In this new biweekly feature, Apt613 asks blog contributors and local food lovers about their recent Ottawa area restaurant highlights to help you find new tasty treats to discover or revisit when someone inevitably asks, “Where do you want to eat?” We want to hear about something that you ate and loved! Leave comments below, and if you’d like to contribute to a future edition of Best Bites, email <editors@apt613.ca>.
Best Bites this week:
Mezbaan, located in an unassuming Innes Road strip mall in Orleans (with another location on Carling near the movie theatre), is bright and cheery inside, and the scent of delicious grilled meats and warm spices will surely lure you in. I met up with my family there for a recent birthday celebration, and was wowed by the quality of the food and the visual appeal of the plates, not to mention the friendly and kind service. I ordered the chicken thigh kebob ($21.99) which was succulent and tender, and upgraded my rice to the qabelli pilau, which adds raisins and shreds of caramelized carrot to a pile of spiced basmati. A fresh and crunchy salad (no sad wilted greens here!) with a delightfully flavourful dressing and a dusting of sumac rounded out the platter, which was generously portioned. Fresh out of the oven (seriously, it was very hot) flatbread arrived with our food, to which I say, “cheers to more carbs!”
Photo: Alison Larabie Chase
I also tried the eggplant appetizer, which turned out to be luscious roasted eggplant chunks with onions, tomatoes, spices, and a garlic yogurt drizzle. It was awesome. Go check them out if you haven’t already. (Both the restaurant and its restrooms are accessible, by the way.)
—Alison Larabie Chase
Gooney’s has been bringing authentic arepas and delicious sandwiches to the city centre for over a decade, but if you don’t work “downtown” you may not have had the chance. It’s worth the trip to their new location on Albert Street for some of the tastiest handheld food available. If you’re not familiar with arepas, they’re a type of sandwich made with gluten-free maize flour and stuffed with a filling, eaten in many parts of South America, primarily in Colombia and Venezuela. The arepas at Gooney’s are fresh, overstuffed, and delicious and once you have one you won’t be able to stop thinking about them. I’m a sucker for anything with chorizo, and the Chorizo Arepa with feta and coriander sauce is juicy, spicy and salty. It’s like the best kind of messy burger: once you pick it up, you don’t put it back down until you’re finished. The Pabellón is one of their most popular, with shredded beef, black beans, plantain, and feta. The plaintain is a nice touch, and hard to find in Ottawa.
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They have pork, chicken, and vegetarian options as well, and breakfast arepas, which I haven’t had yet, but sound like the perfect way to start the day. The arepas are all $11-$12 each, or you can make them into a meal combo and add chips, a drink, or a salad. I’ve heard great things about their sandwiches and bowls as well, but I just can’t imagine ordering anything other than the arepas when we go. They are open Monday–Saturday, with great transit links, obviously. They are also available to order online if downtown is not your cup of tea! The space and bathroom are accessible.
—Kiersten Vuorimaki
I’m pretty sure Datsun never misses. This recommendation is hardly a hot take, but sometimes you eat something so delicious that it’s the only thing you can think about for days. That was the case for me when I first had the Kabocha Squash Dumplings with Coconut Dill Lime Leaf sauce. Now, I’m never going to choose the squash dish first on a menu—it’s just not a superstar ingredient for me. But holy cow. Our server recommended the dumplings as one of their bestsellers, and my dinner partner was game, so my rubber arm was twisted. Not only are they incredibly beautiful to look at, but the dilly coconut sauce is this fabulous balance of tang and sweetness with some richness and acid on top. Datsun is all about small sharing plates, so the order came with under a dozen dumplings, but I could have eaten at least 20 more. By myself. No sharing. The dumplings are pillow-soft and a bit chewy, and the filling is smooth and savoury, giving it a perfect balance to the rich sauce. The dish is rich, so pairing it with a beer or a punchy cocktail is perfect. The plate is $17.50, and not a full meal portion, so plan on having a bit more of an elevated evening out, price-wise. Get the dumplings. Do not share.
—Kiersten Vuorimaki
Photo: Kiersten Vuorimaki
We want to hear about something that you ate and loved! Leave comments below, and if you’d like to contribute to a future edition of Best Bites, email <editors@apt613.ca>.
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