mixed blessings. i recently went to lebaccaraand had a mixed experience. first off, the room and service are wonderful and without par, offering a great view of ottawa. pity you have to walk in through the casino and see the masses of the poor, tired, old, desperate and deluded patrons to get to this sweet spot.
then there was the meal, starting with the "warm up" items: the amuse-bouche offerings were a delight; the salad from the standard menu was truly a work of art and so very, very good. the 'house red' wine was bliss.
sadly, after this wonderful foreplay (can that be applied to food?), came the cold shower of the main meal. the presentation of the meal was great, both in its delivery and the artistry displayed on the plate.
i selected the young bison and was massively disappointed. the meat was tough and stringy - i felt like i was eating badly cooked stew meat, which was very surprising given that this was a baby bison i was eating (the horror!!!). you know when you have a piece of meat and you keep chewing and chewing but it doesn't yield flavor and break down? the supporting cast of vegetables were, in effect, flavored mush with a few green spears thrown in for good measure. frankly, i have cooked bison and had much better results. my plate was 1/2 full when the table was cleared.
two of my guests ordered the fish with shrimp. the shrimp was a jumbo and was not very flavorful and somewhat tough (large shrimp really prefer to be on the bar-b). heritage potato was good and the main fish order was adequate. i tasted it and it was a "meh" experience. nobody cleaned their plates.
my other guest ordered the duck and was well satisfied. his plate was clean, clean, clean...
please don't misunderstand me, in spite of the foregoing issues it was a good meal and a great experience. but $400 worth? no, not at all; you can get better meals in ottawa for much, much less.
i will never go back.