Ottawa Foodies

3

Delicious beef bourguignon and tuna nicoise for lunch.

Service was very slow, close to 40 minutes before our food came, but the manager did the right thing and comped the meal, kudos!

The place was the busiest I've seen it at lunch, and I'm glad. This is one of the most underrated resto in the city, but consistently delivers.

3

I am posting as a recent new user to this network

We have been ringing in the New Year here with a fabulous dinner after doing the Resolution Run for the last 2 years!

Absinthe's menu and staff are worthy of the highest praise!

Death in the afternoon (Absinthe and champagne) is absolutely wonderful! Amazing appetizers, amuse-bouche, exquisite duck, beef and the desserts are divine!

The staff are attentive, professional and make you feel welcomed!

We love this place!

4

I had quite a brilliant supper at Absinthe recently a few Sundays ago. I dragged my parents along--they are not adventurous in terms of dining--very much meat and potatoes and nothing too fancy or "weird." Nevertheless, I took the plunge with them and it turned out great, thanks to both the food and the service.

Naturally, they both went with the burger. I got to sample the burger as my mom couldn't finish hers (due to the size, not the quality), and I have to say, even as a non-burger eater, this was GOOD. Super juicy, thick, and well flavoured. Pretty sure this is what a great burger ought to resemble. The fries were happily substituted for the accompanying poutine on the menu, and they even charged us less because of it on the bill... nice touch!

I have read up quite a bit about absinthe but never got to try the real experience until that night and our server gently walked me through the steps explaining things all the way. I really ended up enjoying my drink (I went with the Canadian "Taboo" brand of absinthe).

I ordered a few small plates instead of one main dish, namely the mushroom velouté, seafood tartare trio, and arugula salad. I'm a mushroom freak and their version of the soup was really good. I can't remember the last time I had one that tasted so intensely "mushroomy."

My only criticism would have to be about the salad. It was pretty much just arugula and a very tart dressing. I didn't think it went well with the already-spicy arugula, and it was pretty one-note as a result. The same stuff also came alongside the burger/fries.

I asked about the soup, and what they used in it. Our server not only went to check for us, but came out with the recipe written down for us by the cook!

Needless to say, the service was top notch.

I'll be going back to try some more absinthe hopefully sooner rather than later!

Wow, so I can't blame the cut of meat then. :| I absolutely loved the hanger steak at Play Food and Wine.

Incidentally, googling the term "drop filet" suggests that it is unique to Absinthe, at least on the internet. Weird!

1

Drop filet is a hanger steak. I buy them at The Butchery in Bell's Corners and cook them sous vide. It is too bad the steak was well done because when cooked to medium rare they have excellent flavour and tenderness.

My wife and I came for a quick lunch on Thursday. I've found the food here to be hit and miss in the past, and this visit was no exception. Service was super friendly and the atmosphere is very good. Our 1pm start time meant we could sit anywhere we wanted -- the cozy corner booths are quite wonderful.

The bread was an unexceptional crusty loaf with anise. My wife was quite sad about it, while I found the anise seeds to be a fun play on the "absinthe" theme (she hates anise).

The food we ordered:

* Parsnip Soup - reasonably priced and nicely garnished with oil, but it was too sweet and the flavour lacked depth.
* Coq au Vin on Pappardelle - gorgeous house-made noodles with a light citrus oil treatment, topped with generous (one thigh, one drumstick) browned and braised chicken pieces in a succulent rich wine and mushroom gravy. This dish was definitely the hit of the meal and I was glad to have ordered it!
* Steak Frites - the menu says "medium rare" but this was a solid medium well. No matter, as my wife prefers medium well anyway. I tasted some and found it to be overly salty, and I like salt. The "frites" were excellent British style thick-cut chips, not really the delicate French style frites as the name suggests. If I'd ordered this dish I would have ranted more, but since my wife was okay with it I won't. She agreed that this was not even close to the best steak frites in town. Note that the lunchtime cut is described as a "drop filet" and I have no idea what that is. It is likely quite different from the dinnertime hanger steak that was praised so highly by Ottawa Magazine and Foodieprints a couple years ago.

The lunchtime value here is good. $14-$15 for a hearty dish is not bad at all, especially considering that's what they charge for their more interesting cocktails.

4

I ate dinner here last week, taking advantage of the WinterBites specials on now. I live in the area and have been meaning to try this place out for a long time; I was not disappointed! The service was attentive and friendly, and the food was delicious.

I chose one of the Winterbites menus for the night. My starter was escargot and mushrooms in a creamy sauce. Definitely not diet food but it was delicious, and I used the extra bread provided to sop up all the sauce. My main was a duck confit leg with roasted root vegetables and spatzle. The skin on the duck was crispy and the meat underneath was tender and flavourful. My mouth is watering just thinking of it again... Dessert was a chocolate tart which melted in my mouth. Again, definitely not low fat, but I could have started with a salad!

My only minor critique of the restaurant was how loud it was at times, but this is to be expected in a restaurant with such an open layout. Will visit again.

8

A couple of months ago I went to Absinthe for a drink after a dinner out in Hintonburg. The service was great – we sat at the bar, and got the spiel about absinthe – the drink. I thought the whole concept was cool and totally appreciated that anyone in that place could give that spiel.
So, then, in October, a friend from TO was visiting. We tried to go to that *other* place in Hintonburg but alas it was Sunday. Somehow, dinner on a Sunday is……….er…….difficult in Ottawa. Frankly, fun dinner for two girls is difficult still, but I digress……

We went to Absinthe. It was freakin’ amazing. From start to finish. We sat at the bar – which is beautiful by the way. In front of the lovely green Absinthe backdrop. Patrick waited on us. It was so so so so good – a delicious surprise from start to finish. The wine also good.

Service fantastic. Presentation beautiful. We even called out the chef so my friend could tell him how awesome he was.

I had the tuna/scallop appetizer followed by the arugula salad and then…..the duck and fois gras. Same as Bonvivant!

I will love this place as long as they keep doing it up this way. The service is great, they know their stuff – enough camaraderie and enough space. But also, I have to say, I went back over a month later, and not only did the waiter Patrick remember me, but I got up to go to the washroom, and another server (who had brought and presented one of our courses) said to me “Welcome Back”. And, Vonvivant, I had this same combo AGAIN because it was so damn good!! Yep, tuna/scallop, arugula salad, duck with fois gras. OMG!!!

The wine was awesome too – I was prompted to write this because we had the Irony Cab Sauv which was available recenty on a Vintages release (thank you!!).

All I can say is “Keep up the great work!!!!”. And the quality staff adds to the bonus dining experience.

But as a final comment, can I throw out there, that it would be so much more fun in Ottawa if people didn’t think it was odd for women to eat at the bar (or anyone for that matter) and to say, that I sit at the bar because its fun to be entertained by the server (he’s captive) not to get picked up – not that there’s anything wrong with that. This town just seems a little behind……

Anyhow……..Absinthe – I love you.

3

6

I'm thinking that the review got so many thumbs down because she did not talk about the food beyond that she expected to be very disappointed and gouged and was not, and that despite her personal dislikes she was very happy. If you are a regular on here you know that over enthusiasm without balance will get you a thumbs down, especially if you don't talk about the food in terms other than it was great, it was yum etc....and don't at least provide a pic if your descriptive writing skills aren't sharp.

13

lighten up people, 7 thumbs down because the review was over-enthusiastic??

1

I had the wine paring with my 3 course meal and each selection matched the course perfectly! Excellent selection.

They now serve homemade ice cream in 1L containers to go, looks like they're stepping up to the Gastropub!