ottawa foodies

We set up a database so we could track the things we liked most, while still trying new things from them. We kept marking things we liked down on paper menus and then accidentally recycling them.

Among my all-time faves were 63 (四川牛肉, Szechwan Style Crispy Beef) and 113 (椒鹽鮮尤, Five Spices Squids).

Closed. Ahhhhh.

I loved menu item #155 Fried Noodle with Shrimp, B.B.Q Pork, Sliced Chicken, Green Vegetable 什會炒麵

Tried to call to place an order, and the number was out of service. Then noticed on the web page that they were now closed :( :( :(

Went again today. Had great lemon chicken again, tasty pork dumplings, and great spring rolls. The singapore style noodles were good again, and we didn't do well with another pork disk. This time imperial pork. But the chicken and cashews was tasty.

See detailed photos and notes via link

goo.gl/MKa2N

Was out for lunch yesterday with a friend at Ging Sing. Haven't been for some time. Good service, good food as well.

Lemon Chicken
Sweet and Sour Pork
Shrimp with veggies and cashews
Singapore style vermicelli *asked for spicy

The lemon chicken is like none other I've had. It's massive fillets of chicken breast, largest I've seen in any restaurant. Two of them! The coating is nicely fried and crunchy, the lemon sauce just right, not overpowering. Great with the red hot sauce they have.

Singapore noodles were great, one of the best I've had in awhile.

Pork not so much, but the shrimp dish was decent also.

Worth a visit, reasonably priced.

We went to Ging Sing for lunch few weeks ago. This place has changed ownership again. Among all the Chinese restaurants, this place offers a quiet, clean and comfortable environment. However, the food was not as good as the previous owner.

We ordered the following:

1) Seafood stir-fried noodles - okay
2) Fried Noodle with Beef in Soya Sauce - okay
3) Yang Chow Style Fried Rice - Thai rice was used and it wasn't right for this dish. I felt like eating sticky rice.
4) Singapore Style Fried Vermicelli - Our friend from Singapore told us that the vermicelli was too "wet", meaning that the chef didn't stir-fry enough. (BTW, my friend told us that "Singapore Style Fried Vermicelli" is not a Singapore dish. It is likely something designed by Hong Kong/Chinese chefs.)

Anyway, kind of disappointed lunch. Hopefully, I can get some surprises if I am here again.

I gave this place a try for a change from some of my usual Chinese restaurants.

Definately one of the nicest looking restaurants in the Somerset area. The interior is quite nicely done and is also very clean.

I think the decor is reflected in the price of the food. I thought their food was a bit pricier than a lot of places. My salt and pepper squid was $13.50, which is more than I have paid anywhere else so far. At least the squid was well prepared and cooked, so I really can't complain. The Shanghi noodles were very good and the portion was substantial.

I had three small shrimp spring rolls. These were quite good and you could definately taste the shrimp.

I knew I was asking for trouble by ordering Vietnamese salad rolls from a Chinese restaurant and I get a great big I told you so (from my alter egp). These were bland, consisting of only rice vermicelli, shrimp and iceberg lettuce. Their only saving grace was that all of the components were fresh. Again, serves me right.

I had some decent wonton soup, nothing outstanding though.

Certainly not a bad place by any means. Like I said, a much nicer atmosphere than a lot of places in the area but don't expect "cheap eats."

Ordered delivery from here last night. Got the crispy beef, pork dumplings and chicken/pork pad thai (+white rice). They said it would be about an hour-- it was new year's eve + snowing + traffic. I was pleasantly surprised when it showed up in 40 mins.

Was $35 including tax + tip, which I thought was very reasonable.

The crispy beef was pretty good. The pad thai was just okay, sort of bland. Pork dumplings were also kind of bland.

I would order from here again just because it's a lot less "fast food" than other Chinese delivery places. I agree with ozonator who said that there's something about So Good's flavours that is preferable. But, So Good doesn't deliver. And, the service here was pretty excellent.

Completely satsfied. Husband and I ordered delivery from here and it was quick, tasty and rather inexpensive.

We ordered the Crispy Szechwan Beef, Veggie Fried Rice and Duck and Mushroom Soup.

It was all incredible. We will definitely order from here again.

Now back to my regularly scheduled paper marking session.

We go there with the family often, as everybody seems to come away satisfied. Their salmon in black bean sauce is very good, as is their shrimp and snow peas.

The portions are generous. We usually have enough left over to take home for lunch the next day.

The service is friendly.

Had #133 Stir Fried Eggplant Szechwan Style and #155 Fried Noodle with Shrimp, B.B.Q Pork, Sliced Chicken, Green Vegetable (which also contains, fancy cut calimari).

The eggplant dish was very tastey and rich. First I thought all this richness was coming from a whack of oil. Not so, because the next day when I went for the left-overs and there was only a little oil the floated to the top.

As for the noodles .... my fav from the Ging Sing. Crispy edged and real a kwel mix of flavours. A meat lovers version for sure, because it contains four; Chicken, Char Siu, Shrimp and Calamari. The veggie part includes, Gai Lon and carrot, etc. mmmm ... want some more.... now.

If the food does look like what is shown in the picture, I would definitely pass this dish.

"138 -- Stir Fried Mixed Vegetable in Satay Sauce, $8.50."

Again: inconsistent.

When I had this in the restaurant, it was stuffed with generous helpings of the best sorts of veg. This (delivered) came with way too much cauliflower.

The sauce is great, though -- not if you're craving hot and spicy, but if you're wanting flavourful. Just a hint of heat.

When I had this -- the vegetable fried rice -- at the restaurant, it was excellent. Albeit slightly different, so laden with crisp veg as to suggest it was healthful.

The delivery version was much less vegetabled -- not insufficient, but enough for me to label them as mildly inconsistent -- and I like more egg, myself.

But -- fresh and not at all bad.

As delivered.

Vegetarian.

Tasty. One had some substantial chunks of mushrooms. Rice vermicelli not overcooked. Less greasy than most delivery spring rolls.

Had these last night, and I have to say, the ones I make at home are better. I also had the barbequed chicken with rice and greens, and all the food was bland. Service was good, and very fast, but the best part of the meal was the Tsingtao I had to drink with it. I won't be returning.

Okay, okay. It does look like an ear.

But I just had them again, and, yum...

Touché! The mysterious potsticker-face even looks more Expressionist than Cubist. Wonk, wonk!

Picasso only needs one ear, preferably somewhere above his eye. Offer it to Van Gogh instead!

Tell Picasso we've found his missing ear.

Crave-worthy, these ones. Vegetarian potstickers are hard to find, and these ones were great.

Notable: the veg was crisp, flavourful, and finely diced. That kitchen's doing nice stuff.

Apologies for the picture quality of the remaining one I managed to snap before eating...

5 for $3.95 -- not bad.

The best Cha Sui in Ottawa, and it's as good as or better than most in Toronto, is made at Ging Sing... yes the restaurant. They use the neck meat of the pig, which is leaner and tastier. But it is relatively more expensive....

Thanks for the tip, Ashley. I usually get BBQ pork from the BBQ shop you mentioned (can't remember the name either but Double Happiness sounds right). It's the best I've found in Ottawa but I'll keep your Toronto recommendation in mind for the future! Too bad my freezer is quite small. :)

Mark, I recommend that you don't order any BBQ pork dish in Ottawa. Most of the BBQ pork dishes in Chinatown get their supplies either from Kowloon Market or the one (Double Happiness?) at Somerset & Booth. There isn't any good BBQ pork stores in Ottawa either. If you go to Toronto, buy as many as you can and put them in your freezer.

The "BBQ Pork with Rice and Green Vegetable" (menu item #174) was a bit disappointing because the pork was very dry and lacked the salty sweetness that typically characterizes char siu.

This plate would make a decent meal for a very hungry person, but you would have to ask for some hot sauce to make it yummy. The price was great -- even though the online menu claims $7.50 I'm pretty sure the menu in the restaurant had it for $6.50.

The "Fried Noodle with Mixed Vegetable" (menu item #160) was tasty and had a generous assortment of veggies. Our kids won't eat meat unless it's loaded with nitrates so they love this kind of dish.

The picture looks unimpressive, but this is one of the better General Tso's I've had: slightly crispy outside, very moist interior, good salt level, a hint of sweet, a hint of sour, and a good hit of spice. Menu item #43.

I like to try General Tso's because every restaurant does it a bit differently (and it tastes good!). However, it is generally claimed to have originated in North America (along with chicken balls, chop suey, etc).