Ottawa Foodies

Navarra just opened in July 2008, so it's early days yet. I've been there twice, both times for lunch. The restaurant was relatively empty both times. I expect things will pick up once they get better known, but it wouldn't surprise me if they go to dinner-only service, like their predecessor on the premises, the Black Cat.

On the whole, we were impressed with the service and the food, though I have a few reservations about the latter. On one occasion, I had the duck (sourced from somewhere in Quebec, I think), and it was quite tough, though the rest of the meal was fine (yummy parsnip puree, among other things). On the other occasion, I had the "pig cheek", which was melt-in-the-mouth tender and very tasty, but too fatty for my taste. My wife had the "composed salad" on one visit, which was interesting and flavorful, but a bit skimpy. The next time, she tried the beef tartare, which was as expected and nicely presented.

The lunch menu has rather limited scope - no poultry, and no seafood (except for an appetizer featuring salt cod, which was very good). The dinner menu looks more interesting, and I hope to give it a try before long.

Navarra also has a nice, secluded patio - it's a bit noisy from nearby ventilation fans, but well insulated from street noise. It's an interesting addition to the Market restaurant scene, and I hope they do well.

I like the baguette here a little better than their competitors. IMO it's the bread that's the 'make or break' of bánh mì

I've been meaning to add this place for awhile but kept forgetting to copy down the address. It's a few doors down from Co Cham, right next door to Pho Bo Ga LA (original, not "new" PBGL)

The banana pudding dessert is smooth, creamy with lots of bananas and softened wafers and whipped cream and other secret ingredients. Absolutely delicious! (other desserts, such as sweet potato pie, buttermilk pie and peach cobbler are all just as great!)

Had takeout from Genji tonight. The man on the phone gave me good takeout service, read back my order to confirm everything. We had miso soup, and the: spider roll, sweet potato roll, spicy tuna roll, teriyaki chicken roll and tumpura shrimp roll.

All of these rolls were excellent. I can't really think of anything that I could critique here... the miso soup was just alright, nothing mindblowing. The standout roll for me was the spider roll. The crab was very meaty and excellently crisp. Also, the spicy salmon roll was delicious, they did NOT skimp on the salmon in this roll which I definitely noticed. The price was a little higher than my usual sushi takeout (SushiGo!), but the quality made up for it. Recommended.

Note: Atmosphere was very nice inside, since I ordered takeout I didn't get a chance to gauge the service from the waiters, but the man at the cash was very nice.

Had a second visit there this evening, we werent so sure that a Monday night would be a great evening to go back, as March Rd gets retty quiet after rush hour in the non-hockey season. We were wrong, the quality and service were just as good as the first visit, the owner was on hand to guide us, as once again we were overwhelmed by our choices, and her suggestions were bang on!

All the dishes were offered with varying degree of spiciness, so Ill bracket the degree chosen with each dish.

For starters, we enjoyed the Mulligatawny Soup (hot) my husband found it fabulous, I prefer the seasoning in the lentil soup I make at home. Also ordered the Paneer Pakoras, beautifully seasoned, and had I known how large a starter it was, I would have limited hunny and I to one app. I was unable to find out what the seasoning on the Pakoras is, but it is so savory (lemon, cumin, nutmeg? All guesses) it almost diddnt need the accompanying chutneys, but they were delicious also.

Main course, he chose the Chicken Bhuna (hot) and hot it was, almost a challenge to get through, as some components of the dish took the absorbed the heat more than others, the tomatoes in the dish were wonderful but you had to be ready for the shot of heat that followed and stayed with it, the onions in the dish were much more gentle, made for a wonderful dish, but even my spice lovin hunny thinks maybe next time hell get the medium heat. I think it would be even better made with shrimp, which was an option, Ill be sure to try that version another time. We also chose the Butter Chicken (medium), also divine, the sauce so rich and creamy it almost diddnt need the chicken, of course that could also be because we were getting pretty full.

We had to skip dessert, and ordered extra rice for the leftovers at home.

So supper with no alcohol, 2 soft drinks, naan, rice, 2 apps, 2 mains was about 65.00 including tip, more than I wanted to spend on a Monday night, but for quality and service, well worth it.

I dined at Beckta for the first time last week. The online reservation system was very easy and efficient.

My friends and I had heard all the hype, read the OF postings, as well as other articles and were eager to try the restaurant.

The dining atmosphere was simple and clean. The service was exceptional from start to finish. There multiple servers waiting on you.

We started with the complimentary amuse-bouche. Unfortunately I don't remember all the components but it did comprise a small portion of foie gras. It was my first fg experience and yes, it did melt in my mouth!

I began with the Fingerling Potato Gnocchi. It was different and quite delicious. Small gnocchi accompanied with melt-in-mouth cubes of salmon -- rare and still cooking from the heat of the salad. It was what I would describe as a warm salad. It had swiss chard and other leafy yumminess as well as little delicate chanterelles. It was a lovely starter and a nice portion. Another friend ordered the Composed Green Bean Salad and said it was quite delicious. The beans came wrapped in salty proscuitto.

For an entrée, I ordered the Wild Nunavut Arctic Char. It was my first time having char and I have to admit, I'm not sure what the difference is compared to salmon. The portion was well cooked and the skin was fabulous -- crisp and savoury from the sea salt. The char sat abed baby bok choy and baby corn. The bok choy was perfectly cooked and went very well with the soy-black bean sauce. Unfortunately the baby corn were on the raw side. The dish also came with three mini shrimp potstickers. This specific item had drawn my attention to the dish. Unfortunately they weren't anything special. If anything, I would suggest Beckta replace them with another side. The potstickers were so tiny. The filling was small and 'tough' -- it did not melt in my mouth (I was looking for more of a shrimp siu mai-type of texture). My friend and I both ordered the char and enjoyed our meal except she was not as fond of the crispy skin. Another friend ordered the Beef Tenderloin. I recall her liking the dish but not being overly excited about it.

For dessert, the three of us ordered different ones and did the sharing thing -- brilliant! We ordered the Strawberry "Shortcake" (strawberry mascarpone custard, cake-like pasty), the Pistachio-Orange Millefeuille (pistachios, round cookie-like pastry, scoop of coffee gelato, and the Salted Caramel and Chocolate Tart. The tart was the winner particularly since it was more a trio of chocolate desserts: a salted caramel and chocolate tart, a dark chocolate truffle-like flat pyramid and another chocolate item. The sea salt left the most peculiar yet brilliant aftertaste.

After our desserts, we were pleasantly presented with the complimentary dessert. Unfortunately I am drawing a blank but it was a type of mint-fruit gelato. Delish and very refreshing!

We all enjoyed our Beckta experience. We also agreed that it was not a place we would often frequent but that it was a good option to have for those times you want to treat yourself and experience something other than the norm.

Here is the food and overall review of my latest 'Social' experience as requested. (See the forum under 'A not so 'social' experience!' for my service comments.)
Needless to say the service was less than impressive the food was ok.
I ordered the beef tenderloin that came with baby potatoes, carrots, a nice jus and blue cheese butter. All was well executed but even though I knew when I ordered it, it was pretty basic. Sometimes though you just need a big piece of beef:)
Everyone else seemed to enjoy their food although not much was said so I don't think anyone was overly impressed.
Unfortunately my plan was to order aps & desserts throughout the evening after I had a base for all of the drinks we planned to partake in but because of the slow service we went elsewhere.
I had a glass of the Seaview sparkling which is always a nice refreshing drink to start off the evening. I have in the past ordered the Cave Springs sparkling which is fantastic! I also had a nice Valpolicella from Luigi Righetti which was nice.
Unfortunately I really have nothing else wonderful to add. Didn't get to experience much because of the previously mentioned service issue.

Does anyone know if they use MSG?

I find the food here to be hit and miss, service too. The "combo plates" (tostada/enchilada/taco/burrito etc) were ok once, and less so another time, when the weird, pot-roast-esque shredded beef tasted altogether funky, and the chicken and beef both had no spiciness or Mexican flavour at all. The next time we stayed away from the "combos" and things were better. Service has also been sketchy. If you are there in the later part of the evening, like 9pm+, expect the servers to be MIA in the back somewhere, and you will need to approach someone when you want to pay your bill.
The real reason I added this note though was to comment on the margaritas. They are nasty! They aren't even made with ice. It is some kind of gelatin. It was served barely cool, and warmed to a goopy, unmeltable mess in no time. Nobody finished theirs. And they cost like 10 dollars!!!

Fantastic Creme Brulee here. Normally served with some raspberry drizzle. Beautiful presentation. When I go here for lunch for work I order a glass of red wine and Creme Brulee... Gotta save up the appetite for the good stuff!

Really love how they are fully loaded with the toppings, but there is way too much salt on the skins making them slightly inedible.

The chicken is very bland (basically an unseasoned breast thrown on a charbroiler) but the beef is very tasty :) The Pork is hit and miss.. sometimes fabulous, sometimes - not.

Cheap (only $3.00) but needs a bit more condensed milk for the right consistency.

Very yummy, but they are a little bit stingy on the meat. I normally get this to share with a colleague and we always ask for extra rice wraps and they always forget to bring them. When we finally do get our extra wraps they are still a bit crispy leaving us to our creative devices to make them soft enough.

I went here for the first time in mid-July and it was Saturday around noon. It was dead in there so the servers were quite chatty and friendly. Haven't tried any of their desserts but I saw a woman buy two pieces of cake, a coffee and a juice and it was something like $22! wow.

We went back again around 8:30 pm another night. We stood in line for about 10 minutes behind about 5 people who were ordering desserts (and yes, we had to wait until their desserts were plated before we were served). We finally get to the counter and hubs orders a latte and I order a decaf coffee. Apparently they don't brew decaf!? He offered me a decaf Americano but at that point I was annoyed at waiting so long I just got nothing. It took them another 5 minutes to get my husband's latte made....

It's been open since about February and I really hope it stays open because not only do I like independent coffee shops, I like a convenient place to get coffee before I sneak it into the AMC :) My experiences have been hit and miss so I am not going to give it thumbs up or thumbs down yet.

Their paninis were delicious! I had one with brie, walnuts, grilled chicken and a few other things that escape my mind. Husband had one with roasted veggies, goat cheese, pesto and chicken if memory serves me correctly. Both were very delicious and served with a small side/garnish (?) of some type of potato salad which I didn't eat since it had peas in it (eww!)

They serve Equator coffee that's brewed in Almonte ottawafoodies.com/vendor/1175 My husband claims its the best coffee he's ever tasted. I thought it was good too.

Jak's Kitchen is good. But they cannot deal with a crowd.

This was the lesson I learnt today when my partner & I went for brunch at Jak's. We have been about 3 times since I wrote my review on July 24 (see below), and until now, we have always been impressed. But the restaurant has also only been half full.

The first problem was seating. We waited about 15 minutes to be seated at a small corner table, right by the door, where one chair was on the carpet. At the same time, a table for four was being cleared. I asked the waiter if we could switched and her reply was quite snappy, but she obliged.

The second table was no better, as it was right by the door, and so we felt a bit like an exhibit at the zoo as new patrons wandering in had no place to stand but hovering over us.

We ordered immediately, each of us going for an omlette. His had portobello mushrooms, bacon, shallots and Balderson cheddar with a bagel on the side. Mine was with Cambozola cheese, pear and walnut, with a side of sourdough.

Some 40 minutes later, we got our food. During this time my coffee was not filled once, nor was his water. There were also two instances of mismanagement of tables.

My sourdough was not sourdough, but rather white, thin Wonder-like bread. His "bagel" was a half-bagel...which would be fine if that's what we were promised.

I couldn't find a trace of pear in the omlette, and only two walnuts, with a hint of Cambozola cheese, a HINT. Needless to say, when I first stumbled upon Jak's, a month ago, I was thrilled to find beautiful, thinly sliced pears laced with the perfect amount of tangy, zesty Cambozola. The homefries, more a roasted potato were hot, but terribly undercooked. The accompanying side salad was mediocre.

Not once during the meal were we asked how things were, nor was my coffee filled up. We had to ask twice for more water, and when the bill came, we made sure to walk it up to the cash, so as to not be forgotten again.

In the end, we were there over an hour and a bit. This is fine, for dinner, and lingering, and drinks and dessert. But, for brunch, when you feel rushed because you have six or seven other patrons breathing down your neck....less so.

The particularly ironic thing about this experience? They only have 13 tables.

Jak's is a wonderful place to go for a meal, just as long as the place is at half capacity.

Like Pho Bo Ga LA (vendor 739), they also serve a shrimp cracker with their satay-style soup. The shrimp and chicken satay soup (S3), was decent. Broth is sometimes awesome here but was just okay today.

Unlike the other "Pho Bo Ga" restaurants, this one offers a full menu of non-soup dishes.