ottawa foodies

My wife and I are traveling to Ottawa in February to skate on the Rideau Canal and will be in the city for a few days. We are both huge foodies and can't wait to experience what a new city has to offer. So here is the question, if you had one meal to eat out, dinner, lunch, coffee, whatever, where would you go?? Where is a "cant miss"?

Where are you staying? Will you have a car? Price point? Any food aversions?

Special Occasion Wow not looking at the bill meal - I would go to Becktas
www.beckta.com

But once we have some more information, we can fill in the rest.

We are staying at the Fairmont, we will have a car but would prefer walking/taxi distance. We are only staying 2 nights, so price point isnt that big of a concern. No food aversions. Thanks!

Play Food and Wine
Same owner as Beckta too!
right in the market so its not far at all!

I think El Camino on Elgin has the best food (and great prices) of all the "of the moment" spots in Ottawa. The atmosphere is hipper-than-thou but the food and drinks are quite simply beyond reproach - and I am a bit of a Rick Bayless acolyte/Mexican food snob.

Play, Town, Union, Murray Street are all close and worthwhile checking out as well. Love Smoque Shack for drinks and down-to-earth food. Navarra and Domus are higher end but definitely good.

Chez Lucien and The Manx are nice spots for a beer. Whalesbone is great for drinks and oysters but the apps and mains always leave me underwhelmed. My experiences at Hooch were a bit of a miss, but I think it is a great spot for a drink regardless. I get the impression that I am of the minority opinion on the food at these joints so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Otherwise, I'd recommend Hintonburg Public House and Elmdale - further out but great atmosphere and I like the food/drinks at both. There is amazing Vietnamese at a hole-in-the-wall called Huong's on Booth.

Haven't tried Beckta, Das Lokal, Brother's Beer Bistro, Gezellig, Supply and Demand and Albion Room - so do some homework on them - probably are some winners in there. Lots of friends recommend them.

I'll throw in a +1 for Beckta. Top notch without being too pretentious.
Have fun!

If you do end up in Hintonburg/Wellington West, I'm an Allium loyalist, so that's where I'd spend my money. Supply and Demand is worthy too. Not a huge Elmdale fan. Might be worth heading to the area for a stop at Beyond the Pale Brewery if you're into beer, maybe Art-is-in for lunch.

The Shore Club is sideways across the street from the Fairmont (in the Westin) and quite exceptional for fish and seafood. Steak is good too but their fish blows me away. Classy place, high end but worth it. Literally 90 seconds walk.

If you want something fairly hard to find outside of Ottawa i'd suggest Sri Lankan food st Ceylonta, on Somerset. Not the prettiest corner of the city but safe. Walkable from your hotel, probably 20min. You can walk Elgin and Somerset one way and Wellington-Bank-Somerset the other and see a few chunks of Ottawa you might otherwise miss.

El Camino on Elgin is fun, different, and does killer tacos.

Also on Elgin and worth your dollars and stomachtime is Oz Kafe.

In the market... Play is pretty great for small plates and wine. Would also suggest tacos at Sidedoor, pizza at The Grand, or bbq at Smoqueshack. All are easily walkable, maybe 10min if you're slow.

I would also put in a vote for Beckta which would be a relatively short cab ride (probably 8-10 minutes) and I would vote for the tasting menu.

If you are interested in Molecular Gastronomy I would check out Atelier but it might be hard to get into (book now). The wine pairings are great. Having said that its probably a 20-25 minute cab ride.

I enjoyed Town which is probably a similar cab ride as Beckta. Not as high end and not at the same level but very good.

Domus is another good restaurant but I would put along side Town. Very good but not in the same category as either Atelier or Beckta. It is walking distance from your hotel (probably 5-10 minutes).

Whalesbone is another very good restaurant and would be just a few minutes longer than Beckta in a cab.

Play is also good but not IMHO at the level of the other restaurants.

Another vote for the tasting menu at Beckta or, if you can get a reservation, Atelier. Guaranteed satisfaction. For service, Beckta is impeccable.

high-end - Domus, Beckta, atelier

mid range - Supply and demand, town, Alium, murray street(meat!!)

low range..not cheap, but cheaper - play food and wine, El camino(delicious but loud), union 613

pubs - chez lucien, manx

cocktails - union 613, moonroom, hooch

new spot, haven't tried - das lokal, heard great things though.

Close to your hotel is the Black Tomato. Good food and a great selection of beer. Murray St is a can't miss.

Supply and Demand is good, decent service.
But if you are vs, egetarian or do not like raw meat- there is not as much choice.

For lebanese pastry and some interesting ice creams I like Malak pastry on Bank st.
They are one of the only places that make Ashta a middle eastern ice cream made with mastic- some kind of tree gum.

-most of the time they have this ice cream,but prob better to call ahead and make sure as they do not always make ice creams every day.

Their baklava and pastries are very fresh and a lot of people from other cities seem to bring back huge tins of their pastries (in the summer I would always see people come in and buy huge boxes and hear how they were from out of town... (i would sit in the store to eat my ice cream as it was so hot out...).

-also speaking to the owner of the store, he told me he sells a lot of his cookies to stores in other cities (montreal and maybe toronto...),

-my mother also orders the banana gelato by the gallon (she is out of town and brings it back). I think it is good,but not a must have.

Also if you go to Malak pastry they sell some really good sugar free mints called Rio mints. they are hard to find (i bought 10pk last time...), but the "honey melon" is good and is honeydew and mint/ the "burgundy grape" is also grape and mint - those 2 kinds are the best.
jasmine mint is not so good.

It's all been said. Beckta, Murray Street, Atelier, Union Local 613 and Art-is-in for breakfast or lunch.

To the earlier responses, i'd add Les Fougères or even the The Wakefield Mill. You'll need your car, yes, but they're close-ish (15-25 mins) on the Quebec side and offer pretty decent fare in a relaxed, small town/village setting you'd be hard-pressed find within an hr of downtown TO (as an example). They'd make nice lunch destinations, at least.

In Chelsea there is L'oree Du Bois- a very good French restaurant in a nice country forest kind of setting.
You need to make reservations.

The bouillabaise is very good.

For lunch Todric's is also really good and their breakfast is great too.
They have quite a few gluten-free choices and they use local meats,breads, eggs.

The bread they use is from French Baker and I was told they smoke their own cheddar for the dishes they make too.

For lunch they have a lot of good sandwiches and soups- and I tried the veggie burger and it is different from most places as they make their own patties/burgers out of chick peas and other vegetables.

Todrics also has a small "store" where they sell sauces and jams they make and some spice rubs.

you can see their menu online at: todrics.com

It is one of the few places I can take my mother to eat when she visits where she is sure to find something to eat on the menu that she likes.

I went to Supply and Demand with her and she ordered the black pepper spaghetti with guanicale and then asked for the dish with no guanicale when she found out it was pork, also not too much black pepper and not too much oil or cheese and be sure there is no actual meats in the dish.

Then a Cesar but only with 1/4 ounce alcohol...not more

Supply and Demand was great with serving my mother, but she does not want to go back to try anything else on the menu (too many meats, she said).

But Todric's is always very good for accomodating picky eaters!