ottawa foodies

I have eaten at the Whispers, Juniper, Newport and am looking to try something different in the Richmond Road/ Wellington area. Any suggestions?

Absinthe, Allium, Wellington Gastropub, Aroma Meze, Phnom Penh Noodle House, John's, Caffe Ventuno/Nicastro's.

Winelover - I can recommend the Agave Grill - Agave Grill and Allium - Allium. Have enjoyed meals at both... and they both sell decent wines by the glass.
:-)

Two that come to mind where I have enjoyed my meals and reviewed are;

Cafe Mio (Wellington and Piccadilly)

Milagro (across from Mountain Equipment Co-op)

I have also eaten and enjoyed meals at

Agave Grill, Canvas and Wellington Gastropub (no review posted though).

I'd second the recommendation for the Gastropub and Agave, and would add Bella's Bistro. If Holland is close enough there's also Anna.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try a few and reply about my experiences. It is so hard to use the phone book or google to find something new.

Inkling: I have been to Bella's Bistro and really enjoyed it. It has been a few years since I was there. I can see a visit coming in the near future, Thanks for reminding me that it is there.

A little gem on Wellington Street (family run business) is The Spring Roll House. The pork Pho is amazing as well as the shrimp spring rolls. Its located across from the old run down looking KFC. I thinks its been there since 1950.(The KFC that is) Or it has yet to be updated !! The take out seems always busy too.

JDK

Winelover - Two Tips that you might find useful...

1 - Ottawa Foodies is both SEARCHABLE (type a keyword into the FIND Box at the top of any page) and there is a TAG Feature... so you can look for Vendors that meet a specific requirement (ie Westboro and/or Italian).

2 - If you know an area of the city you are interested in, and want to "visualize" it... pull up a copy of GOOGLE MAPS and go into close-up mode, then enter RESTAURANTS all the restaurants will come up as red dots... this is a great way to find what is available in a neighbourhood you may not be familiar with. Then of course you can always come back to Ottawa Foodies to do a SEARCH and find if they have a Vendor Page, or if there have been any comments made about them in the FORUM.

I don't want to rain on others' parades, but I have had nothing but awful experiences at Milgaro the three or four times I've gone.

However, everyone else has covered off my favourites in this area of town, except Petit Bill's Bistro!!! It's one of the most underrated restaurants in the area and one that I don't visited as oftens as I'd like. They have a good selection and the atmosphere is very comfortable.

That's funny lwb, because I seem to be in the minority on Agave Grill, which seems quite popular around here. In fact I'd go so far as to say Milagro > Agave Grill. :)

Winelover, your spectrum seems wide (Whispers to Juniper), so here's a couple other suggestions, toward the west end of Richmond:

Trio Trio -- a place to check out if you want to sip wines with a few nibbles. I find the wines a tiny expensive ($1-2 more per glass cf. other places), but often generous in their pours. Plus there's interesting music and a different vibe from Whispers (for instance).

Nokham Thai Nokham Thai -- its taken a bit of a dip in the reviews here, but it deserves a reward for its olfactory triggers, sort of the Thai version of KFC: stand in the park behind the strip mall to catch the garlic / basil scents...

Mugena Fumi's African Caribbean Restaurant -- w. the demise of Caribbean Flavors, perhaps the only place in the area to get your Roti fixing. Not exactly a wine-sipping locale, but you can do take-away.

Itchy - you've recommended some good ones a little further down Richmond, I second your Nokham Thai and Mugena recommendations. I love Mugena, but my SO doesn't... so when she's not around, I hit them up!

hehe, that echoes my relationship to Hino (Hino ), the opposite direction on Wellington -- a place i hit up on solo visits. No accounting for taste, sometimes. ;-)