ottawa foodies

We stopped in for lunch and I really enjoyed it. The Caesar salad is fresh and home made. Much lighter than the standard dressing drenched bacon bits loaded Caesars that many restaurants serve. The meatball sandwich was also home made with great taste and texture. The marinara was good and the bread was delicious.

First visit here and would return. You almost don't even see it tucked away in the corner of the strip. The food was good, but what stood out for us was the fried smelts. Best fried smelts that I have had at an Italian restaurant. Crispy, light, small fish - seasoned perfectly and drizzled with a very, very light dressing. The chef knows about his small fry - didn't do too much to mask their delicate flavour. A nice touch was also being served a small meatball amuse bouche. Delicious. Have recommended to friends and I would return. Service was also great.

We went recently for dinner. While waiting for two friends to arrive, we attempted to order bread along with our wine and were told NO, bread is only available after a food order is placed....ehem,....that got things off to a bad start. Dinner was OK but nothing special, portions were on the small side. Funny how service affects the whole meal.

Hubby and I were here a mere two weeks after their opening one night in November. We were the only ones in the place at 8pm on a Sunday night (not many people in Kanata or Ottawa for that matter eat out on a Sunday night). We both started with a hot bowl of homeade fagioli soup of the day (very fresh, light and satisfying) then each had a homemade pasta. Mine was the lobster ravioli in the saffron sauce. Quite pleasing but slightly too salty. Hubby had the Chicken Penne in rose sauce. He quite enjoyed his and the pasta was al dente as we like it.

They do offer a short but decent wine list with mostly Italian labels but then when eating Italian, one should drink the wine from the same country. It does complement the food. Also the bread was fresh and tasty as well.

We will go back again for sure to try the profiteroles which we fell in love with in Italy but have a hard time finding on any menu in Ottawa. All in all, a very satisfying meal and surprising to find in the suburbs!