ottawa foodies

I visited the restaurant mid-week in July, 2010. Having visited Turkey several times, I had basic expectations of what the food should taste like. First, the place was empty, the owner explained that it is full on weekends. Second, the owner served us himself, coming in and out of the place in an odd manner. Third, the owner at one of his call outs to the kitchen shouted at an employee that it's their prpoblem they can't hear. Fourth, the food was AWEFUL. The tomato sauce used is a replica of ready made canned tomato sauce with oregano. I told the owner this tastes like pizza sauce, and he smiled exlaining Turkish people love Oregano. The vegetables on the side are dry, uncercooked, and tasteless. The meat is not fresh and smelly. Perhaps the only okay thing I tried was the soup. Topkapi Restaurant would be a reasonable place to call Turkish.

Had dinner at LTV last night and as always it did not disappoint. It was the first time for both my friends and man did they love it!

Great food, great service. Always a hit!

We ordered the special (for 3 ppl). I don't even look peruse the menu when I go. Maybe one day I will but when you find a winner ... you tend to stick with it. I am definitely wanting to try out their other dishes though.

This is certainly a diamond in the rough, I love this place. Absolutely unassuming as far as looks go but the food and service are both excellent.

This is one of my favourite places to eat in Orleans. The owner (Willy) is on the premises all the time and ensures excellent, friendly service.

The food is delicious and so full of flavour. I recommend their dinner for two, four, six, eight, whatever. It begins with a beautiful, fresh assortment of salads, hommus, pickled veggies, olives, and is served with pita bread.

The main course is served on a large platter and consists of a half-head of cabbage wrapped in foil and then impaled with skewers of juicy, tender protein and mixed grilled veggies. There's shrimp, chicken, beef, lamb chops, kofta/kafta. It's all surrounded by perfectly cooked rice and roasted taters. The presentation is dramatic with sparklers to add a touch of whimsy.

Desserts are traditional and usually very sweet so I recommend ordering one item to share. Try a flaming sambuca to finish off your meal. Mmm.

This place is so unassuming from the outside. It's on St. Joseph in Orleans and it's tucked away in an outdated strip mall. Don't let the patina fool you - the food is outstanding. I'm disappointed they don't have belly dancers anymore (due to customer complaints - blah).

I find the prices reasonable and the food is DYNAMITE as take-out. You can order the "meal for two" for as many people as you wish and it all comes nicely packed in large aluminum roasting pans. Very generous portions and always lots left over. It's a great way to entertain a large crowd at home if you don't feel like cooking all day.

I recommend reservations as it always seems to be busy. Enjoy!

It was my first visit to LTV and it was a GREAT experience!

The moment we walked in, the server/host (a lovely man from Hong Kong) greeted me by name. I had made reservations (although none were actually needed) so he made a good guess at who I was.

It was my first Turkish dining experience and it is very similar to Lebanese food. We ordered the Dinner for Two (something I normally wouldn't do) but after much hype from my friends and the recommendation of our server, the decision was very easy.

We started with the salad -- delicious crisp lettuce with olive oil and spices. There were tomatoes, pickles, chickpeas, red onions, cucumbers -- all very fresh. There was a small dollop of hummus (reddish in colour) where I couldn't identify the spice they had put in. It was all delicious!!!! We ordered an extra plate of that hummus.

The main dish came -- kabobs (skewers of meat) stuck out of a foil-wrapped half cabbage surrounded my rice and potatoes and some other garnishes. To give it that 'ta da' effect, it arrived with a sizzling sparkler! What adult doesn't still enjoy that!?!?! ( :

The kabobs consisted of chicken, shrimp, beef and lamb. What a GREAT sample platter!!! One bite was just as delicious as the other! The flavour was simply incredible! Everything was SO perfectly cooked and tender! The potatoes were quite yummy as well. They had an extra bite -- wonderful crispy exterior and soft interior. I wondered if they had been fried or just roasted that way.

To end our meal, we ordered a chocolate cake, a bird nest honey thing (similar to baklava but not) and a pudding thing. The cake was good. The bird nest thing was too sweet. I was only able to take a few bites. The pudding thing was made of rose water and vanilla so the taste was certainly different. I thought it would have had a pudding or custard consistency but it was more gelatinous. Still, it was good.

All in all, the combo of food and service made for a fabulous meal! I'm not sure what the final bill came to but for the Dinner for Two alone, I think it was $30-something which is incredible reasonable for the quantity but mostly the QUALITY!

There is no doubt I will be returning to LTV. Double thumbs up all the way!

It's been a couple of years, but I plan to go back to this restaurant the next time I need a massive dose of meat. They serve these incredible meat skewers arranged dramatically in what can only be described as a 'tower of meat'. They are savoury, delicious and fun to eat - you feel a bit like you're eating meat off a sword that was thrust into a fire by a Saracin warrior. Neat.