil, further chilled with a wee ball of cucumber sorbet, zinged with balsamic and sweetened with honey. A delightful gift on a hot summer night. And then a couple of prettily presented "trios" wherein the only missteps of the evening were sighted. The first was asparagus three ways - a little grilled goat cheese and asparagus sandwich (fine), a cold asparagus soup (very fine) and then a ho-hum asparagus salad in a somewhat soggy cheddar cheese "bowl." In the seafood sampler, a bass "pogo" was tasty but far too greasy. Better was the crab cake served with a chipotle relish and plopped on a refreshing mango salsa. Best of all, the albacore tuna taco, which was fresh, light and full of flavour.

With the three-course table d'hôte came a middle course of soup or salad. But not just any tossed-off soup or salad course. Here was a delightful chilled soup of carrot and fresh pea, heady with five-spice powder, and the romaine salad (a Caesar of sorts) was first-rate - bouncy leaves in a commanding lemon garlic dressing, the good house bread fashioned into crisps, and on top of the mound, excellent pancetta bacon.

On a daily menu, the steak frites appears to be the one constant. A hanger (or skirt) steak, marinated in something that darkens and tenderizes it, then grilled to medium rare, arrived in thick ruby slabs that delivered crunch and juice and chew in pleasing balance. The steak came with excellent fries, a horseradish mayonnaise and summer-fresh snap peas. It takes a bit of courage to offer a still little-known cut of meat as your house steak, and insist it be ordered no more cooked than medium rare, but Absinthe shows us how it's done, and it's little wonder this is a signature dish.

Micro greens were more than a pretty topping on the ravioli stuffed with ricotta and goat cheese. They added peppery, bitter notes - a pleasing, contrasting chomp to the tender pasta pockets with their soft, mild filling and the sweet vegetable ragout beneath.

In keeping with the trio theme, we ordered a sample of the house-made ice creams. They were all good, the dark chocolate divine. Kudos too for the lemon tart with lemon and raspberry sorbets, and the classic crème brûlée.

Service has been a lovely balance of friendliness and professionalism.

Absinthe is maturing very well.

Cuisine: Canadian
Cost: $$$: Starters $9 to $14; main dishes, $20 to $32; 3-course table d'hote, $36 to

Hours: Open for lunch, Monday to Friday; dinner daily

Accessibility: Fully accessible.

1208 Wellington St. W., Ottawa ON
613-761-1138
website