Mussels at Back Lane Café
Duck Confit at Back Lane Café
Bouillabaisse at Back Lane Café
Pizza at Back Lane Café
Back Lane Café
Back Lane Café
Doughnuts at Back Lane Café
Pizza at Back Lane Café
Bouillabaisse at Back Lane Café
Bread (at a restaurant) at Back Lane Café
Back Lane Café
Back Lane Café
Weekend Brunch at Back Lane Café
Weekend Brunch at Back Lane Café
Back Lane Café
Back Lane Café
Back Lane Café
Foods from Back Lane Café
Comments

2015 Oct 2
Article on Back Lane

ottawacitizen.com

2015 Oct 2
Saw the sign on Back Lane the other day and the talk of the hood is permanent closure. Sad times.

2015 Oct 1
wow, that a bit suprising. always seemed to be people eating whenever i walked by.

2015 Oct 1
Fingers crossed for them. I have enjoyed many great meals there.

2015 Oct 1
Back Lane has closed for the time being, I understand that they are trying to re-finance..

My heart breaks for George & his great staff, hopefully he'l be open again soon!

Terry

2014 Apr 5
Thanks very much Back Lane for your generous contribution to the Connaught Public School Stone Soup fundraiser!

2013 Sep 19
Lunch.

$18 pastrami and fries. $14 mussels (no fries, you need to order a side of fries, many of which were black inside, for $6).

The burger was also $18. It was $14 last year, and it had cheese. No way I'm dropping $18 for a burger with neither cheese nor bacon.

The pastrami was chewy, served open-face. Another thing I don't get. Are you so tight, you can't afford to offer the customer another bread slice, ffs? The mussels were few for $14, esp when you think of all those $9.95 or $12.95 even AYCE mussels deals all over Montreal for example, and that used to be found at the recently closed Le Twist in Hull.

There are too many of this type of place in this city, places that charge outrageous amounts for a sandwich and really don't offer anything new under the sun.

You know what, if I'm getting slugged $18 for lunch, I might as well go to the Welly or Gezellig or Absinthe, or Fraser where the portions and quality are always great, with some innovation to go with it. And those places don't even charge that much for a burger.

We kinda regretted not sticking with HPH but then after walking in there, the place looked dead, nobody had food, there seemed to be no activity among staff (in fact we saw nobody even looking to come greet and seat us) so we opted for Back Lane. But who knows, HPH might be just as pricey and just as average.

2013 May 31
This is an overdue review. I went to Back Lane for the first time over a month ago.

My memory is very poor and they don’t have an online menu so I only recall what I ate.

I shared a flash-fried broccoli appetizer. It was SOOOO good! I could have very well eaten it as my main!

For my mind, I shared with another friend so we got to sample two pizzas: one with scallops, another with lamb. As I’m a big pizza fan, I was pretty disappointed with both. The scallops on the scallop pizza were really sparse. Of the two, I enjoyed the lamb more. The biggest letdown for me was the pizza dough. It was very dense and much thicker than I personally like. My friend seemed to enjoy it though.

For dessert, I had the coconut pavlova. It was too sweet and I only ate part of it – partly due to how full I was (the broccoli really filled me up) and due to me not loving it that much.

I recall the service begin really good!

I would return to Back Lane to try other menu items.

2013 Mar 3
First time at Back Lane. Very nice room, cosy without feeling like you're close enough to reach over and pick something off a stranger's plate. Busy, but not frenetic.

Decent enough dinner -- scallops with a nice romesco sauce, partner had the steak -- but the stand out was the dessert. PAVLOVA.

I love pavlova, and order it when I see it. My mother-in-law, a New Zealander, says that it's the dish that the other ladies (back in the Mad Men era) would judge you on.

It's an easy one to screw up, and Back Lane's was perfection on a plate. Meringue had crunch and yield, great balance of custard and berry fruits. YUM.

2012 Dec 1
I really enjoyed dining at the Back Lane Café. I went simple with a Margherita Pizza after reading that they have fantastic ovens. I was extremely impressed with the crust, and fresh flavours of the sauce and mozz. There is something incredibly unique that comes from a super hot stone oven and it's affects on dough.

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2012 Feb 17
The dessert doughnut with honey glaze and vanilla ice cream is so good! I liked it much more than what is offered at that other recently opened restaurant known for its dessert doughnuts (which, surprisingly, has a name easily confused with this one - is it Side Lane or Back Door?).




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2011 Dec 2
I think George Monsour should be applauded for offering a delicious, sophisticated brunch option on Saturdays. Although several restaurants offer upscale brunches on Sundays, it is difficult to find something that is open on a Saturday morning.

Back Lane Café delivers in spades. We tried two of the dishes - raspberry pancakes with fresh fruit & bacon and scrambled eggs, bacon, baked beans, bulger salad & homemade crusty bread. These are large portions and both were enjoyed with gusto. The coffee, constantly refilled, was high quality too.

The food was perfectly complemented with a pleasant mixture of jazz music which really enhanced the experience.

Once again, had a great time here.

2011 Nov 6
I had the scramble with two eggs, twice-smoked bacon served with baked beans, bulgar pilaf, and tartine.

The eggs were cooked perfectly - moist but not slimy. The bacon was text-book perfection; firm but not dry and crunchy with a low fat to meat ratio and a subtle smokey flavour.

The beans were sweeter than I was expecting (seemed tomato rather than molasses based), but paired really well with savoury pilaf.

My only criticism: I would have preferred a little jam to be served with the tartine. The bread had a wonderful crunch and was lightly toasted with butter. Some homemade strawberry jam would have been killer.

I also ordered a decaf coffee which is served americano. I usually don't expect much from a decaf, but this was wonderfully smooth and savoury. My companion's regular coffee was also very smooth and flavourful.

We arrived around 11:30 on a Sunday and were promptly seated. Food came quickly as well. I imagine once the word spreads this will change ;)

We'll definitely be back.

2011 Nov 6
Had the pleasure of stopping into the Back Lane Café for brunch today and discovered a wonderful new breakfast spot in Hintonburg.

My partner had the Za'atarr Fish Cakes (as shown) topped with a perfectly poached egg, and served upon some sharp greens and pickled beets drizzled with tahini.

In the middle of the bottom cake was a (very welcome) surprise scallop. The cakes were moist and flavourful with a light crust; crunchy on the outside and pillowy soft on the inside. The fish was fresh with no off-putting fishy smell either. They were everything a fish cake should be!

She also ordered an orange juice which came ice cold and squeezed literally seconds before serving.

Service was attentive, but not overly intrusive. Pricing was higher than average for brunch, but for this level of quality - entirely justified.

The brunch menu was dated, implying the menu changes regularly. We will certainly be back for brunch, and are eager to try dinner as well!





2012 Apr 25
Can't remember what the confit came with, but it was super tender and was interesting.




1

2012 Apr 25
My Musa pizza was less charred than Fresh Foodies. I really really liked the balance of unique flavors.

Not too rich for this guy, but I did pace myself.

Top shelf ingredients were found along with some charr/toasting marks on the underside crust.


2012 Feb 17
My Musa pizza ($18) was a wonderful combination of flavours. The lamb with parmigiano cream and pine nuts made the whole thing a little too rich for my taste. The crust was tasty but too charred in some places. All in all, it's an excellent pizza but in my books there is better pizza to be found across the street...




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2012 Apr 25
Here's another Rustic Seafood Stew or whatever they called it.

The herbs added complexity to this simple dish and the melt in your mouth gigantic-atlantic scallop was the the high point. Cooked just beyond raw and miles from overdone.


2012 Feb 17
My wife quite enjoyed her Hearth Roasted Fisherman's Stew. Quite a generous amount of nicely cooked seafood in a mild (perhaps a little too mild) tomatoey broth. This went for $30.




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2012 Feb 17
Possibly the best in-house bread I've encountered! The baguette has a magical crust and a moist chewy crumb. My only quibble is that butter might be preferred by some over the cliche oil and balsamic.





2012 Apr 25
Tomato and chilies (mild) broth. Sarasota chips (house made in duck fat). Dollop of squash puree.

Standard fare . Well done.



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2012 Aug 13
Disgusting, sweet like sugar, burger itself is poorly formed and a horrible consistency. The fries had about a truckload of salt on them. ... I think the water was about the only thing I'd sad was edible in this place.