ottawa foodies

It was the Dragonlady's birthday dinner last night, so we went to her favourite place.

We love that they offer a BYOB option with a very reasonable capping fee, and brought a nice Ripasso for our dinner.

We started out with a couple of cocktails: mine was a whisky sour and hers a margarita. It didn't seem to be a standard bar sour mix, which I liked very much. If it was, it tasted different. The margarita came in a coupé glass and was just the right amount of sweet and sour. Very nice.

I had the large portion of the prime rib, which is always very good. See below. I'm beginning to think that I could have the smaller portion next time and be able to enjoy it just as well. Toward the end I was getting pretty full. No way was I going to leave any of it behind, though. I had a lot of help with the potatoes, which I didn't appreciate. I wanted them all to myself.

She started with the salmon niçoise, which I'm not fond of because of the salmon. Following that was a delicious mixed plate of grated potato medallions, perfectly grilled scallops covered in a delightful maple glaze, and a baby spinach salad with candied almonds on top. The combination was just right. All of it.

Whew. That was a great meal. No, wait. Here comes the dessert menu. No, we're fine ... what? Stubbe's chocolates and a port flight? Oh. Okay. I suppose we can stay a bit longer. This item has been a huge hit on their menu, and I can see why. We split the single order, and I can't see how one person could finish it. Four delectable little chocolate treats and four tasting glasses of different ports.

Yeah. That was a good evening. We closed the place down.

Thanks again, Terry. You make every experience a treat.

No pictures. I didn't want to ruin the meal by planning a review.

Went for dinner this evening.

Had the turkey spring rolls. Turkey spring rolls? Yup. Basically a Thanksgiving dinner in spring roll form with a nice berry sauce of some sort. Different and delicious.

Had chicken and pasta, fantastic. Creme Brule was supposedly frangellico, but I didn't taste it.

Service was excellent and the place was just the right level of busy where you can actually hear but it's still lively.

Great spot for an interesting and high quality meal but in a relatively relaxed setting. I'll be back.

Took my parents to the Newfoundland dinner for the first time last night. So much fun with the food and live music, my mom wants us to make going a regular thing from now on!

Obviously not the regular menu, but between the three of us we tried: seafood chowder, salt cod cakes, cod tongues, rabbit stew, and the Jiggs dinner, and it was all really good (if somewhat larger servings than we were expecting).

My parents had never tried cod tongues before, so it was awesome that they got to - much less expensively than flying them to Newfoundland (though they do want to visit there someday).

My father's big rave when he tried his rabbit stew was about how perfectly cooked the potatoes in the stew were (the rabbit was also really tender and delicious).

We saw one of the "mainlander" steaks go by while we were eating and it also looked really good, so this seems like it would be a wonderful restaurant to try on a non-Newfoundland evening as well!

Had a great dinner at PetitBills last evening. The Sunday prime rib was fantastic, I liked that there was a variety of roasted veggies not just green beans! My prime rib was cooked perfectly for me, I even had the smaller portion and have lunch today, all four of us had the prime rib, everyone enjoyed it very much, the butternut soup that my husband had, I had a taste was soooo good, wish I had room. Service was as always great, we had a great evening. Thank you.

Another date night a success. Food and service were terrific. I had the beef shortribs with mashed and some pretty amazing gravy. My wife had a couple of different seafoods. The lime cheesecake was to die for.

We had a couple of cocktails suggested by Terry to start off our evening. Hers was the bourbon Manhattan, made with our coffee bitters. Mine, the Rizak Gin, was made with our lavender bitters.

I have to say that they were both really good.

We made a reservation for the first Sunday supper last night. As the Dragonlady put it, "Better than I could have made at home." High praise indeed.

The prime rib was buttery, the Normandy puddings, lovely and crisp while being still a bit creamy and chewy inside. Perfect. I call them Normandy puddings because they were made with duck fat instead of drippings. Delicious.

Even the potatoes were delicious. That's something that she really appreciates, as well. If that much attention goes into the simplest part of the meal, the rest has to be excellent.

Thanks, Terry. My most heartfelt compliments to the chef.

Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed yourselves!

The Rose is from Pondview Estate www.pondviewwinery.com

Thanks again
Terry

Popped by a couple Friday's ago when I was craving French Onion Soup. I know where to find one of the best :) Cheesy, onion-y and not to salty. IMHO the best comfort dish.

W.C. had an equally lovely sweet potato soup that was the special for the day that was really full of great spices and flavours.

The wine list is always a great selection, and we settled on a nice Niagara Rose but can't remember the winery!

Nice Bread included on the side, good atmosphere, and of course great friendly service.

Thank you for bringing the family, it was a pleasure to serve you & the gang!

Absolutely love the lobster poutine! A great deal for the money and very tasty!

My husband and i had a lunch today.
We heard about Petit Bill's has a reputation but food was disappointed.
I started with beets salad that it wasn't reasonable price, yellow beet was over over cooked and i paid $14.
We studied at Le cordon bleu, many friends recommended and they likes Lobster poutine.
It was soggy fries with broken sauce. I could taste any of Mascapone flavors. It was pretty gross.
I believe that ratings can be very deceptive.
But waitress was nice otherwise pricey and nothing special.

What more can I say that other's haven't already said? Lobster, on mascarpone cheese sauce, on fries, with lobster butter drizzled over top. I put some fresh ground pepper on mine to add a bit of zing, the only thing that could make this dish better would be... some fresh shaved truffles!

Lobster poutine: Chunks of lobster, broiled in butter with marscapone cheese sauce on top of delightly crispy yet tender shoestring fries. I first thought that the delicate flavour of the lobster would be overshadowed by the other flavours but boy was I wrong. This dish is amazing. Try it, that's all I can say.

They served Clocktower beer on draught here, a pale ale, apparently. I thought it was unusual to see their beer in an establishment other than their own, not necessarily an unwelcome addition! Very cool to see!

My partner and I got a pair of Bill's Burgers on a recent visit, and we both thought it was outstanding-- near, if not at the top of our list of Ottawa burgers. Definitely beats out a couple more expensive options elsewhere in town.

Super friendly service and owner, too. Have to make a point to come here more often.