ottawa foodies

Tried to go last night with my husband and three year-old son. Was told by a manger (or maybe owner) that there would be a 20 minute wait. After 15 minutes we were told it would be an additional 20 minutes. When we pointed out that it was not what we were told when we got there, we got the lame excuse from the hostess that some tables had just gone up and that's why there was a delay. We informed her we could not wait that long with a hungry child, told her to tell her manager that we were leaving and we would never come back. Which we won't.

I suggest you avoid this restaurant that lies about their wait times in hopes of keeping you their long enough to become their second sitting.

My family and I have been dining here since they opened their doors, and we even visit the West location periodically. We are all convinced that there is no better place to eat, especially with young, picky children. After reading this last post I couldn't help but want to give my rather contrary opinion to fellow readers.

The pricing structure is what it is. I've had my fair share of $16-$22 meals, but 90% of our visits it costs me about $65-$75 for my wife and I with our 3 kids. I guess it depends on what you take. My advice-- opt for the free rice over noodles, and watch how much meat you pile on. Remember, you can always go for a second plate so there's really no reason to go overboard.

At first I was very concerned about the allergies as well, as my wife has a pretty serious gluten intolerance. It was first recommended by one of my wife's friends, who has similar sensitivities. I called the restaurant ahead of time to ask about it, and the manager made me feel extremely confident. After our first visit my wife was ecstatic over how they took care of her. They even have a recipe book right on the buffet, and our server brought us special gluten-free sauces to the table!

I personally have never had a problem with the food. My wife had a slightly burnt meal about 3 months ago, but that's 1-in-5 years worth of visits. She mentioned it to our server and she immediately sent her back up to the buffet to make a new meal. They charged us the original price of ~$9, when her second bowl weighed about $13. AND, the manager (i think) hand-delivered the second meal to her before any of us had finished our plates. He apologized and went out of his way to ensure that the new meal was to her liking. Better customer service than most restaurants!

I have no complaints about the wait staff, either. All the servers there know us by now and greet us with a smile. Some of them even bring the gluten-free sauces over without my wife having to ask. I can always tell when I have a new-ish server, but overall they are fantastic and I have never experienced anything quite like what you described.

If everything was so terrible, why didn't you bother to ask for a manager? He certainly made everything right for us. Unfortunately for you it sounds like you chose an off-day or something. If you ever decide to go back and try again here is a tip: use the tasting straws to try out a sauce before you choose it. If you find a sauce too salty, too sweet, too spicy... pick a different one!

If you choose to never "EVER" return, well.. more stir-fry for me!! In all seriousness though, I don't think it's fair to hold such strong judgement over any restaurant despite one negative experience. At least you finally expressed your concerns to them via e-mail.

Ate here last night, and have to say it was the WORST dinner out I've had in a long time.

First, the price structure of the place is terrible, and got us by surprise. Other Mongolian Grill type places we've been to were buffet pricing, and even though I looked on the website, NOTHING advised us to this before we were seated

Secondly, we had terrible service from our "waiter" - he got our drinks and table setup, then disappeared, never offering a refill. The only decent service we got was from a kitchen runner who brought us our food, and found out the ingredients in the soup so we could be sure it wouldn't kill my husband.

Third, the buffet setup is terrifying for someone with allergies. My husband has a seafood allergy, and there were NO dividers keeping the seafood out of other ingredients, and nothing reminding other diners to be respectful for those with allergies (both of which we've seen at other Mongolian Grill type restaurants).

But the worst was the taste of the food and how it was prepared on the grill. The grillers did not mix our ingredients at all, leaving clumps of garlic and ginger throughout our food. I used what was labeled as black bean sauce, but it was so salty that I had to have rice every other bite just so my tongue wouldn't burn. The "cream of mushroom" soup brought out first tasted of nothing more than mushrooms and salt, with no hint of anything even vaguely creamy.

And because our server ignored us, we had no way to indicate that our food was terrible. We will NOT be going back to Mongolian Village, EVER. And, they will receive a copy of this review via email.

I've dined at Mongolian Village and enjoyed the whole experience. I like that I can pick and choose the elements of my dish. It's fun to add a little of this and a little of that.

The grill is breathtaking. It's so big!

It can get pricey depending on the ingredients you choose.

Been there a couple of time and it's really good. I'ts a great place for quick eating...for cheap as well. for under 15$ you get a pop, a soup, rice and your meal ( beats mcdonald everytime)

Also the calamari their are good, pretty shure their are not fresh ( as pretty much every restaurant have frozen calamari).

I recommend this place for anybody that wants ''quick eats''.

I've been there a handful of times. It is good for a work group, especially because you can get you food on your plate fairly quickly.

I love the huge amount of sauces available, and tend to put many different kinds on my stir-fry.

A note about pricing. If you put any meat what-so-ever in your bowl you are billed at the 'meat rate', which is more expensive than the 'non-meat rate'.

Food is nothing special but it is the fun concept that will keep you coming back. The decor at this location is much nicer than the one in the West end. We took some friends there for a birthday and they gave us a free slice of cake which unfortunately was really stale and most likely several days old. I would assume that if you ordered a slice of cake it would be fresh but I don't know. My only real suggestion for Mongolian Village is to put at least 4 ladles of sauce in if you don't want it to be dry. Anyway it's a fun place and good for people with food restrictions so we will return.