Ottawa-Gatineau Restaurant News
 

I want to buy a gift card for some friends in Ottawa for Christmas - what is popular these days?

Budget is $100

Well restaurant's that I know people frequent a fair bit and praise are Fratelli, e18hteen(eighteen), Black Tomato, and just about anything in the Byward Market because it's trendy there... :haha:

Luxe in the Market
The Eclectic Noodle in Sandy Hill
Paradiso on Bank

I really like Fratelli, good suggestion! And there are 3 locations I think so they can have some choice. Baton Rouge is always amazing as well.

Prime 360 is also good.

Aroma, on Nepean St. across from Beckta, was a nice discovery.

I'm also curious about trying Eri Café on Somerset West, between Preston and the O-Train, on a second floor. It's Eritrean cuisine and from the menu it looks pretty tasty: www.ericafe.ca

Ethiopian food is pretty tasty. For Ethiopian I usually go to Horn of Africa on Rideau or Blue Nile on Gladstone.

I was there last September and I'm glad it wasn't me footing the bill....a bit too stuffy and old boys network place for me.

Despite this the steaks are huge

Try Baton Rouge then. Supposedly a little less pricey and still pretty good and not as stuffy.

http://ottawafoodies.com/forum

http://www.restaurantthing.com/ca/on/ottawa/index.php

Girlfriend will be visiting me around the beggining of October, and we're going to spend a few days in Ottawa. Being I'm almost never down there myself, I'm not familiar with places to go to for grub. Not planning on setting anything in stone, but I'm looking for reccomendations of places to go. Also wanna know places to avoid, so that if a place looks nice we don't go in and have a bad time.

We're staying at the Sheraton in downtown, so I'm hoping for spots that are within a short walk of that. Looking for both places that are casual dining and those more suited to her getting into a dress for. Being we're from the west coast I'd like to avoid foods that are common out there, namely places that specialise in east, SE, and south Asian foods, aswell as fish.

Hope it isn't too tall of an order. Thanks guys.

If you like Burgers you should make it out to The Works at some point.

Am I the only one REALLY underwhelmed by the taste of their beef?

Sure, they dress it up in fancy and sometimes retarded toppings, but the beef is sooooo bland.

That's because you should be ordering the elk

Whats this about Elk? :D

Go The Works as soon as you get here and order a elk meat burger. You'll have no time to make it to your hotel, just get to that place post haste.

Sides at the works are ... lacking

I suggest you ask this question at Ottawa Foodies.

I'm not into gourmet food, but tend to frequent the higher end steakhouses and grills. Here's a few of my favorites:

Baton Rouge- Yes, it's a large chain from Quebec, but the ribs are seriously to die for, your girlfriend (from BC) has probably never heard of it, and it's really close to where you are staying (Albert @ Lyon).

http://www.dine.to/DineTOimages/pic_batonrouge.jpg

Empire Grill- A bit on the pricey side. Steaks are excellent, decor is unique, and the wine list is second to none IMO. Try the Marynissen Estates Lot 66 (Mick Jagger's favorite Canadian wine). It's on Clarence Street in the market.

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/4...piregrill2.jpg

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/2911/empiregrill3.jpg

Stella- Another Clarence St. restaurant with probably the best location in the city for nightlife. Really good Italian cuisine with yet another great wine list. Try the chicken parmasean.

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/g...G_4885copy.jpg

If she starts to miss Vancouver, try either the Mekong or Hot Peppers (both in Chinatown on Somerset). They are my favorite restaurants for Asian food.

Finally, I have to stand up for my good friend The Works! I love that place and think their burgers are perfect (even the beef ones). Try the Smokey Mountain for a classic taste and add a few sweet potato fries to ensure you get your veggies in.

A good spot to go is Mama Grazzi's in the Market, at Sussex and George. Fantastic Italian food (made to order), and a nice cozy atmosphere. Won't break the bank, either, it's surprisingly affordable even with a glass of wine.

I also like Mama Grazzi's. It's interesting because the building is sinking (it's like 100 years old) so the entire restaurant is on a slight angle.

She doesn't handle steaks very well. Liking the idea of dropping into Stella for Italian, thinkin Grazzi's will give us to much of a sinking feeling. :P Thanks for the pics O-town. Helps give a feel of the place.

Well... fine then. I've tried the Works at least twice now, two different locations already and felt the same way about the beef, but I'll give it another try. :)

My favorite burger in Ottawa right now is from Fulton Market at the Trainyards. I think it's just a chain, but I'd never heard of it until moving here.

Play.

'nuff said.

I tried the Works recently and it did seem a bit expensive for what you got, but I think you're paying more for the atmosphere than anything (drinking out of a measuring cup was a little eclectic... reminded me of my old university buddy who stocked his cupboard with mason jars).

I've seen various comments about spots in the Market, but nobody seems to have mentioned Murray St - what with Domus (long may it reign!), Murray St Cafe (meat-lover's paradise) and Navarra, it has become the best street for foodies in Ottawa. :cheers: I would add Le Boulanger Francais to the list, but I'm off carbs these days :(

Beckta is the standard on the higher end, but if you don't mind paying ~$75 person for the full experience I really think the Urban Pear on Second is under rated compared to beckta. I've never had anything less than a great meal at the Urban Pear.

What they serve, and what are the dress regs for the place?

Good call Wade! The Urban Pear is a great restaurant in a great location (though it faces the wrong direction unfortunately). I think it tends to get overlooked since it doesn't face right onto Bank Street.

I didn't actually know that. I'll have to keep an eye out for that next time I'm there.

Really? Unless it's changed since I lived in Ottawa the sweet potato fries were amazing. Granted that was over 2 years ago but they remain the 2nd best sweet potato fries I've ever had.

Never had the meat burgers there either, but they had some of the best veggie burgers I've ever had as well. Probably better than anything I've paid more for in Toronto. And on that point I never thought they were overpriced but again, 2 years might have changed things.

Their sucess created competition. I can recommend play as well for a nice nite out. Again your at the wrong web site. Restaurant Thing or Ottawa Foodies is the place to look and ask about food.

^Thanks, but I'm not really all that interested in food in Ottawa at this point. Just a bit incredulous (and dissapointed) that the works isn't that great anymore. Unless of course it's still on par and other places have gotten better that is. In which case, great for Ottawa.

I will leave the proviso that I was primarily interested in the place as a veg restaurant at the time. I am no longer vegetarian (although I very rarely eat meat) and have discovered that food ratings outside of the veg world are much, much different. And for good reason.

So I took the advice in this thread and re-tried the Works yesterday for lunch.

I had the Smokey Mountain burger, with Cheddar instead of Jack, and I added goat cheese.

It was so good that I went back for a second time today. Heh.

Thanks for setting me straight. :)

I walked over to my neighbourhood Works today and also had the Smokey Mountain (sans goat cheese, I'll have to keep that in mind). I thought it was great, although the very lean beef they use might not be everybody's thing. :cheers:

Elk people! Elk! I'm telling you: you won't go back to beef!

The menu is on their website, but like beckta i think it cycles monthly. Essentially they have a soup, salad, seafood and one other appetizer, then there is a beef, duck, fish, pork, and veggie entree.

I wore jeans and an untucked button up shirt last time I went so I'm pretty sure there isn't a dress code... In fact I don't think I've ever been to an Ottawa restaurant that has one...

Dressy in an Ottawa restaurant seems to mean nobody is sitting to eat with their baseball cap on (I HATE that!!!). At the risk of straying from the topic of the thread, where would one be obliged to dress for an evening out in public in Ottawa? In my experience, jeans seem acceptable even at the NAC and, with exceptions, the club patrons in the Market tend more to sleaze/tack than sophistication. Ottawans are some of the most casual/informal people anywhere, and I don't mean that in a negative way. My theory is that practically everyone is so solidly middle class that appearances just matter less than many places in the world where the way you look and dress affects your place in the social hierarchy.

I didn't want to start a new thread for this stupid question, but I can't find anything using search.

Was I dreaming, or did someone mention somewhere that there was an Arby's open or opening in Ottawa recently? Help? I want a damn Beef and Cheddar ASAP.

No, you weren't dreaming (unless it was of sinking your teeth into an Arby's sandwich). Here's the Arby's thread:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=176385

belle province? :D

Thank you sir/madam. No idea how I couldn't find that.

Sir. Most glad to be of service!

They had a short-lived location in Gatineau not too far from my place but it has since been replaced by a Thai. Sign of the times...

Are there any good southern style BBQ places in this city?

I know it's a chain, but something like Famous Dave's which are all over the USA would be perfect for what I'm currently craving.

Eh, found this place, and went for a late lunch today. It was pretty decent. The beef brisket was good, and I took a pulled pork platter home for whenever my next meal is. :)

A little (lots) out of the way, though.

This place used to be the Jacques' Trap. Never went there - but the tacky name stuck in my mind since I first heard it.

Neat article:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/fo...172/story.html

http://www.capitaldining.ca/ has good restaurant coverage. There are a couple other blogs as well

Rachel Eats Food

Nooschi

Yep, The Foolish Chicken on Holland. Some of the best chicken and ribs you'll eat anywhere. And some of the best sweet potato fries you'll ever have around here too.

Thanks.

Still not 100% what I'm looking for. I really want beef brisket. :)

Definitely feeling the pulled pork sandwich though.