Ottawa Foodies

3

I've always liked this place. The vibe is awesome and it doesn't try to be something it's not. The worst thing a restaurant can do is try too hard to please everyone all the while forgetting what it wants to be. For that I give this place two big thumbs up.

One thing I would suggest is that they take a little more pride and not let garbage pile up behind the bar. It often looks like there was a party the previous night and no one cared to clean up the next day. Also, I think a few newer tvs could jazz up the place.

I know they are Habs fans but I bet they don't watch stick around Chez to watch them play!

1

Been to this place many times, always have a great time. Great staff and beers. Get the Lucien Burger. It is awesome.

3

Went on Saturday afternoon with the little ones. Had the Chez Lucien burger. As with ilikerealfood, I found the burger dry (perhaps ridiculously so) and tasteless. Definitely not anywhere near top of my list. The other dishes were palatable (Monte Cristo, Veal).

IMO this place gets a little too much credit for the food. Sure the atmosphere and location are good. The beer selection is okay, for the Market, but still not terribly interesting (wow.. Mill Street).

Too bad. I wanted to like it.

Great beer menu, but once again, an Ottawa burger joint that doesn't season the mince. Sigh...

Had the diego burger and my dining partner had the chez lucien burger.

Both burgs were a bit over done. Would have liked a little more pink.

But I can see why people like this place. Better then average burger, good beer, nice atmosphere. I get it.

The fries are really good; crispy and well seasoned. (put some of that seasoning in the meat, PLEASE) and the bread was better then the'wonderbread' stuff you find at five guys or works.

It was cool that they added a nice little salad with it.

Still looking for that amazing burger...

Works, nope. Chez Lucien, nope, Five Guys, nope, Hintenburger, nope. All decent burgers, but where is the flavor!?!?! (notwithstanding the toppings, and for that Works wins so far).

Gotta try that Art-is-in burger, I'm convinced its the last saving grace in Ottawa for burgers. But until I try it, I can't say anything other then Ottawa burgers underwhelm me.

My favourite pub in O-Town. Give me a Frida-Diego burger and a pint or 2 of Waupoos cider and I'm good to go.

Dropped in here for lunch with my son thinking we would each have a burger because they are our favourite. He went with his regular fav' burger and salad but I decided to have the mussels of the day with frites. Delicious-the sauce was flavourful but a little watery-might have seemed less so had they served them with baguette. Still it was yummy (wine and garlic /cream - I think) The frites were really good. Burger was declared delicious (not dry at all).Service was slow but we didn't mind as we were having a nice visit-might have taken to long for those on a work schedule. Very reasonably priced with meal and a pint.

5

While the service is sometimes mediocre, the burgers never disappoint. Overall it's a great place for a drink and a great burger(the salad and house dressing are also wonderful).

4

The Chez Lucien burger has to be one of my favourite burgers in Ottawa. Bacon, mushrooms, and a dollop of tangy cream cheese: perfect! My only complaint is that the burgers are quite thin and can tend towards burnt if you're unlucky; I'd prefer a burger that was smaller in diameter but thicker instead. The fries and salad are delicious, although I wish they'd ditch the raw sprouts (speaking from the paranoid point of view of someone who lived in Europe during the E. coli crisis :p ).

The service is always friendly, although they always seem to be understaffed by about one server. The upshot: you don't feel rushed into finishing your meal and vacating your table for the next group. Just don't eat here if you're in a hurry to go somewhere else afterwards. And leave the warm woolies at home, because this place gets seriously HOT when it's crowded, which is pretty much all the time.

2

Chez Lucien is my favourite bar food in Ottawa. I have never, ever been disappointed.

I have tried three of their four burgers (the salmon burger, the bourgeois burger, and my personal fave the Chez Lucien burger) and each one was perfect - well portioned and well cooked. The Chez Lucien burger in particular is just a perfect mixture of creamy (the cheese) earthy (the mushrooms) smokey (the bacon) and meaty (the beef). The fries, as always, are incredible - just the right combination of crispy and potato-ey - and I always ask for an extra side of dressing to dip the fries in. The salad is nice and light and the homemade ranch is my favourite. Plus, at $12 for a burger, salad AND fries it's a total steal. Perfection with a side of Waupoos cider, which they have on tap.

I've also gone for breakfast; I've tried the eggs benedict and the eggs florentine. Once again their prices are fantastic for the amount of food you get, and the quality was great. Highly recommended.

The service, as some have mentioned, can be a bit scant as they're so busy, but when they do finally come around to you it is always friendly and helpful.

I have never gotten anything here aside from the burger and fries and have only been disappointed once (with the fries). The burgers are generous, delicious and served alongside salad and deliciously crisp fries, ketchup and/or mayo on the side. You can also sub in all fries. The beers here are quite good as well. All of this and some friendly service all housed in a snug, convivial little pub.

6

Here is a picture of the La Bourgeoiserie beef burger with slices of pears and brie.

Was there today after a meeting and just missed lunch time at both murrey St and Benny's Bistro.

Went to CL after an absence of about 2 years and had the Bourgoise burger with pear, grilled onion and brie. Very tasty and the fries are great dipped in the dressing and the salad was fairly decent.

Very decent deal for $12.

The soup of the day was lamb stew but they ran out..

One of the best burgers in town. Excellent quality food despite the modest setting.

I would love to know what's in that salad dressing of their's!!! All three of their beef burgers are incredible and as Food&Think said, omg those fries!!!!

Both the Burger Platters we ordered were fantastic! "The Man" had the Frida & Diego (jalapeos, grilled onions & monterey jack cheese), while I had the Hambourgeoisie, a more "upscale" burger (premium beef, pear slices, grilled onions and melted brie). The shoestring fries were homemade (still had the skins on) and perfectly cooked, while the house salad of mixed greens and fresh veggies came with a very tasty dressing. Having both fries and salad was a real treat as so many places offer one or the other.

Can't wait to go back and try another of their many Burger Platters.

The burger was pretty good. The fries were awesome -- very slightly coated with a satisfying McDonald's kind of light greasiness. The salad was generous considering it was in addition to the fries (most of it is hidden in this photo).

"The Man" was very impressed by the selection of Beers "on tap". By our count there were four craft beers... Heritage (Carleton Place), Blanche de Chambly (Chambly, Que) and St. Ambroise & Griffin (Montreal). As well as Boddingtons, Kilkenny, and Stella (there may have been a couple more, but we couldn't read the taps from where we were seated).

Unfortunately, they don't have Beau's, I would think that this would be a good location for them to get into though, because management obviously supports craft beers, and afterall Beau's home is half-way between Ottawa and Montreal, so it would be a good fit with the atmosphere at Chez Lucien.

And don't forget the Kilkenny! They have 8 beers on tap, and a whole whack of them in bottles. Beverage prices are shown with tax included, which is very cool.

From memory from my last visit: among some more common offerings, there are a couple from Macauslan (Griffon Extra Pale Ale and St. Ambroise Pale Ale), plus Blanche de Chambly on tap.

another vote for the salmon burger!
i can't be any more insightful than the reviews below.

1

I agree with the other review of the CL salmon burger whole-heartedly!

This salmon burger has a huge piece of salmon that is so tasty that the garnishes are hardly noticeable.

There are of course, the delicious CL fries (lightly salted) and a complimentary side salad with fantastic dressing drizzled over it...but the fish itself is the mouth-watering treat guaranteed.

(Just the perfect flavour of tenderly cooked fish that tastes exactly the same every time...)

They have this one down to an 'art-form'.

All of that, for around $12. It is amazing!

I wish I had taken a picture but....I'll explain it as best as I can. All the burgers come with fries and salad with IMO, a very nice and garlicky creamy dressing. The salmon burger said it was served with dill cream cheese on it, which yes it did...the perfect amount too. Sometimes if things are served with cream cheese, they tend to over do it and I'm scraping some off (ahem...Tim Horton's) but not here. For some reason I was expecting the salmon to be hot, like grilled y'know, but it was just about room temp., not cold, but not very warm. Then I thought of course they wouldn't serve it warm/hot because of the cream cheese! It was great all around anyways!

4

So I tried escargots (uh, AKA snails) for the very first at Chez Lucien time while out with some friends. As a newbie, I was understandably a bit squeamish at the idea of eating slimy, earth-crawling mollusks. But they were surprisingly yummy.

They come on a platter (a very generous portion, I thought, given my limited experience) and drenched in a yummy herb and garlic sauce, along with a few toasted pieces of French baguette for dipping. Mm-mm-mm. So, even if you don't like the snails, you can make your very own garlic bread! I couldn't reeeeally get over the texture, even after trying them a second time, but hey, that's just me. Didn't stop me from eating four or five.

Anyway, I suggest you all get adventurous and try yourselves some snails from Chez Lucien! Mm-mm!

These are pretty standard Ottawa nachos -- a layer of chips, a layer of salsa, another layer of chips, and a topping of cheese. Not what I consider top notch nacho structure but it's normal for this part of the world. At least they load it up with jalapeños.

The thing to rave about here is the price. Six bucks is an awesome price for a plate of nachos. Sure makes you want to drink more beer!

I had the croque monsieur the last trip out to chez lucien. my SO's mother makes really solid croque monsieurs, so perhaps my standards are too high, but i found the ham to be waaaay to salty, and the crossiant was quite soggy.

disappointed at best.

I am absolutely addicted to this meal. Its a soft but crisp croissant with ham, melted cheddar cheese, warm tomatoes and a unidentified sweet white sauce. It all comes together to make a fantastic combination. It (like several meals at Chez Lucien) comes with excellent french fries and a good portion of fresh salad. All for about $8.00.