Ottawa Foodies

4

Echoing the previous commenter, this place really is a gem. The manor is absolutely beautiful and the service is generally top-notch. The way the smaller rooms of the house have been preserved lends a nice degree of intimacy to the experience, and just imagine how nice it must be to eat in front of one of those fireplaces on a winter evening! I don't go often, due to budget constraints, but when I do, I always enjoy it. Last night was a special occasion, so I went with a group of four.

Unfortunately, the service was not as good as it usually is. Our server was obviously quite new, and was clearly reciting a script that she was desperately trying not to forget. She wasn't particularly knowledgeable about the wine either, but that wasn't a problem for us, being pretty savvy in that department ;) To her credit, she was very polite and didn't make any glaring errors, but was just not quite yet up to the level of service that one would expect at such a restaurant.

Anyway, on to the food. Two of us ordered baseball top sirloins with twice-baked potatoes. Oh, yes. Pefectly done to medium-rare, and so tender. One person had the rib steak and the other had the flatiron steak; both were cooked according to specification and very much enjoyed. We also shared a bottle of Jean Bousquet Malbec, which was just wonderful and complemented the meal perfectly.

We rounded out the meal with a side of asparagus. We probably wouldn't have ordered this, had we known that the meals all came with a few spears of asparagus anyway. This was not mentioned on the menu, and a sharper server would have warned us about this before placing the order for the side dish. In the end, it worked out for the best; the dry, shrivelled asparagus that came with the meals had been roasted to a crisp, while the side order of steamed asparagus was tender and delicious.

Minor annoyances aside, it was a delicious meal and we all left very satisfied - and full!

1

The Keg Manor is a true jem. If you continue along wellington, be careful as there is little signage and it is easy to miss this charming heritage building.

While the menu is the same as any Keg, the staff on the two occasions we visited were superb. One had a capacity for her wine list that is beyond Keg expectations and was able to identify a very reasonable treasure. The staff work very hard here and are deserving of respect and good treatment.

In order to deliver food through the circuitous paths to the tables the maneuvering is tricky but speedy. The cuisine is standard Keg fare and very well as always. The location elevates it to a good value in Ottawa dining.

The wait staff were willing and able to rattle off particular table numbers which were faithfully reserved and made our visits superb.

Recommended without reservation, be careful of the patrons in the drive and parking. (Valet parking would put this place over the top!)

The Keg Manor disappointed me a little when ordering my favorite Steak Oscar and they brought it to me with Alfredo Sauce?

I insisted they put the wrong sauce on my meal to which they argued my point.

Let me tell you that Alfredo is TERRIBLE on steak and seafood.

After much arguing they did go to the kitchen whereby they told them that they ran out of Bernaise and therefore substituted?????

Not only is that grave error by someone who has no clue, but I also learned on that day that all the sauces that the Keg Manor serves are actually all packaged.

That was a letdown.

My husband took me there for dinner a few wks ago. I'm not a huge meat eater but I really enjoyed the prime rib, pretty much melted in my mouth. The service was great, very accommodating and friendly. The building it's self is stunning!

The Keg Manor is one of my favorite special occasion restaurants to go to, this time the occasion was a birthday celebration. We were a good sized group of people and I don't recall what eveyone had but we were all very happy with the apps and dishes. The service was also friendly and timely.

A few of us had the Crab, Parmesan & Spinach Dip to share for a starter. It was very creamy and rich.

For the main I had the Creole Chicken with the garlic mashed potatoes - grilled chicken topped with shrimp and scallops sautéed in Creole seasonings - and it was to die for. The chicken was moist, and the shrimp and scallops were perfectly cooked in the creamy tomato sauce. The portion was huge, and after having the appetizer I could only finish half of my dish... it made for a delicious lunch the next day!

Ate here last night. Normally I do a steak at home, but I was lucky enough to have a gift certificate that covered most of the meal. We started off with shrimp cocktail - 5 really big shrimp with a spicy cocktail sauce - pretty much what you'd expect. The other starter was a seared ahi, served with mushrooms in a wasabi cream/mayo? sauce and fried pita chips. This was a really well done app - I was quite impressed. It was served in a 3 serving rectangular dish - mushrooms, tuna, chips going across.

My wife had a Ceasar salad, while I just went for the ceasar :) Her salad was nothing special.

For mains we both had the strip loin. I had the baked potato while she had the twiced baked potato. The steak was excellent - very tasty and very tender, cooked exactly right (rare for me, med rare for her). Mine was served with zucchini, and cherry tomatoes with a balsamic dressing, hers with a yellow and red pepper and mushroom stir fry. My only slight complaint was that my steak could have a used a bit more seasoning - but salt was on the table.

By the end we were stuffed. The waiters were very good, and non-intrusive, the setting was nice, and they accommodated us even though we showed up a half hour early for our reservation.

I've eaten here several times over the past couple of years and enjoyed myself. The "manor house" atmosphere is very nice and I find the steaks good. I usually inhale my filet mignon, which is probably not how you're supposed to eat filet mignon but I can't seem to help myself. The service can be a bit hit and miss, but is certainly a step up from service you normally expect at a chain.

Wow. After being disappointed by the Keg and swearing I would never go back, the Keg Manor completely changed my view. They were Exceptional and the "old house charm" gave a chain restaurant a more private and personal feel.

Never have I been to a restaurant that was able to provide such excellent service to our large group (I believe we were about 35 people).

Everyone raved about the food. Our wine was excellent and the Sirloin Oscar with Asparagus was superb as was the Creme Brule! All of the guests in our party were served within 10 or so minutes with is great for a group of that size.

We will go back for sure! The service and the food at the Keg Manor are both first class and well worth every penny.

Finally got back to our Friday night dinner ritual after being away from it for what...4 weeks? Whew was I hungry!

I have to say that the Keg is really not my kind of place. Don't like the overpriced, lesser-quality meat and the big-box mentality of getting you in and out in a hurry. The Keg Manor doesn't quite have the same feel gladly. Been here several times and I love the old house atmosphere and loads of space around the tables. Irrespective of that, I still won't choose to go there unless at someone else's request (case in point last Friday).

I usually eat the prime rib and enquired since it was reletively early at 7:00 pm what the temperature the remaining meat on the roast was. We were told that It was mostly medium, not quite medium-rare by our less-than-experienced waiter. Well that should have been the tell-tale sign there. So I order the teryiaki steak done blue (as usual). It was pretty good all things considered. Definitely better than the other choices in my mind, more flavour than say the baseball sirloin.

Well doesn't hubby order the prime rib despite the fact that he likes his meat blue too. The meat he received was probably the rarest (all the way through too) prime rib I've ever seen at a Keg. It was red, not pink. I was pissed. This is not the first time I've been steered away from ordering it by the wait staff because it will be done 'more than you like'. Are the wait staff saving the stuff for themselves or what?!

Anyway, the food was pretty good, the salad (which I wish they gave choices other than ceasar) for the 'dinner specials' was pretty good but WAY too much, the twice baked potato was pretty good and the green beans (thank goodness the special comes with some veg) were done perfectly.

I still don't think that with the cost of sharing a bottle of wine, 1 cosmo, 2 dinners, 1 dessert, 1 coffee that the bill should be in around $130 without tip. In my mind too much. Especially since our waiter seemed like it was the first day of his service career. Next time, my backyard for superb steaks and salad, and a much better bottle of wine for our 60 bucks!!

This was the only part of my meal I did not enjoy. As you can see half of it was burnt and inedible. We really should have sent it back.