ottawa foodies

Went recently for thier Valentines Day menu. I was a little nervous as thier menu had changed slightly since my last visit but was relieved to see the familiar faces of the owner upon entering. Food is always fresh, well cooked, well presented, and best of all perfectly priced. I have to keep telling myself to come here more often!

Here is a grilled chicken sandwich with salad. I didn't have it but thought the photo would be a useful reference item. ;-)

This was a special, written on their chalkboard: Bermuda Onion Soup. This was a fusion twist on french onion soup -- flavoured with coriander seed and a hint of cumin. You can see an orangey film of grease floating on top of the soup but it didn't detract at all from my enjoyment of it. Somehow it all worked well and I was happy to have ordered it.

Three of us went for lunch and it is a neat little place. The kitchen is very open and is at the front of the restaurant. The main dining room is at the back but there are a few overflow tables along the aisle past the kitchen and along the front window (where we got their last available table). Reservations really *are* a must, even for lunch!

The menu is sort of fusion but is mostly Italian. The atmosphere and food reminded me a lot of Stoneface Dolly's (Stoneface Dolly's ) and the Eclectic Noodle (Eclectic Noodle ). Food was pretty good but not exceptional (still, good enough that I'd be thrilled if it were walking distance from my house).

The beer is worth mentioning. They have exactly one kind of beer on tap: Creemore Springs Ale. After enjoying a pint with my meal, I have to agree: Why should they offer a wider selection when they have Creemore? Seriously, this orangey (they call it amber-copper) beer goes very well with their food and is truly excellent.

Service was friendly and very competent. Also, they have bookshelves full of cookbooks and food publications at the front of the restaurants -- for decoration or reference, I wasn't sure.

A definite must try, but reservations are a must. Must confess we have not been in some time, just too many other yummy places to try. Every time we have gone we have loved it. From steak to pasta everything is always great. Interesting fusion with family's mid east background.

I didn't actually try them, but this is what they looked like!

Pasta is prominent on their menu. This was the "Linguine with Prosciutto and Mushroom Cream Sauce". Very tasty, it was loaded with mushrooms and good prosciutto. The top was graced with nice little chunks of shaved parmesan cheese but then they gave us a shaker of dried parmesan powder at our table to cheapen the experience.

The linguine were cooked perfectly al dente. The prosciutto was excellent, the mushrooms were likely cremini, and the cream sauce was a tad oily (but hey it *is* a cream sauce). It all went down very well indeed. :)