ottawa foodies

I've tried to hate this place, I really have. It's a chain restaurant, the servers seem to be selected for their appearance, and the majority of customers are leering middle-aged males tipping way too much for glimpses of booby skin.

Today's visit, with a group, was my first in a couple of years. The fish tacos weren't incredible but they were tasty enough. It's pretty much impossible to do better than this at a chain restaurant!

My gin martini was good, 2 oz. $6 on Thursdays -- hard to beat!

We are conditioned as a society to assume that women who look like candy are nothing but sugar. This is incorrect of course, and our server today once again made this clear. She effortlessly answered questions about the ingredients of certain dishes and she checked with 'the chef' about modifications. Everything was done with efficiency, good timing, and friendly professionalism.

I used to think Moxie's was about men exploiting women. I now realize it is the women who are exploiting the men, and I feel better about that because the customers are there purely by choice. :)

finally came here for a work lunch. Atmosphere was nice, and service was polite but slow. The manager finally came over to bus our table, then made a comment to the bus boy about getting his act together.

The food was not overwhelming. My colleagues said it was ok, but wouldn't order the same again, with the exception of fish and chips - which looked great. I had a winter special of creole mussels served with sweet potato fries. The fries were great, the mussels where served dry - no broth, and there were maybe a dozen? For $14. Not much value there and not much creole either.

I don't think I'd be in a hurry to come back unless someone I trust told me what was actually a standout dish to order here.

I've never had a bad meal here.
A couple of times the food hasn't been up to par, but the way they handled it was beyond exceptional. A nice visit from the manager, a free dessert for the hassle (mmm, sticky toffee pudding..), sometimes the meal taken off the bill- and this does not happen often.
Other than that the experience has always been, well, perfect.
The service (great welcome when you walk in, great service, especially on the dining side), the atmosphere (nice lighting/decor, happy relaxed people), the drinks (try their GT-YUM!), and, of course, the food!
The food timing has always been perfect (appetizers finished, cleared, then almost immedietly replaced with a plate of food at proper temperature).
The lamb rack- if you have the cash, get it!! They take their lamb seriously! And the dry ribs- just to name a couple of my favorite dishes...
I just wonder if some day my husband will order a real dessert rather than their double stuffed twice baked potato with gravy?...funny guy :)

Went here for lunch today. I ordered the bacon cheeseburger with chicken gumbo soup.

I've actually never had Chicken Gumbo before so I can't compare it to anything. All I can say is that it was very tasty and had a pretty full kick to it's seasoning.

The burger was quite tasty, fairly juicy and nicely seasoned. The bun wasn't as fresh as I would have liked.

Service was good. I find it's almost impossible to comment on the service without talking about the waitresses. Sigh, I hate to add to this but how can't I? Here is my 2 cents. I don't go to a restaurant to see half naked women. The waitresses were very good so i have absolutely no complaints. Well... There were so MANY of them, it couldn't have been that difficult to manage the amount of customers. Anyways, It's just bothersome that every one of them looks like a runway model. What happened to the applicant's who didn't look like they could be on the cover of cosmo? What exactly is the hiring criteria? The sad fact is that this DOES generate business for them. Nevertheless, I'm happy to see that they provide good food and service beyond their superficial "look"

Oops my bad then.

Now that I think about it - I do remember being told that you should always let white wine stand for 10 minutes after refrigeration before drinking it and for reds it is the opposite, put it in the fridge for 10 minutes before drinking it.

Can't remember where I heard that but I do tend to do that when I am at home.

Thanks for pointing that out Snoopy Loopy

Thanks Obi... I knew it was something about the whites that shouldn't be on ice =) Didn't know about putting reds on ice though... thanks for the tip!

off subject:
snoopyL, the reason you should not put white wines on ice is it makes it too cold and you lose out on the subtle nuances

whereas alot of reds should be served on ice or chilled slightly to soften the tannins

I was listening to the wine guy on CBC and he said that putting wine in ice buckets was bad for the wine... can't remember the exact reason, but this could be why a lot of restos don't do it.

Visited Moxie's last night with a friend. The service was excellent from the moment we walked in until we left. Our server was attentive and answered all our questions with recommendations.

We ordered a bottle of Pinot Grigio from Italy. Loved it. They even brought a ice bucket to keep it cold which is something you rarely see at any restaurants in Ottawa.

Since it was a cold and rainy night, we immediately ordered the cheese broccoli soup. It was tasty, creamy and nice and hot. Probably will order this again especially during the Winter months.

My friend and I took our time to order our entree so we could enjoy our wine.

When we decided to order, we were overwhelmed by the amount of selections on the menu. They seem to have a lot of fish on their menu and since the only fish I can eat is Tuna, I opted to stay with a chicken option. Decided on ordering something simple so I ordered their chicken tenders meal. I had the Tangy Thai and my friend ordered the Buffalo. I tasted them both and found them to be equally as tasty. Again will probably order this dish again. I wish I had ordered the salad as my side dish, it looked better than the fries that came with mine...which tasted awful! I can never understand how a restaurant messes up french fries - now seriously!

I will definitely go back to Moxie's as I love the atmosphere and I would love to try many of their menu items.

My only other complaint is when they turned the lights down it was really dark in the restaurant. I like to see my companion while dining.

Went here on a Sunday mid-day when it first opened. Although the restaurant wasn't busy and we were seated promptly, we left after not being served (not even drinks) after 20 minutes.

Would never go back.

Absolutely superb! Could not possibly be improved! The only real complaint is that they coyly ask if you want herbed mayo instead of ketchup to be 'European', but they don't tell you they are going to charge you 70 cents extra for it whereas the ketchup is free.

This braised short rib stuffed burger (with caramelized onions, truffle aioli, and baby arugula) was nothing short of fantastic. Better than anything I've had in a pub for sure. It was juicy enough that I had to reach for knife and fork when I was halfway through. $16.

The fries were unexceptional, which made me a little bit sad. But the burger was great!

Zym - I believe it's actually against food law guidelines to cook hamburgers anything less than well-done (unless you sign a waiver like at The Works). At the place I used to work people would sometimes request a rare or medium burger and we would always say flat-out no due to the laws. Anyways, my point is that probably your burger wasn't supposed to be undercooked and the grill person screwed up - next time send it back :)

It was a big burger at a decent price with lots of toppings and a great bun - normally I'd be pretty satisfied. I'm still trying to figure out, though, just what it was that didn't click with this. I think it was undercooked for my liking, and I recall that they did not ask me how I wanted it. I don't mind not being asked as long as they are going to cook it on the safe side of not asking, but cooking something medium or less without asking is just plain wrong and potentially dangerous. This could have been such a great burger if only it had been cooked more!

Mojito here was quite good. This size had 1oz of white rum, sugar syrup, muddled mint and lime. Balance of flavours was good. My complaint would be the lack of fizz. Not enough soda? Soda lacking carbonation? Oh and the mint had some brown dead leaf bits that were a tad gross.