Service is Central

I was super excited to see that Ottawa finally has an Izakaya!

According to wikipedia, an Izakaya is a type of Japanese drinking establishment which also serves food to accompany the drinks. They are casual places for after-work drinking.

And they definetly do have an ample drink list. Lots of cocktails, and a full page dedicated to Sake.

If you look around at the wait staff you will think you’re at a classier version of Moxy’s. Their servers are beautiful people, so I was pretty suspect that we would be getting terrible service à la Moxy’s (I’ve heard that Moxy’s actually hires their servers from a modeling agency – seriously!?)

Anyways we were pleasantly surprised. Our server was AMAZING. I tried to get her name off the receipt but it just said “BAR PM” or something. We did sit on the bar side so I guess she was the bartender but there seemed to be a lot of people in and around the bar.

We were just there for snacks and appetizers but we tried a few of their raw plates and the pickles and a few of the cocktails and nothing disappointed.

The Caesar has fresh cilantro in it and it really make it taste fresh. I normally like my caesars to have a lot of horseradish but this one was perfect. Our server was super good about making our drinks to order (ie spicy caesars, mild caesars, non-spicy spicy mango margarintas etc)

The house pickles are really fresh and crunchy and all around good. All the raw plates were sampled were excellent as well. The food tastes fresh and is beautifully plated.

The only thing that dissappointed was that they didn’t have any other asian spirits besides sake. I was hoping for some Umeshu (plum wine) or Shochu (a spirit made from barley, sweet potatoes, rice, buckwheat or brown sugar, etc). Also there is no sushi on the menu but I assume that was on purpose. they do have mains and sharing plates, and a simple fresh menu.

They have kept the space more or less the same layout as Big Daddy’s used to be, so there is lots of space at and around the bar. We were there on Saturday night and although it go busy I don’t think it filled while we were there (from 6-830pm).

339 elgin st

I haven’t been to play for a couple of years so I was excited to check it out. I love the wine wall immediately when you come in and they have a really solid system for coats (basically a coat check where you get a number).

I always find the service there friendly, and there dishes are always on point. We started with almost all the cheeses and the spicy chorizo, which isn’t that spicy (and I’m someone that doesn’t like any spice), but the mustard it’s served with is HOT. The menu is meat heavy but like at Beckta if you give them some advance notice they will hook you up.

Each plate has a suggested wine pairing, which I assume is available by the glass (though I didn’t check). If you’re ever there late at night be sure to grab their wine and cheese flight – it’s a cool way to try a few cheeses and wines (although this is a classic pairing, it’s actually a bit of a complicated one so It’s fun to see what they come up with).

Everything we had was really well balanced with great plating. My only complaint (of course there is something) is that the server couldn’t pronounce Auxerrois for his life. I know it’s not the easiest word in the world, but we live in Ottawa, where everyone SHOULD speak at least a little bit of French, and not being able to pronounce French words is a bit shameful, especially as that wine was being served by the glass, so it’s not like some obscure 200$ bottle that no one orders – it’s the first wines on the list. I also think that if you can’t pronounce a word, you should avoid saying it, especially if someone else said it first correctly (not me, someone I was with). So basically it seemed as if he was correcting the guy only he pronounced it EX-er-waw. It’s like nails on a chalkboard.

Great meal & service. Try the pudding.

1 York Street (at Sussex)
Byward Market
(613) 667-9207

Super excited to try out HPH last night, on their second night opening.

I love the decor, the aged wood is beautiful and they picked amazing photos to match it. I don’t think the photos are a permanent display but they’re wicked and really fit in well with the place.

There didn’t seem to be any music, and as somoene else noted the acoustics are not great. This is not a great place to bring mom & pops.

They have a massive bar area, with all mismatched chairs and stools (we were sitting along the wall on what must have been an old church pew. I can’t say enough good things about the space, it’s really well put together, I love it – come decorate my house!

The menu is short, but seems to have it’s bases covered. I’m going to bring in a vegan friend for more of a challenge next time. Everything we had was great, and although I sub’d my fries for salad, I was really impressed with the salad that came. It was full of fresh herbs and a really well balanced vinaigrette, and they used Boston Lettuce – who does that? It was a really nice change for a salad.

The steak was well-cooked, although I should have done my research because maybe the shoulder isn’t the best piece of meat to get rare. We also had the galette, soup, duck confit, and both desserts, and everything was really really good.

I think they should put some sort of draft stopper around the door, maybe a heavy curtained entrance like they used to have at Infusion Bistro in the Glebe or like at the black tomato. It would really help a lot with the drafts because there’s only one door, and while it was nice and toasty for the most part, as soon as the door opens it gets COLD. Hopefully that is “coming soon”

Friendly service and a great selection of mostly Ontario wines and lots of craft beers.

Welcome to the Burg!

As you well know, the burg is blowing up, and I’m super excited to say you can now really get whatever you need right in the hood.

Here are some of my fav’s

Pint: Elmdale (I’d grab a kichesippi) (1084 Wellington) – Great music, friendly staff

Pizza: Back Lane Cafe (thought I would say Tennessee’s didn’t you) (1087 Wellington)

Coffee: Le Michel-Ange Café (35 Laurel) – They roast their own beans, pick some up!

Cupcake: Isobel’s (1018 Wellinton) – We visit weekly for a sweet treat, but make sure you don’t always go on the same day, they have new flavours on Thurs – Sundays)

Take out: Hintonburger (soon moving next to Elmdale)

Hangout: Rosemount Library (18 Rosemount)

and what I’m looking forward to:

Hintonburg Public House – Opening Tomorrow! (1020 Wellington) (interesting that they have an 80% like it and they haven’t even opened yet haha)

10Fourteen (1014 Wellington) Opening “in November” according to the sign – when do restaurants ever open on time? Never.

Hintonburger – at KFC!

I like the food at Absinthe. I like that they stay open late on weekends so you can get a drink not at a pub. I don’t think they advertise that, but there it is. They stay open pretty damn late as long as there are people there (bar service only).

All their servers are bilingual, which is awesome. The server we had last week was super friendly.

We all had the table d’hote. the first course was excellent. The first courses were all really interesting with multiple elements on each plate, and with different applications. Their dehydrated vegetables are really well done, very very thinly sliced which is key I think to make sure they’re crunchy and not too chewy. Dehydrated eggplant? Sounds terrible, but it’s awesome.

For the mid, I had the salad and the others had the soup, which was excellent. The salad was a bit too acidic and kind of boring. the lime flavor was really good but I think something with a bit of sweetness and color would have balanced it off well. The arugula was excellent, spicy but not bitter.

All the mains were also really great. When I remember going last I thought the plates were a tad small but this time we were stuffed so either I was super hungry last time or something has changed. Either way we didn’t finish our mains.

the lamb ragout was AMAZING. really really tasty, and the peas made the dish. the sauce was really rich but it was really well balanced with the pasta which was on the basic side (not in a bad way, they complemented each out perfectly). the lamb was cooked to perfection.

As is my usual complaint, the places lacks on the veggie side. Story of my life.

My one other complaint was that my beer was served a good CM below the pour line, with way too much head, and then the server took it away before I was done. I hate wasting good Kichesippi.

On the plus side they have Kichesippi 1855 on tap, which is a nice change from most places that if they only have one, it’s the pale.

I love Murray Street in the market. It has a great Market feel, but it’s not as crowded and touristy. You don’t go there unless you know to go there.

The classics of Chez Lucien, the Rainbow & Benny’s, as well as Murray Street, Navarra, and Domus. Murray Street has everything!

So I’m super excited that Fatboys Southern Smokehouse is moving in. We’ll see what
Mike Ziola, Steph Legari, Stephen Murphy, Les Richenhaller, & Shawn Dawson come up with next month!

I haven’t yet ventured to The SmoQue Shack on York Street, so I’ll have try to hit them both up for some southern love, and do a full compare.