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Foods from Infusion Bistro

Comments

2010 Aug 18
I love eating here. Not only is it in a great location, but the food is always so tasty. I love ordering the specials, there is always some type of creative combination and it's always filling. The atmosphere is very cozy but the tables are small (if this bothers you...)
The prices are a bit high, but that's what you get when you have fresh ingredients.

For more reviews check out my blog at theovalley.blogspot.com

2010 Apr 16
After reading Mers review and not knowing this place existed we had to give it a try. So glad we did. Started with the onion cheddar soup. The flavour was exceptional without the overuse of salt. My wife had the pancetta Caesar and she was wowed. Our server was not joking when he boasted of the best Caesar in town. I went with the chorizo pasta with red peppers,leeks in a chipotle cream sauce. The portion was ample and cooked just right. The chorizo was so good.Wish I would have asked where they get it from. My wife had the beef tenderloin in a five pepper sauce with grilled veggies,one of the specials from the board. Cooked just the way she asked. She was glad to find this gem on Bank Street. The server was really attentive and made the whole experience welcoming. This place had a pub atmosphere without the usual mediocre food. A new favorite to add to our list.

2010 Apr 16
Hubby and I were looking for a place for a nice dinner to celebrate a career milestone, and we wanted to stay close to home. Infusion wasn't on my radar before beginning my search yesterday, but I'm happy that we found it! I called around noon to find out if they offer or could create a vegan meal for that evening and was pleased that it seemed not to be a problem.

The service was helpful, casual and pleasant all evening. The woman who was serving also is one of the chefs, so she was very able and happy to answer my questions.

I started with the bruschetta (without the cheese) and then had the vegetarian creation (grilled portabello mushroom topped with spinach, roasted red peppers and artichoke hearts on a bed of wild and brown rice). Everything was very tasty, and I enjoyed my meal; though, I did have some minor quibbles (rice a little under cooked and tomatoes not quite ripe - not surprising given the season, I suppose). Hubby started with the tomato, blue cheese and ale soup and for his main, had the steak frite. He said that the soup was very good - he could definitely taste the blue cheese, in a good way. The steak frite was a gigantic portion, and I was glad to hear that the steak was cooked to his instructions and that it was just as tasty as he's hoped. We accompanied the meal with the Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon from the wine list.

Our cheque came to just over $100 (appies, mains, half litre of wine, tax and tip).

2009 Oct 7
I think this is the best place for casual dinning in the Glebe. Not very pricey even compared to some of the lower-end pubs in the hood and the food is always excellent. Don't expect over the top innovation - it's not competing with Urban Pear etc - just expect excellent quality dishes ranging from wicked burgers to rich pasta to a very decent steak frites (some of the best frites in ottawa I think!).

2009 Jan 15
Went here tonight for a celebratory dinner.
Since I was celebrating alone (family is far away and i am new in town). I had planned to have a leisurely dinner in a cozy place.
The cozy place part was spot on. the open kitchen and comfy atmosphere really suited my mood.
The food however, either because I ate too fast or there weren't enough diners to slow down service, either way I was outta there in about 40 minutes!
The food was good overall but I felt it was a tad on the pricey end of the spectrum.
I started with the sauteed calamari with red pepper aioli which turned out to be a really good choice. The aioli was spot on and the greens served along side really went well together with the rest of the dish. (some of the rings were 'chewy' but I dont have enough experience with calamari to be a good judge).
For my main course, I chose the '8oz' tenderloin. you get a choice of 3 preparations for it: 1) blackened; 2) wine and mushroom reduction; 3)I forgot the name but i know its a sweeter option.
I chose the blackened option since I wanted something a little spicier tonight.
This was not really that great and not at all worth the $28 it costs. the seasoning was salty and though i managed to counter it with the red bell pepper served alongside, it still was dominant.
I didn't have any dessert since nothing fit in with the my dietary parameters (medical restriction)

Service was spot on and prompt. the server was amiable and they accommodated special requests.

All in all, a good spot, tad expensive but i guess I would consider going there for a lunch or brunch salad the odd time.

2008 Dec 13
Go for the lunch time Soup Challenge.

Michael Pickard and his right hand man (regrettably I've forgotten his name), each prepare a soup du jour with either a common ingredient or theme. When you order up "the challenge", you get a platter with a good portion of each soup, and bread bridging the bowls.

Off you go. A sip of this broth, a sip of that; or chow down on one and then the other -- the tasting method is up to you. If you sit at the bar in front of the kitchen you can query the chefs for clues as to what's gone into the making of each soup... and if you're curious like me, you may think up devious questions to try and figure out who created which -- they don't want to prejudice your judging, and are cagey about giving out too many clues.

When you've reached a decision, they will tell you whose soup you prefered, and then a chalk mark goes up on the wall under the name of the winning chef. Last time I was there Michael had a very tenuous lead.

Great fun! Love their playfullness. And the fish-based soups I had at my last visit were both excellent -- one sweet and chunky, the other a more savoury vichysoise-style broth with delcate shreds of fish and earthy Asian mushrooms. I picked the latter, which Michael had created.

2008 Aug 11
Nice place in the Glebe. Casual and cozy! Good dishes and tasty focaccia. I recommend their burgers!

2008 Jan 28
the appetizer of seafood chowder had a pleasant flavor, minus having been a little over-seasoned. perhaps i just had a little bad luck with the soup ladle, as the big chunks of potato outnumbered any seafood 4:1.

dinner was a disappointing experience. rubbery calamari stuffed with bland, sautee'd mushrooms, diced tomato and avocado, and artichokes over a bed of chewy wild rice. this was accompanied by a thick, bright orange rosee sauce that tasted as if it were either old or poured out of a bottle, and tasteless, under-seasoned vegetables. the last thing you really need to serve with large, chewy tubes of calamari is chewy wild rice and chewy mushrooms. nice effort; not-so-nice result. at least the wine was good, because it was definitely needed.

my companion ordered a satisfactory but unexciting cream pasta with leek and chicken. he had to pull out a few chunks of chicken as they were pink. we sort of expected this, as it is actually written on the menu (hilariously and insultingly enough) that their pork is served pink because they believe that pink pork is the "right way" for pork to be served. I suppose that we should have taken that as a sign of things to come.

For dessert, we ordered a flight of creme brulee. These were supposed to be three different flavours: peach, green tea, and chai. Flavoured creme brulee is generally a mistake in and of itself, but I guess I felt like punishing myself that night. I asked the waiter if he had made a mistake on quoting us the flavors, because we tasted what was supposed to be "peach" and could only taste a slightly off vanilla. He assured us that it was indeed peach, and the flavors are subtle because the creme brulee is flavored with tea. trying to flavour such a cream-heavy dessert with something like tea proved to be futile, as it only served to flavor the creme brulee in such a way that made it taste dirty or not-too-fresh. again, a nice idea, but not so good to the palate.

unfortunate, as it is a lovely space and the chef seems to have potential somewhere in there.

2007 Apr 18
This is a fun little spot in the Glebe with an interesting mix of food.

I started my meal with a black pepper/smoked bacon/chickpea soup that was really flavourful and my girlfriend had the chicken satay which was also good and came with a tonne of peanut sauce (luckily it's served on the side so you can choose how much to eat).

For mains I ordered the ossobuco which was incredibly tender (pretty much just falling apart) but I didn't find it had a great deal of flavour. I've never had ossobuco before so I don't have anything to compare it with. Luckily the mashed potatoes that went with it were extremely good. My girlfriend had the lamb/spinach/pecan salad which was very good and was a nice big portion size too so I got to finish it off.

Service was very friendly and we had a great time overall. We went on a Tuesday and people were being turned away so I highly recommend making advance reservations.

2006 Oct 5
Infusion Bistro has a wonderful arrangements of food. The owners and staff are very friendly and they will accomodate you.

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