ottawa foodies

Absinthe is closed from 2-5pm.

No sign of life at 3:30 when I last walked by. Seemed to be closed. We went to Petit Bill's Bistro instead.

Or just go and have the steak frites and thank me later. 😀

If you were "walking right by," just poke your head in the door and ask for a menu. Easy.

How can you run a restaurant without letting people know what your menu is? It really is not that difficult to update a website every day rather than post a "sample menu". I'd like to know what my options are before going there. I walked by as well and there is nothing posted out front.

I guess I'll be going somewhere else this evening.

Thanks very much Absinthe for your generous donation to the Connaught Public School Stone Soup fundraiser.

This joint is one of the most reliable in the city, IMO. Relaxed but professional servers, good wine list and good variety of delicious dishes make this a solid stand by. We ended up here last week after being turned away at the Welly and Das Lokal, and it turned out to be a lucky stroke.

I had the veggie pasta - wild mushrooms and a creamy red sauce. Husband had the benevolent burger with great Caesar salad and amazing poutine side (described elsewhere). Everything was awesome. Standout dish was easily the beet salad - there were pickled and smoked beets. Who smokes a beet? A culinary genius, that's who. Also goat cheese and candied nuts and walnut tapenade. Sounds like something you could get anywhere, but somehow more than the sum of its parts.

Anyway - if you're looking for a reliably delicious bistro type dinner minus all the hype of the new joints in town, don't forget about Absinthe!

... sounds like a good problem to have, @southshore. :)

This looked interesting. I read the review and then emailed them with questions. Three fondues: cheese, beef and chocolate. You can do all, or a la carte, BUT there is a minimum of two people per course. So in my case, with vegetarian partner, I can't order the beef while DH has the cheese. Just worth knowing. May need to "Double Date"!!

Some tantalizing pictures from this past Monday's test run: constantlycooking.wordpress.com

Feedback from the invitees on my Twitter feed was most enthusiastic!

Crummy iPhone photo of the benevolent burger with poutine and Caesar salad sides. For your consideration. :)

Can I go out on a limb and name the poutine at Absinthe best alternative poutine in Ottawa? Ok it's painfully rich, served with mushrooms and bacon, and it's a SIDE to a delicious BURGER!? But it is super satisfying and I think I like it better than my previous favorite alternative poutine, the Murray Street spaetzle poutine. Thoughts??

PS - For reference, my favorite classic poutine is a tie - stand beside the Dom, stand at Bank and Sunnyside, and Mellos, although its been a while since I've had any of the three.

The next person that goes should ask about the broth option and the reference on their homepage that says "a main course of meat cooked in a hot oil or broth at your table"

Went for the fondue last night, and I must say I was extremely impressed with the quality of the food and service.

Our server was very professional and friendly. We had a few technical difficulties with the fondue burner (it kept going out)but she quickly fixed the issue with a smile and sense of humour.

The cheese fondue was very good and we both loved the flavour of the cheeses used. Beef fondue was tasty but, and as others have commented, I think I would have preferred the broth option. The chocolate fondue was exquisite. The quality of the chocolate was top notch and the fruit was nice and fresh.

Will definitely return to have fondue again and try options from the regular menu

Went for the Monday fondue in late Dec 2013. I'll echo lemontart's post: Great food. Totally enjoyed the experience. Would have liked the broth option for the beef.

Service was excellent, wine pairing was spot on.

Nice to have a reasonably priced fondue option in Ottawa. Was pretty much limitted to Meule and Crquelon over in Gatineau and while i enjoy that place, it's way more family than fine dining.

Would go back, would send others.

A couple of months ago Absinthe introduced fondue nights on Mondays. I think this idea is innovative and a welcome addition to “single night special menus” which are offered at some restaurants around town. I was surprised to find out that their regular menu is also available so if you are not in the mood for fondue you do not have to avoid Absinthe on Mondays.

For $44/person you get:
- Cheese fondue served with baguette, broccoli, apples and pear. I liked this course the best – cheese sauce was very flavourful and the accompaniments were a perfect mixture
- Beef fondue with four (if I remember correctly) sauces. The beef was very tasty and we were appreciative of the tip from one of the waiters about how long to keep the beef in the oil so as not to overcook it. I was disappointed that the cooking liquid was oil and not a broth which also works and is a lot lower in calories (I see on their website that they reference a choice of oil or broth but this was not offered to us)
- Chocolate fondue with a mixture of fruits – enjoyable but a little difficult to finish - unfortunately the use of oil for the beef fondue made me feel very full after the second course so I didn’t enjoy the final course as much as I would have liked

I would try it again in a couple of months but request the broth instead of oil. Also, fondue to me is a winter-type meal so not sure if this is going to work in the summer months.

They now serve homemade ice cream in 1L containers to go, looks like they're stepping up to the Gastropub!

I had the wine paring with my 3 course meal and each selection matched the course perfectly! Excellent selection.