Ottawa Foodies

Walked past it this afternoon. Looks like they've closed down (all of the windows were covered in brown paper). Their groceries were overpriced though, why would I spend $2 more for a box of cereal that I can get at Superstore?

Also, in terms of more gourmet grocery offerings, people can get those types of ingredients at the bagel shop or organic things at Herb and Spice.

The folks at Westboro Market kindly dropped off a box of goodies (brownies, lemon squares and ginger cookies) to my office yesterday as we are right down the road. Everything was superb: perfectly undercooked brownies, rich bittersweet lemon curd and spicy-sweet ginger. I was inspired to try out their take-out lunch selection today.

No real complaints about the food, but I don't know if I'll be rushing back for lunch anytime soon.

I had a day-old grilled veggie sandwich with hummus and a tomato-zucchini soup. The sandwich, despite being day-old, was perfectly fresh (and half price at $2.50) and a good value for the price. I would highly recommend the day-old sandwich anyday - it's not DiRienzo's, but it's tasty. However, it was on the small side and I don't feel it was worth its full price of $4.95. The tomato-zucchini soup was really lovely and light and would be perfect for a summer lunch, but at $6.00 was a little steep for a single-serve container for take-out, and I found it to be a little out of season (I want something heartier now that it's chilly out!).

All in all, I will definitely be back for sweet treats, and maybe a day old sandwich, but for the price of a soup-sandwich lunch, I would rather treat myself to a sit down meal in a nearby restaurant.

(By the way, they do sell Art-Is-In bread.)

So I dropped in again today to try a croissant. They were putting up new shelves (or maybe re-arranging old shelves) and had a sign out letting people know that's what was going on. They'd also filled in more of the space on the rest of the shelves with more veggies and more bags of grains.

Also, they seem to have more pre-prepared sandwiches at the back now! I saw three different choices of 'grab and go' stuff. I didn't have one, since I wasn't that hungry, but if you work in Westboro or pass through on your way to work, you might want to check it out. They had two meaty options and one vegetarian (as long as you eat cheese) option, priced at 4-5 bucks per sandwich.

But the real reason I'm posting another comment: their croissants. I bought two, one for my husband and one for myself. They are nice and buttery, but a bit too doughy and heavy for my tastes, and slightly underdone. A good croissant should be flaky and put lots of crumbs on your plate. ;) However, they are still quite good and I'd recommend trying one if you're in the neighbourhood. :)

FF: Awesome. Glad to hear they'll be doing more products.

Just in case one of the owners happens to be reading this: Mostly I'd love to see two things:

- Lots more selection of veggies and fruits
- A quick pick-up lunch section, with stuff pre-packaged so you can grab and go. Stuff like sandwiches, samosas, pastries, that sort of thing. Herb & Spice has a section like this and it tends to get a lot of business during lunch time.

I'm going to try one of their croissants soon, since I've been trying to find a decent croissant in Ottawa for a year (there are a few places that do a good job, but one right down the street from my apartment would be wonderful!).

We were in there today, and a guy who "seemed" like the owner told us that they were just putting together their second order of product. The first order was a partial inventory, and was intended to test which items are popular with customers. They're planning to fill all the shelves eventually and would love to hear from you if there's something you'd like to see there.

Unfortunately, they were out of croissants so I didn't get a chance to rate them.

Does anyone know if they're going to be adding more products to the shelves? One odd thing we've noted about the store is it just seems so *empty*. We popped in during Westfest and again a few days ago, and both times we found there were a large number of half-empty or empty shelves, especially in the produce area.

We're curious how this place is going to do, given it is competing on many levels with stores in Hintonburg/Wellington Village and the Superstore up the street.

If anyone tries their dinner club meals, write a review for us all! I'm curious how they are. :)

(June 23) This store offers interesting services, in addition to their storefront, including a subscription-based dinner club and an organics club. the croissant are fantastic (beats the cold french baker croissants available at Bridgehead half-block away; I never imagined I would say those words) and there is a fairly good range of products, considering they are a new store and obviously still building their inventory. the area (which is my neighborhood) desperately needed something just like this, it would be very well complimented by a fish store. I hope they carry Kobe beef in the future ;) The store is off to a good start.