Ottawa Foodies

After driving by this place for two years it was time to venture in. Jak can cook for sure. We were in the mood for variety so the five appetizer choice seem to fit our mood. First a 600ml Beau's and a glass of house red for my partner. Water and fresh bread came out with a tasty whipped garlic smoked paprika butter. The special board had peach pork sliders with a green apple carrot and shallot coleslaw yummy! The black bean cakes and salsa I enjoyed more than my wife but our favorite of the evening were the duck spring rolls. The pork rillette with cranberry coulis was certainly a surprise finally a pate I can enjoy. The peach puff pastry with garlic and fresh home made cheese was very good. Not being a fan of puff pastry I'm glad we tried it. Age must be fooling with my palate. Our next visit I think the flat iron steak with chimichurri will be my choice.

My parter and I tried out Jak's last night for the Taste of Justice evening (a portion of the proceeds go to charities - check out other participating restaurants amnesty.akaraisin.com). We split the 5-appetizer tasting special for $37 and were pleasantly surprised! The spinach salad we chose had toasted pecans, dried cranberries and cheese curd (might have been St. Albert's?) with a light dressing. Next was a dish with green beans and some kind of warm flaked fish sauce - the sauce on it, which I can't remember the name of, was killer, some sort of egg-white, olive and caper deal. The best was the tart - right now it's rhubarb and carmelized onion with soft cheese on top, it was a great mix of sweet, tart, and savoury. The black bean cakes were good, what made them delicious though was the roasted red pepper sauce they were served with. My parter had all of the duck spring rolls, which he said were excellent - served with a sweet Thai-style dipping sauce. There was non-stop bread, which was a real treat - buttery biscuits and olive bread that were great for sopping up remaining sauce from the app dishes. I had a glass of Valpolicella wine (7$), and my partner had Beau's - they've got a decent selection of local brews and Ontario wines. We finished it off with sour cherry cheesecake - I loved it, but then again I've never tasted a bad cheesecake! For what it's worth, it was medium-density with a very sweet, crunchy crust, with ground pecans and cheeries on top. Not too big, not too small, perfect for two already-satisfied foodies with a sweet-tooth. It was overall a very impressive dinner, and great service. I liked the atmosphere too, they've got paintings from a local artist on display and were playing a mix of relaxing lounge music and trip-hop (sounds weird, but it worked!).
This is a great place to take a date or meet up with friends!

One of the things I used to love more than anything in the world when I lived in Moncton was going out for a nice dinner by myself. There's something just so therapeutic about it. Every single sip of wine, and every delicious morsel of food has your full attention. And did it ever tonight.

Ever since I saw their tasting special (5 apps or dessert of your choice for $37), I've been wanting to come back and dig in. The evening I saw it I had to be somewhere by a specific time and didn't want to rush it. It's been calling me since. However, after a few words with my server, I quickly realized that that would be too much food for me on my own (I guess I'll have to go back!). So I dumbed it down to 3. Three magnificent choices.

Before any of my apps arrived, a plate of olive bread and fresh rolls straight from the oven were delivered with olive oil and balsamic for dipping. As I began pulling the warm rolls apart, revealing their dense, doughy center, I begged myself not to eat too much. I hate filling up on bread, but it's so damn difficult to pass it up sometimes!

Luckily my soup arrived before I made it to the second roll. One of the best French onion soups I've ever had, made with rye rarebit croutons. I cut into the slice of bread with my spoon and realized that this was not your typical soup-soaked crouton. It was like a dream, melted cheese blanketing a slice of toasted bread that was still crispy, yet melted in your mouth. Each spoonful got softer as I worked my way to the other end of the slice, but the final bite still had a slight crisp. Mustard, thyme and beer were the added flavours that made your heart sing.

I love fruit in savoury situations, which is why I went for the rosemary caramelized pear and garlic confit tart as my next dish. These delectable slices of pear were framed in a light, flaky crust and served underneath a dollop of soft fromage du maison. Yumm.

Finally (and yes, I was getting full at this point), fish croquettes with smoked tomato remoulade and échalottes-lemon oil. Three tasty dumpling-shaped fritters breaded a little too dry and coarse in comparison to the succulent interior, but the mouthwatering remoulade made up for it.

This restaurant is a staple of mine for breakfast, but after tonight will have to include dinner. Although the view of the busy street outside isn't the most appealing, the warm and inviting decor inside, paired with the easygoing, cordial staff, make you feel like you're dining at a friend's place. Apps range from $6 to $9 and mains from $17 to $40. They even have smaller portion options!

I finally got to try this place after a few friends were raving about it. The last time I was at this place was when it was Stoneface Dolly's so it was quite a change, they did a good job with the facelift.
I've been there twice in the last couple weeks, the first time we had excellent service. I had one of the Macs (fried egg on a bread choice with fixings), and my friend had one of the omelettes which he loved. The Macs are really neat, they are sorta a benedict (w'out the sauce) and a breakfast sandwich. It was a fried egg on an english muffin with stuff on top (cheese, tomato etc), it was extremely fresh tasting and quite possibly one of the best breakie sandwiches I've had. I was very impressed.
I was there again this past week and this time I had one of the Benedicts, a Mexican-themed one with a black bean cake (amazing!) avocado and a roasted red pepper sauce which was fantastic...I liked it much better than the typical hollandaise sauce, plus it was a really nice change. The sauce wasn't as heavy, yet the benedict was extremely filling. One of the better benedicts I've had too (and I've had breakfast at many places during my travels across the US and Canada).
My partner had the Apple Cinnamon french toast, he loved it. They use their own oat bread which is quite heavy and went very well with the apples and cinnamon. All the food tastes very fresh, homemade and delicious.
I wasn't really that impressed with the service, our server seemed really friendly with some of the other guests but they seemed like regulars. But the food is great so I'll go back, and hopefully the service will be a little better and it was just a one-off or a bad day.
Their dinner menu looked really good too, I may check that out sometime too!

I had plans to go for afternoon dessert with a friend of mine today. I was really craving some apple crisp or crumble or a variation thereof. My first thought was Oh So Good in the market. I've never been but I knew they had dessert. After reading some reviews on Ottawa Foodies and a few other sites, I decided against it.

I've always enjoyed Jak's, it's very close by and I figured even if they don't have exactly what I'm craving, I'm sure they'll have something I will love. They had the next best thing – apple cinnamon french toast made with cinnamon spiced molasses-oat bread and topped with apple compote, maple syrup and whipped cream. Luckily I was hungry enough to devour most of it. I even saved some room for a piece of my friend's dark chocolate ganache pie, so smooth and rich.

I had a lovely afternoon, sipping on tea and chatting while soaking up the sun through the window (desperately needed this time of year). Such a wonderful, cozy spot with consistently fantastic service.

Food was spot on today. Eggs benedict "Popeye" with spinach, roasted red pepper on biscuit. Yum! Sister-in-law had French Toast and said it was very, very yummy. Niece ate one and a half of her Serge Macs without tomato. The girl is a meatavore. Bill for four was around $75, but that included 3 juices, 2 coffees, 4 breakfasts, and three sides in addition to breaky. Service was prompt, but not invasive.

I'm on the fence about whether I prefer Jak's or Stoneface Dolly's. Right now, Jak's is winning.

I go there for breakfast every once and awhile. The food is excellent, although it can be a little packed. Based on the comments below, I would say they have certainly turned things around from 2007.

I'd like to go back for Supper some time.

Finally ended up trying this restaurant tonight.

The food was excellent. I can truly say i enjoyed everything i sampled. I tried a few dishes and they all seemed, to me, to be outstanding.

I will try the brunch sometime, but i highly recommend their dinner menu. I look forward to trying the other dishes soon. Price was really very reasonable too which makes it a gem.

we were craving eggs today and headed to jak's for the first time. i had the gruyere omlette with capicola and a tea biscuit: the eggs might have been delicious, but the meal arrived a bit cold and our server was in too foul a mood for me to bother with a send-back. the potatoes were perfectly done but the fruit bowl was really more like a garnish than something substantial. my friend ordered 'the standard' and seemed mildly satisfied. of note was the bizarrely incongruous soundtrack that included 'shaft' and the klf. while the overall experience was okay, i won't be rushing back.

Mmmm. Toasted beagle. Sorry, I could hardly resist.

We were back here on Saturday and I have to say, the bennies are really good; not in a classic sort of way, but in a way that leaves you wanting to lick the plate clean of the lemon diablo sauce (like a hollandaise, but with more flavour).

The portions have stayed about the same, whereas many other restaurants have decreased/upped their prices.

Still one of my favourites in the city!

4 of us went to Jak's Kitchen for brunch (located at 479 Bronson Avenue, just north of the Queensway on the east north corner of McLeod) following the 1/2 marathon (not me!) race on National Capital Race Weekend. The place was busy and we had to wait. Nice problem to have for them since it was already past 1 pm. The brunch does carry on until 3:00 pm. They have room for about 24 inside and a dozen plus on the patio. It is wee but has a nice cozy atmosphere. You can look right into the kitchen and watch the action first hand. I can't imagine they can swing a cat in there but they did seem to make it all work.

We loved the toasted molasses-oat bread. Although we didn't pick up any on our visit, it was good to know that they do sell their bread for $5 a loaf.

The homemade strawberry jam was also delicious and went well with the toast as the toast also had a hint of cinnamon.

And any of us with the kitchen greens as a side just loved the dressing on the very fresh greens.

Although the eggs were a wee bit cold, we had such a positive overall experience we would like to go back again for brunch but to also try a dinner experience.

I took just a ton of pictures so perhaps you would like to see them and read more on my blog.

ottawafood.blogspot.com

I always saw Stonefaced Dolly's as being the best breakfast in town, no competition. However, as the months got warmer, I noticed an increasingly large line out their door (despite construction), and an increasingly short temper on their wait staff (whom I love dearly).

As a result, my partner and I tried Jak's a few weeks ago, and we are hooked. Not only is there no wait (though about half to 3/4 of the tables are full) to get in, the food is downright incredible, and the three times that we've been in the last two months, we have been impressed with the service.

The double standard breakfast (3 eggs, two meats, roasted potatoes, double order of toast, and fruit) is a good value and their other specialities breakfasts (omlettes with ridiculously amazing cheese, veggies and meats, or macs--fried eggs on your choice of bread with equally amazing toppings) are equally good in value and down right wonderful.

The only thing that this place is lacking is some good pancakes (found at Stonefaced Dolly's), otherwise I see them succeeding in the long run on account of word of mouth.