Give it up, Anne!

Give it up, Anne Desbrisay....!

Other than French and 'Canadian' cooking, you should give up reviewing ethic restaurants....

I am alumni and am tempted to go to your Queen's 'talk', but am afraid I might bust your balloon and create a scene.....

The subject today…. your review of the new Ceylonta location.....

Anyone with any small amount of understanding of Indian cooking, culture and knowledge through living the ‘Indian life’ will tell you that you are way off base... I read your first and last paras and that was enough....

There are no decent Indian restaurants in Ottawa! South Indian food is the 'true' Indian taste/cooking and is generally vegan, with dahi wadas and masala dosas ... the curries are pretty deep and intense… as in just ‘hot’ as opposed to sour or sweet or salty…. (can you even get past the chilliness?) and it is the true remnants of the Indian sub-continent, the north being invaded by the Europeans/Caucasians.

Tandoori was brought in by the moguls and Alexander, the western coasts of Bombay and Goa by the Portuguese and the Eastern burbs by the Thais and Burmese.

It's like comparing Cantonese food with the Mandarin, Shaghainese and Szechwan cuisines.... by the way; there are no real decent Chinese restaurants in Ottawa either! (There is a new Chui Chow find in Toronto, though).

Be that as it may.... it is really distasteful to me that Anne DesB and Ottawans, besides French and Canadian foods.... know little about other cuisines.... why? ... because no one wants to live here and Ottawans as a general group 'celebrates mediocrity' in terms of food and restaurants....

Dirge of food in Ottawa seems to have become my mantra nowadays…. I welcome suggestions to this site as to places to try and I am open minded, but …. one can only take so much!

National Dishes ... discuss....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_dish

Thank goodness for google? To continue the discussion of national dish, here is what wiki says. I was essentially stuck in the pre 1980s thinking on this, before computers could merge international thinking and change perceptions.

The only error I found was that Portugal’s dish is incorrect... at least pre 80’s when it was porco a la alentejana, a pork stew with clams from a central region of Portugal where you would never think clams existed! Maybe that’s why they have moved it to bacalhau… dried cod fish. Or maybe it was political… in the sense that they wanted to corner the last remaining market for cod. Would I go in and change it… not worth the effort, but….

Sauerkraut is the German dish…. And maple syrup, Canadian… I think we had about half of those on the list. Like Peruvian cerviche, Chilean sea bass… You were also correct in the regional dishes…. But this I think is a North American phenom as they ‘own’ the internet.

Gee I could talk food forever… the Ethiopian chicken and egg is one that requires more study as to why, I think. It tastes like a dry chicken drumstick curry with the hard boiled egg in it, very similar to a Japanese dish….. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Did you know that the Japanese have no word for ‘thank you’ before the Portuguese arrived; and the jap word ‘arigado’ is from the Portuguese ‘obrigado’? Culture and food, which came first?

Habesha, Blue Nile, Horn of Africa.....Ethiopian

Blue Nile @ 577 (377?) Gladstone near Bronson and Horn of Africa on Rideau near the Rideau Center.

Had to try the Blue Nile since it is actually in the downtown area and on my way home in the evenings. I did have an Ethiopian friend with whom I tried Horn of Africa many years ago. If I remember vaguely the pancakes were a little sour, as in Habesha’s, but the pancakes at the Blue Nile were not. I must say, I prefer the non-sour ones better. The food at Blue Nile was a little spicier and the combination plate had many interesting chunky beef & veggie items that were quite curry like. The price however was a little more at Blue Nile. ($25pp vs. $20pp)

Other than that, I would say that Habesha had more Ethiopian customers than Blue Nile, so on the theory that the ‘locals’ would go to their favorites, Habesha is the better bet. Shame though, because the décor was much better at Blue Nile. I am not one for décor…. only the food. And since I can’t be considered an expert in Ethio food, I have to say the curries tasted better, based on an indo-sino palate, at Blue Nile.

Would I go back? Service was next to nil. Got my bill wrong. And the restaurant was empty. I don’t even remember the address anymore.

Habesha, Ethiopian @ 1087 Wellington.

After watching the ‘take home chef’ do a beef wellington, I was encouraged to visit what might be the food of kings and emperors before Christ. I sound like I am following the Desbrisay trail.... I must admit, I had noticed this restaurant before; replacing a Vietnamese restaurant that I thought was most creative with a real chef from New York. Alas, their prices were too high and this spot is now taken over by Habesha, opposite KFC as DesB has deemed to mention.

If you like injera, which is a sour pancake eaten as a bread or staple, then this could be a place for the adventurous and frugal. (Is this the same restaurant that DesB visited?)

The prices are great and I am waiting to go back to try the lamb tripe, and dry beef dishes.... And who am I to judge whether the pharaohs, Caesars, and Queens (Cleopatra) knew how to eat.

I would call them curries, rather than stews... curries without the 'curry' of India. There are various spices without salt and the yellow coloured species; but spices nevertheless.... More so than the Portuguese or the others who traded in spices....

I don't know if I sat in an unheated corner, but I am absolutely chilled after a lunch I had there on a very warm Jan day. Do I think the food has a cooling effect, definitely. And wine actually goes with Ethiopians... vis a vis Indian (East) food, which does not go with wine at all......

Cash only!...., but good value, if you like sour pancakes. $20 pp for a meal with a beer/wine. I will write more on the other more exotic dishes, which I am dying to try. To call them stews is indeed a sin. I only saw africans there....

Ciao. Ricardo.

Little India in Ottawa

Little India Cafe on Carling opposite Britannia.

As the common indian in Ottawa has stated, this is probably the best value for Indian food in Ottawa, if you are willing to go all the way out to the west end....

Dinner for two, $80, all in, no booze. That's about average for a meal in Ottawa, but this place is actually quite tasty. In line with the Haveli's, or benchmarks in Ottawa. Tandoori and nan, a little burnt, but I like the carcinogens. Beef with spinach... the spinach was excellent, cheese (paneer) with okra, they made that especially for us, was very nice. Pickles, yogurt (raita), rice, roti and that's how it adds up. All pretty ok... the main dishes were better.

The owners have changed, but the food is still pretty good. Par with all of the best indian restaurants in Ottawa..... like the chinese.... the best is a 2/5. It was obviously not outstanding, but I have yet to have an outstanding indian meal in Ottawa.

Chaba Thai

As an extension of Nokam's, I would say the food is virtually identical. No booze though... and $40 pp without booze...., so $80 pp if you're drinking..... Not cheap, but reasonable for Ottawa for dinner. And we did not scrimp and save.. yum tom, satay, duck red curry, pad thai, mango salad..... etc...

Except it is at the old 'Salvatore's' location near Carling, on Rochester.

Somewhere between the Arachnid's and the rest.....

See other parts of site for better valued places... I like it cause it's closer now than ever, despite DesBrisay's claim that you can never get a seat at Nokam's... maybe she takes up too much room....!

I still think Bangkok Thai is the best for value in between the thais and the chinks.

Totoya on Dalhousie

Well, I have finally ventured on to Totoya, since I had heard so much about it on ottawafoodies.com, the place where I learnt that there is actually a Swiss restaurant in Ottawa… fondue everything….

But first a few words about current trends in eating….

Poutine, see montrealpoutine.com as the new cuisine canadiana, now where could that go….? Heard that it was good for hangovers, but any milk product is good for hangovers… try a glass of milk before you pass out after a night on the town…. Or better still before you go out on the town… The morning after poutine would probably be too late…. Maybe in a century it’ll replace pizza as the true north’s cuisine des arts. And I wonder what Health Canada would have to say…

And eating in the dark….! Now that’s a trend that the blind can follow…. Jap food is definitely out, because all they have is presentation! I wonder if they cover the laundry bill after….?

Back to Totoya and why I went… alone, for lunch on a cold winter’s day… I had heard so much about it from the web sites in Ottawa that I had to give it a try… (They had jap pizza too…)

Disappointment is the only word I have for it….. And it is run by Japanese…..!!! $80 pp for lunch is very expensive, but then jap food in Ottawa is expensive… except those run by those frugal chinks… Takara just up the street is a case in point….. I had heard so much about the ramen though…..

I asked if they had toro and uni … and surprise…. they had uni... (By the way, uni comes in from Boston on Thursdays… and I am beginning to wonder whether the larger cities have usurped all of the toro…)

So I said I’ll have the omakasi…. you choose… six pieces…. And I’ll have the uni in it…. Sure test of freshness of the sushi… They said they didn’t have any omakasi, but they would bring six pieces of sushi as an appetizer…. Great… test failure… I had expected that I would get six different pieces to please…, instead I got two uni, two salmon and two maguro…. The uni was fresh enough… (and believe me… I have had bad uni in Kingston, Ont., at an established jap restaurant…), the salmon was quite fresh, but you know my thoughts on salmon…. most parasitic of the sushi’s and not really eaten by the japs…and the maguro was pretty bad… also the choice was non existent… still think Ichibei has the best sushi in Ottawa… benchmark that….yuck….

Then the piece de resistance… ramen is only available at lunch… fine, it’s hamburgers for the japs or kfc…. And it was pretty so so… granted I have never had it in Japan… but those ottawafoodies.com folks who have, must have been to some pretty so so restaurants in Japan. The broth was ok…a little low in quantity and thick in taste… but the ingredients were easy to come by… (like the viet pho’s, the soup broth and au dent-ness of the noodles is the thing…), and I can do it better at home with the packaged noodles and for less than the $17 price tag…. The noodles were overcooked… a cardinal sin… and the pepper was… well… pepper… not the jap stuff….

I toyed with the idea of having the sushi lunch… but was only interested in the nigiri sushi… mistake… The difference in price was $10… quite a bit…. (uni $13, salmon $10 and maguro $7). And I didn’t get soup, salad and rice…

In short… not a place for sushi; and totoya ramen was the only ramen on the menu… the other two noodles were udons with tempura… I had expected much more… like 6 different pieces of nigiri sushi and a number of ramen to choose from…. With tea and saki (the cold booze, not the salmon), for lunch $80…choke… next time I will try the little jap fast food place in the market mall... which had udons for under $7…..

Checked out the dinner menu and it was not much better… definitely not a ‘full’ jap restaurant like Suisha or even Ichibei…. There were some domburis, but not much else…. Definitely trying to be a ‘fast food jap place’.

0/5 on my scale of restaurants to eat at… for Japanese; and my benchmark Suisha Gardens only gets 2/5… Mark it up appropriately…..

Interesting clientèle though… mostly locals who frequent the place, it was ¾ empty at lunch in the market on a holiday Friday… a francophone that spoke Japanese, who spoke constantly to the chef, rather than his guest…. wonder what he ate... and most people greeted by name… doesn’t impress me as I only look at the food, but puts context around other comments I have heard….

Picture was taken by ottawafoodies.com and my ramen was not as colourful, no greens and reds, but two half eggs…must have run out of ingredients….

The Firestone Conspiracy

Did you know that the Firestone family... late of Senators fame, owns the Metropolitain linked to Empire Grill as well as the Luxe, Stella and Blue Cactus group? Wonder what else they own.

Talk about the chinese food oligopoly. No wonder eating out is so expensive in Ottawa for the medium priced ($40 - $120 pp) restaurants.

Ciccio Cafe and Le Panache Cafe

Ciccio's on Preston and Panache on Somerset. The former to be laid to rest soon and the latter... is already semi dead.

As for Ciccio's, that's the last time I go there... I woke up at 1:40am and had that same sinking feeling as I did from Le Panache... think it's the msg again. I get a reaction from drinking red wine with msg.... was awake the rest of the night!

Too bad that these restaurants are all falling by the wayside with retirements and old age.... Speedi, right? Think he used to work at La Strata way back and then moved to Ciccio's. He's the one they wrote about in the citizen and my friend loved the bread he baked fresh every morning and the tiramisu that was one of the best in Ottawa. Apparently Speedi passed away in the fall. The bread was cold and rock hard; and the tiramisu was passable. I had the pork roulades ... msg city, but just tasted over-salted at the time. Friend had the raviolis ... which was not bad. 1/2 litre of wine, a salad to share and the bill was $50 a person. And no speedi to sing for us and no osso buco, one of my favorites at this place.. with none in sight... I was told. It was fairly full though so the word hasn't gotten around yet.

Le Panache on Somerset... awful amount of msg, empty on a Saturday night... think msg was used as a preservative here because of the lack of business. Mama and papa waiting to retire... best turn it back into a chinese restaurant... it was so bad... Or as the saying goes, 'they shoot horses, don't they?'

Small wonder that people in Ottawa would rather eat at home.... I am only going to waste my time writing about really good places or really bad places from now on. These two are the ones that would rate 0/5 on my 6 point scale. Metropolitain based on the one shot... 2/5. (I wasn't going to write about it, but my son insisted...) Beckta's, the benchmark 3/5. Heard Benitz on Somerset is supposedly good... almost afraid to waste my money.....

2007 12 22.

Metropolitain Brasserie

We had dinner at the Metropolitain Brasserie which is one of 'the' places to eat in Ottawa these days.

But Ottawa is really not a town that thrives on eateries. Most bistros I had called were closed Sunday nights... and this place's kitchen was closing at 8pm. I asked if the chef was in.. he was not... just the sous.. so we ordered accordingly and the results showed.

Appetizers of foie gras was passable... duck confit, dry and awful. We all had beef, my son the black pepper steak and daughter and I shared the chef's rib cut for two. Both were excellent, cooked exactly right... and daughter had a cream caramel, which was ok. A bottle of very nice Spanish red, three teas and an aperitif came to $100 a person. Kind of expensive.

Sushi in Ottawa... there is none...

Will put more on my blog when I get time, but the most recent discovery is Sushi Time on Queen Street in Toronto. It is run by a Chinese chef from Hong Kong who has worked in Japan. As a result, he has merged some of the best Chinese orientations to this Jap dim sum… and with creativity. And it’s not all raw fish….. The guy’s name is Tony…and that’s about all the facts I know at this point, but the program was pretty impressive and you’d have to speak Cantonese to get it, but he has squid with melted cheese, eggplant deep fried topped with raw tuna, sushi made with fruit and fried salmon roe…. The tastes are of course in the sauces and ingredients, and are supposedly magical.

Goes to show what we have in Ottawa… how low the standards are and where we have to go to get decent multi cultural food and vindicates my berating of Chinese cooks usurping other cuisines like Thai and Jap because of the margins in Ottawa. Until we get world class chefs here, there will always be a niche for someone to make money…. Or maybe not… does Ottawa really know what to eat?

Also read Desbrisay’s pieces in this past Sunday’s paper and you will see why I don’t think much of her reviews….

2007 11 19. Aspy's Birthday....

Mukut Indian Restaurant on Rideau

Was one of my fav Indian places, but my latest experience last night was:

Mukut is now off my list of Indian restaurants to eat at. The chicken tikka, should have been tandoori pieces cooked in a more buttery sauce, less coconut. The boona gost was essentially tasteless, certain de-spiced to death and aloo gobi was pretty well tasteless as well for a curry.

The latest rumour in the Indian community is that Little India on Carling is probably one of the best Indian Restaurants in Ottawa. I have been many years ago, but then I liked Mukut as well. I am sure the owners at Mukut has changed, as I believe has the owners of Little India since then.

The futility of following restaurants.

Ichibei, Suisha, Genji, Wasabi, Takara, and other Jap Restaurants, or the ones that want to be Jap vs Korean!

2007 11 11.. or thereabouts...

I went back to Ichibei for lunch recently and dropped $30 for lunch! The part I wanted to share was my chat with the sushi chef.....

Apparently he was the main sushi chef at Suisha Gardens! But wanted to start his own place... he was grumpy, but with a few enticements, divulged what he thought of Ramen and that the new center town place that has that great ramen that is so close to Japan, as some of the folks on Ottawa foodies have suggested....

As suspected ramen is fast food, like hamburgers, in Japan... I knew this, but to charge $17 a bowl... god forbid, where is the 'eating sense' in Ottawa.

Probably the only Jap rest I have not visited...... even forgotten it's name.... (Totoya)

and fish comes in twice a week, Tuesdays from east coast and Thursday from the west coast... uni actually comes in from Boston and toro... forget about it.... go to Tor.

2007 11 28.



Let me start by saying that there is an inordinate amount of interest in the Jap restaurants in Ottawa, & on the web... don't any of you know how to eat Jap food? ..... (I will give a tutorial as part of this piece....!!!)

I also noticed that the names of the restaurants in the title gets more hits.. shows how much you guys know about food... try 411.com or the yellow pages....!

revised.. 2007 08 25.

Ichibei @ 197 Bank

At $50-$60 pp all in for dinner, and no booze, this place is medium priced; as are all Jap restaurants run by Japs. That's why the chinks (I am a chink and I know the margins!!!) have gotten a hold of the margins!.

Over $100 for dinner, without booze and tip and taxes is expensive...., ok?

Now Ichibei...

At least the raw fish is fresh... OmaKasi (sushi chef decides on what’s fresh and he sets it up for you) ...Toro, Sable fish, Mackerel and Salmon. Extremely fresh... just about as good as it gets on a Thursday night in Ottawa. Especially the Saba or Mackerel, which is a challenging nigiri sushi fish at the best of times. At a buck a piece, it was cheap... 3 x 4 pieces... (They didn’t have uni, alas...) ....... And you know my opinions on salmon sushi.... it is always fresh... snicker...

The dinners were pretty standard; steak, trout and eel.

The trout was the most interesting, unfortunately ordered by a transitioning vegetarian, so the crispy skin was not appreciated, nor the head and cheeks of the fish. Nicely de-boned.

The eel was nice and moist and ‘fatty’. I kind of like it a little more dry and crispy, but this had an interesting flavour to it. (humility here... more later...)

At $25 a shot/dinner, a little expensive. Each dinner came with miso soup, rice and a mayo based appetizer, the last of which was nothing to write home about.

(Have stories about service (sukiyaki), good, (and humility about the eel!) and the sushi chef, grumpy, .... but will add these later..... keep in touch.... and try to read the rest of the site for the 'basis' of my opinions.....!)

Another $12 for a steak appetizer that was also expensive and 'good' tasting. That, with three green teas and no dessert came to $150 for the group of three.

All you can eat sushi (Sushi Kan) may not be as fresh, but a heck of a lot cheaper! (see other parts of this site) ...

Is it better than Genji, the fish is fresher, but it is more expensive, so there is less ‘value’. (see Genji review on this site, I liked them for trying, in a chinese way, so hard....). Compared to Suisha Gardens (baseline) ... I would say that it is a little more expensive than necessary. And they didn’t really provide amuse bouches....

So I would say, traditional, fresh fish, but little creativity in changing with the times...

(I personally know the manager of suisha, my kendo assistant coach, so I know he has been trying very hard to make it THE definitive Jap restaurant in Ottawa. He is doing a great job! But alas innovation is the new holy grail....)

And yes I have been here at Ichibei, many times before, for lunch and dinner, but not in the last couple of years or so.... My opinion has not changed and they have not improved. Only prices are slightly higher.

Will have more later on the other two parameters.

Read EatDrinkOttawa.blogspot.com

Foodies Sites and a Good Read

Now this is a site to visit for an interesting read about food and travel. (I am not a writer nor a food reviewer, so I can be sloppy in my comments, but they are all 'tongue in cheek')

http://petercherches.blogspot.com/

Perhaps all those anal retentive folks on copyright laws, malaprops, puns and other things to do with language and its usage, can get an education on what it means to be a writer as well as a lover of food and life.

This is the context that my stuff should be read in!

And just for the record, right here, I have nothing against chinese chefs or cooks, as long as they can cook. Copying Thai, Italian, Indian or other cuisines and doing a bad job is what I would rail against as a 'place run by chinese'.... I am fully aware of Susur Lee and others as well as the funny ones like 'Wok with Yan' and 'Yan can cook', whom I do admire and have the utmost respect for. But stick with what you know.... (An average to good 'chinese' cook that has potential in Ottawa is the viet at 4 cuisines. Try them out.....)

That's the way I call them..... in all my blog notes here.....

Read EatDrinkOttawa.blogspot.com

Re-visits

I do re visit restaurants and provide updates.... but I do not know how to set it up in the system such that it is by restaurant....

so check out, once more, the restaurants that you are interested in... for an update... like Jo Moon Ting.... etc. Karma karma in the indian section.....

I also find that 'by restaurant' gets more hits...

tell me if I am wrong...

Read EatDrinkOttawa.blogspot.com

Tuscon, Thruway and other pubs/eateries

2007 10 22.... add another one of those pub non-descript eateries to the list called Tucson on Bank at Hunt Club..... some interesting bands, and items on menu, but ingredients suck, so quality of output is so-so. Service, pretty well like all other pubs. The Fosters ads work on the way in....


Thruway Restaurant in Carleton Place & other family/pub restaurants

This story is really about asking the locals where to eat..... one of my cardinal rules, or pet peeves....; ask a chink where to eat chinese, a paki, Indian, a jap, Japanese... etc.

Actually that would be a paki..Pakistani... (there is no difference except for religion....) but I couldn't think of anything derogatory to say about Indians... except those crazy Sikhs.... the Singhs... that is... They are like the newfies to Canadians, as they are to the Indians.... the butt of all jokes.... the joke is that the turban retains heat.... Indians would love this one...

Anyway, if you are ever by Carleton Place this is where the locals eat.... It's a wonderful family restaurant with beer, vino and reasonably priced food, for large portions.... good service (Brodie was fast, efficient, friendly and just the right distance away....), like heart & crown (I'm thinking the new place on Preston, which I have also been) and other pub type places in Ottawa, beats eating at Macdonald's, Timmy's or the riverfest... the food really sucked at riverfest... and that was the reason I was down there....

Prices are $40 for dinner for one, not cheap, but average nowadays.... but I had 2 x 20oz drafts for only $10 before taxes and tips... and a rib steak dinner for $19. This included soup or salad, the steak was a decent cut and size... much like the ones I used to have at La Strada's for $36... a Delmonico rib steak... with great home fries... and veggies and mushrooms and ... well... you get the idea. Friends had fried chicken.. not bad, but good value... shrimp pasta, ... all good...

Sort of like Ruby's on Corner Gas... only the food and drink is more like Heart & Crown.... actually probably food is better cause the guy can cook.... and he buys & serves good ingredients. 6/10 for those who want a rating.

But I do play a lot of golf in the area and have friends... scots most of them... in the Perth ... Pike Lake areas ... so here's a place to eat if you're in the area... good family/pub place in the heart of Carleton place... 10432 Hwy 7.

UUUooohhhh... there is another.... on the same strip, but I have not tried... in the spirit of star wars....

Use the force.. Luke.... use the force....

This is where the locals eat.......

Read EatDrinkOttawa.blogspot.com

Sweet Basil, Anna's and Nokham's

Ottawa Thai Restaurants

I was asked recently what I thought of the Ottawa Thai restaurants scene and which was the best and the one I would go to…

I will put a little more meat around this piece, but initially the baseline will be:

Sweet Basil and Anna. Run by the same guy… forget his name… a multi syllable monstrosity like Visakhapatnam… (which is an Indian sea port by the way…) original owners of Siam Bistro and Siam Kitchen…. (I wouldn’t eat at these nowadays… as they are run by non-thai cooks…..maybe even chinese….) Tastes at Anna and SB, and I have never been to Thailand… for Ottawa and Canadian standards, probably the best, but way expensive than necessary. ‘It is food fit for a Thai king’. Think he had some royal connections or aspirations….. and also some involvement on the monopoly/restrictions of food and recipe exports from Thailand….. (think Anne DesB did a piece on them/this about 15 years ago…..)

Nokham’s and it now has a sister restaurant run by his daughter. ‘Noble Thai’ or snobby Thai… trying hard to be king, pretty traditional based on Anna and SB.… but way expensive again.

On the cheap side now… Bangkok Thai on Dalhousie. Peasant foods run by peasant Thais... very good value for just about pretty close to the taste of Anna and SB. I take all my friends there if I am buying.

And chinese thai... Royal Thai, also on Dal… owned by the same chinese guy as Palais Imperial and Mandarin Ogilvy. Another one of those chinese guys seeing the margins in Thai food….. Not too expensive, but I have heard the food is not very good… I have been and think it’s ok for what it is… chinese thai… not the Anna/SB standards. Cheap thai is better.

And the Anna and SB standards are unfortunately the only ones I know. I have had thai food in Toronto which was pitiful compared to Anna’s as well as on the east coast. Of course these are walk in’s with no prior knowledge or info… the worst way to visit a restaurant, but I thought I would be safe in Toronto! Wrong...

And of course this does not include those near Thais or Thai bistros that have relatively good food… like 4 cuisines, hot peppers etc… Like everyone has a pad thai, which is chow mien, essentially. I think the Loblaw’s one is pretty good….

The only others that I would say aren’t great are the green papaya’s, coriander’s, etc that I have tried, but not as memorable as you guessed it… Anna’s and SB. And prices are close to Nokham and Anna…so….

Reports from friends who have visited Thailand are that the place is as bad as they make it sound… cheap sex… and odd sex and child sex….; and it is really cheap for meals…. And street food is actually quite tasty… but… Guess you have to be a king to get food in Thailand….

Read EatDrinkOttawa.blogspot.com

Gewürztraminer

Gewürztraminer

Had a German Fraulein as a friend once and she introduced me to this strange name for a white wine…, not being a white wine drinker at all back then. It’s in the past tense now of course, but I never did forget the experience...

Only recently did I find out that Gewürztraminer means a spicy white wine… and the German word for Gewurzt is spicy? Or is that the other way around?

Being such an un-spicy country… sauer being the taste of the kraut…. this is as spicy as it gets, and I wondered about how the two connected…. well it is German and it’s from the Alsace.

See http://www.stratsplace.com/rogov/art_gewurtz.html for further info... the magic of the net…..

No wonder German food is so un-spicy…. Goes well with chinese food though…. Kind of a spicy, but not as spicy as Indian food level of spiciness I guess…. And goes with fatty foods… another chinese food anomaly….. Have the dryer Gerzt though.

Pinot Gris anyone….?

Read EatDrinkOttawa.blogspot.com

New Asian Restaurant

Oh, No... Not another Chinese restaurant!

Yes, indeed, the less I want to write about them, the more I gravitate towards them. New Asian Restaurant at 258 Bank at Cooper.

Now a picture is worth a thousand words.... and there are lots of sites now with lovely pics. But do you need a thousand words to say something that is not worth saying? Pictures do lie.... as well. It’s like Stats, damn stats and lies.

Anyway, the point here is that the restaurant has some really nice pics in the front, but the food, well, it’s not quite as good. It’s not bad.... and I am here to sing the praises of this place beside the food..... Now that’s a twist, right? And Chinese food at that as well.

And so what’s so special about this place beside it being like any other greasy spoon with nice pics outside....

Had been meaning to try this place for some time, since it was close to where I worked before I started consulting. It opened around 4-5 years ago. And have been back twice since my recent visit.... It's one of those 'personable' restaurants (think Hino’s) that once you get to know the owner and cook, he can make up whatever you like and give you special treatment.... Food is not bad..., but convenience... and home cooking essentially...

They actually specialize in Sichuan Chinese (West). The food taste alright, but the cook is actually from Hebei (North) and if you get to know him... and I am not the first to say this apparently, he’ll cook up whatever you like. They have Italian food on the menu! The take out menu looks like any Cantonese (South) or Canadian Chinese place. Also they provided an interesting array of fruits for dessert... like an expensive hotel restaurant. The cook obviously has been around and has worked in different restaurants around town. Came from China 9 years ago to be with his family... wife is an engineer (came 13 years ago)....... beat that one for a curve.

But if nothing else, here is a chance of East meeting West in Ottawa and with very ‘personal’ service. Home cooking without cooking at home.

Prices are reasonable especially if you get specially prepared meals. Did not check out their washrooms, but not expecting much there. Presentation... excellent... very western... like Mekong, Ging Sing... etc.

‘Eclectic East meets West’ would be a good way to put it. But don’t expect fusion. Or its associated prices. And it’s right on what now is starting to be a restaurant strip...

Small format, so not conducive to large groups...

2007 08 02.

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Anne DesBrisay's reviews of Courtyard, Jadeland, Mekong, Chu Shing and others

2007 09 07

One more dish that Jadeland makes that I have not been able to get anywhere in Ottawa, or for that matter in Canada, but I am sure if one knows in TO or Van, one could find it, is 'Minced pork steamed with salty preserved duck eggs'. It is one of those 'mom it the best' type dishes and there is a long story there about allergy to chicken eggs, but this will work, ... etc...

See, I don't hate chinese cooks, as long as they cook chinese food, or what they are good at....

Unfortunately, Ottawa is full of these 'specialty' restaurants where they can't seem to get it all right all the time...

Jadeland also does a good job of Back Bacon cooked with preserved vegetables, beggars chicken, although they call it salt baked chicken on the menu ... all of which are not seafood....

And Jade Tree Chicken, which is a de-boned sliced chicken with ham slices and chinese broccoli, if you see it, you will understand... presentation is all..., but they don't like to make it as it is time consuming and they need specialty ham. The last few times I have been there, they have just put sliced deli ham..... bad...., but the chicken and veggies with sauce, is still excellent. The price though is expensive, for a half chicken... $25... but this and Yangtze, in Ottawa, are the only two places that can make it... alas they should try to buy the real thick canned ham to make it!!!

They also put oyster sauce in all their beef stir fries , like Wok with Yan....

2007 08 24

Here's a kudos first to Anne DesB. She did a great review of the Courtyard restaurant in the Citizen Sunday the 19th instant. Funny and to the point. Only thing I would add is $100 pp before drinks, tax and tip is way expensive and let's hope the food is as enlightened as Anne makes it out to be. Also think history on Marc Lepine is that he cooked at the French embassy or something, but that would have been an interesting aside.

That being said, Chu Shing is on par with Jadeland in terms of cost/benefit for food tastes. They are both cheap. $20pp all in, including a beer, for dinner, is cheap in my book. Chu Shing is better though for large groups of 6 or more. Format. But service really needs work. That's cause the owner hires young girls/women from china right off the boat. Slave labour and not trained in the service of the masses. (Beckta would be just the diametrical opposite on this front.) Jadeland is way small and kitchen cannot handle a crowd, as was witnessed by myself many times over, but especially when I brought a group of 7 over one evening with reservations for dinner. Because it is so small, the service is of course relatively better. But essentially there is not much difference in the food of either place, Chu Shing being slightly better. Seafood at Jadeland is not great per DesB review!

Mekong has one of the most creative, innovative chinese/viet restaurateurs in Ottawa. Long history there and we go back a long way to the days when he was a waiter in Yang Shing in the '70s. The selling of art on the walls, the hiring of chefs to do decent western style chinese cooking are all his ideas. Firsts in Ottawa and probably around Canada. But the only really outstanding dishes at this place is the Hunan Beef. Which, and one of the chefs who left and is at Ging Sing, very few can do as well. It is by far the best in Ottawa and Ontario. I am sure that if one tried hard, one could find similar in Toronto and Vancouver. But it is nonpareil. And the fish is done quite nicely here as well, especially steamed or flash fried with asparagus or pea shots. But you know, that's about it.... The other stuff that Anne raves about are just middle of the road and can be found anywhere in Ottawa. Mekong is also expensive..., run you about $40pp all in with drinks....

And knowing Anne is such an icon, she wouldn't mind a few hits, especially since she knows so little about Asian food.

Wok flavour, go to Royal Treasure..... fried seafood included, they don't steam because it uses up a wok, so they are out of touch there....


Older......

Have to knock Anne DesBrisay's recent review of Mekong and an older one of Jadeland.... in context.... have to think of a smart way to say it... in the works...

quickly though.. she's way off the mark on both Mekong and Jadeland and like I have said here before... she may know French/European food, but her appreciation of everything else is limited to her ability to taste the ingredients... And one would hope that a cuisine is more than the sum of its parts... synergy they called it in the '80s... but it's been around a lot longer than that....


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Anne Hardy's Where to Eat in Canada

And how does Anne Hardy's autochthonous guide (read seminal) compare to the Michelin guide? I should certainly have something to say!

Off hand... I would say that her three stars could possibly qualify for a one Michelin star.... quite accurately....

I like her guide... and I think that Canada as a place to eat is nowhere close to France.... but the two stars I went to in Bordeaux had their own bakery, winery and just about everything you'd want in a cuisine, let alone a restaurant.....

For all of those who travel frequently, like Drew, Alan, Alice et al, suggest you get a copy from the library.... for St Agathe, and other odd places.... proves my point that there aren't any really decent places to eat in Ottawa, and similarly in Montreal…. that on the East coast... Toronto is where it's at!

Choose the high end or the value stuff... low end... she can be quite critical, which is good.....

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