For our one year anniversary, my wife and I decided that we wanted to recreate part of our honeymoon. We achieved this by going to the Metropolitain Brasserie Restaurant, a Parisian Brasserie themed restaurant based in the heart of Ottawa.

The decor was very reminiscent of a few brasseries that we ate in during our stay in Paris. The colors of the establishment and the decor, the style of the tables and bar, the decorations can be found in many Paris neighbourhood brasseries. The only exception is the room. I didn’t encounter any brasseries in Paris that had so much room between tables and sections, but that’s not at all a bad thing.

The menu is similar to what you would find in a Paris brasserie. I started the night with a salt cod croquettes appetizer, followed by a coq au vin. My wife had a steak frites as an entree and profiteroles for dessert. The salt cod croquettes were very tasty. The fish was cooked perfectly and the bread coating showed no sign of grease even though the croquettes were fried. The coq au vin was the best that I’ve had on this side of the Atlantic, and was served with some asparagus, carrots, mashed potatoes and smoked pork belly. The chicken in the coq au vin was moist and cooked to perfection, and the accompanying red wine demi glace sauce was succulent. The steak frites comprised of an 8oz ribeye that just melted in your mouth, home made french fries that were tasty and not greasy and were accompanied by a homemade garlic mayo dipping sauce. Though I didn’t try the profiteroles, the look on my wife’s face said it all. These cream puffs were served with some vanilla ice cream, berries and a heaping of chocolate sauce.

We were not at all disappointed with our visit to the Metropolitaine Brasserie Restaurant. My wife and I have decided that we will go back to this little bit of Paris on a regular basis.

Metropolitaine Brasserie Restaurant is located at 700 Sussex (corner of Sussex and Rideau).