Norca Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Ottawa

An amazing restaurant experience in every aspect. Amazing staff, wonderful food and great cocktails. This is what every single restaurant should be striving for.

Impeccable, attentive and courteous service. Every minor detail of the experience was addressed, in order to make it as pleasant as possible.

We've tried the following cocktails: • The City of Gold: El Dorado 12 year, Eclipse Heritage Blend, Goslings Black Rum, Turbinado syrup, Allspice bitters, orange Smoked • Pink Melon: Cazvedores Blanco, Triple Sec, watermelon, lime, pink salt. • I Cantaloupe to Cowansville with you: Ungava Northern Gin, cantaloupe, lemon, sugar, egg white • Straw-Basil Lemon Spritz (non-alcoholic): Strawberry, basil, lemon, sugar, soda.

The city of Gold was a very interesting and smoky twist on the old fashioned. Both the initial taste and the aftertaste had a lot of complex layers of flavours. Ask for it to be smoked for the full smoky experience. 'Pink Melon' and 'I Cantaloupe' both had fresh fruit juices and tasted amazingly refreshing and well balanced. The non-alcoholic 'Straw-basil' was a very tropical, pleasant and not overly sweet.

Food wise we've tried the following: • Soup of the day: Carrot, Celeriac, terragon oil, prosciutto chips. • Scallop: 2x scallops, black garlic mashed potatoes, mushrooms, Gruyère cheese, breadcrumbs. • Braised beef cheeks: Ontario raised beef cheeks braised 48H sous vide, pinot noir reduction, salsify purée, garden vegetables and seared foie gras. • Duck breast: Mariposa farms duck breast, rösti, Brussel sprouts, baby turnips, orange gastric sauce.

The soup was a perfectly balanced cream of root vegetables, and was exactly what we needed on a cool rainy day. Ended up getting another one after the dinner was done. The prosciutto in the soup was a very interesting addition and gave it even more depth. The scallop, covered by Gruyère cheese, on a bed of mashed potatoes and mushrooms, was a perfect starter.

The braised beef cheeks just melted in your mouth from tenderness. The seared foie gras just added another level to the whole experience.

The duck breast was simply amazing. Perfectly cooked and sauced. Would have gotten another portion of it if I could physically fit it in.

Got the following for dessert: • Espresso panna cotta: Served with chocolate ganache, mascarpone cheese and crumble hazelnuts.

It was the perfect dessert to round up the entire culinary experience; great texture and perfectly balanced coffee flavor.

A special thank you to Marc, Meagan and Annie for making it such an unforgettable experience.

Will definitely be back to try some of the menu items we haven't gotten to try, as well as have some of the ones we loved.

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I attended the soft opening. The oysters had fermented root vegetables and a mignonette. All the fermented veg was done beautifully. Some had a spice some were more sour, but all were perfectly balanced. The second round of small plates consisted of the toast points with various in season Mushrooms, caramelized leaks, burnt goat cheese and ramps. A great dish with components that oozed the essence of spring. The other small plate consisted of thinly sliced fois gras with endive, white and green asparagus beet caramelized red onion, and sabayon. A fresh dish with a couple elements to enhance richness and give complexity.

The mains were a preverbial punch to the face with flavour. The duck dish, done in the style of a canneloni, the ground duck and squash provided and rich sweetness which was enhanced with the complexity of the fois gras sour cream and crispy chicken skin. To cut through all the intense flavour profiles, the dish was seved atop a consumme and a "forest" gremolata provided a much needed earthiness.

The other main consumed was a trip from land to sea. Halibut was served in a vegetable lattice, a classic technique that when done correctly steams the fish allowing it to become very tender. Served with the protein were salmon roe to add salt and a sweet potato hay added texture and sweetness.

Even without liquor license at the moment (which they will receive soon) the "mocktails" tasted anything but. The "gin and tonic" with a house made tonic water and juniper infusion made it incredibly hard to detect the lack of spirit within. The interior itself was something to behold, a mixture of different cultural touches that somehow mesh together. Whether it was the Italian furniture or the Portuguese cutlery everything felt completely natural and in place, which to me was the cherry on the cake to this amazing...

Came here after an event at OAG since I already paid for parking. Wanted a glass of wine and some nibbles.

I like California Cabs, French Bordeaux and Bourgogne, essentially big bold reds and not much selection on that end by the glass.

Order the beef tartar with fries and fries were excellent with homemade mayo and regular ketchup. Asked a staff member what type of fat for the fries and she said she will ask but did not get back. A couple of large parties may have contributed to that.

Tartar was good but had a little more caper than what I liked and already combined and it was flank steak. While good, I think I prefer the beef carparccio made with beef tenderloin at another restaurant for similar price. I can taste each component separately or together as I choose. Higher end pricing and I would likely come back and try a beef or duck main course and I would definitely order the fries with it. The soup sounded a bit on the lighter side although I eyeed it a little bit. Now moving into winter, would love something heartier like a nice...