CheapEats Ottawa restaurant guide blog

A Taste For Life - April 23

On April 23rd, select restaurants across Ottawa are participating in A Taste For Life by  donating 25% of the cost of meals sold to Bruce House and the Snowy Owl AIDS Foundation.

With 5 CheapEats Ottawa restaurants participating, you can get a great meal without breaking the bank and still support these great organisations. But why not splurge a little, it's for a good cause.

Newport Restaurant   613-722-9322 - 334 Richmond Road
(check their profile on page 72 of CheapEats Ottawa)

Siam Bistro   613-728-3111 - 1268 Wellington Street West
(check their profile on page 90 of CheapEats Ottawa)

Thyme and Again  613-722-0093
(check their profile on page 94 of CheapEats Ottawa)
1255 Wellington Street West

The Clock Tower Brew Pub  
(check their profile on page 42 of CheapEats Ottawa)
422 MacKay Street 613-744-4788
575 Bank Street 613-233-7849

Trattoria Caffe Italia  613-236-1081
(check their profile on page 94 of CheapEats Ottawa)
254 Preston Street

Reservations are strongly recommended!!

Check out the other participating restaurants below:

Caribbean Flavours Back In Business

Great news! Caribbean Flavours's new location is now open at 1659 Carling Ave.

Open Monday-Friday 11:30am-10pm, Saturday & Sunday noon-10pm.

Most of the updated menu is out of the CheapEats price range, however, the Roti ($8.95-11.95) fit into the dinner prices. And the Patty Lunch special ($5.50) on the board below looks like a great deal for lunch.

Has anyone had a chance to swing by yet?  We'd love to hear what you think

[Photo from the Caribbean Flavours website]
Open Monday-Friday 11:30am-10pm, Saturday & Sunday noon-10pm.

Technorati Tags: caribbean flavours, ottawa, restaurant, new location, carling avenue

Open at last - Café Gaïa in downtown Hull

by Angela

As of today, the famous rue Montclair friendly vegetarian hole-in-the-wall has a brand new, slightly spiffier twin in downtown Hull! Located at the corner of Frontenac and Laval, Café Gaïa is steps away from the animated rue Laval café strip, and offers the same delicious menu that made the original outlet a favourite among local foodies - granolas or not - who have anxiously been waiting for a more accessible location. The new outlet is open Monday to Friday for lunch and dinner, and they also offer take out.

CheapEats menu includes sandwiches, soups and salads - for a few bucks more ($12.95  and I drink water!), you get a fuller meal, made from seasonal ingredients, such as their divine veggie couscous. And lots of leafy greens (oh, I can't live without them!)  Desserts themselves are worth the detour. 
And it's all healthy, made with love, and served with a smile...(full review to come!)

[This post was written by Angela Lu, a new contributor to CheapEats Ottawa. Angela is an Gatineau-based writer and serious foodie, cruising the Quebec side of the river for cinq-a-sept treats and the best poutine to share with you. Read Angela's other posts...]

Technorati Tags: cafe gaia, hull, new location, ceot, restaurant, vegetarian restaurant, review

Three Bakers & a Bike

by andrea*

I have lost track of the number of people who have told me that Three Bakers & A Bike (1281 Wellington) was a place worth checking out. I had filed in away in a mental to-do list and left it at that.

But those recommendations kept coming, especially as it pertained to their cupcakes. The thought of an afternoon of cupcake eating was enough to keep re-reminding me that I wanted to check it out. Well, I found myself in West Wellington today around lunchtime and decided to give it a try.

Three Bakers is primarily a bakery, but lunchtime offerings include a soup du jour and various sandwiches. The menu is taped to the counter and lists the usual suspects: roast beef, CLT, veggie wraps etc. I chose the BLT. (I have mentioned my bacon thing before, right?)

The BLT is one of my secret measures of Good Places to Eat. If the place can't pull off a decent BLT (or a Caesar salads for that matter - that's my second measure) they risk losing me as a customer. Excellent bread, good bacon, tomatoes that smell like tomatoes and a light touch with the mayo… that's what makes a good BLT. Not everyone knows this yet.

But I digress.

A sushi-related newsflash!

Bellardita's Fine Cuisine at 1688 Carling Ave. (near Cole) is being replaced by and All-you-can-eat sushi restaurant.

Sushi lovers rejoice!

Now Seating at Fettucine's on Elgin

When we started working the first edition of CheapEats Ottawa, we got lots of recommendations for Fettuccine's on Elgin.  But sadly they didn't have a place to sit ("at least one seat".) 

Good news: they now have a counter along the front window with four stools.  Perfect for a quick lunch.

The question is: are people still raving about them?

Tags: ottawa, fettuccine's, elgin street