Ottawa Foodies

Dined at Jazz'oo for the second time. Took advantage of the beautiful weather last week to dine on the patio.

The service was absolutely lacking for the first 15 minutes. We were seated and then forgotten. I don't think they initially had any servers during the lunch hour. It took us awhile to order but when we did get a server, she was very pleasant.

We both ordered the sandwich and salad special. It was pretty tasty.

Since we weren't in a rush, it was a nice experience. But had we been, I doubt we would have stuck around to eat there. Some other patrons had waited much longer to get any service.

ordered the special: salmon on a bed of sticky rice with no vegetables! you knew the food was on the table by the smell of the fish alone. one bite is all i could take in and that was enough to give me FOOD POISONING. with a handful of dinners in the restaurant, they had ran out of wine lists; they served the food and left without taking a very full ashtray from the table. in the end, the waitress accepted a date with one of my fellow dinners and that was the only saving grace (for him).

As a long time centretown resident and someone who works on Sparks I was happy to see a new restaurant in the neighbourhood. Sparks has long since fallen out of favour as a place to shop and eat. When the CBC opened their new digs I have been hoping it would attract new businesses. Some of the existing buildings are being fixed up and new restaurants are now opening up. This afternoon I attended a staff lunch at one of the new restaurants – the Jazz’oo European Bar & Lounge. The restaurant is decorated using an open concept design and has jazz playing in the background. I believe they offer up live shows in the evening. Of the six people at the table four ordered the soup and sandwich special of butternut squash, a salami and prociutto sandwich, and mixed greens with a balsamic vinaigrette. The diners that ordered this item were pleased with the meal commenting that the soup was flavourful and the sandwich and salad ingredients were very fresh. Two of us ordered the daily lamb special which consisted of leg of lamb, couscous, and roasted vegetables. The two of us that ordered this dish found the lamb flavourless and greasy a huge disappointment. The couscous was pretty flavourless as well since I often make it at home using chicken stock to add flavour but perhaps the restaurant prepared it using water only. The vegetables were nice and included roasted eggplant, wild mushrooms (shiitake perhaps?), green beans and baby carrots. (The baby carrots were not a big hit with me but the other vegetables were nice.) One of my dining companions has eaten here before and mentioned the à la carte items are very good and the chicken salad is a favourite. Even though I was disappointed with the special I might like to pay a return visit to try one of the à la carte items and to give them a second chance.