Ottawa - foodie itinerary

[LemonLauren]

Help, O-towners! I'm a TO foodist visiting Ottawa in March. I love local-inspired cuisine with any and all cultural influences, love drinking local wine and craft beer, love places where that feel cool and hip but where I can still have a conversation and receive good service. I like veggies and seafood and my partner likes simple pasta and red meat and pork dishes, but we're both not fans of game/offal-centred dishes. Some charcute is fine, but seafood and veg choices are a necessity.

Here's our tentative itinerary. The places below were all suggestions from friends in the food/hospitality industry. Honestly, the dinner menus at Beckta, Town and Gezellig (also suggested) aren't really appealing to us. The Hintonburg area looks very cool (okay, hipster cool) but none of the places looks like full meals for me, so I'd like to do a crawl-type night there. Let me know if I'm missing places.

Please give it a look and critique! We're staying at the Marriot Residence downtown but happy to take O-trans wherever.

I propose:

Thursday
Dinner: Navarra
Drinks before/after: Murray Street

Friday
Lunch: Play

Dinner: Pub/snack crawl:
Two Six Ate
Suzy Q donuts
Hintonburg Public House
Wellington Gastropub

Saturday
Running the St. Patrick's Day 10k

Lunch --> NEED SUGGESTIONS!

Dinner: Whalesbone
Drinks before/after at:
327 Wine Bar
Union 613

Sunday
Brunch: Zen Kitchen

Thanks in advance!

[Food Tourist]

I really want to try Whalesbone and Wellington Gastropub next summer. We did hit Town, Play, Murray Street KWC, Navarra on the Canada Day weekend which may explain the lacklustre results.

[pavlova]

I really enjoyed my recent dinner at Supply & Demand, just a few doors west of the Wellington Gastropub. The beef tartare at the Gastropub is outstanding.
Have lunch at Art-is-in bakery. Everything is great there.
Brunch at Hintonburg Public House was delicious a few months ago--some sort of duck hash/poached egg combo I couldn't get enough of.
Edgar on the QC side of the river is another great choice, but it's small and very busy.

[Dr. John]

You may want to consider eating a meal at Murray St. We ate there a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it. It is obviously very meat-focused, although the couple of vegetarian items were also excellent. The biggest problem is the overall richness, which can be overwhelming.

The poutine variation (spaetzle, duck) was great. The charcuterie and cheese board was also delicious - you can pick your combo. For the main, the beef was exceptional. The riff on s'mores for dessert was fun if you have the space.

[cynalan]

Many years ago I went to Bekta and enjoyed it. I have not heard much about it lately but it might be worth a try.

[Baelsette]

I've gotta tell you, we weren't wowed with Play when we were there last.
Over the holidays we did got to Murray Street and really liked it. Great ambiance and food was delish!
I've heard great things about Wellington Gastropub, it's on my list of places to try, let us know your feedback!
Hope you have a nice trip.

[TeacherFoodie]

Our friends in Ottawa also said they weren't impressed with Play.

[g5spark]

im usually in ott 4 days/wk for work and so i've been to most of the restos listed but i dont see my current favourite. Fraser Cafe (especially Table 40 on mondays).

As for the other choices, lately im a frequently at Union 613.
Murrary/Play/Whalesbone/Navarra they are good, have great reviews but none are memorable to me. imho. though there is no good tapas in toronto anymore.

if you got wheels theres some great restos on the QC side, fougere, wakefield inn.

[Food Tourist]

That about sums it up: Ottawa restaurants just aren't "memorable". I did a similar food tour in July and can't say anything stood out at any of those top-rated places.

[LemonLauren]

to be fair, sometimes I think few Toronto restos are memorable, too... but thanks for the feedback!

[Food Tourist]

Yeah, lately I agree wholeheartedly!

[LemonLauren]

thanks for the tips. Fraser Cafe's menu didn't appeal all that much, sadly.

[Deborah]

Your list looks good! Zen Kitchen, just in case you don't know, is vegetarian....mostly vegan. The food is fantastic. If you want to stay in the market area for lunch you might like Domus which is on Murray Street.

[TeacherFoodie]

My experience is that threads about Ottawa don't get many responses on this board. You may want to consult http://ottawafoodies.com/

Good luck!