Ottawa Foodies

I went to Napo with a friend for dinner last night. We had a fabulous meal.

First of all they have a great selection of Italian style cocktails that you don't often see. Some are standard but some were unique.

I had a Campari and soda to start and my friend had a frozen Frangelico and cream martini. A nice start to the meal. Love trying new things.

For our appetizers I had the creamy corn chowder soup. This was to die for. Perfect consistency and small cubes of potatoes to give it the chowder angle.
My friend had the crab stuffed ravioli with roasted corn and herbs (?). This is an appetizer sized portion and consisted of 3 ravioli’s. I tasted it and it was very good.

For mains: I had the Cannelloni stuffed with duck. It was topped with a tomato sauce and whipped ricotta cheese and arugula. Smoked duck on the side. This was light and fresh and tasty. My only complaint is that there was not very much duck inside the cannelloni.
To accompany this I had a glass of the 2006 Ceste Barbera d'Alba, Piemonte. It was a full bodied red that went well with the duck.
My friend had the house made gnocchi with proscuitto and gorgonzola. She raved about it and used the bread they gave us to finish off the cheese sauce.

We then shared a dessert of chocolate and hazelnut torte. Moist and rich and chocolaty. YUM!

Our server was Stephen and he was both helpful and pleasant. When my friend expressed concern about portion sizes (she doesn't eat much at one sitting), he offered to make her a half portion of the gnocchi so she would not be too full. Very accommodating.

The restaurant is pleasant and comfortable but could do with a bit more lighting in a few spots. We found it very dark.

My bill for an aperitif, appetizer, glass of wine and main course was only $41 including tax. I gave $7 tip so my bill came to $48. This is amazing for the quality of food.
I will be going back soon with Mr. KSW in tow as he was quite jealous to miss out on the experience :):)

This restaurant is hosted in a little house on Bank St. I didn't like the interior decor so much but, finally I found an "Italian" restaurant in Ottawa!
Napo has an interesting seasonal menu. All my plates were fresh and well presented. Wide range of fish and meats. The wine list is short but acceptable: only Italian and Canadian labels. My server was friendly and very slow. The service can be improved. This new restaurant has potential to develop. Interesting!

best italian food ive had in a long time