Ottawa Foodies

I live right behind the H&C on Preston and can say that the only thing going for it is the alcohol. The food is subpar and it's crazily inconsistent. Also, nothing bothers me more than seeing the cooks out on the sidewalks smoking and then going in to cook my food. Gross. I know this happens a lot of places, but at least at other places I don't have to see it happen. And New User, you must have gotten the servers on their good days, because normally my service stanks.

This past week my family and I went to the Heart and Crown on Preston street. We were taken away by the beautiful ex and interior. There are many beer options and the menu was very different, meaning although they had traditional pub fare they also had very exquisite dishes. Our service was excellent from both the hostess and server! I would highly recommend this restaurant and I will definitely go back.

Our team of 10 from work celebrated Christmas here on December 21. I tried the 4 by 4 fondue, which was spectacular. I had the chicken sandwich with fries, which was good (not great) and was a generous portion, and a glass of Beringer Stone Cellar Merlot 2003. The wine was far too warm for my liking - it was fat and heavy and took me the better part of 45 minutes to drink. The food impressed me. The service was okay, but forgiveable given that it was packed. My colleagues ordered fish and chips which looked amazing.

I came to post about the WORST experience I had today at the H&C on Preston! I was so surprised because it’s been good the other three times I’ve been there. This was the fourth time and just a total disaster.

We were a party of ten, lunching there to celebrate/mourn one of our coworkers who is retiring (lucky her!). We had to sit there for 20 minutes before finally our manager got up and went to find a waitress.

We finally placed our orders...and then waited. And waited. And waited.

Finally our manager and another coworker had to ask for their items to go – and of course just at that point half the food arrived. Half of us are still without our orders and coworker & manager are trying to get theirs in 'to go' boxes along with their bills. We had been there an hour at this point.

Manager pays and the waitress runs off with her credit card – AFTER she’s already signed the bill. My manager had to chase her down to get it back.

Then, we see the rest of our food being brought to another (confused-looking) table and we have to flag down the waitress and tell her that it’s ours.

So now...everyone now has their food....except me.

I steal French fries from other people until it becomes painfully obvious that I’m not going to be getting my food. So everyone makes a plate for me of little bits of their plates that they’re not going to be eating. I end up cobbling together a lunch from a bit of lobster quesadilla, a bit of salad, a bit of fish & chips, and a small pile of fries.

The waitress comes by and asks how we’re all doing. I tell her I never got my food. She says she’ll go get it and I tell her I don’t want it anymore, and that while things have been fabulous at that place the last 3 times I was there, this time was a huge disappointment. She doesn’t apologise, just mumbles something about the kitchen and kindly offers to take the food I never got off my bill.

Then we ask for our bills – she charges me for my beer, which after such an experience I was hoping to see comped – and attempts to charge my colleague for the manager's food which she had taken back to the office with her!!

Insane, eh? What a comedy of errors.

I must say, despite today's experience, I will be going back. Every other time the service has been quick and efficient and friendly. And of course the food is very good - try the smoked salmon appetizer or the stacked vegetarian sandwich! However, it's a good thing that this wasn't my first experience, because it sure would have turned me off this place for good.

I just went to the new Heart and Crown location on Preston. Very cool interior with a huge patio. The menu is quite different from the one in the market. We had the 4 by 4 fondue which was 4 different beers and 4 different cheeses. It was served with a warmed crusty baguette. Very yummy!!

I think this is incorrect - I have yet to see sweet potato fries at this heart and crown location. They seem to only serve them at the market location (a bit disappointing, since this is one of the main reasons I choose to go to the heart and crown).