ottawa foodies

During my Sunday afternoon shopping trip through Chinatown I noticed the restaurant looked a little empty and a for lease sign in the window. The sign on the door says "Under new management - reopening soon". Hopefully there will be an improvement in the quality of food.

We visited at lunchtime on Sunday with close friends who have lived in Malaysia (and one grew up there). They weren't too thrilled with the overall quality, and the flavours and spice levels were all unexpectedly muted.

Service was excellent, with the servers even suggesting our kids could move to an adjoining TV room while we finished our meal.

Here's what we ordered:

6. Roti Chanai - Like a cross between Naan and pastry, served with a mild curry sauce for dipping. $3 for about a 5" pancake. (We ended up ordering 4 because the kids liked them.)
7. Chicken/Beef Satay - $8 for four tiny skewers of either chicken or beef. Not very tasty and ridiculously priced. (see photo)
10. Pandan Ayam - Nice, crispy, fairly tasty chicken wings. Four, whole (3-segment) wings for $8.
12. Oyster Omelette - Pan-fried baby oyster with eggs. $9. Not really my thing (very oystery and eggy).
17. Otak-Otak - Fried bean curd puff stuffed with fish paste. $6 for 6 crunchy little tofu toasties. I liked this, but our friend said it was nothing at all like it's supposed to be.

27. Laksa Seafood Noodle Soup - $9 for a massive bowl. Tasty, great value, but not quite the spiciness or full flavour we like to see.
43. Yenkee Noodle - $10 for a big plate of vermicelli with chicken and shrimp. We got this without chilis for the kids. Nice and tasty.
53/54. Chicken/Beef Rendang - We tried to order this, but they were "sold out." It sounds like nobody has luck with this famous Malaysian dish here. They need to fix this problem!!
61. Stingray Grilled in Banana Leaf - $18 for a generous amount of this very tender cartilaginous fish. Tasty and nicely spicy.
J. Ice Kacang ABC - Strips of grass jelly with red bean, corn, red rose syrup and coconut milk on a mountain of shaved ice.

I would order the following again for sure: 6, 27, 43.
Might order these again: 10, 17, 61.
Would not order these again: 7, 12, J. (also 53/54 just because they never seem to have them)

So our experience was mixed, but we're excited to try more things here! Our Malaysian friend said that this is Malaysian-style food done with a heavy Cantonese slant. This isn't surprising, because the sour and fishy tastes of authentic Malaysian food might not appeal to the average Somerset-visitor's palate. Anyway, they offer a unique product on Somerset street.

Just be careful what you order! The tiny satay skewers for $8 vs. the giant bowl of Laksa for $9... crazy!

Oh, Pedas. Oh, how we wanted to like you. Sadly this was not the case after our dinner here tonight.

We ordered 2 young coconuts, roti with potato dipping sauce, Char Kuey Teow, Malaysian Lady Fingers (okra), and Beef Rendang. First the waitress came back to tell us they were out of young coconuts. Then she came back to tell us they were out of the beef, the okra and the char kuey teow. I thought it was some kind of joke. The justification for it was that they were closing at 9:30 and we were there for dinner at 8:30. Hmmm...

So we got Chicken Nyonya - a chicken curry with potatoes - a couple orders of roti, and a stingray wrapped in banana leaf.

The roti was delicious - flaky, light, hot, with a great dipping sauce and chunks of tender potato.

The pot in which the chicken was served in had maybe 2 millimeters of curry at the bottom - we were confused at first, thinking where's the curry?? The chicken itself was a weird cut, a bit too tough - we weren't too sure what part of the chicken we were eating. And the stingray? An utter disaster. Overly fishy smell that overpowered everything the moment it was set down on the table, overly fishy taste, and a texture not unlike that of rubber.

Thankfully they didn't charge us for the stingray - we only tried a forkful each - but they did overcharge us on the bill, charging us for the items they told us they didn't even have! We had to send the bill back twice to be corrected. We had to ask for water. We had to ask for serving plates. We won't be asking to come back again.

Chahaya, 1. Pedas, 0.

Take out from Pedas today, a single eating experience that echoes the positives and less from previous posts. overall, I'm eager to try more to see what works for myself and eating partners. I'll be back for sure.

First thoughts, skimming the menu -- big, lots of items. Maybe they should scale back?

Big menus, however (and unfortunately?), is the yoke many restaurants, esp. "ethnic" ones, somehow end up carrying - repping the myriad of cuisine that carry the same national flag. Kind of like those "ancient city" / miniature museums that condense cultural-historical time/space continuums into a golf cart worthy experience (e.g. atlasobscura.com).

Pedas and also Chayaha strike me as falling into that camp, a point i'm dwelling on as sort of a soft-scrub against the negative reviews both have garnered. They probably miss the mark on certain things and nail others - your own personal mileage may vary, i'm betting there's enough good you can probably find here.

-'ve: i thought the veg curry was a bit bland, in line w/ Snoopy's earlier rebuke, i thought i could have done as good.
+'ve: the Char Kuey Teow (stir fried flat noodles) was great - filling, carbo-licious. Could be the next pad thai.
+'ve: no hesitation on making things vegetarian (thinking of self and also Francis' daughter)
+'ve: cute setup + open kitchen you can peek into, kind of street-vendor-ish ala Malaysia

The thing that sort of perplexed me was the curry veg. It seemed too simple because it was something i felt i could and often do attempt at home. I ended up reading a couple recipes and got sidetracked here, not just in the recipe itself, but also the comments: rasamalaysia.com

Even though i give it a negative, i think i might order it again. Why do i give it a negative even thought its a comfort-food i keep attempting for myself??

Francis, Malaysian cuisine uses a lot of shrimp paste, but we did ask, and the staff said many of the vegetable dishes can be prepared without it for vegetarians.

Online reviews for Pedas – the newest Malaysian restaurant in Ottawa – were lukewarm at best, so we were surprised when the food turned out to be some of the best Malaysian we’ve had in North America. This review is written in part by a Malaysian, so take our word: this is authentic Malaysian cuisine. And from the sampling we’ve tried so far, it’s mostly done very well.

We were excited to see Bak Kut Teh – a delicious soup with a complex broth – on the menu (sm.$8, Lg.$14). It’s nearly impossible to find in this part of the world, and Pedas’s version was stellar. Other dishes measured up as well. The Char Kway Teow ($11) – a fried noodle comfort food – had great flavor, despite using a bit more belacan (a shrimp-paste hot sauce) than we’re used to. The okra fried in belacan ($10) was very fresh. And the Nyonya Curry Chicken ($12) had some serious flavor. We did find the Hokkien noodles ($11) a bit too sweet, but not bad.

This food is great for sharing. Go with a group and try a few things out. Make sure to have at least one Roti Canai ($3) for a starter. It’s light and flaky, with a delicious curry dipping sauce. The owners have put a lot of effort into this restaurant – from the varied menu to the nicely designed interior and friendly staff. Try something different, Ottawa. Read our full review at wp.me/p13uhR-y7.

I went there tonight with a couple of friends, who have both recently traveled to Malaysia. One of my friends is Malaysian and grew up on traditional Malaysian food in Malaysia. These guys are also writers for Cheap Eats Ottawa, and were also very impressed with both the food and the service at Pedas. I made them order everything :)

We ordered the Bah Kut Teh (herbal pork soup - yes might sound weird, but holy moly was it ever good - eat it with steamed rice), the Malaysian Nyonya Curry Chicken (it was spicy and sweet, an amazing subtle flavour), the Char Kuey Teow (rice noodles with shrimp and egg - not bad, but not the winner in this meal), and the Malaysian style Lady Fingers (sauteed okra in shrimp paste - first time having okra that wasn't slimy - it was sooooo good).

Oh and for good measure, my drink was a fresh young coconut. First time having coconut water, out of the coconut and eating the flesh! YUM!!!

For anyone who wants simple and subtle malaysian food, I would highly recommend this place. Also, ask for hot sauce, they'll give you the spicy shrimp paste stuff. I think i could eat buckets of that. It was really fishy at first, then had a strangely addictive flavour!!!

Also, for all you vegetarians or vegans, you can ask about their veggie options in the "vegetable" section of the menu (which is full of shrimp paste upon first glance). The cook is willing to swap shrimp paste and use something vegan for some of the dishes. The server understood what it meant regarding vegan restrictions - which can be a challenge at alot of restaurants (my good friends are vegan so i see this all the time).

Overall, the decor is nice, and the service was friendly and informative. I'd go back fer sure, and I suggest you try it out too.

Also, for those of you who are comparing Pedas and Chahaya Malaysia, it's like apples and oranges. Chahaya Malaysia makes a different style of Malaysian cooking, so if you think you're going to get that kind of food at Pedas, you will not find it there.

I see, thanks :-) I really like our chicken too! Do you make a spicy curry or a mild one? We're always looking for good recipes!

You do not need to drive to Toronto? Chahaya Malaysia is quite good.

My reference to you was that had I taken curry powder from Loblaws and added it to your delicious chicken, then I would have gotten a meal which is much better (hence the >>>>> (mathy greater than sign)) than Pedas.