THE OTTAWA CITIZEN FOOD & LIFE 2009 Dining Guide 2009

PART ONE: OLD OTTAWA ByWard Market ■ Lowertown ■ Sandy Hill

BY ANNE DESBRISAY

his year’s dining guide T has a different spin on “where to eat” in Ot- tawa. We are a city of neigh- bourhoods, each with its own character, each with its own restaurants. For me, this hit home most stunningly during the transit strike. It may be nice to know the best Thai restau- rant in the city is in Barr- haven, but when it’s minus 28 C, the buses aren’t running, and the streets are in grid- lock, what you really want to know is “Where can I get a good curry close to where I am?” So this year I’m breaking Ottawa down into regions and exploring our city’s restaurants within its neigh- bourhoods, beginning today with its oldest — ByWard Market, Lowertown and Sandy Hill. These are restaurants I recommend, some unequivo- cally, others with certain reservations. But each suits a mood, or a demographic, or a budget. Please note: This list is a guide only, not a guarantee of JEAN LEVAC, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN what you will find! Rene Rodriguez offers delicious food from Spain’s Basque region at Navarra, his restaurant on Listings start on page 2 Murray Street.

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ByWard Market Cuisine: Canadian. Expect some Price guide interesting changes in the AHORA National Arts Centre kitchen this 307 Dalhousie St., 613-562-2081 Loosely based on a three-course Unless stated otherwise, all year, with the creative chef ahora.ca $ dinner for two, with taxes, but restaurants accept major credit Michael Blackie (formerly of Cuisine: Mexican. This colourful, before drinks or tip. cards and reservations, and Brookstreet Hotel) newly running cluttered basement room with $: Less than $40 many now have websites where the show. Stay tuned for how he seating for 40 is a cheery, no- $$: $40 to $70 you will find their menus and marks the menu of this flagship frills, cafeteria-style eatery with $$$: $71 to $100 hours of operation. Call about restaurant. fresh, fast, flavourful food. $$$$: More than $100 wheelchair accessibility. LUXE BISTRO BENNY’S BISTRO 47 York St., 613-241-8805 119 Murray St., 613-789-6797 luxebistro.com $$$$ bennysbistro.ca $$ Cuisine: Canadian. An updated empiregrill.com $$$ Cuisine: Grill. Luxe remains, Cuisine: French. Tucked into the look for the Westin dining room. Cuisine: Grill. Trendy, handsome despite changes in the kitchen, a back of the French Baker and Signature lamb dish stands out, restaurant that attracts chic French-style steakhouse with open for lunch only, you are plus the tuna rolls, scallops with young diners in droves. Also a durable mainstays — French advised to tuck into anything lemongrass, roasted guinea favourite for dinner meetings. onion soup, bouillabaisse, steak- baked — the bread, the olive hen. Specializes in steaks, wines and frîtes. You feel new chef Duane scones, the strawberry tarts. But DOMUS CAFE martinis. Open late. Keats’ stamp most strongly in the excellent too are the soups, the 87 Murray St., 613-241-6007 HAVELI page of daily additions. risotto, the spiced scallops. domuscafe.ca $$$$ 39 Clarence St., 613-241-1700 MAMBO RESTAURANTE BLUE CACTUS BAR AND GRILL Cuisine: Canadian. “Canadian haveli.com $$ NUEVO LATINO 2 Byward Market, 613-241-7061 Regional Seasonal Cuisine” is Cuisine: Indian. In Ottawa since 77 Clarence St., 613-562-2500 bluecactusbarandgrill.com $$ etched in its picture windows and 1984, the what-you-expect menu mambonuevolatino.com $$$ Cuisine: Mexican/South- is the philosophy that marks its of mostly north Indian dishes is Cuisine: Latin. Mambo has an western. Big, busy market eatery, plates. For close to 15 years, chef well represented. Superior fish exciting Latino feel and look, but with an updated look. Menu has John Taylor and his team have and rice dishes. my experience with the food is southwest slant. Pasta, pizzas, delivered startling dishes KHAO THAI that you need to pick through it a fajitas, grilled chicken, ribs. Open fashioned from impeccably 103 Murray St., 613-241-7276 bit to find the good stuff — late. sourced ingredients. khaothai.ca $$ shrimp kicked up with a spicy CAFE SPIGA EMPIRE GRILL Cuisine: Thai. Fragrant noodle orange sauce, carrot and jalapeño 271 Dalhousie St., 613-241-4381 47 Clarence St., 613-241-1343 dishes, complex curries, along soup. cafespiga.com $$$ with the usual Thai starters, MAMMA GRAZZI’S KITCHEN Cuisine: Portuguese and Italian. salads and soups, in a lush red 25 George St., 613-241-8656 Portuguese classics (caldo verde, and gold space. Try the makua mammagrazzis.com $$ bacalhau, sea bream with piri- yaow len goong, a beautifully Cuisine: Italian. Thin-crust pizzas piri) share space with Italian balanced dish of shrimp and rolled to order and a page of pasta pasta and veal dishes. Seafood is eggplant. dishes in a pretty courtyard a clear strength. KINKI restaurant. Nice patio. CASA DO CHURRASCO 41 York St., 613-789-7559 METROPOLITAIN BRASSERIE 190 Dalhousie St., 613-241-2743 kinki.ca $$$ 700 Sussex Dr., 613-562-1160 $$ Cuisine: Japanese-style. Its metropolitainbrasserie.com $$$ Cuisine: Portuguese. A little of the sexy marketing and its Cuisine: French bistro, seafood. ghost of KFC lingers in the look of unconventional menu should French-style, super-sized this casa, but not in the food. alert you to the fact that this brasserie steps from Parliament Chicken is grilled, Portuguese attractive “Asian-fusion-sushi” Hill with a menu that covers style, as are ribs and other meaty restaurant is as much about the bistro basics, from bouillabaisse things, served up with lots of scene as the food. to blanquette de veau. Raw lemon potatoes and a suitably LAPOINTE SEAFOOD GRILL seafood bar; champagne by the fiery sauce. 55 York St., 613-241-6221 glass. CHEZ LUCIEN lapointefish.ca $$ MOJI 137 Murray St. 613-241-3533 $ Cuisine: Seafood. The first of five 97 Clarence St., 613-860-6654 Cuisine: Pub. Spaghetti and Lapointe Grills, this one is below moji.ca $$$ meatballs, liver and onions, grilled ground in a yellow room with a Cuisine: Mostly Italian. The word chicken sandwiches, a croque school of hand-painted moji is Japanese, but the short monsieur. But really you come to swimmers. Beer-battered fish menu in this slim space leans this very pleasant pub for the and chips, pan-fried pickerel, Italian. Good carpaccio, steak very good burgers. fresh mussels, good chowder. salad, seafood linguine, crème DALY’S LE CAFE brulée. Westin Hotel, 11 Colonel By Dr., CHRIS MIKULA, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN 53 Elgin St., 613-594-5127 613-560-7333 $$$$ Daly’s chef Nelson Borges. nac-can.ca $$$$ Continued on the next page

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MURRAY STREET stage and a complete nigiri sushi 110 Murray St., 613-562-7244 dinner, with soup or salad to start, murraystreet.ca $$$ won’t eat up your paycheque. Cuisine: Canadian. The logo of the THE BLACK TOMATO new (and good) Murray Street is a 11 George St., 613-789-8123 stylized M in a boar’s body, and theblacktomato.com $$$ pork certainly figures large on Cuisine: Eclectic-global. A tall, Steve Mitton’s menu and in his square space, with great music, charcuterie bar. Meat may be the great whisky choices and food soul of this place, but neither fish that has a global reach — Thai- nor the vegetarian entrée eats like style soups, spanokopita, an afterthought. quesadillas, curried chicken, crab NAVARRA cakes. 93 Murray St., 613-241-5500 THE COURTYARD RESTAURANT navarrarestaurant.com $$$ 21 George St., 613-241-1516 Cuisine: Modern Basque. In the courtyardrestaurant.com $$$$ former home of the Black Cat Cuisine: Contemporary Canadian. Café, former Cat chef Rene A dining room with a long history, Rodriguez has opened Navarra, which may feel dated inside but named for this northern region of won’t taste it. Bison sashimi, pork Spain. Food is very good; recent belly with and licorice, menu includes steak tartare laced ginger fritters with liquid nitrogen with ezpeleta powder, lobster “pil star ice cream. pil” and -cod rillettes with TOTOYA Bayonne ham and roasted piquillo 297 Dalhousie St., 613-241-2224 peppers. totoya.ca $$ PALAIS IMPERIAL Cuisine: Japanese. From a largely 311-313 Dalhousie St., 613-789- predictable menu, you will find 6888 palais-imperial.com $$ fresh fish, well-cooked, carefully Cuisine: Chinese. Two expansive made sushi, gossamer tempura floors of dining with big windows and soothing service. for ByWard Market-watching. CHRIS MIKULA, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN VITTORIA TRATTORIA Extensive menu of more than 200 Chef Duane Keats of Luxe Bistro on York Street. 35 William St., 613-789-8959 items, mostly filled with vittoriatrattoria.com $$$ Cantonese-Szechwan offerings. Cuisine: Italian. The original VT, in PLAY FOOD &WINE SHAFALI INDIAN RESTAURANT offering comfort Italian food with the heart of the ByWard Market, 1 York St., 613-667-9207 308 Dalhousie St., 613-789-9188 contemporary edges. Stick with boasts an exceptional wine list. playfood.ca $$$ shafali.com $$ pasta dishes if you don’t want to Food focuses on pizza and pasta, Cuisine: Small plates, Canadian. Cuisine: Indian. Shafali’s tandoor spike the bill. Linguine with with a few predictable main Just open, untried, untested, but may be hidden away, but its good Manilla clams, short ribs and dishes. given it is the new creation of smells slap you happy as soon as shiitake on cavatelli. Open late. Stephen Beckta and chef Michael you enter. Sauces shine with SWEETGRASS ABORIGINAL 41 Clarence St., 613-241-3636 Moffatt, hopes are high. Menu gently layered flavours, and BISTRO wasabisushibar.ca $$ focuses on small plates. sometimes a crescendo of . 108 Murray St., 613-562-3683 Cuisine: Japanese/sushi. RESTAURANT E18HTEEN SOCIAL sweetgrassbistro.ca $$$ Reasonable prices for a wide 18 York St., 613-244-1188 537 Sussex Dr., 613-789-7355 Cuisine: Original Canadian. Co- selection of raw critters from the restaurant18.com $$$$ social.ca $$$ owners and chefs Warren and sushi bar, plus some consistently Cuisine: Contemporary. Cuisine: Contemporary. A Phoebe Sutherland apply modern good items from the kitchen, Comfortable, chic and timelessly handsome, hot-spot takes to the traditional dishes of notably the tempura, gyoza and fashionable, Restaurant E18hteen restaurant/lounge with a solid North America’s aboriginal tataki. — three years now under chef kitchen. Chef Matthew peoples with delicious results. On WILFRID’S Matthew Carmichael’s lead — Carmichael (of Restaurant the menu, smoked fish cakes, Chateau Laurier Hotel, offers a roundup of pleasures on E18hteen) is now balancing both rabbit dumplings, wild boar back 1 Rideau St., 613-562-7043 $$$$ each stylish plate. Strong wine list. kitchens — 50 metres apart — ribs, Canadian goose with risotto, Cuisine: Canadian. In addition to SAIGON and his stamp on Social is as yet ginger and apples. its good looks, assets include a 85 Clarence St., 613-789-7934 $ untried by this critic. Open late. TAKARA well-trained staff, a strong VQA Cuisine: Vietnamese. If you’re STELLA OSTERIA 366 Dalhousie St., 613-241-6582 wine list and a menu that makes after a bowl of hot, restorative 81-B Clarence St., 613-241-2200 takara-ottawa.com $$ good use of local, seasonal raw soup — and who isn’t? — Saigon stellaosteria.com $$$ Cuisine: Japanese. Bright corner materials. delivers in spades. A family-run Cuisine: Italian. Stella is a hip, restaurant in the ByWard Market ByWard Market restaurant. happening and handsome place, where the sushi bar takes centre Continued on the next page

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Lowertown and Sandy Hill BENTO SUSHI 606 Rideau St., 613-562-2563 $$ Cuisine: Sushi. A tiny storefront location caters mostly to those picking up sushi suppers or quick sushi lunches, though there is scattered seating and items other than sushi. BISTRO CORDON BLEU 453 Laurier Ave. E., 613-755-2350 lcbottawa.com $$ Cuisine: French. This is a student- run restaurant, and you are the guinea pig for Cordon Bleu students of cuisine at the end of their nine-month curriculum. Lunch only, Thursday and Friday. Three-course, set menu $25. EAST AFRICAN RESTAURANT 376 Rideau St., 613-789-7397 $ Cuisine: Ethiopian. Grass roof huts and animal skins set the scene. On the menu: chicken, beef, lamb or vegetable stews of varying intensities, served in small mounds on large platters layered with injera. HORN OF AFRICA 364 Rideau St., 613-789-0025 $ Cuisine: Ethiopian. A long- established African restaurant that offers affordable, tasty food in simple surroundings. PERFECTION-SATISFACTION- PROMISE 167 Laurier Ave E., 613-234-7299 perfectionsatisfactionpromise.ca $ Cuisine: Vegetarian. This is still the Painted Potato, only renamed, and they still serve PPs (choice of baked, sweet, mashed, brown rice, stuffed or topped), but now you can indulge in the tasty vegetarian food in a room dedicated to Sri Chinmoy. SIGNATURES Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa Culinary Arts Institute, 453 Laurier Ave. E., 613-236-2499 lcbottawa.com $$$$ Cuisine: French. In a Sandy Hill mansion, the fine dining room of Le JOHN TANGUAY, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN Cordon Bleu (Ottawa campus) Executive chef Yannick Anton of Le Cordon Bleu Signatures Restaurant on Laurier Avenue. offers a menu awash with luxury ingredients and cooking that is layered, technically sound and stunning on every monogrammed Anne DesBrisay is the author of Capital Dining: A Guide for Dining Out in Canada’s Capital. plate. Check out her website at www.capitaldining.ca.

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PART TWO: THE CITY CENTRE Downtown ■ Centretown ■ Glebe ■ Old Ottawa South

BY ANNE DESBRISAY corn ice cream. BECKTA DINING AND WINE hapter two of our 226 Nepean St., 613-238-7063 gastronomic spin around beckta.com $$$$ C Ottawa-Gatineau Cuisine: Contemporary. Food neighbourhoods takes us to its and wine should be the driving centre. interests when considering Some of our oldest and most Beckta. Fresh, local ingredients iconic restaurants are found prepared in winning styles are here, some of its newest too — matched with a top-notch wine and certainly many of its best. list, continually tweaked. These are restaurants I Beckta’s service is also a recommend, some drawing card. unequivocally, others with BENITZ BISTRO certain reservations, but they 327 Somerset St. W. 613-567- are listed here because I 8100 benitzbistro.com $$$ believe each suits a mood, or a Cuisine: Contemporary. demographic, or a budget. Husband and wife team Derek This list is a guide only. It is Benitz and Meghan McManus not a guarantee of what you opened this white-on-white will find. dining room in 2007. You’ll find the colour in the personality of Downtown the well-trained staff and on the plates of French-bistro treats. and Centretown BLUE NILE A’ROMA MEZE 577 Gladstone Ave., 613-321-0774 239 Nepean St., 613-232-1377 bluenileottawa.com $ aromameze.com $$$ Cuisine: Ethiopian. The cuisine’s Cuisine: Mediterranean small fundamental — plates. A Greek-style meze , mitmita, niter kibbeh — (small plates) restaurant with an lend the good flavour to the food impressive wine list to match the at Blue Nile, a new, plain-Jane impressive nibbles. Kataifi Ethiopian restaurant in scallops, melitzanosalata, foie Centretown. gras stuffed Medjool dates. BOCADO ARC LOUNGE 343 Somerset St. W., 613-233- ARC The Hotel, 140 Slater St., 1536 bocado.ca $$$ 613-238-2888 arcthehotel.com Cuisine: Mediterranean. On the $$$ menu, a bit of everything — Cuisine: Contemporary. Italian, French, Spanish, Greek, Retro-chic dining room/lounge North African. This is sturdy food in a boutique hotel offers an un- with big flavours — fish stew, hotel menu to match the look: grilled lamb, roast duck with root lobster- panna cotta; lamb vegetables, risotto Milanese. WAYNE CUDDINGTON, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN with pickled grapes and pears; Cathy Dewar, owner of Savanna Café, and daughter Natasha chèvre cheesecake with sweet Continued on the next page serve up tasty Caribbean/Asian fusion food.

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B/SIDE comfort at well spaced tables. 323 Somerset St. W., 613-567- Price guide ICHIBEI 8100 bsidewine.ca $$$ 197 Bank St., 613-563-2375 $$ Cuisine: Canadian, small plates. Loosely based on a three-course Unless stated otherwise, all Cuisine: Japanese. Warm feeling On the menu are small plates dinner for two, with taxes, but restaurants accept major credit of a neighbourhood pub. Seating and pastas, some conventional before drinks or tip. cards and reservations, and for a dozen at the sushi bar. Sushi, (calamari, crab cakes, ribs), $: Less than $40 many now have websites where sashimi, tempura, noodle dishes some more interesting (arrancini, $$: $40 to $70 you will find their menus and and so on. rabbit rilette, lamb sweet- $$$: $71 to $100 hours of operation. Call about KASBAH VILLAGE breads). $$$$: More than $100 wheelchair accessibility. 261 Laurier Ave. W., 613-232-3737 CAFE PARADISO kasbah.ca $$ 199 Bank St., 613-565-0657 Cuisine: Moroccan. Popular lunch cafeparadiso.ca $$$ and antiques create an inviting GENJI spot for the downtown crowd Cuisine: Global bistro. Simple atmosphere. Most people opt for 175 Lisgar St., 613-236-2880 with affordable noon specials. At bistro fare — roast chicken, steak the ample buffet (lunch and genji.ca $$ night the room takes on a more frîtes, grilled fish — plus crowd- dinner). Cuisine: Japanese. Tranquil space, exotic feel and offers a variety of pleasing appetizers for those who FRIDAY’S ROAST BEEF HOUSE with well-crafted sushi, delicate Moroccan classics. just want to nibble while listening 150 Elgin St., 613-237-5353 tempura, fragile dumplings and MAMMA TERESA to live jazz. fridaysroastbeefhouse.com $$$ fresh fish, well cooked. 300 Somerset St. W., 613-236- CAPITAL DINING ROOM Cuisine: Mainly meat. ‘A HY’S STEAK HOUSE 3023 mammateresa.com $$$ Delta Ottawa Hotel, traditional menu…,’ we are told. 170 Queen St., 613-234-4545 Cuisine: Italian. An Ottawa 361 Queen St., 613-238-2582 Indeed, right down to the crème hyssteakhouse.com $$$$ institution in a brick mansion with www.deltahotels.com $$$$ de menthe parfait. Stick with the Cuisine: Steak and seafood. Men an enduring, conventional menu. Cuisine: Contemporary. A rack of lamb, the roast beef and in suits and hungry hockey If you order the strengths — soup, windowless rectangle of dated don’t stray far. Portions are players come to Hy’s for quality gnocchi, smelts, calamari, comfort but with solidly good generous. cuts of Alberta beef, served in anything with shrimp (they’re food. Scallops in a lime butter good here), veal — Mamma T’s sauce, duck consommé with can be a dependable bargain. confit wontons, wild salmon with Some dishes can let you down. a lobster crust in a yellow pepper MERLOT ROOFTOP GRILL purée. Ottawa Marriott Hotel, CEYLONTA 100 Kent St., 613-783-4212 403 Somerset St. W., 613-237- merlotottawa.com $$$$ 7812 ceylonta.com $ Cuisine: Grill. The menu way up Cuisine: Indian/Sri Lankan. Looks here is a mix of brawny like nothing from the curb, but steakhouse with a bit of bistro — inside the aroma of Ceylon spices a thick porterhouse, veal chop is heady and the south Indian with prawns, slow roasted cooking a pleasure. Addictive urid chicken. Lofty wine list too. dahl cakes, black curries of MYSTIKO various pulses, dosai with curried 281 Kent St., 613-233-3626 goat. www.mystikogreekkitchen.com THAI $$$ 282 Kent St., 613-233-2828 $ Cuisine: Greek. Formerly Cuisine: Thai. Centretown Papagus, reopened with a new restaurant offers the business look, new name, an all-Greek wine crowd at lunch and the list, and the same vigour on the neighbourhood at dinner tasty menu (char-grilled souvlaki, lamb Thai food in a shades-of-blue chops, dips, farm-boy environment. portions) and failings (frozen fish, DON ALFONSO dull vegetables, salty sauces). 434 Bank St., 613-236-7750 $$ OZ KAFE Cuisine: Spanish. You can fill up 361 Elgin St., 613-234-0907 agreeably on paella, or order a ozkafe.com $$$ platter of predictable tapas in this Cuisine: Eclectic. Mostly comfort dated-looking, but welcoming food on the menu of this casual, Centretown restaurant. quirky café. Fresh, bold flavours, EAST INDIA COMPANY some Asian inflections, and some 210 Somerset St. W., 613-567- JULIE OLIVER, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN solid choices for the vegetarian. 4634 eastindiaco.com $ Executive chef Michael Moffatt cooks up fine fare, pleasingly Cuisine: Indian. Lush furnishings served, at Beckta Dining and Wine. Continued on the next page

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RESTAURANT JOY FLIPPERS 315 Somerset St. W., 613-231- 819 Bank St., 613-232-2703 $$$ 6333 restaurantjoy.com $ Cuisine: Seafood. Glebe-view Cuisine: Korean and Japanese. A restaurant on cheery upper level mix of Japanese standards, of Fifth Avenue Court. Large cooked and raw, traditional portions of fresh seafood. Korean dishes and a bit of Asian FRATELLI fusion. Good gyoza, bulgogi, galbi, 749 Bank St., 613-237-1658 chicken katsu. fratelli.ca $$$ SAVANA CAFE Cuisine: Italian. This is the Fratelli 431 Gilmour St., 613-233-9159 that started the five-strong chain savanacafe.com $$ of handsome, colour-rich eateries Cuisine: Caribbean and Asian dotted across the city, each with fusion. Since 1987, “Ottawa’s similar menus (pizza, pasta, veal) original fusion restaurant” and admirable wine lists. presents a short menu of LIGHT OF INDIA Caribbean and Asian dishes — 730 Bank St., 613-563-4411 kalaloo soup, chicken, pad lightofindia.ca $ Thai, tempura shrimp — in a Cuisine: Indian. Solidly good colourful old home in downtown Indian food in a comfortably dated Ottawa. room. Strong starters — samosas, SOM TUM shami kabab, begun bharta on 260 Nepean St., 613-781-8424 puri — superior dishes from the thaitaste.ca $$ tandoor and the curry pot. Cuisine: Thai. Opened in 2007, SACRED GARDEN another Thai restaurant for Art 1330 Bank St., 613-733-8424 $$ Akarapanich, who introduced Thai Cuisine: Vegetarian Thai. A new food to Ottawa 30 years ago. Thai restaurant for Old Ottawa Strengths are in the well-made South and the first vegetarian classics, but also in those dishes Thai restaurant in the city, housed and ingredients less often seen on in a pretty, tranquil space. Thai menus in this city. SIAM KITCHEN SUISHA GARDENS 1050 Bank St., 613-730-3954 $ 208 Slater St., 613-236-9602 PAT MCGRATH, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN Cuisine: Thai. Ottawa’s first Thai japaninottawa.ca $$ Som Tum owner Art Akarapanich introduced Thai food to restaurant, now 30 years old and Cuisine: Japanese. Hordes flock Ottawa 30 years ago. not much changed. The room is for the noon specials. At dinner, dated, but the food is fresh and you can sup on a predictable flavourful. lineup of Japanese dishes, either THE SCONE WITCH bar feasting on pristine TAJ MAHAL perched at the sushi bar or seated 388 Albert St., 613-232-2173 $ oysters, seafood chowder, 925 Bank St., 613-234-1280 $ downstairs beneath the water- Cuisine: Café/bakery. Golden- ethically sourced fish, plus a Cuisine: Indian. A first-rate Indian fall in one of Suisha’s private topped, layered and yielding, meat dish thrown in for good eatery in the Glebe offers rooms. scones are available in a variety of measure. traditional northern Indian dishes THE BUZZ flavours, either straight-up, with marked by complex flavours and 374 Bank St., 613-565-9595 cream and jam, or split and filled Glebe and generous spicing. thebuzzrestaurant.ca $$$ with lunchy things. URBAN PEAR Cuisine: Eclectic. The best of the VIETNAMESE KITCHEN Old Ottawa South 151 Second Ave., 613-569-9305 small plates is the polenta with 478 Bank St., 613-593-8991 $ CARMEN’S VERANDA theurbanpear.com $$$$ ricotta and roasted red peppers. Cuisine: Vietnamese. Very yellow, 1169 Bank St., 613-730-9829 $$ Cuisine: Modern Canadian. A More substantial fare includes a very plain, owned by a kind family. Cuisine: Eclectic. A short, sophisticated but neighbourly good steak-frîtes well priced. Sizeable Szechuan section of the seasonal menu in a colourful, space with a short, seasonal Open late for drinks and noshing. expansive menu makes it a bit retro room of mismatched chairs, menu of adventurous food. THE MANX different from the pack. formica tables, fish tanks and Albacore tuna with cranberry 370 Elgin St., 613-231-2070 $$ WHALESBONE OYSTER HOUSE cacti. Salads are bright, gastrique, scallops with a blood Cuisine: Pub. It’s more than an 430 Bank St., 613-231-8569 sandwiches satisfying and the orange compote, crème extensive whisky and draught thewhalesbone.com $$$ pizza is excellent. brulée. menu that draws them down to Cuisine: Seafood. A small and this basement pub. Food is solidly whimsically decorated seafood good too, service is kind and pub, run by a boisterous staff, Anne DesBrisay is the author of Capital Dining: unaffected, vegetarian diners are where you crowd around A Guide for Dining Out in Canada’s Capital. treated well. cramped tables or at the Check out her website at www.capitaldining.ca.

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PART THREE: THE WESTERN FRONT Chinatown ■ Preston Street ■ Hintonburg, West Wellington, Westboro Old Ottawa West ■ Britannia ■ Centrepointe ■ Bells Corners Celebrating diversityfrom Chinatown to BellsCorners

BY ANNE DESBRISAY

Part 3 of the Dining Guide fo- cuses on the restaurant-rich neighbourhoods of Ottawa’s western front, from Chinatown and Preston Street, to Westboro to Centrepointe and west to Bells Corners. As for every entry in this year’s guide, these are restau- rants I recommend, some un- equivocally, others with reser- vations. But for whatever mood you’re in, budget that fits you or demographic you fit into, you should be able to find some- thing that suits. Please keep in mind this list is a guide only, based on my expe- riences. There’s no guarantee of what you will find. Chinatown FUSCHIAN 726 Somerset St W., 613-230- 6815 $ Cuisine: Asian. Fresh, hot, fast and a good blend of Vietnamese and Chinese cuisines, run by very fine people. Fish is a strength, so are salad rolls and lemongrass chicken. PAT MCGRATH, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN Continued on the next page Mekong restaurant owner/chef Dennis Luc offers a good cross-section of well-treated Asian food.

8 THE OTTAWA CITIZEN FOOD & LIFE 2009 PART THREE: THE WESTERN FRONT

HOT PEPPERS tiated, “Sashimi Surprise.” Din- 495 Somerset St. W., 613-233- Price guide ing alone? “Sashimi Just For Me.” 4687 hot-peppers.ca $$ VIETNAM PALACE Cuisine: Thai. It calls itself an Loosely based on a three-course Unless stated otherwise, all 819 Somerset St. W., 613-238- “expressive Thai restaurant” dinner for two, with taxes, but restaurants accept major credit 6758 $ with an upstairs wine bar. Fried before drinks or tip. cards and reservations, and Cuisine: Vietnamese. First-rate oysters, curried mussels, spicy $: Less than $40 many now have websites where seafood: scallops with lemon- crab cakes with mango sauce, $$: $40 to $70 you will find their menus and grass and chilies, shrimp with steamed salmon with plum and $$$: $71 to $100 hours of operation. Call about fresh pineapple, sea bass in ginger. $$$$: More than $100 wheelchair accessibility. black bean sauce. Sizable vege- JADELAND tarian section. 625 Somerset St. W., 613-233-0204 $ they come. Chipped formica and rant, though it is the region’s old- Preston Street Cuisine: Chinese. It’s not the permanently scarred linoleum. est. Food’s all over the place too decor that has folks lined up out But the sweetly scented noodle — North American Cantonese to ALLEGRO RISTORANTE its door. Maybe it’s the food: soups are wonderful. Thai curries to Malaysian cala- 422 Preston St., 613-235-7454 pickerel with chili and garlic, SHANGHAI mari. allegroristorante.ca $$$ squid with snow pea tips, bitter 651 Somerset St. W., 613-233- SUSHI 88 Cuisine: Italian. A traditional melon and beef in black bean 4001 shanghaiottawa.com $ 690B Somerset St. W., restaurant comfortably settled sauce. Cuisine: Asian. Mandarin marti- 613-233-3288 $ into its way of doing things, with JO MOON TING nis, Brazilian rhythms, disco bin- Cuisine: Sushi. For the sushi- a familiar menu and reliable 832 Somerset St. W., go, karaoke Saturdays … This is- novice, try the “I Like My Sushi food. Count on a good Caesar, 613-237-8887 $ n’t your typical Chinese restau- Cooked” combo; for the well ini- homey soups, fresh, well-pre- Cuisine: Chinese. Ten tables in a pared fish and seafood, and fine pokey little room, or take-away pasta dishes. counter with its window-view of ATELIER barbecue treats. Whether in- 540 Rochester St., 613-321-3537 house or to-go, atelierrestaurant.ca $$$$ the house chicken, roast pork Cuisine: Modern. Chef Marc and barbecue duck are the way- Lepine’s new avant garde, tast- to-go. ing-menu-only restaurant, based MEKONG on the Barcelona model of the 637 Somerset St. W., kitchen-as-laboratory. Twelve 613-237-7717 courses of mostly extraordinary mekong.ca $ food. Reservations required. Cuisine: Asian. Vietnamese, BIG EASY’S Chinese and Thai dishes on the 228 Preston St., 613-565-3279 menu. Seafood is treated well. bigeasys.ca $$$ Good too are the soups, pot Cuisine: Southern seafood. A stickers, shrimp dumplings, new New Orleans-style seafood crispy beef and braised duck. and steakhouse in the middle of NEW MEE FUNG Little Italy, with a long bar and 350 Booth St., 613-567-8228 $ oyster bed, good gumbo, excel- Cuisine: Vietnamese. Large din- lent crab cakes, fat ribeyes, and a ing room with a large menu. Or- delicious pecan-sweet potato der by number. Try No. 223 pie. lemongrass chicken, or No. 136 BLACK CAT BISTRO spicy satay with rice noodles. 428 Preston St., 613-569-9998 NEW PHO BO GA LA blackcatcafe.ca $$$ 761-763 Somerset St. W., Cuisine: Comfort Canadian. 613-233-2222 $ A new home for the old BC, Cuisine: Vietnamese. Pho is noo- born 30 years ago on Echo Drive, dle soup, Bo is beef, Ga is chicken recently relocated from and La is the large, extended Murray Street, and now purring family that runs this place and along nicely on Preston. others like it on the strip. Venison carpaccio with aged PHO THU DO cheddar, -seeded sweet- 765 Somerset St. W., 613-235- breads, duck with figs, lemon 7116 $ BRUNO SCHLUMBERGER, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN tart. Cuisine: Vietnamese. One of the At Atelier on Rochester Street, chef Marc Lepine treats his originals and as plain-Jane as kitchen like a laboratory, creating extraordinary food. Continued on the next page

9 THE OTTAWA CITIZEN FOOD & LIFE 2009 PART THREE: THE WESTERN FRONT

DIVINO WINE STUDIO Cuisine: Italian. Bella Milito pre- 225 Preston St., 613-221-9760 di- pares Italian comfort food, spe- vinowinestudio.com $$$ cializing in pasta fatta a casa, Cuisine: Small plates. Ottawa’s along with the usual vitello, pollo first enoteca of exclusively Ital- and pesci, all of it pretty primo. ian wines, the collection con- CAFFE MIO stantly changing. The food menu 1379 Wellington St., 613-761- relies on small plates designed 5510 caffemio.ca $$ for sharing — polenta ragu, Cuisine: Italian. Soup and panini mushroom risotto, pappardelle on a sunny afternoon on the Mio in a leek and walnut sauce. patio is pretty hard to beat. This EFES little neighbourhood restaurant 484 Preston St., 613-230-8828 $ satisfies with good service, fair Cuisine: Turkish. Rib-sticking prices and decent food. Turkish food in Little Italy. The CAFFE VENTUNO meze platter could make a light 1355 Wellington St., 613-729- supper on its own — and don’t 9121 $$ miss the doner kebab when it’s Cuisine: Italian. A modern-look available. café attached to Nicastro’s up- GIOVANNI’S scale Italian food and cheese 362 Preston St., 613-234-3156 shop. The menu offers pasta, giovannis-restaurant.com $$$$ risotto, thin-crust pizza. Cuisine: Italian. Often busy, of- CANVAS ten loud, but service is top- 65 Holland Ave., 613-729-1991 notch, the food is flavourful canvasrestobar.ca $$$ northern Italian fare and the Cuisine: Bistro. A petite space wine list is superior. with a petite menu of bistro dish- GREEN PAPAYA ON PRESTON es — scallops, steak frîtes, short 256 Preston St., 613-231-8424 ribs, gnocchi, daily fish — named greenpapaya.ca $$ ROD MACIVOR, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN in honour of the galleries and Cuisine: Thai. The first Thai Bella Milito offers comfort food at her Bella’s Bistro. theatre that surround it. restaurant to immigrate to HABESHA Little Italy. The pasta strip has 1087 Wellington St., 613-761- made room for kwaytiaw, dishes, in modern surroundings Cuisine: Mexican. Go for the 6120 $ classic Thai soups and searing in Little Italy. margaritas. Stay for the Cuisine: Ethiopian. Short menu, salads. TRATTORIA CAFFE ITALIA guacamole, burritos, tender cheap prices, plain room, and on IL PICCOLINO 254 Preston St., 613-236-1081 steak bathed in a the menu, 10 fragrant and some- 449 Preston St., 613-236-8158 trattoriaitalia.com $$$ chili sauce, and anything with times searing stews — beef, ilpiccolino.ca $$ Cuisine: Italian. Recently reno- salsa verde on top. lamb, chicken, pulses, vegeta- Cuisine: Italian. Comfortable, vated, but red-and-white-check ALLIUM bles — served with injera. homey decor in a quirky house cloths still cover the busy tables. 87 Holland Ave., 613-792-1313 al- JUNIPER KITCHEN where pasta and pizza dominate On the plate: kind portions of liumrestaurant.com $$$ AND WINE BAR the menu. Pretty summer patio fresh, carefully made, affordably Cuisine: Contemporary. Monday 245 Richmond Rd., 613-728- framed with grapevines. priced, traditional northern Ital- night tapas at allium make Mon- 0220 juniperdining.ca $$$$ IL PRIMO ian food. day nights palatable. Other days, Cuisine: Modern Canadian. A 371 Preston St., 613-234-6858 il- chef-owner Arup Jana dishes up kitchen that looks locally for primo.ca $$$ Hintonburg,West big flavoured food, with particu- quality ingredients and then Cuisine: Italian. Il Piccolino’s sis- lar pleasure found in game dish- casts its net widely for inspira- ter restaurant, this one is more Wellington,Westboro es and vegetarian arrangements. tion. One of the neighbourhood’s formal, more contemporary. No ABSINTHE CAFE ANNA finest. pizza, lots of pasta, tender veal, 1208 Wellington St., 613-761- 91 Holland Ave., 613-759-8472 LES GRILLADES inventive 1138 absinthecafe.ca $$$ thaitaste.ca $$ 85 Holland Ave., 613-792-3224 antipasti. Cuisine: Bistro. Patrick Garland’s Cuisine: Thai. Traditional Thai $$ STONEFACE DOLLY’S ON food is seasonally sound, locally vestiges mingle with contempo- Cuisine: Lebanese grill. Re- PRESTON sourced, and big on assertive rary decor. Good satay, ginger- opened after a fire and as good 416 Preston St., 613-564-2222 flavours. Warm tomato salad, steamed duck, prawn curry, as ever. Fabulous flame-grilled stonefacedollys.com $$ bacon-wrapped quail, red snap- mango ice cream with mango chicken, hummus, roasted egg- Cuisine: Eclectic. Thai soup, tar- per, steak frîtes, profiteroles. sauce. plant dips, grilled lamb, either for ragon chicken, mussels, jerk AGAVE GRILL BELLA’S BISTRO sit-down or takeout. chicken, Thai red curry mussels, 1331 Wellington St., 613-728- 1445 Wellington St., 613-724- jambalaya, and wacky pasta 5588 agaveottawa.ca $$ 6439 bellas.ca $$$ Continued on the next page

10 THE OTTAWA CITIZEN FOOD & LIFE 2009 PART THREE: THE WESTERN FRONT

MHK SUSHI 429 Richmond Rd., 613-798- 0800 mhkrestaurant.com $$ Cuisine: Sushi. Fish swim in the walls and on the menu of this small, chic sushi restaurant. Sea- weed salad to start, then à la carte treats, or one of the MHK maki platters. MILAGRO GRILL 357 Richmond Rd., 613-722-8011 milagrogrill.com $$ Cuisine: Mexican. With an up- scale decor and a drinks menu that offers tequila by the “flight,” Milagro is Tex Mex for grownups. Food can be uneven. Upstairs pa- tio is a treat. PETIT BILL’S BISTRO 1293 Wellington St., 613-729- 2500 petitbillsbistro.ca $$$ Cuisine: Unpretentious restau- rant offers small and large plates of eclectic dishes — curry chick- en to maple scallops to eggplant can-nelloni. PHNOM PENH 1100 Wellington St., 613-722- WAYNE CUDDINGTON, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN 8588 Chef-owner Arup Jana serves up ‘big-flavoured’ food at Allium Restaurant. phnompenhnoodlehouse.com $ Cuisine: Cambodian and Chi- nese. The food is tasty, there’s strengths at this affordable fami- TRIO Old Ottawa West lots of it, prices are reasonable, ly restaurant. 307-D Richmond Rd., service is fast and friendly, and THE LOCAL BAR 613-722-3887 $$ AMBER GARDEN and the place has an engaging fami- Irving Greenberg Theatre Cuisine: Small plates, lounge DALMACIA RESTAURANT ly-run feel. Centre, 1227 Wellington St., food. A teeny neighbourhood 1702 Carling Ave., 613-728-0000 SIAM BISTRO 613-236-5196 ext. 315 $$ eatery that’s breezy, quirky, af- ambergarden.net $$ 1268 Wellington St., 613-728- Cuisine: Canadian. Open for fordable and allows you to drop Cuisine: Eastern European. Tra- 3111 siambistro.com $$ breakfast, lunch and dinner, in at midnight for paté and pears, ditional dishes from the Baltic to Cuisine: Thai. A handsome new pre- and post-theatre nibbling, pasta or pizza. the Black seas — cabbage rolls, interior and the same familiar with a short, straightforward VILLAGE CAFE pierogies, schnitzels, goulash, line-up of standard Thai dishes. menu of well-flavoured dishes at 295 Richmond Rd., 613-728-2162 kulebiaka, chicken Paprikash. Among its talents are its gener- fair prices. thevillagecafe.net $$ CARIBBEAN FLAVOURS ous servings and pretty arrange- THE TABLE Cuisine: Café. A casual 1659 Carling Ave., 613-237-9981 ments. 1230 Wellington St., restaurant with an eclectic caribbeanflavours.net $$$ THE DINER 613-729-5973 $$ menu — tandoori salmon, Cuisine: Caribbean. In a plain- 1385 Wellington St., 613-798- Cuisine: Vegetarian. Bright, utili- Moroccan-style crab cakes, Jane location, but nothing plain 7800 $$ tarian space for the orthodox Thai-style prawns. A soup about the cod cakes, jerk chick- Cuisine: Diner grub. An agree- vegetarian to feast all day, every and sandwich lunch remains a en, goat curry, rotis, saltfish, ack- ably grown-up sort of diner, day, at the pay-by-weight-of- draw. ee and homemade ginger beer. where parents as well as their is- loaded-plate buffet. WELLINGTON GASTROPUB GOLDEN PALACE sue can feel at home. Hearty THE WORKS 1325 Wellington St., 613-729- 2195 Carling Ave., breakfasts, good pot roast, 326 Richmond Rd., 1315 thewellingtongastro 613-820-8444 $ homemade soups, chicken pot 613-564-0406 pub.com $$$ Cuisine: Chinese. This is the pie, burgers. worksburger.com $ Cuisine: Canadian gastropub. sweet-and-sour, battered-and- THE FOOLISH CHICKEN Cuisine: Burgers. Seven patties, Fine dining in a relaxed venue: fried, red-dyed Cantonese treat 79 Holland Ave., 613-321-4715 62 toppings, 12 upgrades make Ottawa’s first gastropub offers a food of the 1960s, with leg- foolishchicken.ca $$ for innumerable options and per- short daily menu of seasonal endary egg rolls. Now in its 50th Cuisine: Chicken and ribs. Rotis- mutations for burgers and fries treats, many options for artisan year of service. serie chicken, gooey ribs and at this busy, high-octane, family- beer and an international wine homemade desserts are the friendly joint. list. Continued on the next page

11 THE OTTAWA CITIZEN FOOD & LIFE 2009 PART THREE: THE WESTERN FRONT

HO HO Centrepointe 875 Richmond Rd., 613-722- 9200 hohorestaurant.com $ BAAN THAI Cuisine: Chinese. “Dine-in, take- 261 Centrepointe Dr., 613-226- out, we-deliver” restaurant with 7604 $ strong west-end following. Lo- Cuisine: Thai. The soups are full- cals come for the fresh food and bodied, lip-tingling, sinus-clearing for the gracious family that brews, the salads have some atti- serves it. tude, the stir-fries are perked LA CABANA with generous amounts of basil 848 Merivale Rd., 613-724-7762 and garlic, and the curries have $ heat and perfume. Cuisine: Latin American. A Sal- vadorian pupuseria with a menu Bells Corners of fast, flavourful, filling food: tamales, pupusas, whole fried A TASTE OF JAPAN platanos, refried beans. 3710 Richmond Rd., 613-721- MERIVALE SEAFOOD GRILL 7675 tasteofjapan.ca $$ 1480 Merivale Rd., 613-723-2476 Cuisine: Japanese. In the subur- $ ban sprawl, Japanese food that is Cuisine: Seafood. Fish from the a cut above. Miso-marinated adjoining market is plucked off mackerel, scallops flamed in the ice, steamed, grilled, bat- wine, beef katsu, along with all tered, breaded, brochetted — the raw snacks. your choice. CYRANOS MRS. LE 39 Robertson Rd., 613-721-0510 1766 Carling Ave., 613-798-5697 $$ $ Cuisine: Mediterranean. A long- Cuisine: Vietnamese. All the running Bells Corners restaurant. crunch-soft-pungent-fresh of Strengths are in homemade Vietnamese cuisine is here, in a breads, pastas and pizzas, fresh homey space. Lunch specials are PAT MCGRATH, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN seafood and luscious desserts. popular. The Vietnamese and Chinese food at Tom Trinh and An Tran’s LAPOINTE SEAFOOD GRILL NOKHAM THAI Fuschian restaurant in Chinatown is fresh, hot and fast. 194 Robertson Rd., 613-596- 747 Richmond Rd., 613-724- 9655 lapointefish.ca $$ 6620 $$ Cuisine: Seafood. One of a half Cuisine: Thai. Pay attention to Sri Lanka here in the west as you dles, coriander chicken and dozen Lapointes, these are fish the house specials at this popu- do downtown. shrimp. cafés attached to fish markets, lar place. Stuffed chicken wings, LITTLE INDIA CAFE TAJ each with similar menus. Beer- tilapia in a red curry sauce, deli- 66 Wylie Ave., 613-828-2696 lit- 3009 Carling Ave., 613-726-6955 batter fish and chips, grilled cious mango and shrimp salad. tleindiacafe.com $ $ swordfish with a lime caper THEO’S Cuisine: Indian. Hole in the wall Cuisine: Indian. Typical north In- sauce, fresh mussels. 911 Richmond Rd., 613-728-0909 (under renovation) offers Indian dian fare that distinguishes itself SUKHOTHAI theosgreektaverna.com $$$ cooking from the north and through the lustiness of its spic- 134 Robertson Rd., Unit 10, Cuisine: Greek. Hellenic music, mystic south — silky butter ing, the long drenching mari- 613-829-1010 columns, frescos, the works. chicken, complex lamb bhuna nades and the expertise with the sukhothairestaurant.ca $$ Terrific things done with egg- and admirable vegetarian tandoor. Cuisine: Thai. Service is bright plant and lamb. Servings are dishes. LINDENHOF in this dated, dimly lit restaurant enormous. SINGAPORE 365 Forest St., 613-725-3481 the- set back in a strip mall. Dishes 69 Kempster Ave., 613-820-4119 lindenhof.com $$ are predictable. Highlights: beef Britannia $ Cuisine: European. On the menu, with basil and chili and green Cuisine: Asian. Mostly wiener schnitzel, ham hock, curry of chicken. CEYLONTA Malaysian fare, with some Chi- sauerbraten, bratwurst, apple WEST END STATION BISTRO 2920 Carling Ave, 613-828-7812 nese, Indian and Thai influences. fritters. On the plate, lots. On the 3659 Richmond Rd., 613-721- ceylonta.com $ Curry puffs are must-eats. bill, not much. On the floor, nice 9639 westendstation.ca $$$$ Cuisine: Sri Lankan/ Indian. So are satays, Singapore noo- people. Cuisine: International. Nicely A second home for this popular refurbished Bells Corners restau- Sri Lankan restaurant, you rant offers a fine dining option find the same curry-leaved, Anne DesBrisay is the author of in a part of town in need of it. coconut-sweetened, tamarind- Capital Dining: A Guide for Dining Out in Canada’s Capital. Good soup, mussels, crème tanged, chili-fired food of Check out her website at www.capitaldining.ca. brulée.

12 THE OTTAWA CITIZEN FOOD & LIFE 2009

PART FOUR: THE MIDDLE EAST New Edinburgh ■ Vanier ■ Manor Park ■ Gloucester ■ Ottawa East ■ Alta Vista ■ Hunt Club ■ South Keys

BY ANNE DESBRISAY

oday, the Dining Guide takes us to neighbour- hoods more or less east Tof the Rideau River but still within the greenbelt. We start in the north with the Beechwood Avenue strip (neighbourhood restaurants serving Rockcliffe Park, New Edinburgh, Lindenlea, Manor Park and Vanier, but that at- tract clients from farther away). From there, we head east to where Montreal Road be- comes St. Joseph Boulevard. And since the Rideau is a winding river, we also drift south, through Alta Vista, down to Hunt Club and South Keys. I recommend every restau- rant here (though some with reservations, sometimes not- ed). They’re expensive, cheap and everything in between, and fancy and casual — what- ever your mood. BRUNO SCHLUMBERGER, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN As always, I provide a cau- Brothers Simon and Ross Fraser’s tasty food at their Fraser Café on Beechwood Avenue in New tion: This guide, like my week- Edinburgh draws hungry diners from across Ottawa. ly reviews, is based on my ex- periences. As they say on TV, individual results may vary. Edinburgh serves hearty dishes of wintry dishes on a February Canadian. Small, cramped, of the Iberian Peninsula: garlic menu at the new Farbs — oxtail endearingly cluttered, this New Edinburgh/ soup with chorizo, zarzuela, ravioli, smoked pork chops with former hamburger joint has paella, filet of beef with cepes. roasted apple, braised lamb been turned by the Fraser Vanier/Manor Park Finish with crema Catalana. shanks with garlic polenta. brothers into a neighbourhood EL MESON FARBS KITCHEN AND WINE Food was solid, but service was gem with a short list of 94 Beechwood Ave., 613-744- BAR soft. Canadian comfort food. The 8484 elmeson.ca $$$ 18 Beechwood Ave., 613-744- FRASER CAFE “kitchen surprise” is fun. Cuisine: Spanish/Portuguese. 6509 farbskitchen.com $$$ 143 Putman Ave., 613-749-1444 Stately old house in New Cuisine: Canadian. A short list frasercafe.ca $$$ Cuisine: Continued on the next page

13 THE OTTAWA CITIZEN FOOD & LIFE 2009 PART FOUR: THE MIDDLE EAST

FRATELLI busy, unpretentious 7 Springfield Ave., 613-749-3369 Price guide surroundings. Soups are a fratelli.ca $$$ strength, so are mussels, Cuisine: Italian. The fourth Loosely based on a three-course Unless stated otherwise, all homemade pasta, pecan pie. Fratelli in a chain of five, this one dinner for two, with taxes, but restaurants accept major credit NAPO FARM TO TABLE has the same modish decor, before drinks or tip. cards and reservations, and 1542 Bank St., 613-523-9595 Italian-ish cuisine, and mid- $: Less than $40 many now have websites where napofood.ca $$$ range prices. Good soups, $$: $40 to $70 you will find their menus and Cuisine: Italian. In a little brick carpaccio, house antipasti plate. $$$: $71 to $100 hours of operation. Call about house bordered by traffic and IL VAGABONDO $$$$: More than $100 wheelchair accessibility. industry, Napo Farm to Table 186 Barette St., 613-749-4877 $$ creates simple, flavourful Italian- Cuisine: Italian. On a skinny side inspired dishes, devoid of any street just off the main AltaVista/ festooned with the elephants attention-seeking chic. Bread Beechwood Avenue restaurant Hunt Club/South Keys that are its namesake. Good salad with grilled squid, duck row, this modest Italian bistro seafood, fragrant curries, well- with blood oranges, lamb shank, may just have the best lasagna in AIYARA THAI CUISINE balanced pad Thai. deconstructed tiramisu. town. 1590 Walkley Rd., 613-526-1703 FLYING PIGGY’S BISTRO PELICAN FISHERY AND GRILL $$ ITALIANO 1500 Bank St., 613-526-0995 Gloucester/ Cuisine: Thai. Service is 1665 Bank St., 613-526-4900 pelicanfisheryandgrill.com $$ soothing and attention to detail a flyingpiggys.com $$ Cuisine: Seafood. A long- Ottawa East cut above at the sister-run Cuisine: Italian. Affordable, tasty running suburban fish café CHAHAYA MALAYSIA Aiyara, found in a mini-mall and food served by a kind crew in attached to a fishmonger where 1690 Montreal Rd., 613-742- the bill of fare is all fish, the 0242 $ service all kind and the prices Cuisine: Malaysian. A long menu kept reasonable. is divided into Malaysian, THAI LANNA Indonesian and vegetarian 2401 Bank St., 613-249-9524 sections. Flame-throwing dishes thailanna.ca $$ (chili-fried squid) along with Cuisine: Thai. Another tiny gem milder ones (Singapore noodles) run by sisters. The ambience is and those that linger in the perfectly pleasant, and the food middle (the rendang Java). is fresh-tasting with good, COCONUT LAGOON strong flavours and plenty of 853 St. Laurent Blvd., 613-742- contrasting textures. 4444 coconutlagoon.ca $ VERANDA D’OR Cuisine: South Indian. This east- 4 Lorry Greenberg Dr., 613-736- ender cooks dishes from the 1965 $ south, specifically from Kerala, Cuisine: Chinese. Family-run where rice, coconuts, fish and strip-mall restaurant root vegetables abound, concentrates on the cooking of prepared with intoxicating the Szechwan province. Top spices. marks to the fish specials and HOST INDIA the authentically hot Szechwan 622 Montreal Rd., 613-746-4678 dishes. hostindiaca.com $ VITTORIA TRATTORIA Cuisine: Indian. The wood-fired 3625 Riverside Dr., 613-731-8959 tandoors get much credit for the riverside.vittoriatrattoria.com superior flavour of breads and $$$ meats at this cavernous Cuisine: Italian. Two Vittorias — restaurant. But sauces are also a the original in the ByWard cut above, and prices a cut Market and this newer location below. in Ottawa South — both with LE SAINT O exceptional wine lists and a food 327 St. Laurent Blvd., 613-749- list that touches the basics — 9703 lesainto.com $$$ pasta, pizza, veal. Cuisine: French. An enduring French restaurant that continues to offer a menu of French Anne DesBrisay is the author of classics with Québécois accents: JEAN LEVAC, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN Capital Dining: A Guide for Dining ris de veau with local honey, Ratana Phanrat is one of the sisters who run Thai Lanna Out in Canada’s Capital. Check out duck confit with maple syrup. restaurant on Bank Street. her website at capitaldining.ca.

14 THE OTTAWA CITIZEN FOOD & LIFE 2009

PART FIVE: AROUND THE EDGES Kanata ■ Stittsville ■ Carp ■ Barrhaven ■ Manotick ■ Orléans ■ Out of town

PAT MCGRATH, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN Chef Bruce Enloe of The Branch Restaurant in Kemptville specializes in local, made-from-scratch, seasonal fare.

BY ANNE DESBRISAY still, into the tastiest bits of bombay-masala.com $ the now-five strong Fratelli the Ottawa Valley — to Cuisine: Indian. Kanata dot- empire. Past strengths here have his second-last instal- Kemptville and Carleton commers descend on the noon included the house Caesar ment of the Dining Guide Place and an old house near buffet. At dinner, the room is dressed in robust style, the Ttakes us to the restaurants Arnprior with home-grown more peaceful and the à la carte carpaccio, and the rack of lamb. on the edges of Ottawa—those fare. menu holds more appeal. Award-winning wine list is found beyond the greenbelt in Tandoor dishes are a cut above. extensive, as is the built-in the growing communities of Kanata/Stittsville/Carp FRATELLI storage system that is part Stittsville, Kanata, Carp, Bar- 499 Terry Fox Dr., 613-592-0225 practical, part art. rhaven, Manotick and Orléans. BOMBAY MASALA fratelli.ca $$$ And then we go farther 591 March Rd., 613-599-0090 Cuisine: Italian. This was No. 2 in Continued on the next page

15 THE OTTAWA CITIZEN FOOD & LIFE 2009 PART FIVE: AROUND THE EDGES

PERSPECTIVES AT its big, inventive salads, yummy BROOKSTREET HOTEL bread, pizzas and wines by the Price guide 525 Legget Dr., 613-271-1800 glass. brookstreet.ca $$$$ LA PORTO A CASA Loosely based on a three-course Unless stated otherwise, all Cuisine: Contemporary. Dining 3500 Fallowfield Rd., 613-843- dinner for two, with taxes, but restaurants accept major credit room of swanky Kanata hotel 0825 $$ before drinks or tip. cards and reservations, and takes us on a culinary ride with an Cuisine: Italian. A cheery $: Less than $40 many now have websites where ambitious menu of multi-faceted mom-and-pop restaurant that $$: $40 to $70 you will find their menus and dishes. Lamb with lobster-stuffed offers sturdy, home-cooked food $$$: $71 to $100 hours of operation. Call about brioche, scallops with chorizo, (pasta, pizza, veal, tiramisu) at $$$$: More than $100 wheelchair accessibility. pineapple and coriander. prices that keep the place POCO PAZZO packed. 6081 Hazeldean Rd., 613-836- PAESANO 7100 pocopazzo.com $$ 1160 Beaverwood Rd., 613-692- Cuisine: Italian. Crayola-coloured 6100 $$$ and cute, in a new strip mall in Cuisine: Italian. The corner unit Stittsville, Poco Pazzo (“a little in the Manotick Mews, but more crazy”) devotes most of its menu impressive once you’re through to pasta dishes. Prices are in an the front door, Paesano offers affordable range, which keeps the a traditional Italian menu funky little place filled. bolstered with daily specials — THE SWAN AT CARP roasted halibut in a niçoise sauce, 108 Falldown Lane, 613-839- linguine bistecca, admirable 7926 $$ crème brulée. Cuisine: Eclectic. While the PHO THI FUSION interior remains much as it was 4-129 Riocan Ave., 613-825-3325 — Presbyterian parsonage meets $ pub — the food does not. You can Cuisine: Asian eclectic. A newish still get a steak and mushroom restaurant next to a newish pie or a bucket of wings, but turn megaplex, Pho Thi Fusion forays the page to miso-marinated into upscale looks and prettily chicken, Korean pork bulgogi, and arranged pan-Asian offerings, escargots with wild mushrooms with a menu of popular in a beurre blanc. Don’t miss Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai dessert. dishes, plus a page of sushi. Barrhaven/Manotick Orléans BARRHAVEN VIETNAMESE CAFE TOURNESOL RESTAURANT 2564 St. Joseph Blvd., 613-824- 16-3777 Strandherd Dr., 613-825- 5049 $$ 4567 $ Cuisine: Café. Can only vouch Cuisine: Vietnamese. All the pho, for the club sandwiches and mi, bun, banh hoi, xao and lau ample breakfasts, but I (noodle soups, vermicelli dishes, understand they also serve wrap and roll platters, stirfries weekend dinners and end of week and fondues) we’ve come to tapas, in a suburban-country- expect in a Vietnamese diner-looking space brightened restaurant, but there are other with sunflower art. distractions on the long menu too LITTLE TURKISH VILLAGE — snails with curry, lemongrass 2095 St. Joseph Blvd., 613-824- and peanut, salt and pepper beef 5557 $ rib, deep-fried squash with honey Cuisine: Turkish. Long- and ice cream. established, busy community- FIAMMA minded restaurant serving 3750 Strandherd Dr., 613-843- generous portions of rib-sticking 5263 fiamma.ca $$$ Turkish food — shish kebabs, Cuisine: Italian. A welcome seafood, lamb. alternative to the usual suburban PAT MCGRATH, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN chain eateries, Fiamma scores big Chef David Ngo offers specialty sushi at Pho Thi Fusion points on atmosphere, and with Continued on the next page restaurant in Barrhaven.

16 THE OTTAWA CITIZEN FOOD & LIFE 2009 PART FIVE: AROUND THE EDGES

RANGOLI INDIAN CUISINE AND SWEETS 2491 St. Joseph Blvd., 613-834- 4549 rangoli.ca $ Cuisine: Indian. Tables are packed into this colourful space, and most are filled. Rangoli is busy because the food is good — homemade chutneys, breads and a long list of Indian sweets. THE WORKS 900 Watters Rd., 613-824-0406 worksburger.com $ Cuisine: Burgers. The fifth location in a chain of “burger bistros” with the same menu of poutine and onion rings, sandwiches and wacky-named burgers — eight kinds, 66 toppings, and a dozen “upgrades.” Out of town BALLYGIBLIN’S 151 Bridge St. Carleton Place, 613-253-7400 ballygiblins.ca $$ Cuisine: Eclectic. An odd blend of pub (deep-fried pickles, nachos) and fine dining (wild salmon, heirloom tomatoes, local pork) with a sidebar of sandwiches, burgers, mussels

JOHN MAJOR, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN Rangoli Indian Cuisine and Sweets in Orléans is busy because the food served by owners Charanjit Singh and his wife Gurvinder Kaur is good.

and ribs. Homemade desserts. GOOD FOOD COMPANY philosophy. Autumn menu CASTLEGARTH 31 Bridge St., Carleton Place, 613- included squash soup, house- 90 Burnstown Rd., White Lake, 257-7284 $$ cured gravlax, local lamb, roast 613-623-3472 castlegarth.ca $$$ Cuisine: Eclectic. Cheery space duck with fennel. Cuisine: Canadian. Lanterns of mismatched chairs, batik- THE BRANCH flicker in the windows of this covered tables, a takeout counter 15 Clothier St. E., Kemptville, heritage building, once a post and excellent home-cooked 613-258-3737 office, now a seriously good rural comfort food. The short menu thebranchrestaurant.ca $$ restaurant. Raw materials are leans in all kinds of directions, Cuisine: Canadian. There’s a mostly home-reared or sourced from Thai curries to shrimp with casual, energetic vibe in this old locally, and they elevate the olives, basil and feta, to lemon room. Locals gather at the bar, Canadian dishes that fill a one- trifle with local berries. artists gather on the walls, page daily menu. SAM JAKES INN musicians jam. The feel may be FITZGERALD’S 118 Main St. East, Merrickville, informal, but the food is 7 Mill St., Almonte, 613-256-2524 613-269-3711 samjakesinn.com accomplished — fresh, unfussy, $$$ fitzgeraldsrestaurant.ca $$$ $$$ made-from-scratch seasonal Cuisine: Bistro. Upscale dining Cuisine: Canadian. Chef Thomas fare by chef Bruce Enloe. provided by two talented young Riding is a Scot trained by a chefs in a restored woollen mill Swiss and his experience Anne DesBrisay is the author of CHRIS MIKULA, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN — duck confit, scallops, includes hunting lodges in the Capital Dining: A Guide for Dining Clifford Lyness is new exec- cornmeal-crusted chicken, northern Highlands, but he’s Out in Canada’s Capital. Check out utive chef at Perspectives. potato rosti. committed to a Valley-first her website at capitaldining.ca.

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PART SIX: ACROSS THE OTTAWA RIVER ■ Aylmer ■ Hull ■ Chelsea ■ Wakefield ■ Papineauville ■ Messines

BY ANNE DESBRISAY

or this sixth and final instalment of the Dining Guide by Fneighbourhood, we cross the Ottawa River to explore the gastronomy of Gatineau and the Outaouais. From the dazzling French regional cuisine at Le Baccara in the Casino du Lac Leamy to the chewy pies at the wildly popular Piz’za-za in Old Hull; from promising newcomers like Bistro St- Jacques to the old-timer Le Pied de Cochon, which has been dishing up steak tartare since 1976, there is lots to choose from. The region still seems to me haunted by the absence of the iconic Café Henry Burger, which closed in 2006 after 83 years of distinguished service. In its place is a Thai restaurant filled with patrons in jeans chowing down on BRUNO SCHLUMBERGER, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN pad Thai. Progress, I Marianne Johner and Rachid Belamri serve delicious food at the well-hidden L'Echelle de Jacob in suppose. And yet, we mourn. Aylmer. It’s worth venturing out of Gatineau into the unequivocally, some with Cuisine: French. A well-hidden, 30 seats inside, mostly con- countryside, to the quirky some reservation, that might well-established restaurant on stantly filled, plus about 20 little restaurant Chez Eric suit a mood or a budget. the second floor of a century-old more when the patio opens, (named for a goldfish) in There’s a lot of good eating mill. Local goat cheese soufflé, keep owner Flo flying around Wakefield, or to the much- in this chapter of the guide. scallops ceviche, wild mush- this cluttered little space. She is celebrated Les Fougères in So let’s get to it! room charlotte, perfect prof- much the pleasure of this bistro. Chelsea, which seems to me iteroles. The generous portions of steak better each visit. Aylmer BIFSTRO MARIN and seafood prepared by her This guide is meant to 11 Front St., 819-685-0123 husband Sandy are the other. direct you to those L’ECHELLE DE JACOB pages.videotron.com/bifstro restaurants I feel I can 27, boul. Lucerne, 819-684-1040 $$$ recommend — some lechelledejacob.ca $$$ Cuisine: Seafood and steak. The Continued on the next page

18 THE OTTAWA CITIZEN FOOD & LIFE 2009 PART SIX: ACROSS THE OTTAWA RIVER

Price guide

Loosely based on a three-course Unless stated otherwise, all dinner for two, with taxes, but restaurants accept major credit before drinks or tip. cards and reservations, and $: Less than $40 many now have websites where $$: $40 to $70 you will find their menus and $$$: $71 to $100 hours of operation. Call about $$$$: More than $100 wheelchair accessibility.

sour-salty-sweet we want in chored in solid French tradi- Thai food; ingredient-focused tions, but filled with toothsome and fairly priced. flights of fancy. Magnificent DELISH presentations. Magnificent 45 rue Laval, 819-771-3456 $ wine cellar. One of the region’s Cuisine: Café. You order from a best. display case with seasonal styl- LE CAFE D’EN HAUT ishness and either take it away 39A rue Laval, 819-770-9997 $$ and relish it, or else find a perch Cuisine: French bistro. Opened at this 10-chair/six-stool café early in 2009, in the upper space with a liquor licence. vacated by L’Argoat, with a short, FLEUR DE SEL daily menu of fresh, seasonal 59 rue Laval, 819-772-8596 $$ fare — soups, fresh fish, home- Cuisine: Vegetarian. Serene and made terrines — at a price point pretty, with fish on the evening that will have you climbing the menu for pescetarians — picker- stairs often. el with mango ratatouille, shrimp LE PANACHE with arugula, lentil and cashew 201 rue Eddy, 819-777-7771 $$$ terrine — and now with crêpes. Cuisine: French. Reliably good (See L’Argoat.) French and Mediterranean cook- L’ARGOAT ing complemented by a gener- 59 rue Laval, 819-772-8596 $$ ous wine cellar and charming Cuisine: Crêpes/galettes. For- service in a petite, dated-looking CHRIS MIKULA , THE OTTAWA CITIZEN mer fans of this upper deck space. Chef Lucas Hornblower and owners Tina Cobb and Vincent galetteria, who may have no- LE PIED DE COCHON Denis of Bistro St-Jacques offer gracious service and carefully ticed it’s been supplanted (see 242 rue Montcalm, 819-777- sourced food. Le Café d’en Haut), do not de- 5808 lepieddecochon.ca $$$ spair. You will rediscover it shar- Cuisine: French bistro. Since ing space and a menu with the 1976, a no-nonsense lineup of Hull roasted vegetable soup, warm vegetarian restaurant Fleur de Parisian bistro classics. Some mushroom salad, duck confit, Sel a few doors away. things are done very well, like AROME lovely desserts — are paired LA GAZELLE the steak tartare, duck confit, 3 boul. du Casino, 819-790-6410 with gracious service at this new 33B rue Gamelin, 819-777-3850 the daily fish. hiltonlacleamy.com $$$$ bistro. $$ LE SANS PAREIL Cuisine: Grill and seafood. The CHEZ FATIMA Cuisine: Moroccan. In a vibrant 71 boul. St-Raymond, 819-771- dining room of the Hilton Lac 125 prom. du Portage, 819-771- room of 10 tables, you find a tra- 1471 lesanspareil.com $$$ Leamy offers a menu of seafood 7568 $$ ditional menu of tagines, bro- Cuisine: Belgian/French. More and meat, mostly from the grill Cuisine: Moroccan. If you have chettes and couscous dishes. charming from within than with- — steaks, ribs, Kobe beef ham- yet to experience what tasty Lamb with prunes, honey, al- out, but once within, inspired burgers — but also from the things happen when a lamb has monds; chicken with preserved French and Belgian cuisine with oven (prime rib, pork sous vide) lain down with a preserved lemon, , onion, olives and emphasis on fish, seafood and and the smoker (house-smoked lemon for a few hours, Fatima’s artichokes. Mint tea and Moroc- game. Of course, moules et chicken and salmon.) place (recently moved from up can wines. frites, but also venison in a Bel- BISTRO ST-JACQUES the road) is a good introduction. LE BACCARA gian beer sauce, apricot-roasted 51 rue St-Jacques, 819-420-0189 CHEZ LE THAI 1 boul. du Casino, 819-772-6210 duck breast with braised Belgian bistrostjacques.ca $$$ 39 rue Laval, 819-770-7227 che- casino-du-lac-leamy.com $$$$ endive, and a fine chocolate end- Cuisine: French Canadian Bistro. zlethai.com $$ Cuisine: French. Fine dining ing. Delightful. Carefully sourced raw materials, Cuisine: Thai. A dimly lit restau- restaurant of the Casino. Chef prepared in comforting ways — rant with bright food. All the hot- Serge Rourre’s cooking is an- Continued on the next page

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LE TARTUFFE neau nam tok, but this pretty cornucopia of cuts and 133 rue Notre-Dame, 819-776- beef salad, along with a few weights of premium steak 6424 letartuffe.com $$$ dozen other Thai dishes (soups, share a luxury menu with Cuisine: French. In a lovely old curries, stirfries, rice and noodle oversized seafood. house, the principles of modern dishes), fill the menu of this third French cuisine are applied to re- location of the Green Papaya Chelsea/Wakefield gional produce: cranberry- restaurants, in digs once occu- stuffed roasted quail, pheasant pied for some 83 years by Café CAFE SOUP’HERBE with wild mushrooms, crème Henry Burger. 168 chemin Old Chelsea, brulée. PIZ’ZA-ZA 819-827-7687 LOTUS ROYAL THAI 36 rue Laval, 819-771-0565 piz- soupherbe.com $ 101 rue Montcalm, 819-778- zaza.ca $$ Cuisine: Vegetarian. 0559 $$ Cuisine: Pizza. This cheerfully There’s more than veggie Cuisine: Thai. Thai food with all French and jampacked restau- soup to like at this little the right stuff. Excellent soups, rant is mostly about pizza and house in the woods in panaeng, spring rolls, satay and wine, but also about lemon pie. Chelsea. The burrito has fish curries. STERLING RESTAURANT ample flavour, the chili has PAPAYE VERTE 835 rue Jacques Cartier, 819- bite and brawn, and the piz- PAT MCGRATH, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN 69 rue Laurier, 819-777-0404 568-8788 zas boast fresh toppings Game terrine is a constant on chef greenpapaya.ca $$ sterlingrestaurant.com $$$$ and a tasty crust. Home- Che Chartrand’s commendably Cuisine: Thai. Not sure what Cuisine: Steak and seafood. Spa- made desserts. short menu at Chez Eric. Madame Burger would make of cious, dramatic dining, where a CHEZ ERIC 28 Valley Dr., Wakefield, 819- has changed hands and purpose 459-3747 cafechezeric.ca $$$ over its 170-year history, but it Cuisine: Canadian. The black- has been operated as an inn board menu changes regularly since 2000. Its restaurant offers and is commendably short. On it a short menu of contemporary you will likely always find a game dishes, some with Asian notes — terrine, dinner salads, some- smoked beef maki and ginger times fish and chips, pasta with cream; scallops with a green tea local mushrooms, and magnifi- beurre blanc. cent duck. LES FOUGERES Out of town 783 Route 105, Chelsea, 819- 827-8942 fougeres.ca $$$$ LA TABLE DE PIERRE DELAHAYE Cuisine: Canadian. Impeccably 247 rue Papineau, Papineauville, sourced raw materials prepared 819-427-5027 latabledepierre- with contemporary flair at this delahaye.ca $$$ lauded Chelsea restaurant. Pota- Cuisine: French. Lacy French to soup with smoked Arctic char, restaurant that specializes in the scallops teamed with salt cod, cooking of the apple-rich region lamb drenched with Indian of Normandy: escargots with spices, chocolate tart with blue- Calvados, ris de veau braised berry compote. with apples, apple tart. L’OREE DU BOIS MAISON LA CREMAILLERE 15 chemin Kingsmere, Chelsea, 24 chemin de la Montagne, 819-827-0332 oreedubois- Messines, 1-877-465-2202 lacre- restaurant.com $$$ maillere.qc.ca $$$ Cuisine: French. Long-estab- Cuisine: French. The focus of lished, rustic-looking restaurant chef Andrée Roger’s table d’hôte in Gatineau Hills forest setting is on local, seasonal and Quebec serves unrepentantly old-school ingredients, prepared in classic French favourites: fish soup, es- French style. The focus of som- cargots, duck confit, seafood pot melier André Dompierre’s list is au feu. Regional products on wines to match his wife’s good abound and chocolate enthusi- cooking. Reservations essential. asts are well served. JANA CHYTILOVA , THE OTTAWA CITIZEN WAKEFIELD MILL INN Anne DesBrisay is the author of Robert Noël, head chef at Le Sans Pareil in Old Hull, delivers 60 Mill Rd., 819-459-1838 wake- Capital Dining: A Guide for Dining delightful French and Belgian cuisine, such as apricot-roasted fieldmill.com $$$$ Out in Canada’s Capital. Check out duck breast on Belgian endive. Cuisine: Contemporary. The mill her website at capitaldining.ca.

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