ottawa foodies

My fiance and I visited our friend who is a seafood sales rep in california. We at fresh/delicious seafood for three weeks while we were there. Once we got back, Big Daddy's didn't exactly cut it anymore. Though we regularly visited Arome for the Kobe steak, on a whim, one visit, I ordered the seafood platter for one. It was by far the single best seafood experience I've had in Ottawa. TRY IT!!!!

This is the Bay scallops with Cashew Nuts. There were a good number of bay scallops. Taste was pretty good. Another recommended dish for you as well. I think the price tag is $8.50.

I went all out and ordered the Zarzuela Costa Brava, which is a seafood-lover's extravaganza:

* 1 small lobster tail
* 3 large shrimp
* 3 large scallops (delectable and super tender!)
* 3 clams
* numerous (a dozen or more) mussels
* numerous squid rings
* side plate containing tasty lentil rice and a vast assortment of vegetables
* a superfluous and somewhat tough slice of fried plantain, to give the dish visual flair

The sauce in this dish is truly awesome -- perhaps containing tomato, paprika, wine, cream, and a little butter. If I hadn't been so stuffed from our appetizer, I would have sopped it up with bread.

P.S. This photo doesn't really do the size of the dish justice. Many of the ingredients are hidden behind other ingredients. It is a plate of pure seafood. Fairly priced for what it is ($36).

The seafood here is probably the best in town. This goes for both the restaurant and the store. I have recently bought cod cheeks, skate wing and chilean sea bass and everything was top notch.

We were a party of 8 on a Saturday evening, arriving at 6:30pm; the place was packed by 7:30. What a great experience! From the outside, one might be somewhat apprehensive, but the inside is very large, yet cozy; it must hold at least 500 people. We were placed near the back in-spite of making reservations 5 weeks ahead; (I'm not sure what that's all about). Even though the waitress was part of the entertainment later in the evening, she was very good and attentive. Some of our party had the buffet, and some ordered from the menu, and no-one was disappointed. The food that was ordered took a reasonable time to to get to our table; no longer than any other busy restaurant. The buffet was some-what smallish w.r.t selection, but the quality of the food was very good. There was ample crab, smoked salmon. shrimp, oysters, salad, chicken, fish and beef. What lacked in variety was made up for in quality. The line up to the buffet was long, but a hostess regularly offered a free glass of wine to those waiting. The entertainment was great; they have some very talented musicians. The music is all 70's and 80's stuff. There are several vocalists, a sax player, a keyboard-instrumentalist, and later in the evening, a trombonist and flutist. It cost us $150 for 6 drinks, the buffet, a dinner, 2 HUGE cappuccino's, taxes and tip. The waitress automatically added a 15% tip, but I gave her more; she deserved it. Not bad for an evening out with entertainment included.