ottawa foodies

Apologies if there's a thread for this already, but I couldn't find anything recent. I'm sure a lot of you are in the same situation: you get home after work, tired, exhausted, have young kids, etc. Want dinner, don't want to cook. Going out to a fine dining establishment is out of the question.

What are people's "go-to" delivery options?

For us, when we're in this state, we do the following delivery roulette, but would love to add in different options into the mix:

Greek: Greek on Wheels
Chinese: Ging Sing
Vietnamese: Vietnamese Kitchen
Pizza: various (usually Lorenzo's)

After that, we get stumped and end up doing take-out (Indian Express, Ahora, Restaurant Joy)... but I'm looking for delivery options.

I should note that we're in the center part of town... but I'd be interested in any good delivery regardless of where in town they serve...

Just seen this recently:

Ottawa Delivery Sushi

Haven't tried it though... check out the comments.

I'd add Shawarma King to the list: we have them deliver their Lebanese delights to us all the time.

I like CHOPSTICK TALE on Bronson. Solid CanaChinesian food, nice freebies. My only critique is the soup is so-so. Everything else is better than the typical 'cheap' takeout counter places.

If you're open to pickup versus delivery, and work or live close to downtown, the Greek Souvlaki Shack at Bank/Cooper has very good food.

Depending on where you are in Centretown, St. Hubert on Maisonneuve in Hull may deliver to you. It's faster and better than Swiss Chalet as the food arrives in under 30 mins and is usually hot.

Sorry, we're too cheap to pay for delivery. I'm not above driving out of my way to go pick something up though. That's why I bought that big double-sized, insulated pizza bag. It really makes a difference and has paid for itself several times over, I think.

As a minor aside, I've always thought people would approach driving very differently if they had a dollar-counter in place of an odometer. I know driving costs me roughly $1.75 per 10 km in fuel alone (at current premium fuel prices). But, if you factor in the total cost of car ownership, it's more like $3 per 10 km.

(My calculation is based on our 2000 Jetta VR6, bought new for $35k inc tax, costing ~ $35k for 10 years of fuel, maintenance, tires, insurance, etc, and assuming 200k km in those 10 years. $70k / 200k = $0.35/km.)

Suddenly paying a little extra for delivery doesn't seem so bad! But, I often prefer to pick up just to keep the timing under my control. :-)

For us, if we can/have the opportunity to pick up, we will. But that isn't always the case (ok, I confess, picking up take-out at Ahora is a royal pain so we won't do it unless we've got a serious hankering... gas, time, find parking, fail, find illegal parking, hope to not get ticketed, etc.).

Nanook, good suggestion. St. Hubert doesn't delver to us, which is unfortunate. Neither does Boston Pizza, which we'd like as well.

I'm guessing that the delivery service that used to pick up at a variety of restaurants in town doesn't work anymore?

re "...For us, if we can/have the opportunity to pick up, we will. But that isn't always the case (ok, I confess, picking up take-out at Ahora is a royal pain so we won't do it unless we've got a serious hankering... gas, time, find parking, fail, find illegal parking, hope to not get ticketed, etc.). "

Agreed. Pick-up fails from anywhere you can't just pull up, hop in and out and be on your way without having to feed a meter or worry about a ticket etc.

FF: Assuming that the food is ready for pick-up when they say it should be ready ;)

Given that we also tip the delivery people, it's probably better for us to pick it up, no matter how far away it is!

FF, good points, but most of those car costs are being incurred whether or not he does a few clicks for his food, ie. he is not buying his car solely for this purpose.

Good calcs though, and full disclosure: the thumbs down is not mine. :)

On another note: I wouldn't order St-Hubert or Boston Pizza if they tipped ME for the delivery.

Bacon: share your delivery options :)

I freely concede that we take a hit in quality of food when we can't get out... that's why I'm interested in what other folks may have as options...

Ah, finally, a thread I feel comfortable answering. Note: I live in Centretown. My delivery picks:
Lebanese: Shawarma King on Bank St., hands down.
Chinese: Take your pick from all those places on Somerset, but Yangzte delivers and it's always good. A little expensive for my taste, and it has been a while since I ordered from here, so I can't comment on delivery time.
Thai: Bon Thai. It's not AMAZING by any means, but it's delivery Thai food, yo. Wait time has always been less than expected.
Pizza: For greasy pizza, I like Isabella Pizza, but take your pick.
Vietnamese: Vietnamese Kitchen on Bank St. delivers. It's the only Vietnamese place I've found that delivers to my house and I like their vermicelli plates.
Will add more later!

You can also check out just-eat.ca -- it lists a bunch of options for your postal code.

I tend to pick up because there are alot of take-out places within easy walking distance of my apartment. Great thread though - last winter on a few occasions I just couldn't be bothered to walk somewhere to get dinner-;) I will have to keep some of these places in mind.

So to answer your question my go-to delivery place is Vietnamese Kitchen.

I also like Won Ton House. Their shrimp in phoenix nest is a fave.

If you like pizza House of Georgie & Sorento's Pizzeria delivers. Carlo's Pizzeria also delivers and the Carlos combo is my fave.

I have to try Carlo's sometime, I've heard several very good reviews.

Biff, I would recommend Casa Luna pizzeria in Mechanicsville, just east of Parkdale, north of Scott. Very aromatic nutmeggy sauce, if you don't mind that, and very good, fresh toppings.

I second your Lorenzo's pick--for the one that used to be on St-Patrick, at least, don't know about the others.

But try the Souvlaki Shack for takeout (no delivery). I never ate the other Greek fast food joints, but my girlfriend has, and says the Shack kills them.

East India Company does delivery but only on orders over $25. I ordered a plate from their booth at the International Pavillion at lunch today and it was awesome. I look forward to many visits at this resto in the future.

Cypress Garden for chinese delivery. Basmati for indian delivery.