ottawa foodies

Dropped in for breakfast on Sunday. Exceptionally good poached eggs with potatoes and fresh fruit salad on the side. Coffee was also good but I would have liked a bigger mug.

They also have fantastic little brazilian cheese breads which are perfect warmed up while cradling a hot coffee in your freezing mitts.

The baked goods have gotten a lot better now as well. They started baking some of them in-house, and they're delicious!

Still the best coffee in Ottawa, in my opinion.

I haven't tasted the beans we bought yet, I do hope it's better than my latte served in a dirty glass. A glass yes, not a mug or bowl, a glass!

We usually buy our beans here. The espresso blend isn't too light or too dark, and the beans are always freshly roasted, so you get great crema as long as you store & grind them properly.

Their "free coffee with a bag of beans" policy is a great perk, too.

I was there this morning. It was about my 3rd or 4th time going there. I prefer Illy coffee but occasionally I'll try fair trade coffee because I think I should drink it. I always have the lightest roast, and it isn't bad, but Illy is better. HOWEVER....

I have to strongly advise against the baked goods, especially the muffins. I had kind of a heavy duty weekend, so I thought something slightly sweet and breakfasty would be just the thing. I took one bite and could not believe the extreme nastiness of it. Dry, heavy, tasteless and apparently completely without sugar. I took a second bite thinking perhaps things might get better. No such luck. I hesitantly asked the server "Um...are these sugar-free?" and was told that they were sweetened with a bit of maple syrup. She didn't mention this at the time when I asked for the muffin. Then she said, "If you like really sweet foods you probably wouldn't like them.", all the while looking at me as though I get up every morning and eat 10 pounds of sugar first thing.

Zealots of the world, listen up! If you are on a sugar-free, fat-free and flavour-free diet, don't inflict your choices on other people WITHOUT TELLING THEM WHAT THEY ARE EATING! She asked if there was a problem and I told her I wasn't enjoying it and would have chosen something else if I'd been told it was completely unsweetened. She offered to give me a scone instead, but at this point I was not willing to chance it. I would like to nominate the tasteless doorstop as the worst thing I've had in my mouth for ALL of 2006. I like the coffee ok, I like the shop but I have to recommend that you pass on the pastries.

Ottawa XPress Review: www.ottawaxpress.ca

Just bought their Red Sea coffee (care of Piggy market) and rushed home to make a pot. Described on the packaging as a "challenging" coffee, with notes of cherry, etc flavours... this coffee is one of the best I've had in Ottawa. Brightly flavoured, sweet and no notes of bitterness... delicious!

i really like ideal coffee... i often buy my beans for the week there, you get a free coffee with every purchase of bean... what i don't like is that their take out cups are styrofoam :(

I came to I Deal Coffee on Sunday and consumed the two best cups of coffee in my life. They purchase a variety of green beans (possibly fair trade though I didn't inquire) and roast them on site with their own blends. They sell the beans, the roasted blends of beans, ground coffee or the freshly brewed stuff. They have two blends; a light and a dark which are roasted daily and ground on site soon before brewing. Both were absolutely stunning, full of a rich flavour that fills your mouth and enough caffene to give the proper effect of coffee. They serve it in mugs if you drink it there and you can even see their excellent roaster on site.

I have tried Bridgehead, Umi, Raw Sugar, The Ottawa Bagelshop and more. This place beat all of them in terms of coffee quality, by a moderate margin. If you like coffee, at the very least _try_ one cup of either blend. It's right beside Elizabeth Bruyere and you can take the OC (#9) to get there.

I'm still peppy the next day. :)

I purchased a half pound of the light organic coffee, roasted on site just recently. Brought it home, ground it freshly and brewed some delightful pots of coffee you of it.

I reccomend their fair-trade coffee beans and fair-trade ground coffee.

I passed by this place today and grabbed a cup of coffee. I was told that they roast and grind fair-trade coffee on-site. The coffee smelt good! (Since I add milk and sugar to coffee, I won't be able to tell if a coffee is good. You can tell I am not a coffee addict.)

That's....
GENIUS!!!

The best iced coffee I've found in Ottawa: made with frozen coffee ice cubes (instead of water-only ice cubes) with hot espresso poured on top to get them melting. Frickin' awesome. No more watery iced coffees for me anymore!