Cocotte Bistro

My husband and I had a fantastic dinner at Cocotte Bistro. Staff are amazing and highly professional. We started with oysters which were so buttery delicious, French onion soup and escargots. Our main courses were Lamb Shank and Steak Frites. Lamb shank just came off the bone and delicious. My steak was so tender and equally delicious. We finished our outstanding dinner with a crème brûlée. They didn’t have a red wine we ordered. So our staff suggested an another dry red which was just fabulous. We will come back again for another nice dinner at Cocotte Bistro.

We celebrated our 20th Valentine’s Day together tonight, and the Valentine’s Day table d’hôte menu was absolutely delicious. Thank you to everyone who made our evening so special. It was the perfect cherry on top of a beautiful day at Winterlude! ❄️❤️

Rating: 4.5/5

Service, atmosphere and food are all wonderful. Was here with some team members for breakfast. Portions were decent and had a good selection.

Only reason it lost 0.5 stars for me overall is it can be a bit pricey.

Honestly Ottawa had been very meh for food, so this place was a relief for me.

They do coat check, so the service started great. But then the server took more than 15-20 minutes to even greet us let alone take our order which was crazy (it was just a party of 2). There was no apology for it either 😭

The food it’s self tasted good, I recommend the bennys. The salad and potato’s were all tasty too, a rare combo.

Thank you for having me! 🙂

Wonderful dinner tonight at the bistro! Our first time here and everything was excellent. We started with cocktails and shared beef tartar – the beef was tender and tasty! I had the cassoulet which was fabulous – a light and well-seasoned sauce, the duck was perfect as were the other meats. My husband had the lamb shank which came with roast veggies, silky mashed potatoes and a yummy slightly sweet sauce. Our server paced it all well.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a few other things… the bistro is located in the boutique Hotel Metcalf, a beautiful spot in an old and beautifully renovated building. You enter off Metcalf St, into the lobby of the hotel. To your right, you enter the bar and then the full restaurant. It is all tastefully decorated, with a wonderful Montreal vibe (I understand the owner is from Montreal). Tres chic! We spent the evening snuggled into a plush velour seafoam coloured U-shaped booth. Very cozy. The music played backdrop to our converstation, never getting in the way but providing a wonderful accompanyment to our evening.
All in all, a wonderful date night for mid-January!

As we walked in, one of my guests commented that the restaurant smells like the lobby of a high-end hotel. It was a good first impression.

As we walked to our table, I could appreciate how simple and classy the design is.

Food wise Cocotte Bistro was a certainly a culinary experience. We started the meal with oysters and salmon tartare. Then my guests had everything from burger to salmon paprika while I enjoyed the succulent lamb shank on a bed of mashed potatoes with red wine sauce.

All around the table we all enjoyed our meals. The only downside of the night was the service. Service is the only reason I am not given five stars to Cocotte Bistro.

Our waiter was cold and condescending. When I ordered the tartare he made sure to tell me the salmon is raw. My answer was it’s tartare… It was unfortunate that we were a group of 6+, he added 18% to the invoice because it is the policy. I would not have given anything more than 10%.

My wife and I enjoyed a fantastic stay at the Metcalf Hotel in downtown Ottawa, and our dinner and breakfast at Coco Bistro were highlights of our trip.

For dinner at 7 PM, we started with a glass of Martini and shared the Tomato Marinated Artichoke Hearts salad, which was delicious—rated 4.8/5. We paired it with a Bottle of Vina Bujanda, 2018 Trempanillo from Rioja, Spain. I had the Cassoulet de Toulouse, and Sharon enjoyed the Gnocchi au Boursin; both dishes received a 4/5 rating. For dessert, we shared the Crème Brûlée, which was excellent—rated 4.8/5.

The next morning, I had the Eggs Benedict, and Sharon tried the Eggy Bun—both were delicious, rated 4.5/5. The coffee was a bit weak for our taste, but overall, our experience was wonderful.

Highly recommended!