Ottawa Foodies

I had lunch here again the other day and had nothing short of a positive experience. I cheaped out and ordered the striploin steak frites ($17) instead of the tenderloin ($30). The generous cut of meat was of good quality and my steak was cooked med-rare as ordered. I enjoyed the demi-glace as I'm a big fan of sauces on my steaks (bernaise, etc).

This restaurant gets quite busy and they have a fair amount of tables packed into a small space. After reading the previous review I feel perhaps they were a little overwhelmed in the kitchen - although a 40 minute difference between a couple's mains seems a little hard to believe.

I'll be back...

I went here with my wife for our anniversary and I have to say, I can't think of an experince that could have ended more poorly.

My steak was cooked incorrectly (how the hell do you accidentally cook a steak medium well when I requested it to be rare?!?!? I don't mind if it's slightly off, but there's a HUGE difference between "red in the middle" and "brown and boot-like")

My wife ordered the fish, and it came almost 40 minutes after my steak. Despite this fact, it was so overcooked that she literally couldn't eat it.

We both love jazz, but there is absolutely nothing that could force either of us to ever come to this $#!@hole again.

My drink was incorrectly made, but still horribly expensive. The waitress actually argued with me when I mentioned that I didn't get what I ordered.

I have no idea how this horrible place manages to stay afloat, considering that the service and food were both god-awful.

We came here for lunch on a weekday in September. Overall our experience was pleasant, although our overall impression was in line with what we experienced at the Metropolitain Brasserie -- prices a little high in general and food quality was highly variable. All that means is you just have to order the right things.

Wifey's Roast Chicken Club, pictured here, was made with Art-is-In bread (bonus points) and was generally quite tasty. She wasn't terribly happy because there was a Moroccan taste to the chicken that she didn't like and it seemed to have been reheated. But we can't fault Cafe Paradiso for that -- after all, wifey's dislike of Moroccan food is her problem and roast chicken often does taste kind of reheated. Clubs are typically made with grilled chicken because they taste nicer that way. The cost for the Club with a side of frites was very reasonable: $12. That's the same as the price of the measly spring roll appetizer!

Service was quite friendly, with two notable flaws. First, we had a hard time getting enough water and ended up leaving quite thirsty. Second, our server gave us our bill when he served dessert, saying that he had to close up the tab because he had to leave. That in itself is not a problem, but seeing him still hanging around the bar when we left 25 minutes later was a bit ripe.

I was at Cafe Paradiso just recently and I just had to make a comment. I want to tell everyone I know what a great place this is. The food was terrific and the service was well above average. I believe my server's name was Natalie? She was quite attentive while suggesting the most perfect meal for me and my husband. We have never been there before and were not certain what to order. The beef Carpaccio (my spelling may be off) was delicious, and she also was able to suggest a very tasty whine!

Hats off to the Chef, the Service, and the atmosphere in general. I will be coming back!

Oh no! What a disastrous lunch we had! My colleagues and I visited Cafe Paradiso for lunch on friday afternoon last week and we waited 30 minutes to be greeted and have our order taken. Two of us got the beef and pecan burgers and the fries were cold by the time they got to us. We were in kind of a hurry, so we didn't send them back. Also the waitress did not hide her stress well and was over-the-top fake nice. We then waited in a gigantic line for another 15 minutes to pay with our debit cards. Maybe it was just an incredibly busy friday, but should it take almost two hours for 3 people to eat lunch?

Thanks!

Just had a great dining experience here with some colleagues from work. It was a set menu, so I didn't get a chance to see the full lunch offerings (not sure if these items are the norm for lunch)

First off - they serve complimentary Art-is-in bread which is a-ok in my books. I had the spring rolls to start which were incredible - 2 *huge* rolls, nice and crispy and packed with vermicelli, pork, potato, and mushrooms.

Good start so far.

For my main I had filet mignon accompanied with what appeared to be potato croquettes. The filet was cooked as ordered, tender and not overseasoned, and came on a bed of mushrooms with an 'au jus' sauce. Dessert was 'Le Chocolat' which the menu described as "Espresso cream center surrounded by a sweet chocolate mousse, on a shortbread base & covered in bitter-sweet chocolate, served with marinated berries and raspberry gelato" - rich but not too filling, a great end cap for the meal.

Portion sizes were generous for a bistro of this nature. Service was friendly and prompt. I was worried after reading that review by Anne Desbrisay, but my expectations were met and then some. Great overall dining experience - I would definitely return.

Well first off, after a new chef is on board reviewers would normally take at least 6 months before reviewing a restaurant. I have been there under 4 months when this review came out. Have we had our challenges? Yes. As bad as she paints it? No not even close. As a chef I am always aware of the dishes coming back to the kitchen and customers satisfaction is a top priority. I would say the number of unhappy customers I could count on 2 hands in the time I have been there. There have been a few people totally unhappy (4) and there was nothing we could do to satisfy them. We continue to have people amazed at the quality of the food and as a guaranty I will offer a full refund to anyone not happy with the meal. Just ask to talk to the chef Ian Thomson.

WOW. That review is quite um... demonstrative! Thanks for pointing it out to us Ashley. It won't stop me from going back, but I will probably wait a month in the hopes that the owner cleans things up in the meantime. It is however quite refreshing that the reviewer went on three different occasions to make sure the review was consistent with the experience.

Review Ashley refers to is here: www.canada.com

They serve complementary Art-Is-In bread here for lunch and dinner.

I'm so disappointed you didn't like these FF! Judging by your reviews, it looks like you're quite the spring roll guru as well :)

True - they were very different than what you'd get at a Chinese or Vietnamese place, but I really liked the texture and flavor of the roll itself. Anyhow I've only tried them once, but they were memorable.

Beautifully presented, but not as gigantic as we expected for the price ($12 for the pair). I could forgive that if they tasted amazing but they didn't. To my taste, they were too sweet, too mild, and not "Asian" enough. Based on the description, I was expecting some flavour of Char Siu.

People seem to like them though, so please be warned that my opinion is not shared universally. :-)

They have spring rolls as both a dinner and lunch appetizer here. Two rolls stuffed BBQ pork, roasted sweet potato, wild mushrooms and Daikon slaw, Szechwan saté sauce, and a side ginger sesame dip. Nice and crispy and juicy on the inside without being too oily. If they had sriracha and hoisin on the side I'd be in heaven!

After the disappointing and overpriced spring rolls, and the decent but not spectacular steak, I was thrilled to discover how great the desserts were!

First, some background. We were out for lunch because my parents were visiting and were willing to babysit. My Mom had reminded me just the day before how the sorbets in Switzerland are often served with a shot of schnapps or liqueur. So when I saw the Sherbotka on Café Paradiso's menu, I had no choice but to order it.

This was an extremely generous portion of Pure Gelato lime sherbert. Really top notch and refreshing stuff! The cookie tasted like a macaroon and melted in my mouth. The big shot glass of vodka just made it more exciting. I poured about 2/3 of it onto my sherbert and slurped the last bit straight. Fire and Ice baby!

Highly recommended.

Wifey had the Le Chocolate dessert (quote from menu: "Espresso cream center surrounded by a sweet chocolate mousse, on a shortbread base & covered in bitter-sweet chocolate, served with marinated berries and raspberry gelato").

She absolutely loved it! I tried some and it was awesome. Fairly priced at $8.

The Steak-Frites Paradiso was decent, although I asked for medium rare and it was more like medium *well* in most places. The absolutely thickest part was a good medium rare, so I didn't feel justified in complaining at the time.

Fried onions were a nice visual but didn't add much to the taste experience. In fact, combined with the frites and steak there was a bit of grease overload. But then steak frites is supposed to be a heavy meal. The Beaujolais demi-glace was good and made the steak interesting.