Reviews La Vallee

Beautiful evening on the patio. Our first time dinning in at l'Orée du Bois since the beginning of the pandemic. • We were pleasantly surprised that the service and food standards have not changed since the passing Chef Jean-Claude. Every plate was delicious and well balanced. The ingredients used were seasonal and fresh. • Kudos to the young and dynamic team growing Chef Jean-Claude’s legacy by adapting the cuisine with a modern twist. Well done!

Lovely ambiance, great presentation! L’Oree du Bois has been a staple on the Ottawa Gatineau food scene for almost 4 decades, recently placing 4th nationally on the TripAdvisor’s best fine dining restaurants. It is located on the edge of Gatineau park, nestled in an abundance of greeneries. A lovely garden welcomes guests, followed by a charming century old farmhouse, promoting that warm and cozy feeling. I have not been here for many years, and found the large patio and outdoor grill welcoming! The interior decor has also gone through an update, more simplistic and streamlined to suit the more modern clientele. The table d’hôtel menu is excellent, providing many options (although not many vegetarian dishes), and for a small added fee, you can upgrade some dishes to include more expensive options such as pan seared foie gras. The dishes are well prepared, cooked to the right doneness and excellent presentation. What came SLIGHTLY below was the taste, a lot of salt, gravy and heavy cream were used, overpowering the fresh ingredients. Would like to see the new chef making dishes that emphasize the taste of the food itself. Staff was really nice and accommodating, although they probably need more training to be more attentive, I waited for more than 15 minute for my paired wine to accompany the main dish. Very small issue, the waitress was otherwise super polite. There seemed to have a shortage of staff, just like every other service organization post pandemic. People need to be more patient now. Wine pairing was superbly prepared, very satisfied! The venue is beautiful all year round, we’ll definitely be back for more delicious food!

Follow my food blog on Instagram for restaurant reviews: @mimi.munches! 💖 Ever since I've heard about this restaurant, first from my work, and second from food bloggers, I've put it on the top of my list! So I was super stoked to be able to go! Read below to find out about my experience. You definitely have to try their Table d'Hote menu! It is $65 and you are able to get: a soup, appetizer, specialty (entrée), a dessert, coffee/tea. For the soups, I would have tried the carmelized onion soup (+$3), but at the time of the booking (about 8:30pm), they were out of the soups; so this will need to be for next time! Appetizers: Their homemade charcuterie trio was a great start to a satisfying meal. Theirs had chicken liver mousse, pork and blueberry rillettes and caramelized onions terrine with marinated vegetables. I also tried the Mushroom from Le Coprin farms in a puff pastry, cream sauce (+4): As the Specialties (entrées), I tried red deer medallions for the first time (+$6.50): this one came with variations of squash, and elderberry gastrique. The meat was very tender, although very light in taste - if you prefer richier tasting meats, I would suggest the duck confit. Of course, the Duck confit had to be tried as well - it came with glazed vegetables and duchess potatoes, and caramelized onion sauce. Note that for the two above specialties, pan-seared foie gras was added to both (+$9 per piece). This was SO indulgent and melt in your mouth. Highly recommend to treat yourself and add it on! For dessert, their local cheese platter with focaccia from Roberto Pizza (+$4) was a savoury option, and the pumpkin cheesecake with homemade granola was a nicely rich but also light option to end the meal. I was so stuffed that keeping up with the wine pairings was tough and I fell behind - not usually the case! 😉 I also was able to try the Wine and food pairing, which went really well with the food! You get an apéro (4oz), a white wine with the appetizer (I chose Alsace Riesling, Joseph Beck), a red to go with the specialties (entrée - I LOVED the cotes de bourg, Chateau Bujan), and lastly, a dessert wine (Cadillac, Chateaux Peybrun). Not only is the food spectacular, but the atmosphere is also super cozy as the restaurant is tucked away in a house filled with wood accents and art. As I dined, it was snowing heavily outside which made it feel all the more cozy. However, I would recommend choosing an earlier seating to give ample time to get back home safely, depending on the weather (it was heavy snow the night I went)!

What a wonderful restaurant! My partner and I thoroughly enjoyed our anniversary dinner at L'Orée du Bois last night. So much so that I forgot to take more photos of this delicious experience. All of the staff were friendly and our waiter was exceptional! I'm sorry, we didn't catch his name, but with an unassuming but thoughtful approach, he made perfect wine pairings to each of our selections in the table d'hôte, explaining the specifics of how they complimented each other. Most highly recommended. Merci beacoup!