Ottawa Foodies

3

I hadn't been to Cedars in a while - on purpose, actually as several times I found that they only had some of what I was looking for (not strange items, either). If I have to make a second stop to find some of what I need, the convenience of a local store is diminished.

I've been back several times in the past month or so, and I'm really pleased with what I see. I think they have finally figured out what they want the store to be. Gone is the bakery counter, taking up space that could have been (and now is) used to allow for a more complete selection of fruits and vegetables. Quality of the produce continues to be very good. The cheese selection is much improved. The dry goods, dairy, etc. are now quite dependable. If I get halfway through a recipe and realize I'm missing an ingredient, I have confidence that a trip to Cedar's will likely do the trick.

1

Hi -- I have been liking this place better and better although they have had growing pains. Try the pear jam -- it's the best ever. And they have excellent little pasta sauces in the organic section near the back. Vegan daughter lives on them. Also an amazing ricotta fresca, best I have ever had, including Nicastro's, and real Greek yogurt, and ayram from Turkey -- not as good as home made, but not bad. We had fresh sole from there last night and I was wondering just how fresh it would be. It was perfect.

Went back to Cedars to do some groceries this week.
Had not gone there for around 2 weeks as I had a organic delivery and too much produce at home...

Now the whole grocery store has been changed around.
The deli counter is at the back where the meats once were.
There is a new counter with arabic cheese.
You can get slices of Haloum, some soft cheese in a braid, feta and a few others.
The counter with the bulk salads is beside the cheese counter.
Did not see any more bbq chickens today (really wanted one),but they did have some wings.
They had baked and fried samosas and there was a sign saying $1.50 for 1 samosa or $2.50 for 2!
I like the samosas here better than that place on Somerset a bunch of people told me to go to.
That other place only had fried samosas.

You can also get some baked spinach pies and these small pastries filled w cheese called Sambousik ($1).
From the deli bought a dandelion salad that is $1.75 for 250 grams- it has dandelion,onion,spices.
"eggplant salad" 250 grams was $3.99 (receipt says bab ghanouj,but this is not it,this has green pepper,onion,garlic and mashed eggplant).
They also make rice pudding here and I think it is 250 grams for $1.99.
tried it once and it is good, very creamy.

Also,got a poutine there today and the fries seem frozen now,not the same as before.
the gravy was fine and they always put a lot of cheese curds. Small poutine is still $4.95
I still think the best deal is the chicken shawarma,potatoes.drink for $5.95!
they even have a sign outside the store that says that now.
Saw some fish and chips too in the display case.

I thought the guy who made the sauces did look familiar.
I do shop at Pelican sometimes (one of the few places you can get preservative free jumbo shrimps).

I'm not as impressed with the bakery section.
The cupcakes there look ok,but it seems a lot of the baked good sit there quite a while as the store is never super busy.
I know they first tried selling cakes and cookies (and had Fidelice cakes when the store first opened..and no one bought them),
then they had some yummy butter and nut tarts and those were yummy....but no more tarts now :(

They do have a large selection of local vegetables and tonight when I went to get some they had a big sign saying "local vegetable baskets $3.99"
-there was some potatoes,carrots,onions with the stems on them.

-there is also some large watermelons for $5 and these things are huge.
I want to get one but not sure I can eat 15lbs of watermellon.

They also have a good deal on shawarma right now.
There is a sign up on the counter and it says "shawarma,potatoes and drink $5.95"
-normally the chicken shawarma is $5 by itself, potatoes are around $2.50 (or whatever the person there rings up..so maybe $3? or maybe $2?..they need to set menu prices for single items)
-then you get a canned drink: sprite,coke,diet coke.
For $6 it is a decent deal.

And another odd thing:
Tonight someone had hung up a ton of hot red peppers to dry in the food counter section.
I asked what that was for and was told they are drying the peppers there for a few days and finishing them in the oven, then will be selling them.
Kind of wish I took a pic as it did look neat.

Also, in the parking lot of the store there was an old fashioned farm truck with a big trunk full of pumpkins.
I have a pic and will upload from my phone later on...

I have yet to try their ice cream and prob will soon.
The only thing that annoys me is they do not put the ingredients on the container and I like to know what I'm getting.

They only had 2 flavors that some guy in from of me was getting.
I usually buy ice cream and sorbet at Malak across the street and like that you can get smaller containers and also mix 2 flavors in them if you like.
-The baklava at Malak is also much fresher as it is baked in the store and they sell tons of it.
But for baklava and pastries Malak is at least 30% more in price.

Cedars did have a sign by the pastry counter stating 20 pieces baklava for $8.95
-that is a pretty good price
-same thing at the bakery across the street is around $15.

1

In reference to Pretty Tasty's comments, I have a bit of insight on the fish sauces you had mentioned. The person running the Fish counter is the same guy that once worked at the infamous Pelican. He is the same guy that created those sauces. I read the label on my container and it says Cedars. The creator is none other than Herbert. I asked him personally. Pelican worked with his master of a recipe after he departed. Therefore, both carry the same product under a different label.

I find that the supermarket is a welcome to Ottawa South finally. Prior to Cedars, the place was a little distressed only serving fruits and veggies. This place has finally enhanced this community. The food is great, and the management seem to have kept things really clean.

I personally love the kibbee (minced beef and cracked wheat) along with the homemade hummous and tabouleh. I don't have the time to prepare this stuff.

They had pumpkins in there today, and cupcakes gearing up for Halloween for the kids. I was thrilled.

3

I finally made it down to Ottawa South to check out this spot. I had high hopes, since I used to love going to Fresh Fruit when I was a student and living in the neighborhood - and was not let down. You walk right into an extensive pastry section that got my salivary glands going immediately. There's a big and beautifully displayed produce section with great prices. Cheese selection is nice, and they carry Beking eggs and about a million different yogurts. They make their own ice cream and gelato as well. Seafood selection looked good but I can't say it had the greatest prices - didn't notice the meat, but it looked like there was plenty of that too. Can't wait to return!

Went back to Cedars,
they have very good prices on vegetables right now (eggplant is .69 a lb, colored peppers .99lb).
watermellon large size,local $3.99

-bought some veggies and a poutine.
this time my poutine to go was served in a tin container (round 7" dia and 2"high).
the patatoes were the not frozen ones and these were very fresh and seemed hand cut,
the guy there filled my container with too much fries and has to take a bit out.
-I asked for not much gravy and he also put a ton on cheese.
the price for small poutine is now $5.95

also seems they have added more stuff to their menu.
today they were selling pizza slices for $3
bbq chicken sandwich was $3 (they had made some brochettes ahead of time and were using those).

guy working at the food counter told me they would have okra w tomato sauce next week.

They are also selling Zaatar spice at the store in bulk (costs $8.95kg)
bought a small bag and it was $1.58
-I can now make my own savory breads.

So far it seems this store and food counter they are still deciding what to sell!

Went to do some grocery shopping at Cedars and Co Tuesday.
Was quite hungry and ended up getting what was supposed to be a tofu and spinach samosa..went to eat that at the bus stop and turns out it was a potato and peas samosa..it was not very spiced.
Too bad I did not get what I was supposed to get.

I also ordered some fries from the food counter and to my dissapointment this time they used frozen french fries..mccains to be exact.
Before their fries were different and not the uniform shape and crunch that mccains is.

I hope they will go back to using fresh patatoes as this was rather disapointing.

The store did have some very nice fish and there was a rather large piece of "sushi grade" tuna that looked quite good.

Also, it kind of looks like they are getting some of their packaged sauces from pelican fishery?
they have the same names,same packaging type,same prices..same labels too.
There was also some fish or crab cakes that were $4.99 for 3 with a dip sauce.
did not try those but they did look good!

2

Stopped in to pick up a few things and check out how the store is coming along. The produce continues to be outstanding quality. The meat counter is sparse, but what's there appears to be very nice. Apparently the butcher will be on board around the end of September, and the meat counter will evolve to a full butcher service. The fish selection continues to get a little better every time I drop in. Lately, I've found some interesting little extras - home made jam with only two ingredients - strawberries and sugar, for example. There was also a bin of local tomatoes, which was wonderful to see. I think they are still finding their way, and clearly welcome suggestions. The staff have been very friendly and helpful on each of my visits, although inexperienced in some areas. I'd suggest watching your cashier carefully, as I saw a few errors made while I awaited my turn - cheerfully corrected, but they would not have been had the customer failed to notice. I think this is inevitable until the staff have had a chance to become familiar with the product offerings, so I'd suggest patience and diligence.

All in all, a great addition to the neighbourhood.

I will try and update this as I have been going to Cedars and Co twice a week and so have had a chance to see how the store has changed.

They now have fresh chicken and meats in the deli case at the back that has been empty for ages.
The chicken looked fresh and good. Prices seemed quite good too.
I will buy some chicken here sometime when I plan to actually cook some (I like fish a bit more...)

There is a deli case with a bunch of prepared foods that change all the time and are sold by the weight or the container size.
It might depend what you buy.
-I bought a pickeled? artichocke and those are all a flat price of $2

I also have bought a eggplant salad and that was by the weight I think.
What I find kind of funny is that they were telling me that the eggplant I bought was Babaghanouj..when I clearly know it is not.
(I am not about to correct them either..so whatever).

The item I bought was actually a "eggplant salad".
My parents used to make this and it is roasted eggplant that is mashed up and you add vinegar,garlic,tomato,green pepper and onions.
you eat that as a dip.
Babaghanouj usually had sesame or tahini and olive oil..this did not.

The eggplant dip/salad is delicious.
I went back the next day to buy some and they were sold out by the time I got there.
I am def going to make this an item on my regular grocery list.

There is also a counter with pastries when you walk into the store.
I bought a pastry that looked like a butter tart but was square.
The filling in it was pecan,almons and hazelnut-there was not a lot of nuts though.
The filling seeemed very fresh and was kind of runny.
My tart was supposed to be $2.50 and the sticker on my item was printed wrong and came out to $3.50
I had to point that out and it was adjusted.

I also bought a nut tart.
It looked like a regular buttertart as it was round and it was filled 3" high with whole nuts.
There was whole walnuts and lots of pistachios.
There was not sugar filling like butter tarts,but there was a syrup holding the nuts together.
This tart was very filling and I could only eat 1/2 at a time since it was so many nuts.

The baklava they sell there are good and prices are very good too. But I would rather go across the street to Malak pastry as they are super fresh there and you can even ask for Ashta cream and to have your pastries topped with even more nuts if you like.
The baklava from Cedars is good,but it does not have the crisp buttery freshness of the Malak baklava and pastries.

The pita bread that Cedars sells is also very fresh.
I bought the Hanna bakery one and it has to be one of the freshest pita breads I have found in a store.
Usually the pita bread at grocery stores is much harder and not that good.

I also tried a shawarma from Cedars 2 weeks ago and thought they were good.
The reason why they might fall appart if because they overstuff them.
I prefer the falafel over chicken (not a big meat eater).
and I have also tried the falafel here.
for both sandwiches the pita was very fresh, and they do overstuff the samdwiches with a lot of vegetables and quite a lot of meat.
after eating 3/4 of my sandwich I was full.

I have also tried the poutine here twice.
the first time was eating in and it was good they used white cheese curds.
last week I had a poutine to go and they put way too much gravy and for some reason they used orange cheese curds.
their gravy is allright, and they do add a lot of cheese. the fries are also good and made from fresh patatoes.
I would get another poutine here,but usually I prefer the plain fries and get those often.

hopefully this info is helpful!

I heard their fried fish is supposedly from Pelican Fishery?
anyone else hear this?

I do find the portions are quite generous.
Their menu board needs to be more clear though.

-only a price for poutine and not plain fries?
-was told there is a brochette sandwich..but nothing on their menu about that or prices?

another kind of annoying this..they have some ice cream for sale that looks good..no ingredients on the containers.
..looked kinda like how Malak's packages their ice cream...

Their baklava are good, but not as fresh as the bakaery across the street.
If you are in that area across the street is an Arab bakery and you can buy a scoop of ice cream or sorbet for $3 a small cup and $4 larger cup.
-had some watermellon sorbet and kiwi sorbet today.

On or way home from Christmas shopping we decided to stop in and get take out fish and chips. Staff were super friendly. We got a deal we thought. He only charged $7.99 for fish and chips which was advertised at $10.95 and he didn't have change so he gave us another $1 off. First off the fries were not edible. They had a rubbery stale consistency almost like the oil was not hot enough when he fried them up or they had been siting above warm oil all day. The fish was very good but again the batter was soaked in oil. Tartar sauce was super with a heavy dill flavour and salad excellent. It was 4:30pm when we picked up so I'm not sure if this is a lunch place and the frier was on econo or it was just an off day. On the positive side the produce in the store looked great.

Fish & Chips at Cedars, and probably ranks among the best I've had in Ottawa.

I'm not convinced about the presentation though. What you see in the foreground is a huge pile of garlic sauce & hummus (with a little well of olive oil).
Sorry for the crappy iPhone picture.

I'll definitely get them again, but probably I'll get takeout and then slather them with malt vinegar & tartar sauce at home.