Pepper Garden

Meeting friends for dinner, that each live in the four corners of the Outaouais, can sometimes be a feat. Especially since our circle now includes a 2-year-old, someone not consuming dairy and a soon-to-be single mom. Our "group dining" criteria sure has changed over the last while!

Before checking out the Lumiere Festival, we decided to have dinner at Pepper Garden, a kid-friendly restaurant suggestion from a reader, located fairly centrally for all of us and on Montreal Road, not too far from Stanley Park where the festival was held.

This place is simple, on the outside and on the inside, and as for the menu too.

The decor was somewhat modern, but something gave off an old-school vibe. The selection on the menu was not what I expected. I appreciated the "gourmet" choices and the kid-friendliness - they don't usually go together.

One thing that stood out, Coke in bottles, and yes, I ordered one because of this.

And the salt "shaker". That stood out too.

Bread was brought out as we decided on our meal.

As a special that day, oysters. Three please!

I had the Duck confit: Mariposa Farms duck on roast potatoes with mushrooms and tossed greens.

Review:

If I was to base my review only on what I ate, it would be quite positive. I'll start by saying my oysters were delightful, fresh and tasty, although a little small. I did miss the mignonette, they were served with lemon and horseradish.

My main was outstanding! I loved every bite and could have licked the plate. Well-seasoned, well presented, well-cooked.

As for the other diners, not so much. Some dishes were average, some funky in a bad way. One of the daily special was lamb chop. There was a lot left on the plate - it was overcooked and not a nice cut of chops.

The scallop dish was decent, so was the beef tartare. The mains with steak were ok too, the fries, really delicious.

The kicker was the Spinach and poached pear salad. Terrible! The "melon poppy seed vinaigrette" was unanimously deemed disgusting by all at the table. The price of this dish was quite high considering that for $5 more, so for $20, you could get delicious confit.

The service was great. Upon making reservations, I said there would be a 2-year-old and the table had a high-chair, crayons and colouring sheet.

All in all, there were lots of hits and misses.

Parking is free and restaurant is wheelchair-accessible.