ottawa foodies

Hi! I'm looking at restaurants in Ottawa for a party of 10 (3 teens and the rest between the ages of 40-75) We don't want to do a special group menu at the restaurant. We are taking a taxi so any area in Ottawa isn't a problem.
We are eating quite early (5-6:00 PM). I want somewhere that isn't stuffy or overly pretentious. I like Mexican- but after looking at all the restaurants in Ottawa- any cuisine will do (a few of the guests are a bit fussy with food so I guess maybe not any Mediterranean or Asian restaurants) I guess we want to steer clear of "haute cuisine" also. We want somewhere upscale with a good wine list, great drinks, with a good menu- we want the dinner to be a memorable one. I am in NY state so I have to rely on the people that frequent these places regularly, or have friends that do. I appreciate any help you can give me!! (once we narrow down some restaurants- we will stay a weekend in Ottawa to check them out!)

You might want to check out Cafe Paradiso. For "plain" food they do a great steak frites and a roast chicken. Their salmon fillet is excellent too. I find them to have consistantly good food and service and they are centrally located. They also have a few more exotic choices on the menu for those who are interested in Asian influences etc.

Also look at Petit Bill's Bistro. It is a more adventurous menu than Paradiso but also has some great standards. Again, great service and a warm relaxed atmosphere.

Cafe Paradiso is downtown on Bank street and Petit Bill's is in Westboro

Good luck choosing!

I'd look at Wellington Gastropub. Excellent food and fantastic service. The menu changes daily based on what is in season/looks good that day. I find them very responsive to customer needs.

Peitit Bills is also very good. Food is solid and Terry is a great host.

Petit Bill's is my go to restaurant for casual dinners out with friends. Wellington is where I go for special occasions

Those sound good- but Wellington's menu seems small and I don't care for Jazz music- I am getting a bit overwhelmed scouring so many restaurant review sites lol I have seen a few that could be promising- How about Stella Osteria or Big Easy's?
(for the fussy eaters- the boys basically eat nothing so I don't plan on finding any where they will eat a meal-unfortunately they may have to eat before hand. Thankfully my son was raised a bit differently. On a trip to Cozumel he ate brain tacos- a bit more adventurous than his mom!)

Jazz music? you mean on the website? ok.

Jazz Music does not start till much later in the evening at Cafe Paradiso. They are going at 5 or 6. The teenaged boys I have to feed eat a lot, but plain food steak, chicken, pasta, burgers...All available at Cafe Paradiso and most at Petit Bills. I like the Gastropub a lot, but it still feels a bit pub like to me for a special occasion.

How about the Blue Cactus? The menu looks good... Stella Osteria or Big Easy's?

My fiance's boys don't eat steak, chicken, pasta, tacos, plain rice, nachos, pizza, burgers- or even peanut butter. None of the foods that a typical child would possibly eat. They will eat bread with butter, sometimes chicken nuggets/patties, french fries,crackers, some fruit- but that is about it. One of them will eat sausages and mashed potatoes and might try pizza once and a while but that is the extent of it.

Sad isn't it? They live in England, and apparently they have only been fed certain foods that they like. I can't understand it- when I was young my mother's mantra was "This isn't a restaurant!" and I ate what we had- or didn't eat. We may have to sneak in a baggie of crackers for each of them if we can't find anything for them. They will be fine if they eat before hand and maybe we can order some bread for them. The bottom line in choosing the restaurant is "It's my party and I'll go where I want to...!"

i'd really caution against blue cactus. terrible food. more of a tourist trap for 20 somethings in the market. i've never been to big easy's, but it has had ok reviews.

what is your price range? that might help. plus, what do the boys eat? fish? i assume they don't live on bread, butter & french fries. what is typical meal out?

for any restaurant, you can do a search for the specific vendor.

here are some random suggestions:
ZenKitchen
The SmoQue Shack
Murray Street Restaurant
The Whalesbone Bank
Fraser Café
Petit Bill's Bistro
Oz Kafe
LeRoy's
Big Easy's
Jak's Kitchen

my suggestions would be murray street, wellington gastropub, fraser cafe, maybe even tenessee willems....but might be hard getting a table for 10. town restaurant too maybe

Many good suggestions already, but I would add courtyard restaurant and beckta, both of which have smaller private rooms that would make for a more intimate dinner.

The gastropub has the bottom part of the place called the 'White Room' you could look into that :)

Yup, Gastropub and rent the White Room

The Wellington Gastropub

Forget about what those kids will and won't eat - give them a couple of slices of bread and you're done. Don't ruin everyone else's dinner for the sake of 2 fussy kids.

The Capital Club at the Delta Hotel downtown. We've hosted several small gatherings there, beautiful room, great service, and they'll basically make whatever you want in terms of food and drinks. Never had a bad meal there. Price tag is not at all cheap though :) but very worth it!

For simple food cooked well in a reasonable setting without breaking the bank, I'd recommend Grill 41 at the Lord Elgin Hotel. The menu is the most mainstream and unadventurous offering I've seen in a long time, but the dishes are done well and they'll be able to accomodate the most simplistic of palates. The ambience is fine - it's a cut above your average hotel restaurant - and it won't be too hard on the wallet.

And have a word with your fiancé. It sounds like he has raised a pair of brats.

I have to disagree with hff about blue cactus. We had our rehearsal dinner there. It was a fixed menu as we had 30 in our party. The food tasty, the salmon was excellent. We were upstairs, which I am glad because it is very noisy downstairs, lots of echos. Staff very attentive.
I had orginally wanted to try the courtyard, because the building and rooms seemed very cool, but too expensive for me to foot the bill.
I haven't read any reviews about their food.

Yeah, I quite like Blue Cactus. It's better than average bar food, I think HFF is being quite harsh.

I stand by my recommendation not to go to the blue cactus for your wedding dinner. Ottawa has many wonderful places to eat in a similar price range, I believe you will be much happier at one of them.

Solstice and Johnny, you may want to post your positive reviews since the majority are very negative.
Blue Cactus

Just lost my post...hope this does not show up twice!

I agree with HFF that the Blue Cactus can be absolutely awful, and I have heard the same about the Lord Elgin place. Definately the poster should try before she buys!

Anne Desbrissay's reviews give a pretty good bead on things I find. They are all on her Capital Dining website. You could even email her from there.

I think we need more info on price and atmosphere. The poster says that she is looking for unpretentious and that some diners (in addition to the boys) are inclined to be "fussy". I would say Bekta could be seen as pretentious as could the Capital Club. Both have superb food but they are high end and I think she is looking for a more casual vibe. As for those fussy eaters - I would avoid Murray Street and The Whalesbone both are fantastic but do all diners like fish and seafood? Or meat and charcuterie? Both are hard places to get a group to love.

My vote still goes to Petit Bill's or Cafe Paradiso!

I've eaten at Blue Cactus loads of times, it isn't somewhere that's going to serve high end food but as bar food goes, especially with a family in tow, it's fine. I've never had a bad meal there - nor, in fairness, have I ever had a particularly memorable one. It probably isn't right for this event, but it's always been perfectly fine when I've been there.

As for the Lord Elgin place, it's unadventurous but it's perfectly decent food. Michael Smith doesn't put his name to any old crap.

I looked at The Shore Club restaurant and that menu seemed diverse. Maybe a steakhouse would be nice. I am thinking about $60.00 PP would be about right. I had looked at booking a private room at several places. Most private rooms have minimum guests/ amounts and they are a bit more expensive than we can afford – they also have group menus and I want everyone to have more choices than a few from a menu. Not many of us would eat fish or seafood- but steak is good. We are staying at the Minto Suite Hotel- what about Prime 360?

I am not even worried about what they boys will eat- I am picking the restaurant according to what the majority will like. I can just get them an appetizer and they can have it sit in front of them while they secretly eat crackers- and we get them bread and butter. They don’t eat many dairy products, vegetables or fruits. They also don’t eat any kinds of meat/seafood/fish/poultry- one of them might eat roasted chicken. But I am sure it would have to be somewhat plain. If they move to the states- I can’t imagine what I am going to do. I hope that I will expose them to different foods and eventually they will eat more. They are 13 so I can’t force them. They don’t like trying new things and now one of the boys has some kind of new food avoidance and won’t try anything that he might think will make him sick. I don't understand how they could be that way. We have been taking my son to restaurants since he was an infant, and at 17 he is quite the "foodie" :)

Skip Prime 360. It's way overpriced for the quality (low). The Keg is even a better choice but I'm sure there are better steakhouses kicking around -- someone else could probably chime in. (Al's or Hy's maybe?)

Cafe paradiso or something like Courtyard Restaurant or Luxe Bistro might be worth checking out...

Shore club is one of the best in town for celebratory dinners and the service experience is top notch. Lots of good reviews on here. They also have things like fried chicken for picky eaters, and are very happy to have guests share entrees. I too am inclined to say don't force an entire wedding party to eat the food that two picky kids find acceptable. Beckta is not pretentious at all; The focus is on good food and service, and I have always found them to be focussed on providing a special and comfortable experience. Ditto Capital dining lounge. I assume you want something special/memorable if it's a wedding dinner, so I agree with HFF. Blue cactus is kind of a loud friday-night-civil servant bar kind of place - not what you would probably be looking for for a wedding dinner, and there are TONS more interesting spots in the same price range. And don't discount the courtyard. We had our wedding there and they provided a special menu from which all the diners had choices, but from a limited range that we custom selected. They did a super job and the atmosphere was relaxed and intimate in their small private room.

The Shore Club was the first place that came to my thinkyfoodbrainz when i read the original post. Costs a bit more but you'll get your $$s worth and then some. Menu diverse enough for foodies with plenty of options for the less adventurous.

Otherwise i'd second Wellington gastropub white room.

If you want to go substantially less elegant you could consider Meule et Craquelon in Gatineau. It's a BYO fondue/grillade place and they have small semi-private alcove-type dining rooms for groups.

The first thing that came to my find when I read the initial post was Italian. I think she said the kids (brats?) don't eat pasta or pizza much ... but there are often other things on menus at Italian restaurants, bruschetta, garlic bread, chicken (roasted?), other meats, etc. I was originally thinking a Trattoria place sort of thing on Preston Street (giovannis-restaurant.com or Ciccio Cafe) and then Mamma Teresa's (mammateresa.com) on Somerset came to mind.

Good luck!

Good thinking Flexie. Everyone who likes ANY food, likes Italian...I love Il Piccolini and they would almost fill the place! If they go at 5 or 6 I think Adrianna would likely not take other bookings till 7ish.

I've had drinks in The Shore Club and eaten lunch in the bar, I have heard very good things about the food. Must try it some time.

Navarra navarrarestaurant.com/ very tasty food and house wine, beautiful dessert.

I like restaurant 18 too.
www.restaurant18.com