CheapEats Ottawa restaurant guide blog

Tres Tacos Por Favor

For all of Ottawa’s multiculturalism, we’re sadly lacking a single area of town devoted to Latin businesses and food culture. There are a few restaurants and food stores peppered throughout the city – some of which already appear in CheapEats Ottawa – but they remain distressingly few. Mercado Latino on Montreal Road in Vanier (just past Cummings Bridge) gives us two businesses in one convenient downtown(ish) location.

Not only is this little market a great spot to pick up any ingredients you might need to attempt a home-cooked foray into Latin-American cuisine (okay, no fresh veggies, but they do have queso fresca!) – but on weekends, you can also grab a bit of authentic Mexican street food: tacos.

R&M on Rangoon

Before 2011, we had never tasted Burmese food. There’s no excuse for this – after all, we had heard about Rangoon restaurant several months ago. We really should have been beating down their doors to get a taste of a new cuisine – or new to us, at any rate.

But we assumed Burmese food would be pretty much a clone of Thai food, and all the same old curries we were already very familiar with. Well, you know what they say about assumptions.

Two Very Different Sandwiches

Ottawa has an Arby's! Well, Kanata, at any rate.

Yeah, we hear you saying "So what?!" - but it's been nearly two decades since Arby's vacated the city, and it's nice to have them back, even if it is a bit of a trek for us to get there. It's certainly better than having to drive to Kingston.

Yes, it's a guilty pleasure. As foodies, we certainly don’t feel proud about our love for this chain restaurant slop - even if it is yummy-delicious - but we'd by lying if we said we weren't happy to head out there for dinner last Friday night.

But since that weekend, all thoughts of Arby's have been pushed aside; replaced with a new obsession.

Two days after the Arby's excursion, We needed Sunday lunch after running a few errands. We wound up with meat on bread, but the sandwich could not have been further from Arby's.

Maskali restaurant is a little East-African joint right on the edge of Vanier (23 Selkirk, corner of Montreal Rd. and River Rd.). It’s a nondescript little restaurant in a nondescript little strip mall; a mall that also houses one of our favorite Chinese grocery stores. So we had seen the restaurant before, but neither of us had set foot inside.

First of all – the smells! Oh my god. We opened the door to the restaurant and were just about floored by the spices. It smelled soooo good. We haven’t yet got a sense of how good a business this restaurant does, but if people would just walk through their doors, they would have no trouble selling their food. And the price is right. At $6.99 for a good-size sandwich, it definitely fits the Cheapeats price structure.

But what about taste? The flavor of this food is to die for. Marinated spicy meats (chicken or beef) and onions fried up and rolled into a fresh piece of crispy homemade flatbread. Flavour and texture all in one bite! The beef sandwich was nice – if a little greasy – but the chicken was like heaven. So tender and so much flavor. We knew then and there it wasn't gonna be long before we headed back to this place.

Cue Friday night: And back we go. This time for a couple of platters. You couldn't ask for a more generous meal. We got a chicken platter for $10.99 and a lamb platter for $11.99 - both of which resulted in full-bellies.

The chicken platter featured a hind quarter roasted in spices and served along with rice topped with a flavourful tomato based sauce (think cinnamon and cardamom more than marinara) and some sort of marinated raisin chutney. The weak, iceberg-lettuce salad was a throwaway item, but everything else was delicious. The second platter held the same sides, swapping the chicken for stewed, fall-off-the-bone-tender lamb. Delish!

And there's still more to try on the menu. Dine-in or take-away. we can’t wait to head back for another dose. Sorry Arby's, you're gonna have to wait.

Our Favourite Things from 2009

It's that time of year again. When the days are getting shorter and the eggnog is getting boozier. Pretty soon we'll be hearing about nothing but the end of the decade, so we figured if we can't beat them, why not beat them to it!

Starting tomorrow, we’re doing another round of CheapEats Favourite Things.  We’ll be sharing our favourite things from 2009 - meals, restaurants, tastes, food experiences, ingredients, flavours, bottles, markets and festivals.

Want to get in on the fun?  On January 1st, we’ll be posting a round up of readers’ favourites – just email them to me [lex at plethorapress.com]

Click here to see last year’s favourites.

Lunches Under $3!

Earlier this week, Joanne Schnurr from CTV Ottawa  contacted me asking about great lunch deals around Ottawa, preferably places where she could get lunch for under $3.  UNDER $3, now that IS a cheap lunch. 

Unfortunately we weren’t available to go on a cheap lunch adventure with her, but Joanne profiled 3 places last night where you can get lunch for around $3.

• Helen's Cuisine - 1082 Wellington (pg. 55 of CheapEats Ottawa)- tucked in the back of a convenience store with seating in the front near the window, Helen cooks up great Middle Eastern lunches like you'd get from a home kitchen. Soups are the best deal with a large being $2.25. Vegetarian options are generally the best deal. (pg. 55)
• Parti Pizza - 267 Greenbank (pg.77) has a $3.25 slice + pop lunch.  Quick, good & easy. Great price.
• and Saint Honore Bakery Shop - 361 Booth Street - a Chinese bakery on Booth – where they have a selection of stuffed Chinese buns including 99¢ BBQ pork buns, 99¢ chili buns and 75¢ pinapple buns. We’ll definitely be checking it out for the next edition of the book.

Here is are the other places which came to mind immediately,  some under $3 all under $6  (the prices may be slightly off since I haven't checked them recently)

• Aladdin Convienience at 1801 Carling & 1020 St. Laurent (pg 27 of CheapEats Ottawa) They have pizza-like meat pies, spinach & cheese pies and zathar (thyme & herb pies) - running $1-3 each.  Tasty savoury treats.
• Olga's Delights - 588 Bank Street (pg. 74) – home-style soups, chili and sandwiches that will fill you up with goodness.  Medium soup or chili for $3.50 last time I checked.
• Slots Racetrack - 4837 Albion Road (pg. 90)- if you get a free membership card you can get in on the $5 lunch specials, and the $1.99 breakfast specials.
• La P'tite Epicerie du Quartier - 158 rue Notre-Dame-de-l'ile in Hull (pg. 62) - $3.99+ for a great selection of deli sandwiches.
• La Cabana - 848-B Merivale (pg. 61)- where you can get 2 pupusas for $4 ($2/each minimum 2). If you get them to go, you can share.

Your Favourites from 2008

The final post in this series of Favourites from 2008 is from you.  Favourite restaurant, food or drink event, taste experience, ingredient, dining adventure – they are all options. 

Here is the first of your favourites, which came in via twitter (@ceot)

vivaphotoart: @ceot agreed. La brulerie makes the best sandwich and soup and has the best coffees and teas!

• La Brulerie, 152 Montcalm, 819.778.0109, CheapEats Ottawa pg. 35

What were your foodie favourites from 2008?

Technorati Tags: vivaphotoart,La Brulerie,gatineau,cafe

Ron & Melvin’s Favourites from 2008

Ron & Melvin have sent in more than just their favourites, they’ve given us a great round-up on the Ottawa’s ethnic restaurant “foodprint” for 2008.

(1) There has been a surge in Korean restaurants in Ottawa recently, especially near/in Chinatown on Somerset. Over the course of about a year and a half, three new Korean restaurants cropped up in this area: Koreana, Bulgogi Garden, and SooRa. In addition, we also noticed a new Kimchi store on Percy (just off Somerset). There are also at least six other Korean restaurants in the city, including Kwon's BBQ Chicken, Korea Garden, Alirang, Miga, Arum, and Joy. We're sure there are others, especially those offering Korean & Japanese food. Unfortunately, we haven't been to most of these restaurants yet, but my own pleasant discovery of Baramibunei in Hamilton gives me a strong desire to give them a go. Rest assured, we'll be busy checking out these restaurants in the new year.

(2) An Ethiopian friend of ours recently brought us to the Blue Nile restaurant - an Ethiopian restaurant that opened about a year ago. We've had Ethiopian food before (from Horn of Africa and East African Palace), but we both feel that this restaurant's food is definitely better, and our friend assured us it's more authentic. The dishes make great use of traditional spices, making the meat especially tasty. One exciting thing about this place is that they have Taej, a very tasty and sweet honey wine. Definitely worth going back for!

(3) Ottawa must have finally had enough demand for cheap and affordable sushi. There's been a recent surge in the number of restaurants offering sushi - from quick take-out to all-you-can-eat. For years we've had to go to Toronto or Montreal to get a Sushi fix at a reasonable price, but now we can get our sushi fix as often as we'd like. Totoya, 1000 Sushi Island, Sushi Kan, Green Tea Sushi, and Sushi 88 to name just a few.

(4) It looks like Tim Hortons is being squeezed out of Ottawa. For years, Sharwarma joints in Ottawa were as ubiquitous as Tim Hortons. Things are changing. Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean, and other ethnic restaurants are expanding their "foodprints" in this city, occupying more and more space throughout Ottawa. There's even a Tex-Mex-Salvadorian restaurant. I am so glad to see that Ottawa is finally waking up to the scents of other ethnic food. Okay, maybe Timmy's will still hang around, but at least those of us who want something different can find it more readily in the nation's capital.

Restaurants included in Ron & Melvin’s favourites list:

• Koreana, 711 Somerset St W, 613.230.7111
• Bulgogi Garden, 702 Somerset St. W, 613.236.0001
• SooRa Korean Table BBQ & Bar, 610 Somerset St W, 613.321.3911
• Kwon's BBQ Chicken, 332 Wilbrod St, 613.236.8371, CheapEats Ottawa pg. 60
• Korea Garden, 470 Rideau St, 613.789.5496
• Alirang, 134 Nelson St, 613.789.2223
• Miga, 399 Bank St, 613.230.0084
• Arum, 512 Bank Street, 613.230.8488
• Joy, 315 Somerset St W, 613.231.6333
• Baramibunei,  [HAMILTON] 16 Jarvis St, 905.577.4652
• Blue Nile restaurant, 577 Gladstone Ave., 613.321.0774
• Horn of Africa,  364 Rideau St, 613.789.0025
• East African Palace, 376 Rideau St.,  613.789.7397
• Totoya, 297 Dalhousie St, 613.241.2224
• 1000 Sushi Island, 1696 Carling Ave, 613.722.3803
• Sushi Kan, 1280 Baseline Road, 613.221.9545
• Green Tea Sushi, 5A-280 Elgin St, 613.233.2888
• Sushi 88, 690B Somerset St. W, 613.233.3288

The CheapEats dynamic duo of Ron & Melvin are always on the job, keeping themselves at the ready to pounce on any new restaurant recommendation, research flavours and cuisines, and keeping their eyes peeled for new developments in the Ottawa food scene.  Their most frequently asked question:  “So where are we eating tonight?”

Rosalie McGrath’s Favourite from 2008

I have discovered my new favourite little coffee shop, La Brulerie on Montcalme in Hull, with the best fair trade coffee and the best cappuccinos I have ever tasted in my life. My favourite drink is their Moccachino -- a rich and full flavoured fair trade coffee, topped just to perfection with real foam and home-made whipped cream!

Restaurants mentioned in Rosalie’s favourites:

• La Brulerie, 152 Montcalm, 819.778.0109, CheapEats Ottawa pg. 35

Rosalie McGrath is a Gatineau-based CheapEater, mover and shaker.  After living in the Glebe for years, she is now calling Gatineau home and exploring all the great food experiences available to her. Rosalie is an active member of the board for the 411 Initiative for Change.

Alexa Clark’s Favourites from 2008

2008 was a year a great food year for me, though I must admit not enough of it was spent in Ottawa, so please forgive me (if you can).

• Biggest Dining Adventure - Dinner in the Sky!  With 22 other diners I was hauled 50 feet in the air to eat breakfast.  This adventure falls into my top 5 dining experiences ever.  I was scheduled to go up for breakfast, so the food, well.. meh.  The "thrill" sauce? outstanding! (photos, including at least one of me with a big stupid grin on my face.)
• Best Find – DiRienzo’s Grocery. I know, it wasn't lost... but I have actually spent years not finding it.  It's really not where you expect it to be, or at least not where I expected it to be. Once I found it, I couldn’t get enough of their Alex Diavolo sandwich - so much spicy goodness in a bun I can barely stand it. 
• Favourite Coffee - is still Pasticceria Gelateria Italiana’s espresso with orange zest & whip cream (though I usually wave the cream).
• Best Foraged Meal of 2008 - it's a draw between 2 meals we made while on vacation from foraged goods.  First a gnocci with wild forest mushroom & whisky cream sauce, (no, we didn't forage the whisky) and roasted duck with a Montmorency cherry gastrique.  The cool part about the gastrique is that the cherries were from the cherry tree I planted about 10 years ago.  This is the first time I’ve been home in season to harvest them, and the resulting meal was spectacular.
• 2008 Cravings – Shafali Bazaar's Chicken Tikka Wrap. Yup, I’m still craving them when I'm away from Ottawa for too long. They even found my video of my wrap being made on YouTube and now it’s up on their site.
• All That Training Finally Put To Use - In 2008, my lifetime of cooking over fire and drinking beer were finally put to good use.  I was invited to judge the Rickard's Griller of Glory BBQ Competition. It may sound a little silly, but this really was one of those lifetime goals you hope will some day come true.  And it did.  (psst... looking for a cooking competition judge?  Ask me. CheapEats is made up of a whole team of opinionated foodies, and I'm sure there's someone on the team who is both qualified and eager to help you out.)
• Favourite Foodie Phrase - "All you can eat is not necessarily all you should eat."  Inspired by an over indulgent all-you-can eat sushi experience with Ron & Melvin at Sushi Kan where we finished off 32 of their 145 item menu, urp!

Restaurants included in Alexa’s 2008 Favourites List:

• DiRienzo’s Grocery, 111 Beech St, 613.321.8689, CheapEats Ottawa pg.46
• Pasticceria Gelateria Italiana, 200 Preston, 613.233.2104, CheapEats Ottawa pg.77
• Shafali Bazaar, 55 ByWard Market, 613.241.4412, CheapEats Ottawa pg.88
• Sushi Kan, 1280 Baseline Road, 613.221.9545

Alexa Clark is Chief CheapEater, editor & publisher of the CheapEats Restaurant Guide Series. Sometimes mistaken for a food paparazzi, she constantly in search of good food-porn shots and looking for ways to stalk and capture CheapEats in the wild.

Gerry Ohlsen’s Foodie Favourites from 2008

Gerry’s favourites for 2008 come in short and sweet. 

• Monday night Tapas at Allium on Holland. Menu changes weekly.
• Cheapeat drink: Ghetto Moka; dissolve whatever chocolate bar you might have  in an Americano with cream. Cheaper and only lacks the fuzz. Or order an Americano with a shot of chocolate. 

Restaurants mentioned in Gerry’s Favourite list:

• Allium, 87 Holland Ave., 613.792-1313

Gerry Ohlsen has roamed the world in search of tasty treats, developing an encyclopaedic knowledge of food and a fantastic palate, without the annoying pretension that often develops.