ottawa foodies

Was here again on Friday and the guy next to me at the bar ordered "dusted wings", which after listening to his questions and the waitresses answers sounded to me like a keto friendly version of wings. I will ask in more detail myself next time I am in.

This prompted me to look at the menu more closely and I did manage to find a "lettuce wrap" which was some kind of meat sandwich wrapped in lettuce instead of some form of bun. The devil is in the details - if that is just a gluten-free meal it may not be keto friendly. But it could be keto. I will ask in more detail when I am in next.

This is called "The Flying Pig" and is listed as "Crispy chicken breast, smokey bacon, avocado, cheddar, sambal mayo, tomato, CT Red Ale BBQ sauce".

It was extremely yummy though pretty close to impossible to eat like a burger - I had to use a knife and fork which is perfectly fine in my books. The fries were perfect as well.

I have been trying to get some coworkers to go out for beers a couple times a month, and one of the requirements for a couple of them is keto-friendly food. Since my own only real requirement is good beer I of course suggest Clocktower Westboro. One of the keto guys tells me that they don't have a single thing that is keto friendly. Their go-to at most places is a plate of wings or a Caesar salad. Well clock tower does not have a caesar, and their wings are battered which is a no-go.

So I went there myself on Friday to stake it out, and I asked one of the servers about keto. She confirmed they don't have a single thing that is suitable.

OK I get it - I find the keto trend a little overwhelming too. Though I have seen it help an awful lot of people lose weight and stay healthy. But I think any establishment who ignores keto is shooting themselves in the foot. Sadly we won't be going here a couple times a month on fridays after work.

Due to a general”hue and cry”, Waupoos has been re-installed at the New Edinburgh edition of the CT. Thanks Manny!

They still have Somersby, on tap, and Strongbow in cans, not Waupoos. Chez Lucien will be seeing more of me in the near future.

I heard that they were not selling draft cider anymore but offering ciders in cans/bottles. You might still be able to fill your pants.

More cranking on Clocktower: they no longer carry Waupoos cider, at the New Eddy shop anyway. This will definitely cut into their bottom line, as I drank a pant load of the stuff there. . . . .

I would like to comment on the service we received at the Byward Market CT last night. I would like to, but I can’t because there was none. Went about 7pm, maybe 12 people in the place, no one greeted us at the door, so we seated ourselves, no one brought us menus, so we went to the bar and got our own. No one came to take our order, so we left. 2 servers and a bartender, and about 4 tables of customers.

Visited Friday and was disappointed. Service was great, beer was also good. The food was mediocre. My fish and chips were priced right but the fries were just bad resembling something from the frozen food section at the supermarket. Fish was dry but the batter was good. My wife had the grilled cheese and again nothing that would make you want to come back. She had the pub chips that were under cooked.

Excellent beer selection at reasonable prices.

What can I say? They continue to make some extremely good beers. Go for the beer. Go for the food. Unless you are keto :-)

$5 house beers before 5 any weekday - that's a pretty sweet deal right there folks!

So the oyster stout is back and delicious.

Went with my Dad to the Clocktower tonight to watch the game with him. We delved into the beers there. He had a cask-conditioned red, and a bytown brown, while I had the Kolsch and the Raspberry wheat. Now, more the matter, I love dark beers with full flavour, and don't much like lighter coloured beers. So....yeah, shouldn't have ordered the Kolsch and Raspberry wheat. That being said, if you like lighter beers, I would recommend them, because, even though they were not to my taste, they were still pretty good. My Dad generously let me have a sip of his beers, and they were steller. The Bytown brown was hearty and had a nice coffee pre-taste, which means that the next time I go back, I will order nothing but it. So, to summarize, really really enjoyed the beer.

Just got back from a Brewers' lunch at the Bank Street location. Had the new Organic Wheat, which I think is only a seasonal for the summer. It is fermented with a "normal" yeast, so does not have any of the funky flavours associated with Belgian or Bavarian Wheat beers (and their respective special yeasts). So it classifies as "American Wheat". It was an extremely good beer - very quaffable on a hot summer day. Crystal clear. Kudos to Patrick the brewmaster - very well done. It was so good that I had to have a 2nd :-P

EDIT : Oh, and got to meet Orleansfoodie for the first time (waves)

Was here for lunch today. The Koelsch (sic) and Wishart's Bitter were both absolutely fantastic! Their beers have really improved since they hired a real brewmaster - go Patrick!

I have to agree with Zym: The Kölsch here is a deadringer for the yummy Dom Kölsch which you get in Germany...Köln specifically. Might be my favourite beer. Then again, anyone from Köln will tell you that Kölsh stands alone.

Yum!

Went in for a quick beer and burger yesterday while my kids were in an activity nearby. The Koelsch was a dead-ringer for the ones I've had in Cologne - in particular I'd say Dom Koelsch with it's slight sweetness. For those not in the know, this is the same type of beer that Beau's is brewed after, so anyone who likes that, should love the Clocktower Koelsch.

Just last week I had the ESB and the Brown and I enjoyed both. The ESB was especially flavourful. As far as brew pubs go, it's them and the Draught Horse out in Navan, and that's it to the best of my knowledge. But fortunately a lot of places these days are carrying micros. Click "Beer" on this site for some of my recommendations.

It just wasn't good beer. Not flat to style, but flat as in stale. If you can recommend some good brews they make I'm always willing to give them a chance.

Frequenting brew pubs in Montreal Boston and Toronto for the past decade and a half I had high hopes for Ottawa. Are there any other brew pubs in Ottawa I can try? Localish breweries whose products I love are Millhouse, McAuslen, Heritage. From the New England area, Harpoon, Sam Adams, Dogfish. I lean towards complex hopped beers.

Just curious which beer you had Shamus. If it was one of the cask beers that would explain the flatness since cask beer is often flat (by design)

Confession: I haven't eaten a burger in...hmm, probably 8+ years. It's not that I've made a point of avoiding them, we just haven't crossed paths - i.e. maybe I need to get to more barbeques.

Last Thursday, I was here (Bank Street location) with a couple of friends, both burger enthusiasts, for dinner. They often speak of the excellent burgers here. I read the description of the Angry Goat Burger and it also spoke to me: Herbed goat cheese, banana peppers and spicy mayo. I chose the side of salad: a generous amount of mixed greens with grape tomatoes and balsamic & olive oil dressing (on the side) with a bottle of San Pellegrino - they have a nice 500 ml size.
The burger was hugely delicious and perfectly done. So good, I was back Saturday evening with my sister eating the same. Again excellent. Service was friendly, quick and efficient. I really like this place.

Another absolutely perfect burger today! That will be all ...

Absolutely perfect! Served on a scrumptious kaiser bun with pickles, lettuce and onion. Big burger, and very flavourful. Tough to imagine a better burger.

Once again a very wonderful burger!

Had the "Black and Blue" for lunch today, with blue cheese on it. Mmmmmm, stinky cheese! Everything about it was great except I'm not sure if this was the "black" part or not, but the burger was charcoal black on the outside. Luckily it did not taste really burnt so it was still yummy. I'll try it again next time I'm there and hopefully it won't be so charred. Yummy pickle on the side, served with lots of onion and tomato and lettuce.

Had a very nice side tossed-salad with my burger today, instead of fries. The veggies were all fresh. They had a choice of maybe 5 different dressings, I chose the blue cheese which was delicious.

I'll order it again.

The kimchi fries are indeed a pretty awesome snack, been meaning to mention them here for a while :)

Kimchi fries at the Elgin St location. Great fries and combo of kimchi, mayo, sriracha, chicken and garnishes. All this dish was missing was something pickled (onions, hot peppers). I enjoyed this during appy hour so for $7 I thought it was a great deal and paired nicely with their bitter.

Once again, perfect french fries.

Another 2 strong thumbs for their fries. Perfectly crisp on the outside, tender on the inside.

Had fries (w/a burger) here on Friday and I'm still thinking about them -- they were very good. Home-cut fries are so rare these days.

The home-cut fries I had yesterday were absolutely perfect!

Was back at lunch today and this time had the fries with my burger instead of salad. They appear to be home-cut and were very yummy. Nice and crisp on the outside and tender inside. Good job clocktower!

I am excited to announce that the Clocktower (on Mackay) has changed/added to their menu! As a frequent customer to this pub, I pretty much have their menu memorized and stick to the same old, same old.
So, here is the tuna...I don't think I have the name right but it's the only 'tuna' item on the menu. This was the first time I've actually had a tuna steak, so I really have nothing to compare it to but I really, really, enjoyed it. They serve it on pumpernickel bread (grilled, I think) with some nice wasabi mayo. Such a nice treat having unique choices at a pub. They serve it with either fries or salad...I got the salad which is their standard salad that goes with all the dishes...mixed greens, red onions, grated carrots, chunks of tomatoes, and a honkin' pickle. Dressing is usually on the salad, but I get it on the side!

Can't wait to try the other new items! I'll let you all know of course....

Fresh Foodie: Do you think there should be two separate tags for each Clocktower location? I'm pretty sure that zymurgists' reviews are from the location on Bank, while mine are from Mackay.

As posted above, the Tuesday wing special is now 6.25 for 10. Very good quality wings.

I paid a visit to The Clocktower Brew Pub (Glebe) last night for their Tuesday night wing night (Reg $9.75, Tuesdays $4.95). The Clocktower has a good range of flavours, all the heats, including Malaysian (suicide), Sweet Chilli, Hot & Honey, Spicy Maple BBQ, Honey Szechuan, Jerk, or Cajun Dusted. I decided to try the Spicy Maple BBQ for something a little different. They're sufficiently saucy and have a hint of sweet maple and BBQ flavour, they are not spicy though. I was a bit surprised that no carrot sticks, celery or sour cream came with the wings (sour cream is extra), but this would only really be an issue with the hot wings for me. In any case, its definitely worth a visit on wing night, and at the Bank St. location at least, go early! We hung out near the bar for about 30mins before finding a seat in the bar area and ate there - a seat in the dining area didn't come up. The Clocktower has a good selection of their own microbrew as well as other beers, so waiting isn't an issue, trying to stay out of the way when there are no seats is.



To note: My friend had the 5 spice chicken - his review was that it was alright, the veggies seemed to be the best part though.



Wing Size: 7.5

Sauce: 6.5-7.5 (6.5 for advertising them as spicy, 7.5 because they're still good)

Recommended Beer: I had a Fenien Red, which is a little sweet and went nicely with the sweet wings, as well as a Wisharts Bitter which had a nice contrast to the sweet...I wouldn't actually recommend alternating though. Pick one and stick with it.

Best wings in the city.
Cheap on Tuesdays...

Today is Tuesday, allllllllright.

There are 2 types of veggie burgers : those that try to look and taste like a hamburger, and those that don't. In my experience the ones that do try are often pretty terrible, while the ones who do not try are often pretty spectacular. Unfortunately, this was one of the ones that tried to look and taste like a hamburger, and while it was not terrible, it was not very good either. I certainly won't be having another. It tasted like soy sauce. Yuck.

$16 got me a metal dog food bowl filled with delightful chips, good creamy coleslaw, thick and tasty tartar sauce, and two chunks of crispy battered haddock. The fish was a little on the dry side but I'll take that over undercooked any day. Overall a pretty decent FnC experience!