ottawa foodies

So which one do you think is best?

And also...I was wondering, if I wanted to experience about 3-4 different foods that chinese canadians order which is authentic chinese (not from the menu) what are some good suggestions?

I think this is pretty relative, depends on what you enjoy. Most local chinese food pale to the toronto offerings from places like Congee Wong.

You can do ok at chu-sing or yangtze (food poisoning there recently) , places like Ben ben have gone downhill. Food tends to be greasy, lacking flavor and freshness. But people buy it anyway, since there is no alternative... So these places survive, and our palates are tortured.

Don't get me wrong, I love chinese food, possibly the most. But having had good chinese food elsewhere, or only by chance locally. I am somewhat disenchanted.

May's Garden, just on the outskirts, flirting with Little Italy. Or get out out of China Town and go to Rice Pea on Carling near Woodroffe.

I'm sorry, but I'll never be able to take that place seriously. Rice pee is what we call the bit of foam that inevitably spills over in the microwave when we make rice. I hope I haven't ruined it for anyone else.

My favourite place is Yang Sheng, Bronson @ Sommerset.
yangshengrestaurant.ca
This was the first place I ate at when I moved to Ottawa and it is my go-to chinese restaurant. I love any place with barbequed ducks hanging in the window.

I have also liked May's Garden, flavourful and nice decor, just out of the throngs.

Yang Sheng.. I haven't been there in a while, but when I did it was very uneven: delicious one time, pretty nondescript the next. Time of day/night or day didn't seem to matter. The barbecued ducks are nice, yes. :)

For authentic Szechuan food Royal Treasures can't be beat. Very traditional dishes and great portions for the price. It's at somerset and lebreton, and it's always packed.

Anyone know where to get Peking Duck in Ottawa?

I'm on the same page as Chimichimi - Rice Pea is one of the top places in town, but it's out of the way. Ju Xiang Yuan has commendable Sichuan food and great skewers, but I find the heat a bit muted at times. Cafe Orient has good simple Cantonese food. Chu Shing has good dim sum.

"Anyone know where to get Peking Duck in Ottawa?"

Yes ... Order the Peking Duck (全聚德) from these guys:

www.quanjude.com.cn

and go to the airport ... oh say, 28 hrs later ... and pick it up.

I'd like to try Royal Treasures, but either it's always near empty, or it's closed. Maybe I don't have much luck with their prime times. But definitely one I will try, it's been there a long time!

Mekong.
*hangs head in shame, goes to hide.*
(with plate of yummy deep fried takeout goodness)

@niall - try going on a Thursday or Friday. Call after 2:30 to make a reservation for the same evening. My mom worked with the owner before she opened the original restaurant further up Somerset. We've been eating there for a very long time...

I'll throw in my vote for May's Garden at Somerset and Preston. They also have peking duck if memory serves me, @Captain Caper.

CapitalDigs .. May's did have (and may have) Peking Duck. had to order 24 hrs in advance for proper marinating. i remember asking the chef about it a few years ago.

My favorite is Yang Sheng at the corner of Somerset and Bronson

I'm from NYC and coming to Ottawa next week. Sounds like I should not bother with the chinese offerings in Ottawa. Is that a correct assumption given the authentic quality I am accustomed to eating in in New York's Manhattan and Flushing Queens Chinatown?

Authentic might be a bit hard to find but there are some good north american style resturants.

Nope, I wouldn't bother Rangers.

Was out for lunch yesterday with a friend at Ging Sing on Somerset by Preston. Haven't been for some time. Good service, good food as well.

Lemon Chicken
Sweet and Sour Pork
Shrimp with veggies and cashews
Singapore style vermicelli *asked for spicy

The lemon chicken is like none other I've had. It's massive fillets of chicken breast, largest I've seen in any restaurant. Two of them! The coating is nicely fried and crunchy, the lemon sauce just right, not overpowering. Great with the red hot sauce they have.

Singapore noodles were great, one of the best I've had in awhile.

Pork not so much, but the shrimp dish was decent also.

Worth a visit, reasonably priced.

Rangers,

If you are used to eating at authentic places in Flushing, I would not bother. My cousins are in Flushing and much better restaurants than in Ottawa.

I've only been a few times, but the BBQ pork at Double Happiness BBQ is incredible. Would absolutely recommend it to anyone.

Lately I've been enjoying Hung Sum at the Western end of the Somerset strip. South side. Not fancy but authentic and everything is fresh and to order.

My BIL which is a bit of a foodie really likes Sea King on Merivale in same plaza as Nicastro

Hung Sum is on my list! Heard the dim sum is great and freshly prepared.

Went to Hung Sum this weekend and it was pretty good (hate to caveat it, but yeah, for Ottawa). It comes to the table really hot and you can tell they prepared the dishes in house.

We used to like Sea King on Merivale, but one time we went, my wife noticed one of the servers went to the washroom and didn't wash up afterwards, which has grossed us out from going back. Probably not a common practice, and probably only that individual. =/

I'm heading to Hung Sum tonight around 6 with an elderly friend of mine. If you see a middle aged guy and an 80ish woman, that's us. Introduce yourself as an Ottawa Foodie!

Hung Sum is on my list! Heard the dim sum is great and freshly prepared.

"Best chinese in chinatown?"

There's lots of great food in Chinatown ... just pick a different city !!

Great food at Hung Sum again last night, and they tell me that they are aware that there have been good comments on Ottawa Foodies, and that they appreciate them, so introduce yourself when you go in. Last night we had fried tofu, eggplant and shrimp, fried shrimp/water chestnut balls, potstickers and one of their rice dishes with chicken and sweet sausage. I like these rice dishes, served in a steel pot that crisps the rice around the edges. Everything very hot/very fresh and reasonably priced.

Thought I posted this but perhaps not. Visited Ging Sing again this week. Lemon Chicken was again great. The pork dumplings were good as well, and I was sincerely impressed with the quality of the spring rolls. Most places in Ottawa do spring rolls stuffed with odd filler, or lots of carrot etc. These were bursting full of well flavoured meat. Reminded me of homemade quality.

goo.gl/WPkWY
Pics of
Lemon Chicken
Singapore Noodles
Pork Dumplings
Spring Rolls
Chicken with cashews (huge handful of jumbo whole cashews?!?)
Imperial Pork (fatty, haven't had much luck with pork)

Ravi, those pics look so appetizing that I'm going to treat my lady to dinner at Ging Sing soon.... She loves crappy Chinese food, so it should be a hoot to see her with real food.. thx for the pictures!