Looking for a good, quality restaurant in Kanata

I believe strongly in not making hasty judgements, particularly when it comes to food. I admit to forming a first impression, but I'd like to think that it is rarely cemented until it has been proven out multiple times. And I've admitted that I steer away from reviewing restaurants. But when I feel strongly that something that was once "so right" has gone so awry, I feel compelled to write about it. I believe that it borders on a community service. Such was the case with the Bronson-based Stone Faced Dolly's, and such is the case with Perspetives, in the Brookstreet Hotel.

Once the domain of Chef Matthew Carmichael, now Executive Chef at Eighteen, leadership of the kitchen changed a couple of years ago when it was taken over by Chef Michael Blackie. And that was a landmark change. Chef Blackie has a great menu; the desicriptions of the dishes are truly enticing - but the execution leaves a lot to be desired.

I took a group of 10 to lunch at Perspectives earlier this summer and was woefully disappointed. But as the sole "ritzy restaurant" in Kanata, I chose to return last week with a friend for lunch. The company was delightful - for the price paid, the food was shiite.

I'm sorry. There's no other way of putting it. On my recent visit I watched my friend tear at a piece of Blue Marlin that was intentionally rare but seemingly, at least from my angle, anoemically seared. I was actually more focused on my own inadequacies. . . uhmmm, of my meal that is!

As a first course I chose the Silken Steamed Dumpling, with crushed rum-coke pork belly with brown bean peanut redux. I was drawn to this dish by the term "pork belly". That is an ingredient that conjures up images of roast, crackling goodness. But if that was what Chef Blackie intended with his dumpling it can only be described as an appaling failure. Seriously. I am familiar with dumplings and the use of won ton wrappers when I make my own jao zse, and the two dumplings on my dish had never seen water. Someone had thawed a pack of thin won ton wrappers, stuffed two of them, and placed them on a white bowl. It was shocking. And the peanut redux was a sappy peanut sauce that could have been prepared by anyone with basic cooking skills. Nothing more.

Moving on from the first course I ordered Nasi Goreng as a second dish. This was described as "wok fried indo style rice and chicken and beef and shrimp satay". That's admittedly a pretty good description.

I tend to chose rice over noodles when I have the choice; and the decision this time over the ubiquitous Pad Thai was instinctively correct. The rice was tasty. But the satay - the chicken, the beef and the shrimp, was terrible. It was dry, tastless and, not surprisingly, difficult to extract from the wooden skewer. The shrimp tail was going to be permanently connected unless I was willing to risk an errant airborne crustacean.

The hot sauce that accompanied the dish was good - it had just the right heat - and served to counter the dryness. And I fully suspect it was not made in the kitchen.

Neither my friend nor I opted for a desert. I chock that up to the fact that neither of us were particularly hungry. Although in hindsight I would not have been hopeful.

Perspectives was once a good restaurant - an oasis in Kanata's epicurean desert. Now it is a location where your money is paying for a quiet table and attentive service, not the quality of food. The presentation is still very good; the taste is fine; the balance, texture and finish has much to apologise for. It is a very far cry from where it was a few years ago under the stewardship of Chef Carmichael.