ottawa foodies

Had lunch at Zaki's.

Brought my own creamy coleslaw to go with the 4 piece broast chicken combo (chix,fries&pop).

Love fried chicken with coleslaw. They don't serve coleslaw. Put coleslaw on my plate and kept it low profile.

This brought my broast chicken lunch to a trancendental/heavenly experience.

It would not be the same if I ate it in my car or brought it elsewhere (the steam would ruin the chicken skin).

Next time I will ask them to please add coleslaw to their menu and ask if it's ok if I add some of my own coleslaw to my lunch.

Jeez-whiz ! I'm even willing to pay a 'corkage fee' for bringing my own coleslaw. But I'm not willing to buy a $4000 broaster machine.

So did I do wrong ??? (moral/legal/ethical/ettiquite/disrespectful/or in any other fashion).

I brought taziki to la milsa in Montreal last trip. Heavenly Brazilian bbq, but their sauce alone doesn't cut it. The taziki in combo was perfect. Snuck it in. felt silly but loved it. I say if it's a complimentary item do it!

I was thinking next time I goto zakis I'll bring jamacian hot sauce to baste the chicken with. So it'll have proper flavour. Their chicken is good. Seasoning is too bland, KFC on a good day smokes it.

Fried chicken requires coleslaw. Not a no no, CC! They should offer it to all the north american fried chicken lovers!

I like fried chicken with corn on the cob..

Wow we are a demanding lot. A few weeks ago we couldn't get decent fried chicken in Ottawa: Now we are all imagining our dream sides. I agree with coleslaw, corn on the cob, but how about mac n cheese and iced tea? :)

Acutally ice tea should be an easy addition. lots of places in the US just have one of those large coffee urns for brewed unsweetened ice tea.. Great in the summer and low cost and minimum time to prepare..

There sugarfree drinks selection was a tad limited..

I feel that if you are going to be adding things to your plate that you've brought from home or another store, you should take it outside, to your car, or to your own home. Yeah, I feel it is somewhat tacky to bring food into a restaurant. I'm not going to be bringing in a plate of waffles to go with that fried chicken.

Plus, I believe there may be some kind of health regulation. If not, there probably should be, for obvious reasons.

Yeah, I'm inclined to agree with Rizak. At the very least, you should ask the restaurant if it's OK to bring your own accompaniment once you've ascertained that they don't serve it, but really I think you should take it off site if you're going to do that.

Ok. I have not brought in food to any restaurants before or since the Zaki incident spelled out in this thread .... but I'm now occasionally bringing my own hot sauce to a few places.

- To add to the HP sauce on my breakfast plate at a few diner spots.

- To punch up the food at La Cabana (they only provide a vinegar based Tabasco like sauce ... which I dislike because all that vinegar destroys the flavors of the food.).

- And other take-out spots and resto's that I can't remember right now.

The bottle is in my car ... ready at a moments notice. When I have forgotten to bring it in ... I've gone out to fetch it, while my food is being prepared.

Sooooo .... It it wrong to bring in (and keep at a low profile) outside condiments ??? (moral/legal/ethical/ettiquite/disrespectful/or in any other fashion).

How about bringing your own diabetic sweetener ? or digestive enzymes ? etc.

I won't bring my own pepper mill ! (What ? Captain Caper has limits ? and may care about what others think ? Yeesh)

... but would consider my own freshly ground Tellicherry or Malabar black peppercorns in a paper wrap. (Like these small Obama paper wraps)

I'd argue that referring to yourself, via a nickname, in the third-person is a no-no, but what do I know.... :)

Pretty sure it is a violation of the health code for anything prepared off premises, and not sourced by the restaurant, to be on premises. Honestly? If you want it made your way, make it at home, or take it there.

I say bring your own condiments, beverages, sides, tupperware for leftovers, biodegradeable napkins, cutlery, plates, hell go for broke and bring your own chicken to cook in their kitchen WOOHOOOOO!!!!!

On the other hand, i figure condiments are fine, 'food' is pushing it, but considering that a parent can bring in baby food, and someone with severe allergies could bring their own food for dining with friends who are purchasing food for safety reasons (i think), i suspect that as long as you're spending money, most places won't care unless it's something like bringing bacon into a kosher/hallal restaurant or beef jerky into a vegan place.