Ottawa Foodies

Not that they need the extra publicity, but Nooschi has some fantastic photos in her writeup here: www.nooschi.com

Prosciutto / melon / balsamic reduction / mint bruschetta ($8)

The bread was toasted but fresh, which I much prefer to break your teeth crostinis! And the mint really added an extra punch. I really liked the clever design of the bruschetta with the melon and prosciutto shaved on the bread.

My better half and I had dinner at Burnt Butter last night. Well, I only had an appetizer because I didn't know we were going out and so I had eaten earlier.

For starters we had :
Dominica slaw ($8) paired with torrontes
Prosciutto / melon / balsamic reduction / mint bruschetta ($8) paired with the riesling ($10)

My better half had the Cayenne Fettuccine for entre ($20) (with gluten-free noodles paired with a lighter red Italian (for get the name, Italy has too many unique varietals!)

We were too full for dessert, so we opted for a 2oz Taylor Flagate Late Bottled Vintage port and 2oz St Germaine Elderflower liqueur. Not sure how much we were charged for these...

(These are not on the menu, but if you ask they have dessert wines & liqueurs.)

The total bill came to under $100.

Service was excellent. Though I should mention that the place very quiet given that it was a Sunday evening on the long weekend and there was a Sens game on. When we couldn't decide on a red wine, we were offered samples to help choose.

I am thinking of requesting the chef try gluten-free gnocchi for my better half's upcoming birthday!

Now, I'm a fan of sweetness in my food and this Dominica Slaw salad really delivered! Made of red and white cabbage, mango slices, sweet peppers, with a brown sugar vinaigrette the flavours really popped. I'm also a big fan of cilantro and think there was enough acidity in the dressing to carry the sweetness. Going to add this to my salad recipe arsenal.

My better half and I are big fans for Burnt Butter and their pasta in particular. While it's not on the menu, the restaurant always has gluten-free pasta on hand. The "Cayenne Fettuccine" was full of flavour - O'brien farms meatballs stuffed with gorgonzola, in a curried tomato sauce. We were also impressed that the meatballs didn't have bread crumbs in them making the dish an easy gluten-free option!

1

Went today at 11am for Brunch after reading Mark's review as well as several friend who were there last weekend. Big place .. it was my first time in the building and the place is massive. The eating areas were nicely put together and they have many other rooms for weddings etc.. but overall, very nicely done. After we looked at menu we saw several tables receiving "The Board" and could not believe how good it looked. After some great service with water and OJ, we ordered "The Board" and Tea. The good and bad ... I asked for the eggs without cheese since dairy and I do not mix well and they did. However it was loaded on toast with butter or whatever..wife did the "no fly zone" on that. As well as the mussels was in a cream sauce. Thats the Menu and I have learn to adapt. Wife loved the eggs and pancakes. The kimci, salads, Steak tar tar, Beef and sausage was amazing - the grill chicken was the best and the deserts were also amazing. At $37.00 each is pricy I thought but overall it was an amazing brunch - A real treat. Service was top notch, the owner/chef was walking around and enjoyed talking to the customers. What I really enjoyed was the talking in the kitchen. My back was to the kitchen and I continued to hear "Yes Chef" "More pancakes .." "Yes Chef" and so on. I believed there was 5 cooks doing the Brunch/Training. I laughed and was expecting Chef Gord Ramsey to explode after hearing so many "Yes Chef"

Overall ..a great experience. Great staff, great food and friendly service. I wish there were a few less "dairy (Cheese Butter)" options on the menu ..since I like dairy ..it don't like me options. How the hell did I survive travelling to Euorpe during my high tech days??? We will return for dinner in the near future.

Good job NEXT

Picked up some great sour dough today, they really do make my favourite I've had in quite some time.

1

Learned about this place because of the mural fiasco (which the city eventually allowed).

The interior is nice and cozy, I liked the way that they had the windows painted which made the light coming in warm the place up.

The food is EXTREMELY inexpensive. I had a burger with fries that was good, especially at the price. Fries and burger bun brought in, patty made in house. It was something like $12-13 for a burger and a pint of Mill Street beer.

This is the menu for the Toronto location, from what I remember it's mostly identical: www.pourboy.ca

I've had better food but I'll be back here regularly because the owner/staff were very pleasant, the food was quite good, and the cost was ridiculously low.

I stopped in today and checked this place out, and I thought it was really good.

I enjoyed my fish tacos (the sauce on it was tangy and very tasty) and I liked the fresh fried tortilla chips so much I got a bag to take home with me.

I'll be back again, it's a great price for what I found to be very good food.

1

Enjoyed a lunch of Pajeon (seafood pancake), Japchae (glass noodles), Kimchi Jigae (kimchi soup with pork and tofu), and Bokkeum Bap (fried rice). Prices are reasonable. This was a veritable feast for two with leftovers, coming in at just over $30 before tax and tip.

Water arrived with the menus. Service was friendly and unobtrusive. Most people get the bulgogi and other cook-at-your-table meals. They have an AYCE menu which is $15 at lunch (limited selection of dishes) and $20 at dinner (large selection of dishes, including sushi). We eschewed AYCE in favour of à la carte to maximize our options.

Unlike my previous visit, this time the Pajeon was excellent. Beautifully crispy and nicely filled with bits of squid and surimi. $6.95 for a small, which was perfect for two.

The Japchae is a nice little pile of black-peppery stir fried glass noodles with veggies. The taste is simple but quite wonderful. This is one of my favourite Korean dishes.

The Kimchi Jjigae was less tasty and much less spicy than versions I've had elsewhere, which is too bad. It arrived bubbling furiously, but the flavours are not as rich as I like them to be. Still, very nice. See how it bubbles on Vine! vine.co/v/bEV5L3zXz3x

Bokkeum Bap (beef) was one of the most flavourful fried rices I've ever enjoyed. I was hoping to get Bibimbap today, but I didn't notice it on the menu. No worries--the Bokkeum Bap was a nice find!

The side dishes were mostly good. The kimchi had nice flavour, but again not enough chili!

Koreana remains a decent option as a place to sample the wonderful food of Korea!

Instaspam: instagram.com/p/ZdhdFOOlJY/

2

Honourable mention goes to cheesecake pot de crème, amaretto dried cherries vanilla bean, chocolate cornmeal crisp. Perfect texture and sweetness from the small bit I had to steal. Was expecting something cream brule like, so glad that was the farthest thing from the truth!

2

The infamous butter finger what more can be said. At the end I though I was not full but that was just my mind not registering what my stomach already knew. A long walk provided proof of the feast that was had.

1

raised Quebec rabbit, garganelli pasta, fresh sorrel, asparagus tips, mint and olive tapenade, roasted garlic oil, chipped parmesan. Balanced dish just wish my spoon was not hiding I missed scooping up some rich broth.

1

Grilled quail, mushroom quinoa pilaf, onion jam, rainbow chard, warm porcini vinaigrette. Nice grilled flavor from the quail. The chard was a tad grassy for my taste.

2

Still the best after all these years. The owner still remembers my usual order: 6 subs, on baguette, hot pepper! Buy 5 and get 1 free may not sound like much, but at only $2.25 each, this is a supper deal. Try also the home made chicken bologna-like sausage tightly wrapped in banana leaf like a cigar and easy to eat on the go..

2

I went here a couple of years ago with a group of people from work - it was really good but never returned. For some reason, it just never seemed to be front of mind when I was trying to find someplace to eat. Anyway, spousal unit and I went last month. It was quite busy but they welcomed us to some seats at the bar and we enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine, some delicious tapas and really kind and pleasant service. Well, we went again tonight - the place was less crowded, probably because of the hockey game. We had the three amigos - a little plate of assorted olives stuffed with anchovy, some stuffed with lemon. We had a tortilla di patatas - like a frittata with potatoes and onions, some chicken dish with prosciutto in a fabulous sauce and another dish of lobster and peppers served with crostini. They brought us a basket of bread so we could sop up the sauce that came with the chicken dish and we ended the meal with a cheese plate. We shared a 1/2 litre of red Chilean (well, I drank most of it) and the bill came to $90. The food was all really tasty and the service was so nice - pleasant and relaxed, not rushed at all. This place is going to be top of mind with me for a while.

1

Why did I wait so long before trying the Fraser Café. The pulled-smoke duck open face sandwich is quite the treat. Duck was juicy with plenty of flavours and just the right amount of smoke. I’ll have to head back over there soon to try the tuna tacos.

4

Awesome! We had the noodles in chili sauce, the lamb skewers, shredded potatoes, chicken wings with cumin, and the monthly special, which we were told was spicy with pork - ok enough of a description, bring it on. Also had the dumplings in chili/soy sauce. The pork and the chicken dishes ended up being similar, but with more cumin in the chicken dish. Both dishes were made with small pieces of meat with lots of small bones. No problem for me, but some people used to Canadian boneless stuff may not be ready to spit out bone bits during supper (which is fine - leave it to the rest of us). Dumplings were really good, sitting in a swimming pool of chili oil and soya sauce. There does seem to be a lot of oil, or at least I chose a lot of dishes with oil. Again, I had no issue with that, it was all tasty. Can't wait to go again.

This picture is a bit old, but its my favorite thing for lunch at Fraser.

Smoked rainbow trout with a salad, beets, and an amazing dijon mustard vinaigrette sauce.

I am salivating just thinking about it....

Ingredients

Venison
Juniper berries
Herbs & spices
Red currant
35% cream
Gravy