We were at Moxies in Orleans recently and my husband mentioned that the steak had an odd texture - like when meat has been tenderized in a saline solution. I asked our server if the steaks are fresh or frozen and was shocked to hear they get them frozen - my guess is, also "seasoned." This is shocking when there are so many great local butchers in the Ottawa area, one of the best, Lavernes, just 5 minutes from the Orelans Moxies location. We will not return to pay Moxie prices for frozen, pre-seasoned meat! Too bad because their sauces are amazing.
Had the displeasure of eating at the new Hunt Club location tonight. I ordered off the new spring menu. The reconstructed lasagna was adVertized as a chicken and mushroom lasagna in a white wine gruyere sauce $18. When it came to the table I should have complained right away about the tomato sauce on top but I thought it may have been a garnish since there was only a small amount in top. Small being the key word. The dish consisted of three 4 by 3 inch sheets of pasta with four small chunks of chicken and 3 small mushrooms hidden under the first sheet of pasta with I'm assuming gruyere cheese mixed in with a dollop of pregoesk sauce on top. Not in the mood for a confrontation I just ate and kept quiet. When asked how it was I had to say it was very small and had tomato sauce on it. The response was oh don't you like tomato sauce? I said I do but that's not what I ordered. A blank look came over our server and she froze up. I said don't worry about it. I really do not understand the long line of patrons while we were leaving. I guess atmosphere is a great menu item these days.
shanghai noodles @ moxie's. sautéed in a ginger-garlic sauce with shiitake mushrooms, shanghai noodles, baby bok choy and julienne vegetable. close copy-cat of milestone's shanghai noodle stirfry. sexy bad.
Went out to the Kanata Moxie's on Tuesday with about 6 or 7 colleagues for an end of summer bash. As a summer student, it was my swan song, and so my lovely manager bought dinner (hurray! the poor starving student actually ate a meal!)
I went off my sobriety (which I'm doing for weight loss) and had the ginger guava margarita. It came in a tall glass, which is great, because I cannot, cannot drink from large margarita glasses, or from martnii glasses for that matter. It was cold, refreshing, slushy, delicious and gone in about 30 seconds. Oh well.
One of my coworkers used to work in the kitchen, so he knows what's good, and what to avoid at all costs. Unfortunately he did not advise on portion sizes until after I ordered.
We split their Mosaic dip, which is mushroom, tomato, something spicy, and goat cheese with naan bread. It was really really good, but there was not enough naan to share. We asked for more, which they brought us, but only after we started our meal.
Everyone seemed to be very happy with their meal, except our director who ordered the Mahi Salad. She found it much too dense as a salad.
I had the cranberry, feta, side salad, which was good, but why Moxie's are you serving it with bottled sundried tomato dressing? Ugh.
My second appetizer was a sushi-style tuna served on top of what the menu called "tortillas". I figured it would be some modern take on rice paper wraps, but clearly I was wrong. It was a sort of hard, but not crispy, noodle cracker thing. The tuna was served on top of mushrooms, which made it harder to eat (too hard to stap with a fork, too messy to eat with your hands in front of your boss, and too wobbly for chopsticks, even for me). It was good, but there were also only six of them, and they were wee little things. This is what I meant when I said earlier that my coworker didn't inform me of the portion size.
All in all, I think I enjoyed the company and that helped the food along. Our waitress made a grave error with the bills, processing the same bill on a credit card after my manager gave her cash. She then reversed it rather quickly...but a bit too quickly (she was gone for about 10 minutes with our cards). Needless to say, I wasn't wow'd, but I don't feel that it was the most terrible experience, either.
A friend told me that Moxie's has a new location in Kanata Centrum and his work group always like to go there for Friday lunch. He thinks this has to do with the waitress' dress code there.
So, I told my another friend about young waitress wearing sexy dress there. Her hubby said that they have to go eat there to see the waitress for an eye-opening experience.
The following is what our friend wrote in her email report about Moxie's:
"We tried out Moxie in Kanata Centrum yesterday (Saturday). Décor – very good and contemporary, but not really fine-dining. The lady’s washroom is very fancy. The food was OK. Mon thru Wed, drink from $3.99. Thurs thru Sun, drink price ranges from $5.99 and up. The price is reasonable. Even though the dining room and bar are separated, the music from the bar was too loud last night.
The waitresses and other girls did not wear low cut. Our sever was an old and skinny guy. Hubby was disappointed."
schnicken