The Short Version: Lovely large restaurant. Very popular…read morewith tourists and locals alike. Beautiful patio. Delicious food. The Long Version: My first time at Metropolitan was many years ago, before chronicling my food adventures was a thing for me, lol. I actually don't remember the food from that time at all (which is why I like documenting my experiences now). I recently returned for a continuing education event sponsored by a pharmaceutical company. The four course dinner I had there was great. As per the restaurant website, we got the "Group Dinner" menu, which is $72 a person. We started off with a bread basket and the bread was baguette slices which were warm and slightly crusty on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. Next up was a wild mushroom and truffle soup with spinach and Parmesan cheese. It was rich and creamy. Then we had a spinach salad with blueberries and strawberries. The balsamic vinaigrette was light and not too oily. The sunflower and pumpkin seeds added a nice crunchy texture. For my main, I got the Filet Mignon. I asked for it cooked medium and it was perfect. It came with asparagus which were deliciously al dente and mashed potatoes, which were not as smooth I expected, but still good. For dessert I chose the Chocolate Mousse Cake which was so soft and smooth and very rich. It was a great ending to an overall great meal. Service was pleasant and they kept our water glasses full and the wine was pouring freely. I had to drive home so only had a glass and a half. We were in a curtained off area and it wasn't too loud. We were able to hear the presentation clearly. There was at least one other event going on at the same time and of course regular restaurant customers, but the space is large enough that they could accommodate all this. They have a very large patio which is great for people watching. The restaurant is on poshy Sussex Drive, a stone's throw away from the Chateau Laurier. There's street parking or some paid parking structures nearby. Review #109 (2026)

What a nice evening sitting in the courtyard enjoying a wonderful meal…read more My table tried the steak options and thoroughly enjoyed their meals. I had the Tuna tartar which reminded me of a Hawaiian poke stack, just without the shoyu, or rice. Loved it. My lobster ravioli was very tasty, but...(And this is the missing star) was obviously sitting on the line while waiting for someone's steak. It should have been the last thing plated before coming to the table but it appeared to be the first sine the sauce had a skin on it and the ravioli was lukewarm warm. Don't get me wrong, it tasted GREAT. So close to 5 but not quite.

I've been here twice now in 2 years. Ambiance... Very nice…read more Clean and pleasing to the eye. Romantic and upscale. Lots of parking. Food... Good. Creative. Tasty. Short menu. Nice wine list. Service. Needs revamping. Really bad. We would have spent more and stayed longer had we been waited on by someone else. I won't even go into details but worst we had seen in decades. Will think twice about returning as it's not cheap but.... Would recommend to others for a nice meal in the far west if you want to take your chances.

A fantastic culinary experience. We were a table of 4 and participated in the Chef tasting…read moreexperience. Amazing. Great portion sizes - everyone had plenty. The wine pairing with dinner was also fabulous. We will be back when we are in town again. The ambiance was perfect for great discussion. Nice to see so many people still dressing up to go out for dinner. We live in Las Vegas and that is key to a nice night out. Dress up!!

Absolute gem in Ottawa. This is the best value French food I have had. The atmosphere is more…read morecasual and cozy, but that does not take away from the quality of the food. Usually when I get escargot it comes with just 6 snails still in shells, but this one they are already deshelled and overflowing. The duck confit was also perfectly cooked with large portions. Wonderful service as well.

Stopped in for nibbles and drinks with a colleague for a meeting during happy hour…read more The server was thoughtful and charming and the food is fast and well seasoned. Highly recommend.

This was, without question, the best meal and dining experience I've had in a very long time. It…read morerivals The French Laundry in every way--except the price, which makes it even better. Our party of four began with cocktails, warm olives, and focaccia, followed by the root vegetable salad, scallops, another round of that irresistible focaccia, the cod, and finally the lamb dish. Every course was exceptional--beautifully prepared, perfectly balanced, and absolutely delicious. We couldn't manage dessert this time, but that just gives us the perfect reason to return. I'm not sure when I will be back, but I hope I will have the opportunity to eat here again.

Solid place for dinner. It's a relatively smaller establishment and it's actually hard to tell what…read moreit's like inside b/c from the outside, the blinds kinda block the view. It's a quaint atmosphere with a nice bar. The staff are super attentive and helpful and very friendly. The food is fantastic up and down the menu - appetizers, entree, and dessert. They also have an extensive drink/cocktail menu that was great as well. Will definitely return when I'm back in the area.

Drumroll please... Riviera -- Wow…read more This is what I'm talking about. Sexy. Sophisticated. Huge ceilings. Gorgeous bar. And a Negroni list with ten different versions. Don't miss Riviera when you're in Ottawa. We arrived an hour early before our third dinner guest joined us, so we started with a drink and a small appetizer. After several of my jokes fell flat, I told the waitress to just pick a Negroni for me based on what she'd heard from me so far. She nailed it. It was a slightly sweeter Negroni than the traditional one, with a hint of rosemary. We shared a dynamite tartare to start. Our buddy arrives and, without even looking at the menu, says: "You have to try a Negroni here -- they clearly know what they're doing." So I went for a second one -- this time a classic. Perfect. Next up: the seafood tower. Honestly, it felt like it had just come out of the sea. Razor clams, tuna belly tartare/ceviche on a mini salad leaf that was outstanding, plus lobster and crab claws that were spot on. A fabulous start. There were three of us, so we shared a steak with fries and a beautiful au jus, perfect gnocchi, and a salad with chicory, little nuts of some kind, and tons of shaved cheese -- Parmesan-ish. I can't remember exactly what it was because I'm writing this the morning after... and there may have been a few more wines involved. We finished by sharing a pavlova with passion fruit -- three spoons. I almost hate to admit this... but it was better than anything I've had in Toronto in years. Everything felt fresh, almost farm-to-table. Light, lively, and just a great vibe. In my opinion, Riviera is the perfect restaurant. Oh, and I added our waitress to my newsletter list because she wanted to try an excellent Polish water called Perlage that I think the restaurant should carry. Riviera -- if I could give you a 10 out of 10, I would. Actually... you know what? You're a 10.

The scallop "chowder" threw me for a loop. It's a curry…read morethat's called chowder. It's just not Chadah as one would say in New England. A light broth with pungent nose and taste tickling spices. Heavy on the lemon grass. Very flavorful and a refreshing change for my pallet. Loved it. An amazing lobster pasta followed that, again with spice combinations that I have never had and thoroughly enjoyed. And let's not forget the attentive staff with amazing service.

We reserved for 845 PM (their last opening for the evening) and the restaurant was relatively empty…read morewhen we arrived on a Saturday. The hostess led us to our table immediately and the server came to greet us and explain the menu. There was a three course and five course meal option with the main differences being: 1) bread and amuse-bouche, 2) chef's choice for the second course, and 3) dessert (three course meal meant souffle and if you wanted to change to their carrot and coconut cake, it was an additional $10). The price difference between the two options were about $20. We selected the five course meal since it made more sense if we were planning to get the carrot and coconut cake. Overall, I would say that the service was great but the food itself fell short for the price that was paid. We added a half dozen oysters for ~$20 and that was our favourite part of the meal. There was repetition with the slaw used for the chef's choice (pork belly) and tuna tartare and the slaw was much less than exceptional. The amuse-bouche fell short and we didnt quite enjoy it. My major complaint was that the tiger prawn dish (main course) that I had chosen was incredibly salty and I couldn't finish any of the lentils and the tortilla crisp felt out of place in terms of texture of the food. The soft shell crab was delicious but the bean salad that it came with was not a good match. I would have much preferred a bean salad with edamame. The desserts were delicious. Lastly, they served a gummy dipped in citric acid and sugar when the bill was presented and while the robot shaped gummy was cool, my first bite into the gummy was not chewy and not soft enough to be jelly (not the texture I would expect). We also got the non-alcoholic pairing (4 drinks that complement the meal for an additional $70). I've tried several other restaurants similar to Stofa in the Toronto and Montreal area and I would rate them much higher than my experience at Stofa.

Lovely new restaurant in Ottawa. Great food, great service. I went with my mom a few weeks ago when…read moreI was in town. She is very excited to have a nice new restaurant very close to our neighbourhood. Nicely executed dishes Recommended

TL;DR/The Short Version: Delicious food at popular…read morerestaurant in the Byward Market. The beef cheek was melt-in-your-mouth. The Long Version: I was at Play Food and Wine Bar for a professional event that was sponsored by a pharmaceutical company. We were a group of about 30-40 people and had a section of the restaurant to ourselves. We had a set menu with a choice of mains (beef or vegetarian). We started off with a few hors d'oeuvres served on spoons. Servers were going around with them and I got to try two different types. One was a shrimp on a dollop of wasabi cream and the other was a gnocchi. Both were tasty and prepared us for the delicious meal to come. We all had the mixed salad, which was a spring mix with grapes, candied pecans, and whipped goat cheese, in a cucumber and mint vinaigrette. I loved the different textures and even though the salad came pre-dressed (I always prefer dressing on the side), the dressing wasn't heavy, so I didn't find it too overdressed for my tastes. For my main, I chose the beef cheek (the vegetarian option was gnocchi). The beef cheek was so tender and literally fall-apart. I didn't even need a knife. It was so flavourful too. It came with mushrooms and mashed potatoes. There was an olive and sun-dried tomato sauce on the beef that I found a too potent and overwhelming in flavour, but overall I still enjoyed the main. For dessert we had the chocolate tart. It had salted caramel on it and under the layer of chocolate was a layer of white chocolate fudge. It was very rich and decadent...overly so. I finished it nonetheless, lol. Service was excellent. We had several servers assigned to our group and they were attentive. They kept our water glasses and wine glasses full. Although I enjoyed the Pinot Grigio, I was driving, so had to limit myself to a glass and a half. Play Food and Wine Bar is owned by Stephen Beckta, who is a bit of a local celebrity, lol. His first restaurant is Beckta, which I have been to and while it's more upscale than Play, I actually enjoyed the food at Play more. His other restaurant is Gezellig, which is in my neighborhood (Westboro) and I've been to it a couple of times, and I definitely like Play better. I'm glad I was introduced to Play. The room we were in was lovely. It was long and narrow and had a bar. As with all restaurants in the Byward Market, parking is paid parkade parking or paid street parking only. Review #139 (2025)

Our server was awesome. In fact the staff here were so friendly and fun. She didn't rush us and…read moremade sure everything was to our liking. We had such a great experience here.

We were celebrating the anniversary of the first night we met.... decades ago. I thought we should…read moretreat ourselves to a night at the Metcalfe hotel (separate review coming - fantastic place) but this is about Cocotte. We started our afternoon at the bar at Cocotte - the ambience is fantastic with their atrium that is stunning and the bar staff were just great. My wife had the "Ottawa Spark" - as cocktail with grapefruit and prosecco that she just loved. Great bar that I would go back to just to have a bevvie. Wonderful. After our pub crawl we made our way back to Cocotte for dinner where we had reservations. It was packed - no tables were empty and I later understood why. Service was a bit chaotic but at no time were we ignored or left behind. Multiple servers took care of us and it was great. The drinks came out well made and quickly despite how busy it was. It was the food that blew us away. I started with the beef tartar - absolutely fantastic. Their wine list isn't extensive but they have some real gems and we got a bottle and dove in. My wife ordered the salmon and she said it was "amazing." From my wife this is huge praise. I ordered the lamb shank.... the red wine/port reduction is the stuff of legends. Incredible. I was almost licking the plate clean. Then we went back for breakfast. Service was amazing like the night before and their breakfast was amazing. Huge portions, fantastic food, just everything we needed to celebrate our anniversary. For those who think the Ottawa food scene is weak, you need to come to Cocotte. It will blow your mind. I wish I could give them 6 stars. It was that good.

I have limited expectations of brunch spots, they fall between meh to acceptable. The ones that are…read moregood are rare and in Ottawa even rarer and in some cases even acceptable one's come with hour+ waits. This spot luckily takes reservations and with lots of seating even a walk in might work. The setup is decent and is at the lobby/entrance of a hotel. Lots of hustle and bustle the space can get very loud depending on where you are seated. Service was decent. Now for the food I had the Pain Perdu and person I was dining with had the croque monsieur. Pain Perdu though looking decadent was just ok. With the creme anglaise sauce having something off imo. Croque monsieur was decent apparently. They are somewhat reasonably priced. With the added benefit of reservation give them a try if in the area.