Going Back to Hali

Howdy! November has been a crazy month for this cowgirl, and I apologize for my lack of updates. Part of the reason I went all Madeleine McCann on you (too soon?) was because I was on the road for work much more than usual. It's not all bad -- this time I had the opportunity to visit a city I had not been to before, but always wanted to check out: Halifax!

Even in chilly November, Halifax is a beautiful city to stroll around -- it's got some really interesting architecture and charming old buildings in the downtown area. I was surprised to find that the shopping is so good in Halifax, and I found several cute indie shops that I wished I could pack up and take back to Toronto with me (especially Sweet Pea Boutique, which has an excellent collection of frocks).

In addition to the shopping, I was quite taken with the food I sampled while in town. During my short stay I managed to fit in three restaurants, all of which made for tasty fun:

Gio (1725 Market Street)
On my first day in town, I headed over to the reastaurant in the Prince George Hotel, Gio, for lunch. I had read great things about this new-ish spot on Chowhound, and I was looking forward to trying it out myself. The decor in Gio is mod, but not ridiculous (in comparison to, say, Otto in Montreal). Once seated by my friendly waiter I found myself surrounded by rich reds, deep browns, and subtle lighting -- cosy, and very nice.

From the short lunch menu, I selected "gio soup" to start (butternut, with toasted pumpkin seeds), and a salmon wrap with string frites for my main. While I waited for my soup, I was given a basket with a variety of tasty fresh breads and some soft butter -- the bread service at Gio is well above average. My soup arrived shortly thereafter: deep orange in colour and garnished with toasted pumpkin seeds, with an intoxicating fragrance welcoming me to dig in. As I did, I was rewarded with a flavourful, smooth and rich mixture of butternut and spice that was contrasted with the crunchy, nutty flavour of the pumpkin seeds. Heaven!

When my salmon wrap arrived (pictured above), I was somewhat disappointed to find that the flour tortilla was a little dry, and of no higher quality than the mass-produced variety that you can pick up at the local grocery. However, the filling (smoked salmon, cucumber, greens, havarti, and a light dressing) was top-notch. The meaty salmon had an interesting smoky maple flavour and the bright greens were fresh as can be. The combination of flavours in the wrap was very satisfying, and it made for a nice light meal. The string frites on the side were also delicious, especially paired with a light aioli.

Considering the quality of my meal at Gio and the impeccable service I received, I found it to be an excellent value. I will be back to try some of the other items on the menu next time I visit Halifax.

Salvatore's Pizzaiolo Trattoria (5541 Young Street)
Touted as "the best pizza in Halifax," I had to give Salvatore's a try while I was in Oceantown. Based on an online recommendation (since there is no online menu), I called up Salvatore's and ordered a Quattro Formaggi pie for delivery. Less than an hour later, I was opening up a pizza box to find the strangest-looking pizza I had ever seen. It looked like a pizza with the edges folded over several inches. The non-folded-over area of the pie was covered with a golden-brown egg-cheese mixture and fresh herbs. With no tomato sauce, this pie was nothing like what I was expecting -- I dug in anyways. What a pleasant surprise! The Quattro Formaggi is more like a quiche than a pizza, with a rich, cheesy custard-like texture and flavour. I was glad that I tried it, but I think I would have preferred one of Salvatore's more "standard" pies for my first taste of "the best pizza in Halifax." Oh well!

Hungry Chilli (5234 Blowers Street)
On my last day in town, I met a friend for lunch at a hole-in-the-wall Szechuan place that I had heard about: The Hungry Chilli. Tiny and unpretentious, this restaurant serves up some of the most flavourful Chinese food that I have ever tasted. I ordered the "Hot Numbing Shrimp" lunch special, which came with rice and a spring roll for a ridiculously low price. My food arrived fast and the portion size was extremely generous. My spring roll was fat, crispy, and pretty much perfect. The shrimp was stir-fried with a mound of fresh, flavourful veggies and smothered in an amazing sauce flecked with large chunks of hot chilis. Despite its spicy heat, the sauce still had deep and wonderful, multi-layered flavours that shone through -- much to my delight. Highly, highly recommended.

A Weekend in Tobermory

Dave and I decided to get away from the city last weekend to check out a new (to us) part of the country. We headed North up the Bruce Peninsula, and landed in Tobermory for two days of wildlife, relaxation, and beautiful sunsets. Here are some capsule reviews on the spots we ate while we were there:

Stone Orchid Eatery & Shoppe
Stone Orchid specializes in Indonesian cuisine, which is difficult (if not impossible) to find in Toronto. As such, we were eager to check this place out. The service was quick and friendly, but also distracted. Dave and I each ordered a small Rice Tafel (pictured above), which included 6 Indonesian dishes served on a large platter: garden salad with coconut dressing, nasi goreng (fried rice), bami goreng (fried noodles), gado gado (veggies in a peanut sauce), satay (chicken for dave, tofu for me), and curry (fish for dave, tempeh for me -- I was happy to find that Stone Orchid is very willing to accomodate vegetarians). Our food came out with a small caddy of unique condiments, which included flaked coconut and roasted peanuts, as well as sweet reduced soy sauce, and a spicysweet peach chutney. Everything tasted amazing, but the standouts were definitely the bami noreng, which was salty and savoury, and the satay, which came in a delicious rich peanut-based sauce. The one low point of the meal for me was the curry, which I found to be bland. We finished with a simple, yet fabulous Indonesian dessert: vanilla ice cream with fruit (mango or berries) and a splash of Cointreau. Dave and I were super happy with our meal at Stone Orchid, and the cherry on top was when I found a 1980 IKEA cookbook in the eclectic "shoppe" attached to the restaurant. Score!

The Fish and Chips Place
Located right on the harbour in Tobermory with almost exclusively outdoor seating, The Fish and Chips Place was continuously packed with Abercrombie & Fitch-sporting out-of-towners while we were there. It's therefore not surprising that the service is extremely rushed, and a little grumpy. Nevertheless, Dave and I happened to indulge in some wonderfully fresh-tasting battered local Whitefish on our visit, which beats any deep-fried fish that I've tried in the city. The chips are perfectly crisp-on-the-outide/fluffy-on-the-inside and, even though they clearly come from a bag in the freezer, taste great doused with the malt vinegar provided on each table. The Fish and Chips Place is definitely not a "pleasant" place to go for dinner, but it does serve up some good, casual comfort food if you can put up with throngs of tourists and their small children.

The Sweet Shop
Located on the harbour, a few doors down from the Fish and Chips Place, the Sweet Shop sells a variety of sweets (natch) and houses a large ice-cream counter. After purchasing some wasabi pea white chocolate to take home with us, Dave and I were craving some ice cream. The portions at The Sweet Shop are huge, so I picked out a kids-sized "Reese's Peanut Butter Cup" scoop. Dave ordered a frozen yogurt with Oreo. My ice cream was amazing: peanut butter ice cream, with chocolate sauce streaks and chunks of peanut butter cups. I savoured every bite. Dave was a little dissapointed to find that the Sweet Shop uses very tangy yogurt for its frogurt, which doesn't combine very well with sweet Oreo bits. Strawberry or another fruit would have probably worked better.

Setting Sail B&B
While we visited Tobermory and the surrounding area, we stayed at Setting Sail B&B with our very gracious and accomodating host Louise and her adorable dog Glory. Each morning, Louise would fill our bellies with fruit and yogurt parfaits, followed by multigrain toast with preserves, perfectly-cooked eggs with fresh herbs, crisp sauteed baby potatoes, and ham or sausage (or soy "meat" for me). We would leave the house stuffed, with loads of energy. In the evening, we would wander down from the B&B to the rock shoreline to enjoy the wildflowers that grow there and watch the breathtaking sunsets (left). Dave and I enjoyed our time at Setting Sail immensely, and I highly recommend it if you need a place to stay on the Peninsula.

Vancouver in my Mouth

More business travel a couple of weeks ago meant more delicious food in another one of my favourite Canadian cities, Vancouver. I had the chance to check out a lot of great spots, summarized thusly:

1. Nat's New York Pizza (1080 Denman Street) - On my first night in Vancouver, I decided to order some pizza to my hotel room. I had heard some good things about Nat's, so I called them up and ordered a "5th Avenue" (spinach, tomato, onion, and feta). A friendly delivery guy showed up about 1/2 hour later, and I dug into my piping hot pie. I hate to say it, but I was disappointed -- while the toppings were very fresh and flavourful, with a simple, slightly sweet tomato sauce, the crust was doughy and flavourless. It desperately needed a pinch of salt, or maybe some fragrant olive oil. This definitely wasn't the worst pizza I'd ever had, but it was far from the best. Meh.

2. Guu Izakaya (838 Thurlow Street) - Izakayas are kind of like Japanese tapas bars, specializing in cooked "small plates" and serving very little, if any, sushi. They're pretty prevalent in Vancouver, but I don't think we have any in TO. I stopped at Guu on Thurlow for lunch on my first day in Van, and found myself in dim, woody, comfortable surroundings. The staff shouted a Japanese greeting at me, and I took a spot at the long bar that nearly spans the entire length of the restaurant, behind which the busy chefs assembled dishes. Fron the short lunch menu, which included mostly bento-style meals, I chose the fried prawns with tartar sauce, which was served with miso and sticky rice. My food came quickly, and was arranged in a cute mini-bento-box. I started with the miso, which I found to be pretty standard, but not too salty. The rice was perfectly sticky, and came with some interesting Japanese pickles on the side -- these looked like slices of tiny cucumbers, and tasted like a combination of pickled ginger and wasabi. Very refreshing. The prawns were battered in a light panko crust, and came with a pink (!) tartar sauce. I'm not sure what caused the colour, but the sauce was creamy, tangy, and delightful. I would love to try Guu for dinner, when the menu becomes more extensive, but my lunch experience was great. Recommended!

3. Rangoli (1488 West 11th Ave) - Rangoli is the sister lunch spot to Vancouver's famous and innovative Indian restaurant Vij's, and this tiny diner is located right next door to its big brother. Seating is limited and I found myself in extremely close proximity to my fellow diners. The lunch menu at rangoli is small, but there's lots of exotic flavours to choose from. I settled on an eggplant, pea, and paneer dish in pomegranate-cinnamon masala after a fellow at the table next to me mentioned that my fist choice, the Tilapia curry, is not as tasty. I also ordered a chai to accompany my meal, which was brought out promptly by the friendly waitress and tasted perfect -- creamy, spicy, warm, and comforting. My meal arrived a short time later, and was accompanied by a chapati and some raita. The eggplant was cooked to perfection -- it was not mushy and had soaked up a huge amount of flavour from the slightly sweet and sour, spicy masala sauce. The paneer tasted very fresh, and the tangy raita added a nice punch to the dish. I happily finished my meal and noticed on my way out the door that Rangoli features a wall of refrigerated cases from which you can purchase pre-made meals from Vij's. If only I didn't have a flight back to Toronto preventing me from stocking up! Rangoli is a great, tasty, inexpensive lunch spot, and I highly recommend it.

4. Go Fish (1504 West 1st Ave) - This is a tiny fish stand down by the water near Granville Island, with no indoor seating. Luckily, I was there on one of Vancouver's few sunny Winter days. Go Fish serves up a variety of homey seafood offerings, such as fish n' chips, fish tacos, and rich chowder. The day I was there, tempura cod tacos were on special, and sounded great -- I decided to give them a try. Each taco contained a piece of extremely fresh tempura battered and deep-fried cod with some sesame-flavoured cabbage slaw, tomatoes, and a spicy red sauce. The fish was cooked perfectly, and its fluffiness was contrasted nicely by the crunch of the tempura and cabbage. The earthy, sesame flavour of the slaw really enhanced the Asian feel of this typically Mexican dish, and the spicy sauce left a pleasant after-burn. I wolfed down both my tacos in no time. Around me, lots of people were digging into fantastic-looking orders of fish n' chips, served in bamboo steamers. I think I may need to make a special trip back to the West coast to give one of the battered salmon portions a try. Go Fish was definitely my favourite Vancouver find. Go now!

La Dame qui Déjeune

Last week, I found myself in la belle province for work -- Montreal, specifically. The trip started out not great, with a surly cab driver and a mix-up at my hotel, but once I got settled and ate some breakfast -- a flaky croissant with some delightfully rich and perfectly-cooked scrambled eggs (room service, yay!) -- all was well. With some time to kill before an evening meeting, I wandered down to Old Montreal to try a lunch déjeune spot that I had heard raves about: Olive et Gourmando. When I stepped into this tiny bakery-cafe after a long, trecherous walk in the cold (Montreal is slippery in February, yo), I was greeted by a friendly hostess who quickly sat me at the last empty table -- the place was packed! I was then directed to the back of the cafe to order off of the blackboard menu. Olive et Gourmando offers a number of hot and cold sandwiches, along with a few salads and soups. I was tempted by a yummy-sounding grilled goat cheese number, but I ended up selecting the Smoked Trout sandwich, and a Limonata to drink.

Settling in back at my table, I noticed how warm and cosy this little restaurant is. The front of the shop offers shelves of gourmet foodstuffs, and the cash register is surrounded by mountains of delicious-looking baked treats and fresh bread. It's a foodie paradise.

My sandwich arrived after no time at all, and I dug in. The most unique thing about this sandwich is the bread -- it's thick, chewy, and grilled, and strongly reminded me of one of my favourite flatbreads: naan. The charred flavour from the bread went nicely with the smokey trout, which was combined with tangy capers and sun-dried tomatoes. A layer of herbed cream cheese mellowed out the flavours to perfection. This was one badass sandwich. I found a recipe for it online, but if you're in Montreal I strongly recommend trying the original.

As I finished up my sandwich, the aforementioned treats near the cash register began calling my name. In particular, the little "exquisite brownies" had me drooling. I bought one to eat right away for dessert, and two to take home to Dave in Toronto. As I bit into my fudgy little piece of chocolatey heaven, I was struck by how well-balanced the flavours were. This brownie was not too sweet, with a deep chocolate flavour and a slight bitter edge from some espresso in the batter. Amazing. Apparently, the secret is Valhrona chocolate, and Dave was equally impressed when he received his Montreal souvenir.

Olive et Gourmando was definitely the highlight of my short Montreal trip (the lowlight: Chez Cora's, the French Denny's. Avoid Avoid. Avoid.). Next time I'm Frenching it up, Quebec style, I'm definitely going to make a point of going back to this perfect little bakery. You should too.

Eating Ottawa

While Dave and my dad went fishing up North this past weekend, my mom and I headed to Canada's capital city to check out its main attractions: tulips, museums, and political bureaucracy. While each of these were in ample supply, I was pleased to discover that Ottawa also sports a great selection of quality restaurants. Not to mention a giant baby head (more on that later).

We arrived in Ottawa late Thursday night and quickly crashed in our beds. Waking up the next morning, we were greeted by pouring rain and strong winds outside. Fantastic! We armed ourselves with a raincoat (mom) and an umbrella (me), and braved the weather to walk to a nearby place that had been recommended to me for breakfast: The Scone Witch.

The Scone Witch (388 Albert St) is located inside of an old house in downtown Ottawa. Stepping inside, we were immediately hit with the delicious smell of fresh-baked scones. The space is not large, with only 5 tables or so, and its cosiness was enhanced by the blustery weather outside. We headed toward the back to have a look at the chalk-board menu.

Going beyond scones with butter or jam, the Scone Witch also serves a number of breakfast and lunch sandwiches ("sconewitches"), larger meals ("mealwitches"), and brunch on the weekends. All menu items are made on, or accompanied by, scones of course. I opted for a Cheezy Eggwitch on a herb 'n' onion scone, while my mom ordered an herb n' onion scone with cheese and bacon.

After seating ourselves near the large front window, our breakfasts arrived without delay. My Cheezy Eggwitch was presented beautifully, with the tall, flaky scone overflowing with fluffy scrambled eggs surrounded by some mixed greens and fresh fruit in a light honey-mustard dressing. My mom's dish, a halved scone smothered in white cheddar cheese and crisp slices of bacon, was also served with greens and fruit. We quickly attacked.

The Eggwitch was delicious - shredded white cheddar mixed in with light-as-air eggs, all grounded by the flavourful savoury scone. My mom similarly enjoyed her breakfast, and we both cleaned our plates. The Scone Witch was, by far, my favourite find in Ottawa - I highly recommend it.

With a warm breakfast in our bellies, my mom and I again set out into the rain and headed toward the parliament buildings. While the buildings are beautiful and all, my main motivation for checking out parliament hill was the "cat parliament" that Dave had told me about. In the 1970s, this miniature cat sanctuary was established by Irene Desormeaux to house and feed stray cats in the area. Unfortunately, the crappy weather kept the cats inside on the day that we visited, and the only wildlife to be seen was a couple of squirrels eating all of the cat food.

Feeling extra-soggy, we continued our walk toward Byward Market so that we could meet one of my mom's college friends for lunch. I was a little dissapointed in Byward Market - I was expecting something like Kensington but, in actuality, the market is extremely "yuppie." After exploring for a while, we headed into Wasabi for lunch.

The decor in Wasabi (41 Clarence St) is soothing, with a soft yellow on the walls and dim lighting. Our attentive and extremely friendly waitress quickly brought us some warm green tea, which really hit the spot on this rainy day. After my mom's friend Heather had joined us, we dove into the long menu.

Wasabi has an extensive selection of the usual Japanese offerings (sushi, maki, udon, etc.), and a nice array of well-priced lunch specials. I was craving maki, so I ordered a shrimp tempura roll and a couple of pieces of tamago (egg) sushi. My mom ordered an udon lunch special with tempura shrimp, and Heather a beef teriyaki bento box.

After a brief wait and a couple of tea refills, our food arrived. My inside-out roll was stuffed with tempura shrimp, avocado, very thinly julienned cucmber, and mayo. The tamago was presented as a generous slice of omelet on a small amount of rice. The maki was smaller and sliced more thinly than I'm used to, but tasted delicious. The tamago was sweet with a great texture. My only regret was that I hadn't ordered more maki, considering the small size of the roll.

My mom's soup came in a huge bowl (more than she could eat), with plenty of vegetables, udon, and fishcakes in a flavourful broth. The soup was served with shrimp tempura on the side, in a perfectly crispy and extremely light batter, as well as a small side salad in a sesame-ginger dressing that was one of the best I've had in a Japanese restaurant. Heather also raved about her beef teriyaki.

Although their rolls are on the small side, the service and food quality at Wasabi definitely makes up for it. This place is worth checking out.

Once we had finished lunch, we said goodbye to Heather and decided to hoof it to the National Art Gallery. I love art galleries, and this one did not dissapoint. It has a great selection of Canadian artists' works, as well as a large contemporary gallery that contains a lot of beautiful pieces. This is where we came across the giant baby head, which looked extremely realistic despite being over ten feet tall. Creepy.

Once we were finished at the gallery, we headed back into the market to grab some dinner and find a pub where we could watch the Oilers game. After some indecision and much walking, we settled on Indian food at Haveli for dinner.

Haveli (39 Clarence St) is decorated as most other higher-end Indian restaurants are, with a prevalance of fabrics and ornate woodwork. A unique element of this restaurant is the tandoor room, which is surrounded by glass so that you can watch things like naan be cooked in the tandoor while you eat. My mom and I were seated near to the tandoor, and it was fun to get this behind-the-scenes show.

After a quick perusal of the large menu, we decided on Jheenga Tandoori (tandoori garlic shrimp), Kabli Channa (chickpeas), basmati rice, naan, and raita to cool things down. We sipped on Kingfisher beer while we waited for our food.

The restaurant was quite packed, so I wasn't surprised that our food took a while to arrive. However, I was surprised that they completely forgot our naan. It took us nearly 15 minutes to flag down our waiter, who then only brought out one peice of naan for us (we had ordered two).

Despite this setback, the food was delicious. The shrimp had a tangy, garlicky flavour that was matched well with the charred taste from the tandoor. The channa was extremely flavourful and spiced nicely. The naan, once it arrived, was hot from the tanoor and perfectly crisp on the outside while fluffy on the inside. It was some of the best naan I've had.

The portions at Haveli are generous, and we could not finish all of our food. Once we were stuffed, we ran into yet another problem with the service as our waiter would not stop by to give us the bill (we had not seen him since he dropped off the naan - we had not had a water refill all night). I will never understand restaurants that will not give you your bill once you finish eating. Do they want you to move in? We noticed that the girls at the table next to us had a similar problem when they actually had to put on their jackets and stand beside the table before the waitress would bring them their bill. What the hell?

While the food at Haveli is great, the service is atrocious. I would not recommend this restaurant on this basis alone. I'm sure that Ottawa has other Indian restaurants that are just as tasty, but actually show some courtesy toward their customers.

After we had escaped Haveli, we ran down the block (it had begun raining hard again) to the Heart and Crown pub to watch the Oilers punch San Jose in the junk. Not surprisingly, the game was on with no sound and pints were overpriced. Even worse, an agressively mediocre nouveau-Celtic band (think Great Big Sea) started their set halfway through the second period. The only thing that kept me from leaving when they started to massacre "Ring of Fire" was Samsonov's beauty penalty box breakaway. GO OIL!

The next morning, we woke up to no rain and a lot of wind. After breakfast at the Scone Witch (this time, I picked up a half-dozen to take back to TO with me - yum!), we took a cab over the river to Hull so that we could check out the Museum of Civilization. This attraction dissapointed both of us, as it was not so much a museum of civilization as it was a museum of Canadian history. However, we both found the exhibition on Petra interesting.

Following the museum, we battled the wind on our way back over the bridge to Ottawa and headed up Rideau to one of my mom's old haunts, Nate's Delicatessen.

Nate's (316 Rideau St) specializes in smoked meat, and the first thing that you encounter when you enter the place is a large deli area where you can buy salads, smoked meat, and other prepared foods. If you head past the deli, you come upon a large seating area that is straight out of the '70s. We sat ourselves in a booth near the front window, and were promptly brought menus and drinks by our friendly waiter.

The menu at Nate's is surprisingly large, with a good selection of sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, smoked fish, and other deli fare. My mom ordered a smoked meat platter, and I went for the veggie dog platter with sauerkraut (our waiter: "What's sauerkraut?" - pause - "A pissed off nazi." *rimshot*).

Our food came quickly, and my hot dog was nicely charred on the outside (just the way I like it). It came with french fries, a pickle, and a curiously green coleslaw with a sweet vinegar dressing. The sauerkraut was served on the side, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it had been warmed up for me. My mom's smoked meat sandwich also came with coleslaw, a pickle, and fries.

After piling the sauerkraut on my dog and smothering it in mustard, I dug in. The hot dog was nicely cooked, and the bun had been toasted perfectly - yum! The fries were alright, if pretty standard, and the coleslaw was tasty. It was nice to be served coleslaw that wasn't 80% mayonnaise. My mom also deemed her smoked meat sandwich "delicious." Nate's was a great place to have lunch, and I would definitely go there again.

After Nate's, we headed back into Byward Market to catch the Lucky Ron show at Chateau Lafayette. Surrounded by Lucky Ron fans drinking out of giant bottles of beer, this show was another highlight of the trip. We had a blast.

After the show, we walked downtown to catch a movie at one of the few cinemas in Ottawa proper. We saw "Thank you for Smoking," which was hilarious, and then headed back to the hotel to order a pizza. We decided on Pavarazzi Pizza based on its "Best in Ottawa" stamp in the Yellow Pages.

The menu for Pavarazzi (491 Somerset West) features a selection of "gourmet" pizzas, as well as the usual traditional and "build your own" pizzas, pasta, salads, and panzerotti. The gourmet pizza selection has a lot of very tempting offerings, and we finally decided on a large "Love of Cheese" pizza (basil pesto, four cheeses, red onion, and chopped tomato) on a herb crust, with spicy sauce.

It took a while for the pizza to arrive (about an hour), and we watched the Sens buy the farm in the meantime. Fortunately, the pie was still piping hot when it arrived at our hotel room. Biting into my first slice, I found that the basil pesto mixed beautifully with the spicy tomato sauce (which did have some kick), and the crust was soft and delicious (nothing at all like Pizza Pizza). The cheese was plentiful and gooey, and the tomato and onion cut the richness nicely. This pizza was fantastic.

The prices are a little higher than your usual pizza place, but this is definitely a case where you are paying for higher quality. Despite the slow delivery, I would absolutely recommend Pavarazzi.

The next morning, Dave and my Dad picked us up at the hotel and we headed to Manx Pub for brunch. After a fifteen-minute wait in line, we were seated at one of the few tables in this small, cosy spot. The brunch menu at the Manx (370 Elgin St) is relatively small, but offers several unique dishes alongside eggs benedict and the usual eggs-and-bacon breakfast. After receiving our drinks (they serve fresh juice here - my mom ordered a strawberry, orange, banana mixture that was great), we ordered spicy curry tofu scramble for me, eggs benedict for my mom, goat cheese, artichoke, and roasted red pepper omelet for Dave, and eggs and bacon for my dad. Our food did not take too long to arrive, despite how busy the place was, and our server brought along some of the house hot sauce for us to try.

My curry tofu scramble was tucked inside of a grilled tortilla along with some fresh veggies (peppers, zucchini, tomato, and mushrooms), was covered in the house hot sauce (a green sauce that is not too spicy), and accompanied by a mound of lumpy mashed potatoes. The scramble was fantastic - lots of curry flavour - and the hot sauce added a nice touch of heat. The potatoes (which come with almost all brunch dishes) had a nice creamy-lumpy contrast going on, and were really tasty. Dave's omelet was absolutely stuffed with goat cheese - the Manx does not serve small portions. Dave, my dad, and my mom all thoroughly enjoyed their brunches as well, and we were full for nearly the entire trip back to TO.

Long story short: Ottawa is delicious.