This paper’s dining establishment critic picks his preferred meals of the year after tasting the fare at more than 60 Ottawa-area dining establishments.
Throughout my dining establishment rounds this year, deliciousness was plentiful, and in all the best locations, from a modest taco joint in Vanier to a Turkish kebab home in Kanata, from a temple of plant-based gastronomy in Little Italy to a brand-new and distinctly Quebec-influenced white wine bar in the ByWard Market.
Below are my leading meals and some honourable discusses in a variety of classifications, based upon check outs in 2023 to not just 60 Ottawa-area dining establishments, however likewise 2 top-level cooking occasions and 2 off-duty suppers. I’m being more inclusive in this year’s yearly roundup– the 12th that I’ve provided for this paper– since it simply feels incorrect to let some outstanding food I had go unmentioned.
THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY
Subscribe now to check out the current news in your city and throughout Canada.
- Special posts from Elizabeth Payne, David Pugliese, Andrew Duffy, Bruce Deachman and others. Plus, food evaluations and occasion listings in the weekly newsletter, Ottawa, Out of Office.
- Limitless online access to Ottawa Citizen and 15 news websites with one account.
- Ottawa Citizen ePaper, an electronic reproduction of the print edition to see on any gadget, share and talk about.
- Daily puzzles, consisting of the New York Times Crossword.
- Assistance regional journalism.
SIGN UP FOR UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES
Subscribe now to check out the current news in your city and throughout Canada.
- Unique short articles from Elizabeth Payne, David Pugliese, Andrew Duffy, Bruce Deachman and others. Plus, food evaluations and occasion listings in the weekly newsletter, Ottawa, Out of Office.
- Unrestricted online access to Ottawa Citizen and 15 news websites with one account.
- Ottawa Citizen ePaper, an electronic reproduction of the print edition to see on any gadget, share and talk about.
- Daily puzzles, consisting of the New York Times Crossword.
- Assistance regional journalism.
REGISTER TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES
Produce an account or check in to continue with your reading experience.
- Gain access to short articles from throughout Canada with one account.
- Share your ideas and sign up with the discussion in the remarks.
- Delight in extra posts monthly.
- Get e-mail updates from your preferred authors.
Short article material
Post material
Initially, 2 cautions. My choices are not the city’s outright tops in their classifications. I attempted simply 60 dining establishments and not the 1,500 that tripadvisor.ca tallies for Ottawa. Some seasonal or even temporary products have actually left menus and now are just far-off, scrumptious memories.
Finest little bites:
Little bites are the brand-new little plates, and this year I swooned over croquettes de cretons, a best marital relationship of deep-fried meat and bracing sauce, at Buvette Daphnée on William Street, and the scallop macarons at Perch. Honourable discusses: a tapioca papadum topped with chutneys and onion jam, which wisely presented the special Indian tasting menu at Kathā on Preston Street, plus the breads and dips at Turkish Kebab House in Kanata.
Finest sandwich:
The corned beef and egg bolobao at Gongfu Cafe, the breakfast/lunch side-hustle of Gongfu Bao in Centretown, was a distinct thing of charm including house-made corned brisket, egg and chili crisp on a house-made, cookie-topped milk bun. Honourable reference: any arepa from Gooney’s on Laurier Avenue West, supplied that the stuffed-to-bursting Venezuelan corn cake includes additional velvety, house-made coriander sauce.
Post material
Finest tacos:
At Aztec Tacos on Montreal Road, the luxurious order of birria tacos was a bowl of tender meat stewed in a wonderfully husky and chili-infused broth, with soft, warm, corn tortillas on the side. Honourable reference: the toothsome grilled shrimp tacos at Hugo Taco in Centretown.
Finest pizza:
Roberto Pizza Romana in Chelsea knocked me out with its myriad of pies made in the Roman design, which is to state rectangle-shaped, with thin, crispy crusts. Garnishes consisting of confit tomato and house-made ricotta, mortadella and pistachio, speck and hazelnut, and truffled potato were all tremendously gratifying.
Finest soup:
It’s a tie in between the hearty bowls of ramen served at Jinsei Ramen in L’Esplanade Laurier and Kinton Ramen on Elgin Street. Runner-up: I was terribly keen on the Shanghai-style wonton soup at Yi Rho Pan Fried Buns, which possibly need to have led me to develop a classification for finest pan-fried buns.
Finest kebabs:
I’m torn in between the next-level doner kebabs and chicken kebabs at Turkish Kebab House in Kanata. Honourable discusses: the juicy, saffron-y chicken kebabs at Cafe Tehran on Rideau Street, and the chicken thigh skewers served at Abby’s Wine Bar on Elgin Street, if they too can be called kebabs.
Short article material
Finest pasta:
It’s a toss-up in between the timeless extravagance of marvelously eggy spaghetti carbonara at Cantina Gia in the Glebe, and the ingenious delights of nasturtium “spaghettini” with aerated sea-urchin bisque, shavings of treated duck breast and marinaded eggplant, as served on this fall’s tasting menu at Perch on Preston Street.
Finest poultry:
It’s a tie in between the flavour-packed and fantastically sauced “hay hen” at Buvette Daphnée and the signature duck confit at Les Fougères in Chelsea. Runner-up: the rustic however marvelously flavourful jerk chicken served this summertime from the Burrell Farm stand at the Ottawa Farmers’ Market at Lansdowne Park.
Finest steak:
It’s a tie in between 2 extremely various monsters– the hedonistically terrific and wonderfully provided flatiron steak at Cantina Gia and the ribeye carne asada at Aztec Tacos that was massive in both size and flavour.
Finest seafood meal:
Congratulations to the plate of dry-aged, nose-to-tail regional sturgeon with sturgeon garum and sturgeon liver that Alex Bimm, chef of Le Poisson Bleu, served in September at Ottawa’s edition of the Canada’s Great Kitchen Party competitors. Every part of that really cohesive meal was wonderfully on point. While Bimm’s meal didn’t win, not to mention medal, that night, I believed he was robbed. If we’re fortunate, something comparable will appear on Le Poisson Bleu’s menu. An extremely close runner-up: Wild Gaspe halibut, perfectly prepared and served with trout roe, leek vinaigrette, summer season veggies and chive blooms, at Arlo on Somerset Street this summer season, taken pleasure in on its superb patio area. As I composed on Instagram the day after I consumed it, chef Jamie Stunt’s meal was the things of year-end lists.
Short article material
Finest vegan meal:
It’s a no-brainer– chef Briana Kim’s deeply creative and remarkably mouth-watering development that won gold at the Canadian Culinary Championship in Ottawa in February, which included an onion tuile, smoked potatoes, rhubarb jerky, maitake mushrooms, marinaded onion, dill, lacto-fermented green tomato salt water and koji broth. This reputation-making meal is on the menu at Kim’s well-known dining establishment Alice up until completion of January, when Kim will shut it so regarding update to a brand-new dining establishment in Ottawa, to be called Antheia.
Finest buffet:
The Syrian spread of 40 approximately products at Al Halabi dining establishment is wonderful, bursting with meals of chicken or lamb with rice, yogurt-based stews, skillfully fried chicken, myriad salads, and a lot more.
Finest dessert:
Confronted with Kathā‘s shahi tukda, a fried bread and milk dessert that’s a calling-card product for chef Teegavarapu Sarath Mohan, the Earl Grey brownie with blueberries and milk-foam ice cream I had at Buvette Daphnée, and Roberto Pizza Romana’s chocolate maritozzo, a fluffy roll filled with chocolate whipped cream, I leave it to you to break the three-way tie.
Short article material
Where to discover Peter Hum’s preferred meals of 2023:
Abby’s Wine Bar
Alice
Al Halabi Restaurant
Arlo
Buvette Daphnée
Coffee shop Tehran
Cantina Gia
Gongfu Bao
Gooney’s
Hugo Taco
Jinsei Ramen
Katha
Kinton Ramen
Les Fougères
Perch
Roberto Pizza Romana
Turkish Kebab House
Wish to remain in the understand about what’s taking place in Ottawa?Register for theOttawa Citizen’s arts and life newsletter– Ottawa, Out of Office— our weekly guide to consuming, listening, reading, enjoying, playing, hanging, finding out and living well in the capital.
Associated Stories
Short article material