All You Can Eat Sushi

Apparently there is another place for all u can eat (AYCE) Japanese, and the hot (non raw fish) stuff is pretty good. It's called Sakura on Merivale. Found it on www.ottawafoodies.com. Guess there are more than enough websites commenting on food.

Anyway, we should try it once…seems like they had uni, roe and other stuff that I liked that was not on the Sushi Kan place and the comparisons on the foodies site were that Sakura was better... better service, better food, built only slightly of course… I am not a fan of all you can eat places except for the price. At my age I just don't eat enough to make the price worthwhile.

The one in Toronto, Ten-ichi is relatively more expensive I think, but they had hot teppanyaki etc. That would certainly add to the price. They have all you can eat lunch Sat and Sun between noon and 3pm and the price is confusing, but think it 19.95. That's double of Sushi Kan’s.

All this to say that there are a lot of foodies writers out there.


2007 06 01

Dirge of decent restaurants in Ottawa

Dirge of decent restaurants in Ottawa.

Was going to wander into that debate about decent restaurants in Ottawa, but must report that I have to agree with the Montreal food critic that was in town almost a year ago now….., (must admit I have not be vigilant in my update of this blog, read mainly by friends in any event), that other than French haute cuisine and bistro food, there are no decent restaurants in Ottawa. This runs the gamut of Asian, European, African, American and Australian food, if there is such a thing as the last two.

I have been traveling the food.blog highways though and there are a number of blogs that are so professional and with so many pictures that I am starting to wonder whether there are too many food writers out there. One particular existing site based in Australia worth a look is grabyourfork.blogspot.com.

Back to eating and the food in Ottawa.

A couple of weeks ago I went to the ‘all you can eat’ sushi place here in Ottawa, Sushi Kan, on Merivale Road. With much trepidation, given the web write ups on this restaurant and how it did not deliver in terms of order promptness and accuracy, and after much soul searching, I did finally get around to going with my son and daughter who are, like dad, food fanatics. My son had already been there a couple of times and said it was ok. Now he loves sushi, can eat vast amounts of it and what better test than have someone like that to judge the place.

The trick here is, know what you want and order as soon as you arrive, having a first glance at the menu. Then wait and look at the menu in detail and order for a second round. There is a limit of 1.5 hours sitting time, so if you wait, you can only get one order in. They have no license so don’t worry about the sake. Drink tea or soft drinks, which is also all you can eat… The waitresses are knowledgeable, but I suspect there is a rule that they follow, whereby they are the actual ones judging what you should be eating. If he/she feels you know what you are ordering, there will be little or no mistakes.

Then there is a wait, because unlike a mass produced all you can eat place, they make the stuff individually. And it takes about 30 min to get stuff to the table…that’s why order as soon as you sit, then you’ll be able to order the next round after the first one comes. The servers know when to come around and check. We polished off the first round of about 30 to 40 pieces and my daughter was already figuring out what the next ones were.

They have little unagi rice bowls, which were actually quite good and also hand rolls and udon noodles and tempura. During the 2nd round, we had ordered some tempura and noodles, but it never came….suspect the waitress judged that we were getting full, which we were… But we did finish everything that was served to us on the second round and had green tea ice cream to boot. This was the third round of ordering… We did not leave hungry.

In any event, for $15 per person for lunch, all in, it beats hands down anything else you can get in the city or even close by. So it’s good value, but you have to know and order fast. It’s not a place for atmosphere and lingering, like other Japanese restaurants; but the food is not mass or pre-produced, so it is as good as (and you know what I think of the making of sushi…very over priced in Ottawa), the bites at any of the other fancier places in Ottawa.

Are there any other Japanese restaurants in Ottawa? The Japanese say only one…Suisha Gardens. I would have to agree. But only because there is really a dirge of good restaurant of any sorts in Ottawa. Just like the Chinese would say Yangtze and Chu Shing are the only two half decent Chinese restaurants in Ottawa. And we all know how overpriced these restaurants are. A meal at the Japanese restaurant would set you back $60 and the Chinese ones $40.

There are no three star status Michelin guide restaurants in Ottawa. Or even two star. I mean good cheap food is also of value, but there is a lack of that too.

On the flip side, there are some really poor restaurants in Ottawa, where even food poisoning is not unheard of. And these are places that are popular, but the food is so bad I would never go back. The worst of the bunch would be Johnny Farina on Elgin, the Fish Market in the market and Penang Wok & Siam Kitchen on Bank street south. Mandarin Court in the Merivale area and Caveau de Szechwan in the market are also amongst the worst. I mean I have been sick myself after eating at these places. The slightly less worse are those where the emphasis is on the rah rah, but the food sucks, or the food is so expensive that you need an expense account to get it and it isn’t haute cuisine. Some of these are any sports bar on the Ottawa side, Lone Stars, Baton Rouges, and Boston Pizzas.

A couple of interesting finds, and I say interesting, not great, but worth a go if you like good food is Sacred Garden at 1300 Bank St., and Four Cuisines Bistro at 268 Preston. But beware, both have idiosyncrasies. The sacred garden is an exotic vegetarian Thai places. It is interesting, but being a non-veg, I find that they’ve yet to pass mustard on creating veg dishes. And at that price, I wouldn’t go back….But veg food is expensive in Ottawa…like everything else….

The Four Cuisines Bistro chef owner Minh Trang is actually Chinese and lived in Australia before coming to Canada. He has worked a number of places including the Westin’s main restaurant kitchen as chef there, so his stuff is pretty good. Does it come close to anything like in Toronto, like Lee’s or Susur’s? Not a chance.

Oh and my fav perogies place, Katlinka’s is closed for lack of business… I am devastated.

So the good ones don’t last, the bad ones go on forever…..is there a dirge of good eating in Ottawa… you be the judge….


2007 05 31


EatDrinkOttawa.blogspot.com

More Korean Food

More than a year later and Korean food has only gotten worse in Ottawa. My favorite haunt, Arum’s, has gone through a number of changes in ownership again and generally I would say that it is at best not as good as it was before. And there have been no new discoveries. Guess it's time to give up on all you can eat Korean. Learn how to make your own kimchi and buy a BBQ!

2007 05 28.

Korean Restaurants in Ottawa

Korean Restaurants

Was recently in Toronto and wondering Korea-town down there. The latest craze, besides all you can eat Korean BBQ, which makes a lot of sense as you do the cooking yourself anyways …, is Pork Bone Soup (PBS) .... (is that why they call it Hog Town?)

Basically PBS is essentially a cut of Pork near the shoulder bone, including the bone, done up in a hot-pot with soup and the usual kimchi spicing. It’s very good and economical.

Of course when I got back to Ottawa, that was the first thing I went in search of. There are many Korean restaurants in Ottawa, some of them masquerading as Japanese .., essentially because the mark-up on raw fish is so high …. I mean how hard is it to make sushi!

There’s Korea Garden on Rideau … the grand-daddy of Korean food in Ottawa, where it is expensive and the service is so-so. Besides BBQ, iced noodle soup, kimchi in everything, there isn’t really a lot going for Korean food. But with such similar climates, I was always amazed that there weren’t more. Inflexibility in pricing is my main complaint.

The newest is Kwon’s Chicken House (Wilbrod). Run by a nice couple whose family in Korean owns a chain of such ‘chicken house’ restaurants. Their specialty is chicken and well, think kimchi chicken and you have it all … They have an extremely limited menu and have this interesting pork BBQ dish which was favored only by the embassy folks … so they stopped serving it!. Even with much pleading and bribing … you know how stoic/inflexible these guys can be, they still refused …. Reason given was that it was raw bacon, then BBQ’ed and was not popular with the non Asian clientele. (I know of many Chinese, European, Indian, etc dishes that especially use the bacon part of the pig because of its taste …. Latest Chinese thing is using the pork meat from the neck. It does taste much better, less fatty, but priced accordingly, but that’s another story on Chinese food …)

Seoul House on Somerset has been around a bit and thru a couple of owners. It’s next to the funeral home, so the name is a bit of a joke, but it was one of the first to mix Japanese and Korean food back in the ‘80s. Expensive for what you get.

And then there’s Arum’s on Bank at the Queensway. Originally run by a couple from Montreal, he runs the car dealership next door; it is the name of their daughter …. They run the restaurant and the Korean food market that’s attached. It used to be a bike shop and ski shop of some ill repute, but it got transformed. Quantum Meruit, it is the best Korean restaurant in Ottawa. The owners sublet the restaurant part out to another couple and the service slipped a bit, and the food got a little bit too ‘canned’. But the originals have gotten the place back and it has returned to its former glory, or so to speak … Running a restaurant is a labour of love and it shows …. Especially to ‘old hands’ like me. Anyway, I have been trying to edge them into a new place with all you can eat BBQ … before the fad passes …. And they’ve always had pork bone soup on their menu … how about that! It was not as good and cheap as in Korea-town, but hell, it’s a lot closer …

There are many more that’s kinda Korean, but when you go back to first principles, there really isn’t a lot to Korean food … except the kimchi … and the kimchi at Kwon’s is less spicy and some may like this more, but Arum’s has the best kimchi in town, in my opinion. You can also buy a six pack on your way out if you really like the stuff. But you’ll be eating it everyday and kimchi does go bad … really …

2006 01 14.

Parties are not corrupt, people are!

With all this election activity going on and all the spin doctors going nuts, I just want to state that this thought came to me in a blinding light...... 'Parties are not corrupt, people are....'.

God help us if we repeat past failures like the Mulroney era ..., or is that error?.... and elect another 8 years of social conservatives/Republicans. Harper has got to figure out that he is not the next savior.... witness the Mercedes/booze scandal ….

2005 01 12.

VAT and Fried Chicken. Or there’s no such thing as a ‘good’ tax.

The other day I was in KFC for Tooney Tuesday. Do you realize that if you buy one tooney you don’t pay PST, but after two, you do? That’s an addition of $0.20, a tooney! I have been buying toonies since they started some 5 years ago and saw it go from $2.00 to $2.22, to $2.49 now. Maybe when your purchase five toonies, you should ask for separate bills?

Which leads me to suggest that this whole discussion about the GST and a 2% cut over three years is rubbish. It was Mulroney, a conservative, who put it in; and now Harper, a conservative, is suggesting we ‘reduce’ it! Talk about adding insult to injury.

No tax is a good tax. I’ve heard all the arguments. If they were to suggest an increase of the GST, a VAT, to 15%, but get rid of, and that reads ‘completely eliminate’, the personal income tax, I’d say that’s the person to vote for. But Chrétien ran on a platform to get rid of the GST, which was supposed to be temporary, and look at it now. And the income tax was also supposed to be temporary too, at one point in time!

So is the argument temporal?

I think the whole VAT (includes PST and GST) and income tax systems are screwed and what we need in the next leader is a visionary, who will take drastic measures to dump double taxation. Wasn’t that the principle on which the whole fairness of the tax systems was based? We need a leader who will say ‘Who says we can’t get rid of personal income taxes or the GST in its entirety? “Just watch me!”’

Look at the savings in Govt bureaucracy alone.

Target marketing is good for a temporary solution, but I plan to be around, in Canada, for at least another 50 years.

2005 12 14.

Il Primo and Tuscony

The Anne Desbrisay review in the Citizen this past Sunday (Dec 4^th ’05) suggested something to do with Tuscany and the restaurant Il Primo in Little Italy (Preston).

Maybe I'm stupid, but I saw no reference to Tuscany and food of that area. All I saw was 'lunch was good, dinner sucked!' So they could make mussels and not veal Milanese? Then what …..

And she got paid for three meals there!

Maybe I just dislike Anne DesB, but I find her reviews, if positive, a place to NOT try and negative, then maybe.

To say I disagree with DesB is an understatement. Anne has ‘the ability to taste food (i.e., differentiate between the ingredients), but one has to have ‘good taste’ to be able to judge a restaurant.

I wouldn’t go to Il Primo anyways. I’ve been there before, was not impressed, and there are just too many good Italian restaurants to even suggest that they have some Tuscan ability!

I wonder where the chef/owner from that Tuscan/New Edinburgh restaurant went to …... can’t recall the name ….

As an aside, I heard Clair De Lune is closing! Copeland’s fav. rest. Maybe we can save it?

Maybe the Citizen should give me the job of reviewing restaurants?

05 12 06

More than food and drink, xmas presents

Best Buy has a Home Theater System DVD player, with 5.1 speakers. Think it has no remote, but I haven't opened the box yet. But for $89.99 that is a steal. Just bought three for x'mas presents.

Good today till Dec 8th I think, says the flyer (4 days). When I left the east end store with my three, they still had four more. Then there is the west end Best Buy that may have some.

Not refurbished, new in boxes.

Happy Holidays!

Rule of Thumb for cost of eating out

Here are some rules of thumb that I use. Everyone wants good food…., cheap…... And then there's the service… and atmosphere…. Everything costs…..!

My rot (rule of thumb, that is) is that whatever the price of the meal itself, double it if you drink alcohol (and we all drink sometime?!) and then add 30%, for tax and tips. Unless the govt gets rid of the GST, and that should be the aim!, (not some niddly picking 2% over three years!), there is 15% for taxes, gst/pst, and 15% for tips.

So, a meal of say $10, which is pretty cheap by today's standards, would be $20 with the booze and then $26……., to include what you owe the govt and for the service/atmosphere.

(As an aside, the fish and chips at Chelsea Bis/Pub ended up to be $30 a person for lunch! That’s $14 for the meal ((which was rich)), we all had fish and chips, and a couple of beers, ie, $28, and then with the taxes and tip ended up to be over $30 pp. I did most of the drinking and the others drank less, since I didn’t have to drive. But still $36 a person for lunch…., at a ‘relatively’ good fish and chips place, that is way out of the downtown area, is a little steep!!!) )

I don't normally tip 15% unless the atmosphere and service is great, more like 10% if everything is fine, but that's unfair when you think of the portion the govt takes!

<>(Again I have tipped less than 10%, but don’t want to piss the ‘working class’ off …..!)

So life sucks as a waiter. At least you don't have to declare income taxes on it?!. Again the Govt is the arse. (That’s Brit for bum, backside, ass, asshole, etc).

To live in a Govt town!!!! That is most of ‘your’ employers, I’m afraid! No wonder there are no decent restaurants in Ottawa/Gat and the United Way get so much money. In spite of what Harder is saying.

Anyway, the bottom line is, that say, a $100 per person dinner at a fancy restaurant, which again is not unusual, ends up costing $260.! Per Person!!!!!! That's a lot of mullah and it's about time some of the 'finer' establishments think about 'the cost of eating out' especially if they believe in the mantra of the ‘Consumer Being King’. No matter what you say, to run a restaurant is a labour of love for some, (who knows how to cook,) can manage a cost constraining business and still end up being happy.

Dec 3rd, 2005. Noon.

Lunchtime!

(Shall only date it in the future if it is not within the date of writing….)

Cumin & Goan

Cumin & Goan …. May be just Goin’ …….

Revisited Cumin & Goan a number of times and the latest report, well, I think Barb Gomes finally recognizes me …

This time, I tried the Lamb Shakruti, not a ‘real’ goan dish, but nevertheless it is shown as ‘toasted coconut & spices’ and I have had charuti/sharuti/xacuti before…..

I think in this dish it really shows that Barb does not know how to use the tamarind to bring out the sour. Vinegar just doesn’t do it.

I also tried the Kachumbar, another ‘ok’, as was the raita, which Desbrisay raved about … And the only other two pickles/chutneys were mixed veg/celandro, both of which were very good, but an accoutrement does not a meal make. (The Prawn/tomato was to die for …)

So if you want Goan, the Sorppatel is the only really decent dish. Pork vindaloo will be very good. Maybe try the Fish Curry, but if it’s anything like the sharuti, I’d pass….

Does that mean you should not go to this place ? …. Not at all …. There are a lot of Northern style Indian restaurants (most tandoori places) and Southern style Indian restaurants (Ceylonta, Coconut Lagoon ), none of which are outstanding in Ottawa (go to Toronto), but if you want Western Indian food, Cumin & Goan is the place in Ottawa.

Now how about an ‘Eastern Indian Restaurant’, i.e., Bengali, Hyderabadi or Burmese….

Do we really want to figure in the multicultural culinary world that is Canada? I rank Vancouver, Toronto and Quebec City, even Montreal before Ottawa. Ottawa is way overpriced and truly provincial in terms of food and places to eat and value for money …… Chinese and Indian food are two very good examples. Either the restaurateurs think we don’t know how to eat, or they just figure there is no competition ….

Happy being happy, especially during these holidays ….

2005 12 29.

Hey Guys and Gals,

A lot of you are not into spicy foods. But then some of you are! For
those not interested in Goan food, I will not expect any interest in this piece.

But there has been an interest shown by some, in something spicy and interesting?. And
this place (Cumin & Goan) is run by a typical Goan woman, hoping to make it in
the East Asian/Indian cuisine world. Before they 'transmogrify' into an
Indian restaurant, I would expect that any of you truly interested in
trying Goan cuisine, to let me know and I will set something up. (There
is nothing in it for me, except your company!)

But it is so far, pretty good Goan stuff. As some of you already know,
Goan is a Portuguese colony, just south of Bombay, India. If you need
more, email me. But it's cuisine is spicy but sour, with vinegar and
tamarinds. And also Spanish / Portuguese sausages and spices.

Oct 19th, 2005

Well, how is that for 'killing two birds with one stone'..... Both

these restaurants (Cumin & Goan and Katlinka) are side by side. They are located at the old
Manfred's and Singapore restaurants respectively in a little 'non
descript' mall on the South West side of Carling, near Woodroffe. You
would have to shot past the place if you were going west on Carling and
do a 'u- turn'.

Anyway, Katlinka is the new mid european restaurant that you guys have
been so reluctant to go to. It is in place of the old Singapore and
well, I have not tried it, but you guys are the euros! Call me if you
want to go, anytime.

As for Cumin & Goan, it is located at the old Manfred's location. As
some of you may know, they (Manfred's) had the best' duck done in a lime
sauce' that I have ever had. And that was in the European tradition. I
hear Manfred still goes to Cumin and Goan.

The C&G restaurant specializes in Goan food and before it gets
transmogrified, I would suggest that we try it. It is similar to Indian
food and for those who know, Goa was a Portuguese colony. They use
tamarinds and vinegar a lot in their curries which brings out the mix of
blended spices that go to make a great curry. Therefore it is a little
more complex than your usual tandoori. Vindaloo is a goan dish. They
also have saurpatel and shakruti, a couple of other very typical
goan/south indian curries. As some of you may know, the south indians
were the indigenous aboriginals of India. The north west being conquered
by the Persians/Romans/Greeks and the east by the asians/moguls. The
real mystical/fatalistic of the indigenous indians moved south into the
peninsular. So the true curries of india must be the southern indians'.
The owner of C&G is from Bangalore, the garden city of south india and
'capital' of the region.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, it is worthwhile to try this place.
You can go on your own or with a group, but do so before Jan 2006 as the
owner is planning on introducing a buffet and we all know what that
means for the traditionalists.

Anyway, call me if you'd like to go. As I have always said, there are 4
indian restaurants in the Glebe alone and not one really special one!

Sep 13th, 2005.


Anne DesBrisay has just done a piece on the Restaurant (C&G) in the Sunday Citizen Nov 27th, 2005 and

1) I wonder if she tried it her usual three times,
2) Shows how much she knows about Indian food,
3) The raita is not 'to write home about', a little watery
4) you can get good tandoori in most Ottawa restaurants
5) vindaloo should always be pork
6) sorpatel to die for and the shrimp pickle is outstandingly Goan

When in Rome, one should eat Roman.....

Dec 3rd, 2005.

Amber Garden, Katlinka Restaurants, Middle Europe

Middle European food in Ottawa.

2007 10 22... Kalinka's has been closed for 2 years now.

Tried Amber Garden at its new location, was not impressed.....


Katlinka Restaurant.

I think I have already mentioned that for Russian/Ukrainian/mid European
food, I have not had better perogies than at Katlinka's. (Better than
Constance's, if she ever makes them!)

They have a great meatball soup and interesting pork chops/weiner sniz.
And a great mixed meats platter.

But food is not Germanic (Their sniz is not as good as Lindenholf's).
And they don't have caviar! They don't have polish tripe soup (like
Polonius). They are not into mixed grills and sausages (like Chicken Boy
dusseldorff). They don't even have a variety of vodka's as in Amber
Gardens.

What they do have is the best perogies I have ever tasted, the best
meatball soup and a very interesting egg covered pork chop. They also
have a number of stroganoffs and a la kiev's that I would like to try. (
I haven't tried everything on their menu yet.) And apparently,
according to the proprietor, quite an Embassy following?

It's also a nice little 'family restaurant in the west end' with nice
'home cooked' ukrainian stuff and some parties like 'um bah bahs' .....

However, I sense that the Ukrainians, Scots and spouses (if you guys ever eat out) may form an appropriate group to partake. And if there are more interested, pls. let
me know. All on distro welcome. ( And I don't get any money or
enticements out of this, except I get to have fun with the boys/gals)

Oct 15th, 2005.

Best Fish & Chips in Ottawa/Gatineau?

I went and tried the fish and chips at the Chelsea Bistro, on Old Chelsea Rd., in Gatineau, which reportedly, by you and you English friend, is the 'best in the area'. And I must say
that based on my opinion.....

The chips were pretty ok to bad. They were too greasy. And the fish is
pretty good. To say they are the best in the area is debatable. Perhaps
a reflection of the food in the area!!!! At $14 before tax and tips, it was also a little steep considering the drive out there.

I went with a couple of other friends, so the opinion is not mine alone.

I always welcome other comments on the area's fish and chips. I am going
to try the stuff at 'Arrow & Loon', for which I do not have high
expectations......

The best fish and chips ....., other that London, England, is Hong Kong.
Doesn't get any better than that!!!!

Dec 1st, 2005