Ottawa Foodies

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I was in at the Bank Street location on Tuesday to watch the start of the Sens game. I had their Bitter (which is more of an IPA than an English bitter). It was very tasty. I've also had their brown ale, which was ok, but I prefer the bitter. Tuesday they also have wings on special, 6.25 for 10. These came out hot from the fryer. Tasty sauce (hot and honey), and good sized meaty wings. Quick service and easy viewing of the game - whats not to like.

Pictured is the weekly special at the Westboro location this week (April 30 2013). It is an eggplant curry. It was too spicy which overpowered any curry there might have been with tomato sauce as the only other flavour I could discern. I guess I was a little disappointed by this dish. It is essentially the "Better butter chicken" sauce from the "Eat, Shrink and Be Merry" recipe book. Again, I have had good experiences at this Clocktower. Just not this day and perhaps the lesson learnedis to stick to the classic pubfare such as the burgers and the soups.

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I am having a love-hate relationship with the CLocktower Pub. Sometimes, the food, beer and service is excellent, as detailed by some of my previous posts, and sometimes, not so much. The pictures hummus platter was from the Westboro location. It is $13, a little expensive and while it is called Hummus platter, the bowl of hummus is really small and runs out before you are half way through the pita and the veggies.

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Westboro location.

Shit service by our waitress and the guy who looks like a hipster Cole Hauser. We never got the ketchup we asked this surly guy for when he brought us our fries.

When our waitress finally appeared, she decided to bring us a feather-light plastic bottle (ie. clearly empty) that farted out a few tomato fumes, and nothing else. This is the same waitress who took forever to take our order and get us our drinks.

Now the pluses: very good basket of fresh cut fries, decent quantity for $6.75, fit for two. Freshly fried as well. Nachos kinda stale texture, hard, but great salsa with hints of cumin I think and other nice herbs.

I liked their Brown beer. My mate got a pretty large San Pellegrino bottle for only $3, good value.

Not the best atmosphere indoors, pretty damn sterile actually, but the city smelled like shit Thursday night, so the patio was not an appetizing option.

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Yesterday, on our date night, hubs and I ended up in Westboro so decided to go to the Clocktower for a pint and a bite to eat. We shared the French Onion soup and the Supreme burger. This is the best meal I have had at this location of Clocktower. Perhaps the kitchen is finally getting into a stride.

The French onion soup contained lots of onions and was topped with a nice, flavourful cheese and bite size bread or croutons. It was on the sweet side but I like that so it suited me.

The Supreme burger was juicy (medium rare), covered with 2 types of cheese and fresh veggies. We ordered salad as the side and it was fresh and crispy.

I had a caesar which came with a dill green bean and hubs had the Raspberry Wheat beer, one of my favourite rendition of a raspberry beer by a local brewery in town.

Service was very friendly.

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A few friends and I went to the Westboro after work yesterday and had a very pleasant experience. The service was attentive, the local brews were great and the nachos fresh and tasty.

My friend spilled her pint and a new pint was quickly brought to the table to replace her almost empty glass!

The last couple of times i was here for dinner, I didn't think much of the food. For a group outing and focus on beer, it is a pretty good spot.

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I go to the New Eddy CT every so often. It's hit and miss-sometimes good sometimes awful-weekends are not the time to eat here. I'm also not fussy about their beer, regardless which variety I try-it always tastes like it could use another week or so in the keg. They do have Waupoos cider on tap. Service is usually very good.

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Pasta lover: First, let me clarify that it is not my pub. I do not work there, just love hanging out there. It's a great pub, with great staff and food, and I am happy to do whatever I can to support it, but my only relationship with it is as a customer. I apologize if I gave the impression that I was connected with the pub, and re-reading my post I see where you would have gotten that. Again, I am sorry about that.

As for their specials, if I recall them all correctly, on Sundays you have prime rib, Mondays it's mussel night and Tuesdays is wing night. Monday thru Thursday is half-price apps from 3-6, and Sundays and Tuesdays their own beers, as well as select domestics, are $4.50 a pint. I think I remembered them all. :)

Just to be clear for anyone reading this, I am only referring to the Glebe location. I do not know which, if any, of these specials are also offered at the other three (although I'm pretty sure wing night is the same at all of them).

PubGuy Yes she did say Wednesdays are mussel nights because I was really tempted to go back for a second night in a row-;) Unfortunately I have an appointment after work so I can't... Thanks for clarifying this though. Would you consider posting your special nights on your website too? Just so I can plan my trips to The Clocktower in advance... I love your resto BTW and look forward to another trip there in the near future.

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Pasta lover, I'm glad you enjoyed your meal, but I really hope your server didn't tell you Wednesdays were mussel night, since it is actually on Mondays. :)

They have a few other special nights that are great, and are listed on the weekly special page in the inside cover of the menu.

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Went with my Dad to the Clocktower tonight to watch the game with him. We delved into the beers there. He had a cask-conditioned red, and a bytown brown, while I had the Kolsch and the Raspberry wheat. Now, more the matter, I love dark beers with full flavour, and don't much like lighter coloured beers. So....yeah, shouldn't have ordered the Kolsch and Raspberry wheat. That being said, if you like lighter beers, I would recommend them, because, even though they were not to my taste, they were still pretty good. My Dad generously let me have a sip of his beers, and they were steller. The Bytown brown was hearty and had a nice coffee pre-taste, which means that the next time I go back, I will order nothing but it. So, to summarize, really really enjoyed the beer.

Just got back from a Brewers' lunch at the Bank Street location. Had the new Organic Wheat, which I think is only a seasonal for the summer. It is fermented with a "normal" yeast, so does not have any of the funky flavours associated with Belgian or Bavarian Wheat beers (and their respective special yeasts). So it classifies as "American Wheat". It was an extremely good beer - very quaffable on a hot summer day. Crystal clear. Kudos to Patrick the brewmaster - very well done. It was so good that I had to have a 2nd :-P

EDIT : Oh, and got to meet Orleansfoodie for the first time (waves)

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Was here for lunch today. The Koelsch (sic) and Wishart's Bitter were both absolutely fantastic! Their beers have really improved since they hired a real brewmaster - go Patrick!

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I have to agree with Zym: The Kölsch here is a deadringer for the yummy Dom Kölsch which you get in Germany...Köln specifically. Might be my favourite beer. Then again, anyone from Köln will tell you that Kölsh stands alone.

Yum!

Went in for a quick beer and burger yesterday while my kids were in an activity nearby. The Koelsch was a dead-ringer for the ones I've had in Cologne - in particular I'd say Dom Koelsch with it's slight sweetness. For those not in the know, this is the same type of beer that Beau's is brewed after, so anyone who likes that, should love the Clocktower Koelsch.

Just last week I had the ESB and the Brown and I enjoyed both. The ESB was especially flavourful. As far as brew pubs go, it's them and the Draught Horse out in Navan, and that's it to the best of my knowledge. But fortunately a lot of places these days are carrying micros. Click "Beer" on this site for some of my recommendations.

It just wasn't good beer. Not flat to style, but flat as in stale. If you can recommend some good brews they make I'm always willing to give them a chance.

Frequenting brew pubs in Montreal Boston and Toronto for the past decade and a half I had high hopes for Ottawa. Are there any other brew pubs in Ottawa I can try? Localish breweries whose products I love are Millhouse, McAuslen, Heritage. From the New England area, Harpoon, Sam Adams, Dogfish. I lean towards complex hopped beers.

Just curious which beer you had Shamus. If it was one of the cask beers that would explain the flatness since cask beer is often flat (by design)

Have I just been unlucky? Some of the worst pub brew I have ever had has been here. I've tried the location in the Glebe and in new Edinborough and both times the beer was almost undrinkable - flat and flavourless. I am a huge supporter of crafted beer and really wanted to like the Clocktowers offerings but sadly I cannot do this.

Been there a few times the last few weeks since my son is in an activity around the corner. Went for lunch today. $3.45 is the regular price for their own brewed beer! Glass is at least 500ml if not a British Pint (even bigger). Wow! And apparantly Tuesday nights are wing night and beer is half priced!

Confession: I haven't eaten a burger in...hmm, probably 8+ years. It's not that I've made a point of avoiding them, we just haven't crossed paths - i.e. maybe I need to get to more barbeques.

Last Thursday, I was here (Bank Street location) with a couple of friends, both burger enthusiasts, for dinner. They often speak of the excellent burgers here. I read the description of the Angry Goat Burger and it also spoke to me: Herbed goat cheese, banana peppers and spicy mayo. I chose the side of salad: a generous amount of mixed greens with grape tomatoes and balsamic & olive oil dressing (on the side) with a bottle of San Pellegrino - they have a nice 500 ml size.
The burger was hugely delicious and perfectly done. So good, I was back Saturday evening with my sister eating the same. Again excellent. Service was friendly, quick and efficient. I really like this place.

Another absolutely perfect burger today! That will be all ...

Absolutely perfect! Served on a scrumptious kaiser bun with pickles, lettuce and onion. Big burger, and very flavourful. Tough to imagine a better burger.

Once again a very wonderful burger!

Had the "Black and Blue" for lunch today, with blue cheese on it. Mmmmmm, stinky cheese! Everything about it was great except I'm not sure if this was the "black" part or not, but the burger was charcoal black on the outside. Luckily it did not taste really burnt so it was still yummy. I'll try it again next time I'm there and hopefully it won't be so charred. Yummy pickle on the side, served with lots of onion and tomato and lettuce.

Once again, perfect french fries.

Another 2 strong thumbs for their fries. Perfectly crisp on the outside, tender on the inside.

Had fries (w/a burger) here on Friday and I'm still thinking about them -- they were very good. Home-cut fries are so rare these days.

The home-cut fries I had yesterday were absolutely perfect!

Was back at lunch today and this time had the fries with my burger instead of salad. They appear to be home-cut and were very yummy. Nice and crisp on the outside and tender inside. Good job clocktower!

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As posted above, the Tuesday wing special is now 6.25 for 10. Very good quality wings.

I paid a visit to The Clocktower Brew Pub (Glebe) last night for their Tuesday night wing night (Reg $9.75, Tuesdays $4.95). The Clocktower has a good range of flavours, all the heats, including Malaysian (suicide), Sweet Chilli, Hot & Honey, Spicy Maple BBQ, Honey Szechuan, Jerk, or Cajun Dusted. I decided to try the Spicy Maple BBQ for something a little different. They're sufficiently saucy and have a hint of sweet maple and BBQ flavour, they are not spicy though. I was a bit surprised that no carrot sticks, celery or sour cream came with the wings (sour cream is extra), but this would only really be an issue with the hot wings for me. In any case, its definitely worth a visit on wing night, and at the Bank St. location at least, go early! We hung out near the bar for about 30mins before finding a seat in the bar area and ate there - a seat in the dining area didn't come up. The Clocktower has a good selection of their own microbrew as well as other beers, so waiting isn't an issue, trying to stay out of the way when there are no seats is.



To note: My friend had the 5 spice chicken - his review was that it was alright, the veggies seemed to be the best part though.



Wing Size: 7.5

Sauce: 6.5-7.5 (6.5 for advertising them as spicy, 7.5 because they're still good)

Recommended Beer: I had a Fenien Red, which is a little sweet and went nicely with the sweet wings, as well as a Wisharts Bitter which had a nice contrast to the sweet...I wouldn't actually recommend alternating though. Pick one and stick with it.

Best wings in the city.
Cheap on Tuesdays...

Today is Tuesday, allllllllright.

Had a very nice side tossed-salad with my burger today, instead of fries. The veggies were all fresh. They had a choice of maybe 5 different dressings, I chose the blue cheese which was delicious.

I'll order it again.

There are 2 types of veggie burgers : those that try to look and taste like a hamburger, and those that don't. In my experience the ones that do try are often pretty terrible, while the ones who do not try are often pretty spectacular. Unfortunately, this was one of the ones that tried to look and taste like a hamburger, and while it was not terrible, it was not very good either. I certainly won't be having another. It tasted like soy sauce. Yuck.

I am excited to announce that the Clocktower (on Mackay) has changed/added to their menu! As a frequent customer to this pub, I pretty much have their menu memorized and stick to the same old, same old.
So, here is the tuna...I don't think I have the name right but it's the only 'tuna' item on the menu. This was the first time I've actually had a tuna steak, so I really have nothing to compare it to but I really, really, enjoyed it. They serve it on pumpernickel bread (grilled, I think) with some nice wasabi mayo. Such a nice treat having unique choices at a pub. They serve it with either fries or salad...I got the salad which is their standard salad that goes with all the dishes...mixed greens, red onions, grated carrots, chunks of tomatoes, and a honkin' pickle. Dressing is usually on the salad, but I get it on the side!

Can't wait to try the other new items! I'll let you all know of course....

Fresh Foodie: Do you think there should be two separate tags for each Clocktower location? I'm pretty sure that zymurgists' reviews are from the location on Bank, while mine are from Mackay.