Ottawa Foodies

As always, meeting Ottawa folks halfway from Constance Bay...
There is a lunch menu with several selections-these include coffee and the daily dessert.Options were fish & chips, Cajun chicken, ribs, steak salad—prices range depending on the entree. The regular menu is also available. We chose the lunch menu-I had the hamburger (bacon, cheese, onion rings, bbq sauce) with frites and he had the pulled pork on ciabbata bun with sweet potato fries and chipotle aioli. They asked how I wanted my burger ; medium or well—I chose medium and it was juicy. The amount of fries was/were insanely huge with the sweet potato ones tasting much better than the regular. We ate less than half the fries! I haven’t been in a Baton Rouge in some time but I thought I remembered the fries being better—they are frites style but the seasoning made me suspect frozen versus fresh. Food was good and price was reasonable given the coffee and dessert (which was a small dense, rich chocolate cake with whipped cream and raspberry sauce-I thought it was ok given the lunch special but I’m not sure I would have liked it at $6-7). The coffee was decent. We ordered iced teas before we realized the lunch special had coffee or tea-probably would have had water had we known tea/coffee was included! All in all it was a nice lunch and there is a patio with an awning. The table was wobbly but service was friendly and prompt, drinks refilled as needed. Burger and pulled pork were both good but there was a lot of food-most of it in the form of carbs! Probably will try Thi Fusion next time.

We went to Kanata B R. on the week end. It wasn't our pick for a restaurant and after reading some of the reviews I was a bit leary.
The place was very full and the atmosphere noisy. You spoke loudly at your table, but I didn't seem to hear anyone else's conversations.

We split the GRILLED calimari and it was excellent. The calimari was tender, not chewy and the caper, tomato relish on top was very flavourful.
There were 3 whole calimaris sliced. I would go back just to order that again.
We both ordered ribs, as they are known for ribs. Hubby loved his, and mine were very tender, but I don't seem to like a smoky flavour anymore. just a personal preference. I like the frites, they were crispy but not dry.
I didn't find it too expensive, ribs generally are more. Some of the other items more so.
Wait staff very friendly and attentive.

2

Ate at the downtown location of Baton Rouge last night. Food was decent--ribs were a big hit, filet mignons were tasty, and my prime rib was fine. Wine list is better than expected in terms of variety and value, though nothing exciting of course. In contrast to other comments, I didn't find it to be overpriced, given the enormous amount of food they serve.

I generally don't complain about service, but boy, was it haphazard! They waitress "briefed" us sort of defensively that they had a different service model so we would be seeing a lot of different servers, and that was "normal." I don't object to that in principal, and it can have advantages in terms of speed. But it requires really good coordination and communication in order to work, and that didn't seem to be going well last night. Missed drink orders, mixed up orders, incorrect doneness on steaks, food arriving any old time, etc. They were nice enough to comp my cocktail after it took 35 minutes and three requests to get it, but I really would have preferred better service to a free drink.

Ken, my one time ordering a steak here was similar to your experience. The steak was terrible. The ribs are always good for what they are and how they are prepared. I would stick the the ribs and avoid the other mains. I did have the tuna one time and it was decent enough.

3

Not having a good weekend food wise. We were invited out to a birthday dinner with two other couples and experienced the worst steak in Ottawa yet. 16 oz rib $31 ordered medium rare came rare a dull pale grey color with faint grill marks and no crust on this puppy. The actual quality of the steak was very poor being tough with a white unedible membrane throughout. Nudged by my wife was the sign to not complain during our friends birthday celebration drats! Garlic mashed were warm and my second side their beans were an extra $4 because they were packaged in the second set of sides weird I thought sides were sides. One redeeming point was the salad that came with the steak that my wife ate it was average. I tried the ribs my wife ordered and right away you could tell they were boiled then thrown on the grill by the lack of any pork taste from the mushy meat. The predominant flavor was the sweet sauce but the shrimps that came with her ribs I'm told were very good big and firm. Is it my bad luck or are restaurants not trying hard enough to get it right?

1

Went to the Kanata location tonight and was fairly disappointed with the food. I wasn't expecting over the top excellent but was at least expecting very good food. What we got was boring jambalaya cajun soup. Needed lots of salt and pepper. Not inedible but not much better than canned. Andouille sausage my ass...

Ribs for main were not great. Tasted like they boiled them in Coke a week ago. Not a lot of notes there. I ate them with the salivatory zeal of a starving man at Burger King.

Sweet potato fries were fried past the overheating point of the oil (or the frying oil was old). I ate about half of them mainly out of the habit of picking out extra crispy ones. The dip was nice though.

Slaw.. well bland again but ok by slaw standards.

BORING food. Will not return.

My husband and I love Baton Rouge. We almost always order the ribs and fries for my husband and ribs and veggies for myself. There are so many fries on his plate, that I can eat half of his and we share the veggies. It is different having so many people serving you - I guess that's because they share all the tips equally between them? But I believe all the servers have been polite and friendly. The atmosphere is dark, but we like that.

I like this place and am quite surprised at how disappointed people have been. I do agree, however, that the prices are way too high. I like the 'open' kitchen and this place is always impeccably clean. Mind you, I kind of stick to what I love - and that is the Catch of the Day. I have never ever been disappointed. Fresh fish smoked and grilled to perfection - NEVER dry, even if it's a leaner fish. I wish I knew their secret. And who can resist the baked potatoe? A couple extra workouts at the gym are in order after this meal - but it is a realy treat. My husband can't resist the chicken and ribs. We only go a couple times a year b/c of the cost. A large glass of their house red cost me $15! I will stick to a water next time and then head out for drinks at Bin 790 (the new classy adult-friendly place in Centrum).

Got stuck in Kanata again...where to go in Centrum? We ended up here for a late Sunday lunch back in December. I find the portions way beyond huge here so I only had an appetizer for my main.

Nothing too exciting-I had the chicken fingers and fries (not called that but that's what they are!) The frite style fries were very good (huge amount!) and the fried chicken also was of good quality-not a lot of flavour but the chicken was soft and tender and chicken breast really is bland. The coating reminded me of a fish coating, but for $8.99 this was a reasonably priced lunch-probably the cheapest thing to order here.

My friend ordered the calamari app which is grilled, not fried. It was quite good-tender and flavourful and served with a decent dipping sauce. They used to fry the calamari but we preferred this style. She had the tuna with a salad and loved it-they cooked the tuna to her preference.

We had the wine choice on offer for the season,a bottle of chardonnay (not cheap but good).

It was not an inexpensive lunch but quality was just fine and the ambience was quiet and relaxing. Enough leftovers for lunch the next day! Just a note-our wine cost about the same as the food!

Really love how they are fully loaded with the toppings, but there is way too much salt on the skins making them slightly inedible.