Ottawa Foodies

We just popped in to try Pookie's after all the positive reviews. The small dining room was packed, so our reservation proved mandatory.

Tasty food, genial service, and pleasant atmosphere make this place a welcome addition to the neighbourhood.

Here's what we had:

2. Whole shrimp spring rolls with sweet and sour sauce
9. Tom Yum soup (shrimp)
17. Grilled beef salad
31. Panang Red Curry (chicken)
45. Pad Kee Mao noodles (pork)
51. Sticky Rice
Mango ice cream
Coconut ice cream
Lemongrass tea

The Tom Yum soup was exceptional in its depth of flavour, as was the Panang Red Curry. The other items were good. The one surprising thing was that the spice level seemed very low. Just a slight burn to the red curry and only a hint of chili in the other dishes. We weren't asked about spice level so we expected to get something similar to other Thai restaurants.

The Grilled Beef Salad was full of interesting lemongrass/chili/onion flavours. Really nice, except the beef lacked any charring (it was a uniform brown colour) and so didn't taste grilled at all.

The Pad Kee Mao had plenty of vegetables, which was nice, but we ran out of noodles early. It was tasty but I have to rank Sweet Basil's Pad Kee Mao above the one here.

The sticky rice was interesting, especially the tumbler-like covered basket it was served in. Perfect for soaking up the delicious red curry!

The ice creams both tasted home made, and the coconut one even contained little bits of fresh coconut. $3.50 gets you a serving of 3 very rich 1-inch diameter scoops.

The Lemongrass Tea was quite refreshing.

Overall value was good. $70 including tax but not tip for this big feast for two. We ordered no drinks other than the lemongrass tea and the complimentary water glasses, which were kept full quite reliably.

I can say that we're thrilled to have such a great Thai restaurant in Ottawa's inner suburbs. We were eying the Pad Thai at other diners' tables and thinking that we should pick some up for the kids next time we need a quick meal. :-)

Tried out Pookie's tonight, overall the food was good. I'll have to go back to try the Issan dishes, but I can say the red curry we had was one of the best I've ever had... more complex flavours than any other red curry I've had in Ottawa. Also, the pad thai wasn't the sweet mess infused with ketchup that most places serve up in Ottawa. A note on the service: the place was PACKED, and it took a while to get seated, have our order taken, however, they served the food pretty quickly and the pacing was just right. The server was really polite and non-intrusive. Also, the restaurant is very clean. The owner seemed pretty chummy with the clientele and the chef also came out to talk to a Thai patron. I will return!

Addendum (May 18th): i've now been back for som-tam and sticky rice, and will say its the best i've had in Ottawa (and perhaps outside of Thailand). A great dish to have with a beer or two, Pookie's som tam brought together spicy, sour, sweet and salty elements into a single salad. The rice was also v. good, fresh and the right consistency!

++++++++++++++++++++
Based of a return visit (take-out) to try other (veggie) dishes, including gang pah, aka"jungle curry", and a stir-fry, I can say Pookie's shows a lot of promise for a newly opened restaurant.

I requested my gang pah hot-spicy, and Pookie's accommodated. Spicy it was, but it was also a very balanced, flavourful curry made tangy-sweet w/ galanga (and tamarind?) & coupled with the right amount of Thai basil: my fav. (Thai) curry in recent memory (and maybe the best i've had in Ottawa). The stir fry was also flavourful (if a bit more generic) and the jasmine rice was perfectly done.

The service was polite and amiable.

Alone on both visits (and being vegetarian), i can't say i've had a broad enough sample to recommend across the board. Som tam (green papaya salad) or other eastern Thai specialties are for return visits. And on that point, I hope Pookie's is not plagued by its location (off Carling).

Pookie's Thai occupies the same location at the now defunct Cumin 'n Goan restaurant.

I ordered Pad Thai to go, so i can't comment (yet) on the other menu items. Mine was good, but in general, I don't find Pad Thai to be a particularly good indicator of a Thai restie's worth since its a pretty blunt dish compared to other Thai specialties.

I can say, though, that the restaurant is a nicely decorated, friendly, bright room. A nice addition to that strip.

Spoke briefly w/ the friendly owner and learned that she's "Issan", i.e., eastern Thai; she mentioned that they can make off-menu food from that area if requested (in advance). Somtom (papaya salad) and Roast Chicken are but two examples from that region, which generally heralds the spiciest food from thailand.