Ottawa Foodies

Food&Think Glad to hear you found one of our hidden treasures in Ottawa. I go to Chez Lucien once or twice a year with a friend since we are both Montrealers and this restaurant is somehow reminiscent of home. (Especially while sipping on a McAuslan beer since Peter McAuslan is a Concordia alumni and so are we but I digress...) If you go back for another meal you must try their croque monsieur at some point - I have never tasted one so delish as the version they make at Chez Lucien. The ham is served on a croissant and finished with melted cheddar. It almost tastes like there is a hint of maple syrup in it somewhere. And of course all their hamburgers are good. Now I'm getting hungry - time to make plans for another trip to Chez Lucien!

Dropped in here on a rainy Saturday afternoon. This is a cozy spot somewhat off the beaten track from the rest of the market, just down the street from Ma Cuisine (always an important “foodie” stop). Chez Lucien has a neat layout, from the ante room with its wood stove, to the main floor bar room, the upper pub with its stone wall, and the lower level next to the kitchen. One of the first things that strikes you about the place is the prominent French Canadian atmosphere, a nice change from all the UK styled pubs that dominate Ottawa. There definitely is a Montreal influence in the décor with a dominence in Les Canadiens photos and hockey memorabilia. For a Saturday afternoon there were a lot of people sitting around chatting and reading a variety of newspapers in both official languages. The bar seems to have a nice group of regulars, many who said they enjoy coming here in the winter to watch hockey.

Once seated in the bar room, “The Man” was pleased to see that the “On Tap” choices were much more than the standard nationals. He ordered a local craft beer “Heritage”, while I chose a glass of Australian Shiraz (they offer 4 red wines by the glass, and 4 whites). It was nice to see that Chez Lucien offers a variety of premium beers as well as local brews including 3 from Quebec – Blanche de Chambly, St. Ambroise and Griffin. As “The Man” had never had Quebec Craft Brews, our server generously offered him a wee taste before making his second choice.

Menus (which by the way are predominantly French) feature Soups, Salads, Hamburgers, Sandwiches and a couple of Mains. “The Man” chose the Hambourgeois Frida et Diego, that features a Hamburger with Jalapenos, Grilled Onions and Monterey Jack Cheese (HOLD the Jalapenos, LOL). I chose the Hambourgeoisie Burger, a Premium Beef Burger with Pear Slices, Grilled Onions and Melted Brie. Both hamburgers were served on large Kaisers, and came with House Salad and Fries (as do all the Hamburger and Sandwich platters). The salad was a nice mix of fresh veggies with a tasty dressing, and the Fries were shoestring cut but homemade (still with the skins on) and cooked to perfection. The food was absolutely yummy.

Overall we enjoyed the atmosphere, it is so nice to see something different in Ottawa, the place had a genuine Montreal feel about it. The service was friendly and knowledgeable, and the server was helpful in his advice on menu items and of course the “wee taste” of beer was a big plus. This place is great, we will be back!

I used to consider Chez Lucien an absolute gem. After Friday's experience, I'm no longer of that opinion. I called Friday morning to make a reservation and was informed in a rude "I-can't-be-bothered-with-you" type of way that they only take a selected number of reservations. That they don't take reservations is fine, I can understand that. I expect to be informed of it and a polite and friendly manner. I also expect to be encouraged to come anyway instead of feeling like I should be so lucky to give them my business.

The eight of us arrived and found a table downstairs. From 5pm to 9:30pm, we saw our waitress 3 times, two of which we had to flag her down. We were served food without forks, the food orders were mixed up and drinks were difficult to come by. Finally, when we were ready to leave, we asked twice for the waitress to bring us our bill.

The food was fine but the service left a lot to be desired and I'll be hard-pressed to go again. I'm hoping someone will realize the potential in opening a non-irish style of pub in Ottawa with a similar subtle sense of charm and warm atmosphere so that I'll have a new spot for my after-work Friday gatherings.

Normally me and a couple of guys meet up at Elephant & Castle in the Rideau Centre for beers every Friday night. This weekend I needed a change and brought them here instead.
Cute place, I like the atmosphere. The place was PACKED when we showed up at 9:30, I couldn't believe it. We sat downstairs really close to the kitchen which wasn't so bad, but It would have been nice to be upstairs. I think we were forgotten about a lot of time by our server.
The food is WELL priced. I wasn't that hungry and just got a basket of fries for $4, and there were SOO many fries, and yes, they are the nice McDonald like fries that I enjoy too.
My friend got a burger and was stuffed.
The beer was good. Its nice to have a little more choices here and there. I ordered a Boddingtons (like usual) and my friends were more than happy because they had Creemore (I guess one of their favorite beers).
I think we shall be returning, but it would be nice if there was a quieter time to go where the place isn't packed. Plus we were a little unfortunate in having a table of overly drunk government workers next to us yelling about everything. Awkward.

Four of us had dinner here on Tuesday night. Got there at 5:00 as usual and were able to get a table. By 5:30 there was a line up.

Having eaten a lot of meat lately, I decided to try the tofu burger. It is the same standard tofu burger that you get pretty much anywhere (like the ones they sell at the grocery store); however, I was pleasantly surprised that they make an effort to jazz it up. They cut the patty in half so you have two thinner round pieces and then they put a layer of sautéed onions in between. I have never seen this done and it gave the tofu patty a little pizzazz!! Topped with some of their garlic sauce and sprouts, lettuce and tomato, it was just delicious.

I noticed that we all seemed to have more salad and less fries than usual and after looking at FF's photo (under the Chez Lucien listing), we definitely got about half that amount. I for one was grateful because the last thing I needed after Christmas was a lot of fries. More salad is the way to go. I suggested to my companions that perhaps this was Chez Lucien’s way of helping people along with their New Years resolutions.....:):)

One other comment: We had the strangest experience. There was a guy and girl at the next table who looked "normal" but the guy was talking really, really loud. Like, abnormally loud. Not angry, just loud. The girl was talking at a normal level. We must have looked over about 50 times because we couldn't even hear our own conversation and finally the girl started shushing him, but only because we were looking over, and not because she herself found it odd. In fact she didn’t seem to even notice until we were making it obvious that he was disturbing us! Other tables were also looking over at him to see what was going on. I felt like I was on an episode of Seinfeld called "The Loud Talker". We were soooooo happy when they finally left. Eating out is always an experience!

Oh and btw, we also had beer: Heritage, Boreale Blanche and Blanche de Chambly

I am in LOVE with this place and have always been since the first time I stepped foot in here! I am never dissappointed...the service, the food, the ambience (sorta feels like I'm in Europe or Montreal...) all excellent. It's always a treat when we decide to go here.
The only thing that is a touch strange is that if you call to make reservations, the sorta take one but sorta don't, which makes you a little confused BUT, they always accomodate, always remember the name when you called, and always offer you a drink while you wait. LOVE IT!

My boyfriend and I went for a quick dinner on Saturday. We were going to do thai, but it was just too darn hot out. Anyways, I had the croque monsieur, which was really good, I would have just suggested using a different cheese, the cheese they used kinda greased the whole meal up a bit - not that I minded! My boyfriend had the spagetti dinner... which he really enjoyed. The beer was the highlight of the night. I believe he had Griffen, and quite enjoyed it. All in all, not bad!

I've been to Chez Lucien on many occasions now... they've got a nice selection of beer, and their dinners are amazing. The list isn't lengthy, but their kitchen is small, and what they do make has been fine-tuned to perfection. The burger platters are amazing, the protein power salad was nice as well. I highly recommend this place, especially if you're like me and boycotting the proliferation of Royal Oak style pubs.

Really cool atmosphere...I loved the double decker style. I had a cheese burger which was great but the fries were a bit soggy. Server seemed a bit stiffled by the crowd and was a tad curt. That said, it was a great dining experience.

We will be returning.

We ate at Chez Lucien last night. It was one of those spur of the moment decisions (aren't they the best?)
This was our second time eating there. We sat on the top level (also near the pictures of Proust!)

I had the soup of the day to start which was a delicious chunky vegetable soup with curry, cumin and coriander. This came with toasted hamburger buns. My bf had the escargots.

For mains I had the Hamburger Bourgeois which has brie and pear and the bf had the burger that has cheese and mushrooms (forget the name).

All food was fresh and delicious.

As mentioned both come with nice crispy fries and a generous salad. The dressing that they serve is creamy and can be used for your salad and/or to dip your fries. It is extremely garlicky.
I am not a fan of creamy dressing so I asked if they had anything else and the waitress brought me a really yummy balsamic one - so if you don't like creamy, there is an alternative.

As Chris mentioned, get there early! We arrived around 5:15 and by 6:30 it was packed and people were being turned away.

To drink we had the Guinness and the St.Ambroise. My bf noted that the Guinness was properly poured as he could see where she had stopped and then started again.

Sadly I forgot all about the jukebox until we were leaving or I would have chosen some music.
This little place is a gold mine!

"The Man" was very impressed by the selection of Beers "on tap". By our count there were four craft beers... Heritage (Carleton Place), Blanche de Chambly (Chambly, Que) and St. Ambroise & Griffin (Montreal). As well as Boddingtons, Kilkenny, and Stella (there may have been a couple more, but we couldn't read the taps from where we were seated).

Unfortunately, they don't have Beau's, I would think that this would be a good location for them to get into though, because management obviously supports craft beers, and afterall Beau's home is half-way between Ottawa and Montreal, so it would be a good fit with the atmosphere at Chez Lucien.

And don't forget the Kilkenny! They have 8 beers on tap, and a whole whack of them in bottles. Beverage prices are shown with tax included, which is very cool.

From memory from my last visit: among some more common offerings, there are a couple from Macauslan (Griffon Extra Pale Ale and St. Ambroise Pale Ale), plus Blanche de Chambly on tap.

I would love to know what's in that salad dressing of their's!!! All three of their beef burgers are incredible and as Food&Think said, omg those fries!!!!

Both the Burger Platters we ordered were fantastic! "The Man" had the Frida & Diego (jalapeos, grilled onions & monterey jack cheese), while I had the Hambourgeoisie, a more "upscale" burger (premium beef, pear slices, grilled onions and melted brie). The shoestring fries were homemade (still had the skins on) and perfectly cooked, while the house salad of mixed greens and fresh veggies came with a very tasty dressing. Having both fries and salad was a real treat as so many places offer one or the other.

Can't wait to go back and try another of their many Burger Platters.

The burger was pretty good. The fries were awesome -- very slightly coated with a satisfying McDonald's kind of light greasiness. The salad was generous considering it was in addition to the fries (most of it is hidden in this photo).

These are pretty standard Ottawa nachos -- a layer of chips, a layer of salsa, another layer of chips, and a topping of cheese. Not what I consider top notch nacho structure but it's normal for this part of the world. At least they load it up with jalapeños.

The thing to rave about here is the price. Six bucks is an awesome price for a plate of nachos. Sure makes you want to drink more beer!

I am absolutely addicted to this meal. Its a soft but crisp croissant with ham, melted cheddar cheese, warm tomatoes and a unidentified sweet white sauce. It all comes together to make a fantastic combination. It (like several meals at Chez Lucien) comes with excellent french fries and a good portion of fresh salad. All for about $8.00.

I wish I had taken a picture but....I'll explain it as best as I can. All the burgers come with fries and salad with IMO, a very nice and garlicky creamy dressing. The salmon burger said it was served with dill cream cheese on it, which yes it did...the perfect amount too. Sometimes if things are served with cream cheese, they tend to over do it and I'm scraping some off (ahem...Tim Horton's) but not here. For some reason I was expecting the salmon to be hot, like grilled y'know, but it was just about room temp., not cold, but not very warm. Then I thought of course they wouldn't serve it warm/hot because of the cream cheese! It was great all around anyways!