Ottawa Foodies

Full disclosure, my own personal bias: I am an American transplant living in Canada, grew up in a very multi-ethnic neighborhood with a big Mexican population (as well as Dominican, Salvedorian, and Cuban) and my biggest, biggest, gripe with this country is your terrible Mexican food (and frankly, "Latin" food in general. Where oh where can I get my chicharones craving fixed!). Now, I have had good Mexican meals in Canada. But for the most part, "Mexican" up North means smothered in cheese with a sketchy side of beans.

Onto the review:
Ahora is a nice alternative to that. The ingredients are fresh, there is an awesome salsa/hot sauce bar, the food is not covered in Kraft. Given that it is not god-awful, Ahora has a bit of a hype as the "best Mexican" food in town.

But that doesn't make it great, and all the reviews of how "Authentic" it is make me cringe for what passes as authentic here. The food is really, really bland. This mostly comes from the fact that their entire menu can be summed up as "Form of tortilla" + "grilled meat" + "accoutrements".

Ahora is a taqueria, and although I would love to see a place crop up with a kick-ass Mole or veracruz sauce, that is not a taqueria's job. But even for a simple taqueria, the food is remarkably bland. Great, authentic taco fillings are often slow cooked, not grilled. Pork Al Pastor, tongue (yum!), or even tripe braised in a tomato sauce. Now THATs a taco. Ahora strikes me as pretty much the kind of food I can make myself if I had a great hot sauce. Nothing special, but if you're jonesing for Mexican, it'll fit the bill. But I just can't rave about the place.

PLATO RANCHERO
Burrito au gratin filled with chicken or steak, salsa gringa and guacamole, topped with salsa Ahora and sour cream
Burrito gratiné garni de poulet ou de steak, salsa gringa et guacamole, servi avec salsa Ahora et crème sûre 12.95

This was my first time here. Loved this place! Well.... loved the food. There was so much confusion on how to order. I was alone, when I came in the waitress gave me a table. But then I had to go to the counter to order. I didn't really want to leave any of my belongings at the table. I ended up losing my table cause someone just decided to sit there. Also, it wasn't clear where the line up should be formed. I got in one line that went straight into the cash but then noticed that some others had formed a line along the counter. Basically, there is no room to form a line because there are tables right up to the order counter. They have waitresses to bring the orders to your table, I really don't see how it would be much more work for them to take the orders at your table as well. The line up is intrusive to the people eating close to the order counter. I'm all for cafeteria style but they just don't have this setup right for that. Perhaps you should be given a number that you can leave at your table so that it wont be taken when you get up to order. Also, they just need to get rid of some tables next to the order counter, it just doesn't work. Or simply have the waitresses take your order at the table.

Sorry that was a lot of ranting. All that being said, it was the best mexican I ever had, including Mexico. Love the salsa bar. Also had a yummy Horchata with it, super good.

darn I just noticed that my photos are rotated the wrong way and cant change them :-(

Friday night a couple of friends and I wandered down to the Ahora, as we'd heard lots about it but never tried it. When we arrived in the basement restaurant, the place was bustling and we had to wait about 15 minutes for a table, which was fine considering how busy they were. I found placing the order a bit weird - you go up and pre-pay rather than someone taking your order, which means you also have to pre-tip... I wasn't sure I liked that aspect of it! I got the veg. enchiladas with black beans. The beans were really great, the enchiladas so-so - but I really can't complain for how cheap it was and how much I got! The salad was also pretty decent, better than your standard iceberg lettuce and ranch dressing - it was shredded romaine with some other veggies (radish, onion) and a light vinaigrette. The Michelada was interesting, I thought it was a resfreshing alternative to a margerita - though to be honest, I have no real basis for comparison! My friend had mis-ordered her dish, thinking it came with black beans, and when she mentioned something the staff brought out complimentary black beans even though she made the mistake - very nice touch. Overall I can see why it's popular, it's definitely better value-wise than somewhere like Mexicali Rosa's, but still a bit bland for my taste (I like spice!) and very busy.

My girlfriend Amanda used my account to post about Ahora a few weeks ago. I had a chance to check it out last week, so I thought I'd share my experience. I went after the lunch rush, so I found that the place was empty. I ordered a Guacamole quesadilla, steak taco and nachos.

For under 10 bucks, there is nothing to complain about what so ever. The food was prepared relatively quickly, it was tasty and super filling. I did find the steak to be on the bland side, however they provide a huge table of condiments which include 4 or 5 kinds of hot sauce, cilantro, pico de gallo, onions etc etc, so there was no lack of flavor in my taco.

The quesdilla was simple: guac and cheese. It was delicious. The guacamole was flavorful, creamy and had a strong taste of garlic. My one qualm was that the nachos were not thaaat fresh. But meh, they were still, salty, crunchy and I topped them with onions, pico de gallo and hot sauce so - they were pretty good.

Ahora does not serve the best food in the world, however it's filling, fresh, cafeteria style, Mexican comfort food for a very reasonable price. Although it is located in a basement, decorated with tacky Mexican kitsch, and crowded, Ahora never-the-less has a certain charm. I suppose that the charm is the fact that it's decent(full flavored if you include the condiments)food for a decent price.

Rob

Wow. That's awful. Do they have an owner or some kind of management you could address this to?

I 'ate' at Ahora a couple of days ago at lunch.

I love the food, it tastes great and usually at lunch time the service is fantastic, but this time for some reason things just didn't work out. I ordered a burrito, then sat down and waited.

After 30 minutes, I asked the staff how much longer my meal would take since I had to return to work in a bit. They told me it would be ready in 'just a moment'.

After 45 minutes, I asked again, and was given the same answer. At this point, two different groups had been sat down and had received their meals at the table next to me.

After 55 minutes, I asked if they would give it to me in the next 5 minutes, or if I could get a refund. They gave me a refund.

However, because I paid with debit, they refused to refund me the (quite generous) tip that I gave them.

What the hell. Thanks for making me pay you to sit in your restaurant for an hour, I guess?

I had the pleasure of attending Ahora yesterday for lunch. I must say don't let the strange basement location fool you. The food is really delicious. I had a steak taco with a salad, one it was only $5 and two it was great. The steak was not chewy, the soft shell tacos were fresh and , there are lots of salsas and sauces to choose from.There were also countless other Mexican dishes , such as quesideilas and burritos . They also serve wonderful Spanish style soda in interesting and tasty flavors. The prices are fair, however I would avoid lunch time as it becomes extremely busy and there are very few places to sit. When I went there were only two people working, one cook and one girl who took orders, served and cleared, so don't expect extremely speedy service. It's nothing fancy but it's delicious. It's fun, upbeat and a great place to have a casual meal. -Amanda

I have been here several times and I usually get the Plato Ranchero or the Plato Ahora while my boyfriend usually gets the Carne Asada.. Filling and worth each penny! Nachos ~different from any other place: Beans aren't too dry, tomatoes, sour cream and guacamole.. and I must add, crispy nacho chips! Flavorful and very recommended!

I had a delicious meal at Ahora! The food was really good. I thought it tasted pretty authentic.

I had the Plato Ahora and it was a HUGE plate of food. It was a burrito with two sides. I chose the black beans and salad. The hubby had the Quesadilla de Carne with salad as the side dish.

The bevvies were good. The mango flavour was fresh and tasty and the drink was sweet, tangy and refreshing. I enjoyed my virgin pina colada immensely. The last time I had one was on my honeymoon a few years ago and this one took me back...

To be honest, I didn’t expect the steak in the quesadilla to be so good but it was tender, well-seasoned and juicy. The salad was good; it had a light vinaigrette that was full of flavour, even though it didn’t have a single prominent one. The hubby didn’t find his dish extremely filling so he helped me with mine.

We decided that my dish was the standout. The burrito was chock full of stuff and about 3 inches in diameter and 8 inches long. The filling was fragrant and well-seasoned. It was earthy and had a little tiny bit of heat. The chicken was in bite-size pieces and it was juicy and tender. The filling had only a little bit of sauce in it – just the right amount so that the burrito wasn’t soggy. This dish was generous and would satisfy a big appetite.

The food was fairly inexpensive and was filling.

The decor was a little gitchy, but it made it a fun place to eat, which is welcome since the restaurant is in a basement.

Wow, after eating this, I'm considering a real possibility that one person made 57 different accounts to give this place some love. I was not impressed to say the least.

I was really really disappointed. I knew they weren't exactly an authentic restaurant but that's ok as long as you provide good food with a twist..but I'm sorry that's not the case here.

I ordered a chicken burrito, veggie taco, and small nachos. The burrito was a big mess with a taste more of oils you would taste from a fish than chicken. The taco was small and had a few beans in it and that was basically it. (it was pretty small too) The nachos are probably the best part but even then thats not a meal really.

I had rice with both the burrito and taco and it was pretty bland and boring.

All in all, a huge miss for me and I have no idea why this place is so popular.

I just attended Ahora for the first time with the GF and it matched my expectations. We both got Burritos in different forms, as well as the corn chips and Guacamole. We only sampled the rice and the beans and a few of the sauces seeing as the Lady happens to be quite allergic to sweet peppers (red, green, yellow) which are only actually found in the salad or as a garnish.

It was astounding. It felt filling and healthy, like the very definition of quality mexican food. My only complaint was that there was so little space for a resto which is so wonderful. I will certainly be back to try the Enchilada, but I heartily reccomend the burrito's.

After so much 'enchiladas vegetariana' abuse I finally branched out and got a take-away vegetarian burrito. The 'ranchero vegitariano.'

And, yum.

One thing stands out: Ahora is a great value. It's an awful lot of high-quality food for relatively little cash. Size-wise, it reminded me of something called a "Macho Burrito" from the US "Del Taco" chain, which was -- when I was there -- advertised with the not terribly appealing slogan "Over 1 pound of ingredients!" Really, a piggish size. But exactly the sort of thing I like to pig out on.

The hot-tish green salsa, all cilantro-y, is just the thing to douse it with.

This is the burrito platter. I didn't eat it so I can only share what I saw.

The take-away version came with no salad!

I hadn't realised how much I liked their little salad offering. It's not just limp afterthought iceberg, but actual salad.

There were a few bits of avocado, peppers and tomato in the box, but...

Oh, never mind. I'm looking at their on-line menu now, and noting "Served with two of the following: beans, salad, rice." It came with plenty of rice and beans. I see it's the fault of my food-fetching friend.

Moral of the story: GET THE SALAD. I had not realised until FF's commentary below how critical it is to rounding out this particular plate.

And now I have to give them props for the 'few bits of avocado...'

At kmennie's suggestion, I had the vegetarian enchiladas and was not disappointed. It was satisfying and delicious. The black beans were very heavy but the refreshing salad sort of "lubricated" the whole meal and allowed me to eat the entire mess of heavy food without regret.

Anyone who thinks that a meal without meat is unsatisfying should try this dish (with the bean option). ;-)

The 'enchiladas vegetariana' satisfy my cravings for cheese enchiladas, without being nearly so fat-laden and boring as the usual kind. Recommended without reservation.

Finally, an Ottawa restaurant that understands that salsa has no place in nachos! You won't find the pathetically soggy salsa-laden chips in this dish like you do in most places here.

Sadly, the chips aren't the greatest (thick and greasy) and I like to have black olives and jalapeños cooked with my nachos. Cheese is generous and the nachos are perfectly baked.

This was the Large ($6 or so)

I went to Ahora last night for the second time. I had the tres tacos (I was hungry!) - all vegetarian.
They were filled with black beans and veggies to which I added salsa from the condiment bar. With chips as one of my side orders, I got to try all of the salsas that were being offered. Yum! I also had the salad. I'm not sure what is in their vinegrette, but I thought it was great.

The woman who took my order was very helpful about which dishes contained dairy products.

We even got a bit of a dance show as they were closing up. :)

Always keen to try something new, I opted for this beverage with my meal. It was quite good, consisting of milk, sugar, cinnamon, and a kind of milled rice whisked in a blender.

I had to chuckle when I watched the server tear open two paper packets of sugar and dump them into the blender. It's almost like camping! ;-)

These are good and the only place I've been able to find (save Cinnabon) that has Churros. they're simple and come in two flavours. Dulce de leche wins over chocolate for me. They do come from an outside bakery in MTL, so that's a bit of a downer.
kinda pricey: 2/$3.95