ottawa foodies

Hi all, I'm desperately looking for an authentic chinese place to go visit, I haven't had a good ma po tofu or legitimately good hot szechuan-style soup in forever. Any suggestions at all?

Unfortunately ... Toronto ... Hong-couver ... San Fran or Hong Kong.

noooooooooooooo

Rice Pea restaurant on Carling Ave is allegedly quite good - www.ricepea.com/

Don't worry, I haven't found a good place in Ottawa that serves good ma pa tofu. Kingston, Ontario serves some good ma pa tofu.

Are you talking Ma Po beancurd? Have you tried Won Ton House on Wellington?
www.ottawafoodies.com
This place really hasn't been mentioned here on OF and, though I haven't been there for a few years, it maybe deserves it...hopefully in a good way. Maybe? O.K. I'm braced here : ))
I do have fond memories of their Buddhist's Delight and Bean Curd Home Cooking Style.

AMR, it has been a few years hasn't
I went to WTH last westfest
blah
rank them below westernized Chinese food

Ma Po Tofu...double happiness in chinatown makes a decent (but timid) version of it

chimi, I will have to try ricepea
thanks for the tip

and yes, "authenic" chinese food is rare in Ottawa
never have I seen sushi served as dimsum/yamcha anywhere else
agg....I miss San Fran

I grew up in Kingston. Where on earth do they serve good ma po tofu? Except of course, from my mother's house =)

Another recommendation for more authentic Chinese - Northern Han in Chinatown. It's a gem of a place... great dumplings... and bitter melon dishes for you Obi!

Check the (dated?) menu here: www.menudb.ca

looks interesting chimi
thanks
(FYI...i'm not partial to bitter melon having to eat it twice a week while a child and I have an aversion to bitter things (shhhhhhhhhhhhh....my ex's might be listening) lol

Northern Han is quite decent. I can attest to it =)

another +1 for Northern Han. Only been once, so by the blogger's code of ethics i'm to hold off on a review ... but i can say the 4-5 dishes i took away were all reminiscent of what a friend from Beijing used to serve me.

Mad_Scientist_Food where did you find ma po tofu that was good in kingston?

snoopy loopy, I grew up there too, and I couldn't find it! Silver Wok was about the best I could find for that dish, and even then, we just started making it at home instead.

Oh Silver Wok, I have good memories of them. They're family friends actually =) They had okay food. I actually preferred Jade Garden. Also family friends... see a trend? =) I always found the ma po tofu in Kingston to be too Canadianized... so salty and not hot!

Ahh Silver Wok! New Country was a family favourite of mine... but in Kingston you get really good Vietnamese & Cambodian food - Dong Nai, Wok-In and Saigon Delight being favs of mine. I actually make trips just for Saigon Delight spring rolls.

Saigon Delight... I always ordered #6 ;-) Spring rolls and pork on sprouts and vermicelli. I like Cambodian Village too, I used to live very close by and ordered from them a couple days a week.

It's been a few years but I think it was "Ken" that owned silver wok? He was a client of mine at a non-food related job years ago, memory is foggy on his name though.

Yup, Ken was the owner of Silver Wok. New Country, ahhh, the memories, I went to school with Ling Ling, the daughter of the owner... wow, which Chinese restauranteur in Kingston do I not know? For Vietnamese, my favourite was Mekong.Dong Nai wasn't bad. I loved how as a student they used to pile on the food. The fried rice was enough for a family! For Cambodian, it was whichever restaurant Pat was at. For a while, my favourite was Cambodiana, which he sold, so now I go to his new restaurant, Pat's restaurant when I'm in Kingston. Cambodian Village is okay, but the original Golden Chicken that Pat created is so money. For those who care, the Phenom Penh in Kanata was started in Kingston which was started by Pat. If you want the original, which is more flavourful and a heck of a lot spicier, you have to go to Kingston and try Pat's Golden Chicken. Saigon Delight started off nicely, I liked their # 13 (some chicken dish), and their crepes. I felt they slacked off in terms of quality after they had established themselves.

Wow... we have really derailed this thread =)

Back to Ottawa... Chinese food.

1. Royal Treasure
2. Dragon Tavern
3. Jadeland
4. Ging Sing
5. Northern Han

Avoid... Yangtze and Mandarin Ogilvie... you can get the same for cheaper!

Peter: I think the restaurant is located on Princess Street. I don't remember the name since I haven't been back to Kingston, Ontario in ages. It was the only restaurant I tried the ma po tofu from all the chinese restaurant. It was close to where I used to live and the ma pof tofu was good.

Snoopy Loppy: Kingston has great Cambodian and Thai food that's for sure =) I went to a Thai restaurant in Kanata and it took me back to the times I was Cambodian restaurants in Kingston, Ontario. No doubt Kingston, Ontario is well known for Cambodian restaurants. Every corner you turned in downtown, there is a Thai and Cambodian restaurants.

Mandarin Court on Baseline at Clyde has a decent reputation but I have no idea what's on the menu I haven't gone there since I went to Laurentian High School years ago

Pat pretty much established Cambodian in Kingston (wok-inn was his first venture). Even after he came back, I have to say I prefer Chris' stuff at Wok-inn compared to Pat's (the student beating the teacher?) All the rest of restro
sold off by Pat just can't compare. Haven't tried his new place as I haven't been back for a while. When I go, I drop in on Chris and bring a cooler :)

sorry off topic - but had to get it in there!

I was browsing through old archives and found this. My best man used to live in the condos across from Wok-In so we used to hit that place up often. Decent grub for sure!

Any one know of decent Chinese food around the Greenbank/Hunt Club area? Just moved here and might like to have some take out once in a while when I'm uberlazy =)

snoop - depends on your definition of "decent Chinese food"...

if you're going for the Chinese-Canadian stuff, try Golden Palace (Woodroffe/Carling) or Cathy (Woodroffe/Meadowlands). both have great and not-so-great dishes, but they do have one common denominator - bitchin' egg rolls!

if you're looking for more "authentic" check out Sea King Shark Fin or Lichee View, both on Merivale. personally have never been to either restaurant, however, both appear to be packed with Chinese people instead of gwai lo seeking sweet & sour chicken balls. good indication? who knows. also on the authentic front is Rice Pea at Woodroffe/Carling (same mall as Pookie's). i ate there once and was unimpressed but it could have just been an off night.

Thanks for the heads up monty. I'm looking for all sorts. I love Chinese-Canadian stuff as well as "authentic". I've done Lichee View, but never Sea King. Do Golden Palace and/or Cathay (sp?) have good spring rolls? I've never really been a fan of egg rolls. WRT Rice Pea I'd rather not try something you had a bad experience with =)

hi Snoopy: around Woodfield (i think??) on Merrivale (across from PetSmart) there's a take-away place. No comments, though: i arrived craving Singapore Noodle only to find them closed (Mon or Tues, i think).

As well, north of HC on Woodroffe, there's another take-away place, New Hong Kong or something? pass it all the time en route to Barrhaven ... never stopped in.

So, its up to you to put these places on the Ottawa Foodies map, yay or nay!

Closer to Greenbank, there used to be a place behind Ikea, but i think it might have closed?

never been a big fan of Cathay's (lol, Cathy) spring rolls. very plain - i'm certain it's 100% cabbage/lettuce filler with nothing else in there! haven't ever tried spring rolls @ Golden Palace (egg rolls are legendary). FYI the egg rolls at both places are the tubular "crispy end" type. highly recommended. check them out - you might see the light :P

for the record i'd like to go back to Rice Pea because my only experience with them was a delivery order. not really a fair representation.

anyhow there is a decent amount of Chinese food in this end of the city. be sure to report back!

itchy - i believe you're referring to Wing Hing on Woodfield, and New Hong Shing on Greenbank. i just busted out my flyer collection to double check haha

more...

Wing Wah (Centrepointe)
Golden Capital (Baxter/Iris - near Ottawa Citizen HQ)
Hung Mein (Baseline/Greenbank)
Mandarin Court (Baseline/Clyde)

There is also Silver Dragon (613 828-7220) just off Iris on Cobden (same mall as Brian's Butchery). Their eggrolls are pretty tasty - not quite the same as Golden Palace, but not far and way less expensive! The food (in our family's opinion) is better than Hung Mein. Haven't tried Wing Wah or Golden Capital though to compare.

I recommend Sea King Shark Fin Seafood Restaurant on Merivale- not the closest but I've always been happy with my food.

I'll have to try these places... and then post reviews... but I only really eat out Chinese MAX once per month... so these reviews may be a long time coming hee hee =)

Royal Treasure. Hands down the best hot and sour soup in the city. Possibly the country. Good spring rolls. Good mix of traditional and Chinese-Canadian dishes. (Closed Mondays).

Hmm, I love hot and sour soup. I will def have to try it. I've tried other things from there before, but never the soup. The whole country you say?

That's what people tell me. It's certainly the best I have ever had. It's never the same twice though, sometimes it's spicier, sometimes a bit more savoury, but always incredible(!!!) I've ordered just the soup for myself for dinner at times.

drool

The best hot and sour soup I've ever had was in Sichaun =( I want to go back to China! But for sure I'll have to try Royal Treasure's. It would be sweet for me to say that we have something in Ottawa vis a vis Chinese food better than Toronto =)

I would like to concur with LWB's review of Royal Treasure's hot and sour soup (and thanks for reminding me about it BTW). I haven't actually tried it myself but a few of my co workers have and they are all in agreement with LWB that they make the best hot and sour soup in the country. I am planning on a trip to Chinatown this weekend so I will have to remember to pick some up for supper...

Getting back on topic if you are looking for a takeout place in the west end there is always Pho Maxim on Merivale next door to Swiss Chalet. Maybe not the best but the food is good and the prices are right.

Yeah... my in-laws live close to Merivale, so I've tried some of the spots there. Pho Maxim wasn't bad, but the prices... at least 20-30% higher than Chinatown which was sad.

I'll put in another vote for Won Ton House. We've ordered from here twice and the prices are fairly good and the food is a bit better than the Canadian Chinese from Golden Palace, IMHO.

Lady Who Brunches - Ok now I am intrigued... as a BIG Hot & Sour Soup fan I am going to add Royal Treasure - Royal Treasure to my MUST TRY list. Thanks.