Foods from Mangia
Comments
2009 Apr 16
NB: There was a crazy amount of indecisiveness on my part, after my experience here 9 months ago.
Tonight, dinner at Mangia reminded me a bit of my favourite fortune cookie: "It could be better, but it's good enough".
The service was fairly prompt. I ordered the basil & mushroom soup to start, and the mussels and frites for the main. My fiancé had the pasta special, which was penne with grilled chicken, in a pesto marinara sauce (I'm not sure how a sauce can be pesto and marinara, but oh well), sundried tomatoes and pine nuts.
The soup came promptly, along with fresh from the oven bread. It was a chicken broth base, but the mushrooms and basil were pureed into the broth, making it thick and creamy, which wasn't quite what I was expecting (I asked, she said a "broth base", which made me think it was going to be with pieces of mushroom). Also, the mushroom overwhelmed the basil, which was a bit sad.
The mains were both rather delightful. The sauce in Andrew's pasta was a bit on the plain side, but creamy and had a good texture. He said that the pine nuts really added something. My mussels were nicely done, and unlike before, they were less saucey, with lots of onion and garlic mixed in. The fries were perfectly done, and extra bread was brought to sop up extra sauce.
All in all, service was prompt and friendly, and the bill was reasonable. But, Andrew said his main wasn't spectacular, and my soup was subpar. Could have been better, but good enough that we'll be back.
Tonight, dinner at Mangia reminded me a bit of my favourite fortune cookie: "It could be better, but it's good enough".
The service was fairly prompt. I ordered the basil & mushroom soup to start, and the mussels and frites for the main. My fiancé had the pasta special, which was penne with grilled chicken, in a pesto marinara sauce (I'm not sure how a sauce can be pesto and marinara, but oh well), sundried tomatoes and pine nuts.
The soup came promptly, along with fresh from the oven bread. It was a chicken broth base, but the mushrooms and basil were pureed into the broth, making it thick and creamy, which wasn't quite what I was expecting (I asked, she said a "broth base", which made me think it was going to be with pieces of mushroom). Also, the mushroom overwhelmed the basil, which was a bit sad.
The mains were both rather delightful. The sauce in Andrew's pasta was a bit on the plain side, but creamy and had a good texture. He said that the pine nuts really added something. My mussels were nicely done, and unlike before, they were less saucey, with lots of onion and garlic mixed in. The fries were perfectly done, and extra bread was brought to sop up extra sauce.
All in all, service was prompt and friendly, and the bill was reasonable. But, Andrew said his main wasn't spectacular, and my soup was subpar. Could have been better, but good enough that we'll be back.
2008 Jul 28
Mangia used to be my favourite restaurant in the market, and we found them incredible and quaint and with wonderful food and good service.
(Here's where the HOWEVER comes in):
However, about two months ago, after they reopened their doors, we decided to check out their patio. I ordered the gazpacho to start and the mussels and frites as my main, my partner ordered one of their pizzas.
The gazpacho came quite quickly and was the most divine thing that I have tasted all summer. It oozed of tomato goodness and hints of cilantro and maybe even a bit of mint, topped with good olive oil. It took us about 15 to 20 minutes to eat a small bowl, we were savouring it so much.
A good forty-five minutes later, our food still hadn't arrived, and there had been no explanation from the waitress (and they weren't particularly busy). Over an hour into our "meal", the food finally arrived and the waitress spilled the frites and much of the mussel sauce all over the table. It took them another 15 minutes to bring me another plate of frites, by which point I was finished my mussels and didn't feel much like eating the frites alone. My partner's pizza was cold--not cool, cold--and was missing two of the ingredients--fresh oregano and sundried tomato. How do you forget TWO ingredients? When we mentioned this to the server, she muttered something about dessert on the house, and brought us dessert menus. We told her that we were planning on going to a movie, but since the service was so slow we had missed it. At that point, instead of apologizing and offering us something for next time, or taking something off the bill (which I don't agree with usually, but in this instance!!!), she told us that since we missed the movie, we should simmer down and have some dessert. I believe we threw down $40 and left.
Outside of the gazpacho it was the single worst dining experience I have had in Ottawa. I like to enjoy my meal. But I don't like to wait an hour for it to show up.
(Here's where the HOWEVER comes in):
However, about two months ago, after they reopened their doors, we decided to check out their patio. I ordered the gazpacho to start and the mussels and frites as my main, my partner ordered one of their pizzas.
The gazpacho came quite quickly and was the most divine thing that I have tasted all summer. It oozed of tomato goodness and hints of cilantro and maybe even a bit of mint, topped with good olive oil. It took us about 15 to 20 minutes to eat a small bowl, we were savouring it so much.
A good forty-five minutes later, our food still hadn't arrived, and there had been no explanation from the waitress (and they weren't particularly busy). Over an hour into our "meal", the food finally arrived and the waitress spilled the frites and much of the mussel sauce all over the table. It took them another 15 minutes to bring me another plate of frites, by which point I was finished my mussels and didn't feel much like eating the frites alone. My partner's pizza was cold--not cool, cold--and was missing two of the ingredients--fresh oregano and sundried tomato. How do you forget TWO ingredients? When we mentioned this to the server, she muttered something about dessert on the house, and brought us dessert menus. We told her that we were planning on going to a movie, but since the service was so slow we had missed it. At that point, instead of apologizing and offering us something for next time, or taking something off the bill (which I don't agree with usually, but in this instance!!!), she told us that since we missed the movie, we should simmer down and have some dessert. I believe we threw down $40 and left.
Outside of the gazpacho it was the single worst dining experience I have had in Ottawa. I like to enjoy my meal. But I don't like to wait an hour for it to show up.
2007 Mar 13
A nice quaint restaurant with good service. My husband always orders the spaghetti with veal meatballs and I've enjoyed their linguine with chicken. I had another one of their pastas which I found to be very salty but I suppose that was to be expected since it had olives in it.
Their Greek salad is AMAZING. The feta cheese is the creamiest you've ever tasted and the touch of fresh mint had me running to the supermarket the next day to duplicate the taste and aroma.
They serve complimentary bread that is warm and fresh. It really does have that 'family restaurant' feel.
Even if you're not in the market, it's worth a trip down to see for yourself.
Their Greek salad is AMAZING. The feta cheese is the creamiest you've ever tasted and the touch of fresh mint had me running to the supermarket the next day to duplicate the taste and aroma.
They serve complimentary bread that is warm and fresh. It really does have that 'family restaurant' feel.
Even if you're not in the market, it's worth a trip down to see for yourself.
MissPiggy
We were debating whether to go to Mangia or Mellos around the corner and since Mangia looked more classy, we decided to treat ourselves. This was at the beginning of November. What a mistake and what a disappointment! My salmon with pesto sauce was dry and way overdone, the worst I've ever had. My friend could barely find the scallops in her pasta with scallops. These were on their Specials of the Day menu and I believe the salmon dish was the most expensive too. Mangia will not be on my list of restaurants to visit again.