Fauna Food + Bar

Some home runs. Some regular plates. Good vibe and ok service. Oysters don’t compare to Whalesbone across the street. Duck was excellent, the boar pastrami was good. Horse tartar was plain. Halibut — skin was crispy and overall well cooked. Ice creams were great. Cocktails were hit and miss.

I love their Korean fusion style duck dish it was better than some Korean restaurant. Try it out !

Excellent food. Experimental and delicious. Though I feel like fancy restaurants will have a high price point, Fauna’s prices didn’t feel particularly justified in the quality or amount of their food. Portions are respectable, delicious and colourful, but definitely a special occasion restaurant based on the price.

Great atmosphere! And the kitchen was kind enough to accommodate a dietary request to ensure our dining experience was almost perfect.

Being from Vancouver and Montréal, I know what good food is and what bad food is. It was my first time eating at Fauna and I was really disappointed.
The portion for the appetizer was really small. We ordered the Waldorf salad thinking that it would be a handful of greens topped with walnut, pear and blue cheese. It was just like five to seven sprigs of greens, four slices of pear and the blue cheese was like a jelly/​cream consistent. Our second appetizer we ordered the chorizo tempura which was really good. Beef carpaccio was our third appy and it was lacking a lot of flavour. The last appetizer that we ordered were the oysters from B. C and I did not like how all the condiments were already served on the oysters. We asked for Tabasco and instead were given some house made hot sauce that tasted nasty. It did not go well with my palette and the type of food being served there. I’m sorry but the head chef should definitely taste the food before serving it. The main course was the rib steak for two. Cooked perfect but the fat should be charred and not white and soft. And lastly, we shared three different desserts which were pumpkin cheese cake, chocolate beet cake, and some other dessert that wasn’t worth mentioning. For the price of $ 12 each, these desserts were mediocre. We liked the ice cream accompanied with beet cake and asked our waitress if we could simply just order that and her reply was «NO». One would think with all the drinks we ordered and a bill of $ 2045.00, that one would try their best to comply with that one simple request. I really loved the fact the our one and only server, (no bus boy) didn’t even bother to mention that gratuities was included at 18% which is fine for our large group of 18 guests. All in all, this place was nice but the food and service really sucked. Oh btw the kim chi caesars were delicious. Probably the only thing worth having if you decide to eat here.

Yeesh. I kept hearing great things about fauna but was completely underwhelmed by the meal and service. While the scallop and chorizo skewer had nice flavour, the dish on the menu was completely misrepresented — no mention of it being a battered and fried dish, nor did the server mention it. The squid dish arrived over cooked and completely void of flavour and moisture. The short ribs were nicely seasoned but were VERY fatty. And the dessert turnover dish was bland. With regards to the service, the server brought two of five appetizers to the table (soup) and neglected to mention that the rest would come after the soup course — it wasn’t until we asked where the remaining appetizers were that our friends who ordered the soup actually dug into their dish — which was presented as a roasted garlic soup with rutebega but was entirely lacking in garlic. Needless to say, we ate the appetizer course at different times despite them all being listed under the same category «small».
Credit to the staff who removed the poorly prepared dishes from our bills but this is not a restaurant I will be recommending to friends who appreciate good food.

We were underwhelmed to say the least. Neither my husband nor I enjoyed our main course and they were unwilling to provide bread while we waited (we were starving and would have been happy to pay for bread!). The salads were okay until I mentioned that I had asked for mine with dressing on the side. They then took mine back to the kitchen, gave it a rinse and sent it back messy and wet (this is not a joke). The service was even worse than the food. We should have gone to the Subway across the street. It would have been a far more pleasant experience.

We had a really amazing lunch here. Fantastic service and excellent food — burger for me and perfectly marinated & cooked steak for my friends. Wonderful wine list and cheese plate at the end. Would go back in a minute.

We went in for our anniversary, they gave us two drinks, very strong drink too.
This restaurant is very new and the menu is very creative as well.
We had foam mushroom.
Well… we chose to get the surprise menu, it was full of surprises.

Decided to come here one Wednesday night without a reservation, and was able to get a seat at the bar. The cocktails here are very good with some unique options. The Tom Collins here was probably the best cocktail I’ve ever had!
The food was great, I had the soup of the day (Cream of Tomato) even though I generally don’t like cream based soups, but it was amazing! I could have licked the bowl. I had a tofu main, it came with noodles and vegetables, it was pretty good but I think my meat-​eating boyfriend enjoyed his dish more. We spilt the «chocolate and malt» dessert, which was quite good, but was supposed to come with chocolate cookies, but came with one nickle sized cookie! Not great for sharing, but luckily it came with enough delicious ice cream, caramel sauce and brittle to satisfy both of us.
I can’t wait to go back, will definitely be sure to make a reservation next time!

This place is outstanding, the décor is cozy and cool, but the food is where it’s really at. The food is foodie heaven, small plates and large plates, which is the trend now in most foodie restaurants (think TOWN on Elgin — also great by the way). The menu is small and manageable for the kitchen, ensuring that everything that comes out is solid and well executed, instead of a massive menu where there are more hits and misses.
Last time I went here had the Emu Carpaccio and the ”Pork”, the carpaccio was a revelation. Amazing flavors, with all the right notes of salt, acid and crunch, all perfectly balanced. The ”Pork” was a sous vide bone in pork chop that was outstanding, with mushrooms and other perfectly cooked sides. Can’t reccommend this place enough, it’s probably my top restaurant in O-​Town right now, right beside Supply and Demand.

Simply Amazing; the service, the atmosphere and above all, the food!
Went for a late snack/​dinner with a friend based on a recommendation from a coworker. Our server was quick, and knowledgable about the dishes and specials. We took her recommendations for the a braised beef special and the burrata.
The small plates did not disappoint! The flavours of both plates were so enjoyable we were left speechless.
The drinks were also amazing, try the blue sea, you won’t regret it!
The only downside is that it’s a little loud in there, but that’s just because it’s pretty busy. Be sure to make a reservation.

I had a large last-​minute group made entirely of international travelers, and we were able to do a family reunion at Fauna. They took very good care of us; both the service and the food was impeccable. We had the horse appetizer, which was pretty amazing. I had guinea fowl. The flavors were incredibly well balanced– this place is now in my top favorite places to eat.

I had this place on my radar during my three week stay in Ottawa. Four of us had a reservation here on a Friday night, but after dining out for about 20 consecutive nights, these peeps were tired out and ready to bail. I, however, was not. I was all in regardless, and they eventually decided to follow suit. Needless to say, I don’t think anyone regretted the decision. Most of us who went to dinner here that night had previously eaten at some of the best restaurants in Ottawa along the same share plate theme as Fauna. Play. Gezellig. Navarra. Town. We all left here in agreement that the meal we had at Fauna was the best we had in Ottawa. One person suggested it was the best meal she ever had. I have to say … I left thinking the same. In fact, we loved it so much here, we cancelled our reservation for 8 people for the following evening at Beckta just to come back here.
Where to begin? How about the cocktails? For $ 18, the sweet ash (bourbon /​armagnac /​bitters /​cinnamon /​ginger /​smoked hibiscus) didn’t blow me away, but I did like the gold fashioned (ungava gin /​cardamom /​citrus bitters /​grapefruit zest) for $ 12 just a little better. I got to try the $ 13 blue sea (ungava gin /​cucumber /​black pepper /​grapefruit /​lemon) and liked that one the best of the three. On the second night, I had the Tom Collins (ginger infused ungave /​lemon /​vanilla /​silk rose bitters /​applewood /​mesquite) for $ 14, which was by far my favortie.
Great selection of biodynamic wines in addition to the regular wine list. We were fortunate enough to snag the last bottle of a 2003 Côtes du Roussillon ($ 70). To no surprise, the cork broke, but Alex, our sommelier, pushed it down hard and filtered out the wine for us into a decanter. Toward the end of dinner, Alex spent a solid 15 minutes with our table going over our wine options and was generous enough to let us try two different dessert wines, one of which was a 1986 (my birth year)! He also highlighted (literally) some suggestions for our reservation the following night, three of which we ended up ordering. I think we were all happiest with the 2005 biodynamic Bordeaux ($ 115).
Appetizers:
–Olive plate (not listed in the online menu)
–Burrata ($ 18) walnut pesto /​sourdough /​tomatoes /​olive oil /​maldon
–Jumbo soft shell crab ($ 15) tempura /​smoked tomato /​lemon /​ginger /​slaw
–Lentil falafel ($ 16) baba ganoush /​beet greens /​radish /​peppers /​tzatziki
–Horse carpaccio (not listed in the online menu)
Olive plate was good, but pretty standard. The burrata was by far my favorite. The soft shell crab was a close second. Nice crunch to the falafel without being overdone. As for the horse, I could only get one person to share, which was fine by me because I ended up loving it not knowing what to expect (this was my first time trying it).
Entrees:
–Pork ($ 26) polenta /​snow peas /​birch syrup /​beet greens /​chanterelles /​milk weed
–Hanger steak ($ 21) bacon, walnut, blue cheese potato salad /​mushrooms /​cherry tomatoes /​asparagus /​smoked harissa
–Halibut (not listed in the online menu)
For the pork, I was expecting pork loin, but was pleasantly surprised when we got a pork chop with the bone-​in. I was equally surprised by the perfect cook on the pork as well as the presentation of the polenta, which was encased squarely in bread crumbs then baked. Very interesting.
The hanger steak may have been in my top 5 hanger steaks of all time. Perfect sear on the steak, just the right amount of spice, and ideally cooked medium-​rare even though the table agreed on medium whereas I would have preferred rare.
The halibut was nice and light and all the ingredients paired nicely.
Desserts, in order of most to least favorite (we ordered all three options, because why compromise?):
–Strawberry shortcake ($ 12) strawberry curd /​custard /​lavender /​meringue /​biscuit crumble /​lemon sorbet
–Japanese cheesecake ($ 11) rhubarb /​caramelized white choc /​strawberry sorbet
–Chocolate and malt (not listed in the online menu)
Our server Emily did great considering how busy she seemed to be on the first night. Very friendly and armed with many great suggestions. Request her if you can.
We ordered just about all the same dishes on both nights. I found the food to overall be a tad better on the first night than the second, but perhaps it was just the absence of the element of surprise.
I could do without the modern art, but who cares when the food and service are this good? For the quality, the experience and the value considering the reasonable prices, this is an absolute must-​do in Ottawa.

Great Service, Incredible Food, left very happy!
The guinea fowl dish was the favourite with the strawberry salad dish a close second.
I would recommend to anyone.
One round of drinks came late and were free of charge!

For foodies! Great ambiance, staff super nice! So all looked so good on menu I asked server to surprise me with anything! I got the Swordfish, was just delicious, served with sea asparagus! I had heard the portion size was small there but was delighted to see the size of my meal! Will go back again!

We had very high hopes for this long-​awaited restaurant as there aren’t many good dining options in centretown. Everything looked great to start – the ambience and décor are stylish and the service was attentive and comforting. I happened to sit in a red chair which they said would involve a special surprise at the end of the meal (a small shot of a berry liquor concoction), so that was fun. The cocktails were inventive and tasty. So far so good.
But the food is completely unremarkable and sometimes downright bad! We had tuna crudo, peach salad, turkey confit, duck breast and pork belly gnocchi. The plating and presentation was generally unappetizing and amateurish. The crudo was okay, but all the stuff they added (various powders and sauces) just didn’t add much in terms of taste. The peach salad reminded me of something someone would bring to a barbecue and you would eat politely – just completely boring and uninventive. The pork belly was actually pretty good but it’s only about two bites of pork. Duck breast was bland. Turkey confit was a complete abomination, dry, tough and plated in the most embarrassingly perfunctory fashion. We were just in complete awe that this hyped restaurant that’s been years in the making could serve such awfully unimpressive food. And the real issue is that it’s all quite expensive, around $ 20 per plate. Just a five minute walk away, El Camino presents a MUCH better value proposition. This might sound silly, but various ethnic restaurants in the vicinity have much better food (shawarma, korean, greek, chinese) – yes, I would have much preferred to eat a shawarma over what Fauna peddles as pseudo-​haute cuisine.
My family had visited separately a couple days prior and they all confirmed that they too found it shockingly humdrum.
I wanted to like this place and maybe it’s gotten better as there are a lot of 5 star reviews below (which I find completely bizarre). But we won’t be going back unless I hear from someone whose tastes I trust that things have changed dramatically.

This restaurant is what Ottawa has been lacking for so long. The atmosphere is great and the food is original and delicious. The seasonal menus feature interesting flavour combinations and modernist techniques.
Fauna has smaller servings so it’s great for sharing!

I’ve been to Fauna 5 or 6 times now since they opened. The bill is usually around $ 75 per person with 2 – 3 plates, a couple of beers /​glasses of wine and some desert.
It’s hard to recommend which dishes to try as they seem to change up the menu every couple of weeks (which is awesome!) but if you happen to catch the duck and spaetzle, beet salad, bison carpaccio, or one of the dishes with the blue cheese perogies I would recommend them. The wine selection is great, beer selection is local and fairly diverse from light ambers to hoppy ryes and deep stouts. The flourless chocolate cake is the best I’ve ever had.
As for their cocktails I’ve only had old fashions, and haven’t veered from my finishing drink of choice, if they make them their signature ones half as good I’m sure they’re delicious.
Superb addition to center town and a great addition to the restaurants in the area.

I went to fauna about a month ago. I was drawn in by the longtime mystery of what it was to become. For months, it sat in the space with brown paper covering the windows. What was revealed was nothing short of amazing!
I will give a short summary here, but I also wrote a blog post about it here:
Make sure to get reservations! You will need it unless you want to sit at the bar. They are a locally sourced company and that reasonated very well with me. Service was excellent. The food was done tapas style and I would coin the type of food that they serve to be Asian-​fusion tapas dishes. You will certainly have to order more than one. I loved the décor too. Reminded me of a restaurant that belonged on King West in Toronto.