In this 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:
- Amazing Authentic Artisan Noodles ( 717 Somerset W)
- Strudel & Perogi Ladies (The Ottawa Xmas Market)
- Union Street Café (42 Crichton at Union)
What’s in a name? Well, at Amazing Authentic Artisan Noodles in Chinatown, they put everything you need to know on their sign. While they offer more than noodles, the namesake noodles are amazing and handmade. (I am not the person to comment on authenticity, but I have heard that they are legit!) I went for lunch recently with a friend. I took the server’s recommendation to get the Braised Beef Brisket Noodles—an enormous bowl of savoury broth (not pho, not ramen) stuffed with luscious hand-pulled (or knife-cut) noodles, thick and thin-cut juicy beef brisket, spring onions, a couple of veggies, and cilantro. The thick noodles were chewy, tender, and flavourful. The serving of brisket was very generous, and the chunks had great braised colour while still tender and juicy. The soup was very satisfying on a damp Ottawa afternoon, and for $19.99 it was more food than I could eat, even if I tried.
Amazing Authentic Artisan Noodles. Photo: Kiersten Vuorimaki
My friend ordered the Vegetarian Noodles, which was equally huge, with gorgeous bright veggies—carrots, broccoli, greens, lovely dark, fluted mushrooms and a fried egg on top. The veggies were still crunchy and fresh. The restaurant is small and casual and the food came very quickly. I’ll return soon to try the knife-cut noodles, and I won’t eat breakfast that day.
-Kiersten Vuorimaki
The arrival of the Xmas Market at Lansdowne means one delicious thing to me: the handmade perogi from the Strudel & Perogi Ladies. Denise and Toni travel all over Ontario selling their homemade strudel (yummy) and fresh, hot plates of perogi. For $12, you get 6 pan-fried perogi, fluffy and savoury inside with a nearly embarrassing amount of caramelized onions, fried bacon, grated cheese and sour cream. If you go right at dinner time, expect a lineup, but these are worth the wait.
Xmas Perogi. Photo: Kiersten Vuorimaki
They are located on the outside loop of the market, facing the live music with their backs to the Cineplex. Perch at a tall table, or find a red muskoka chair next to a fire and enjoy these with a mulled cider from next door. Get a cherry strudel to share for dessert, or save it for breakfast the next morning. They are perfection, and worth braving the winter weather.
-Kiersten Vuorimaki
Union Street Cafe is in New Edinburgh, a short walk from Stanley Park, Rideau Hall, and Global Affairs Canada. The tiny cafe is in a beautiful brick building and offers some of the tastiest pastries and cookies I’ve ever had. I love their homemade maple cardamom syrup in my latte, hot or iced. In pre-pandemic days there was limited indoor seating, but they’ve moved to a take-out-only model as they’ve expanded their offerings to include a few frozen food options and pantry staples (including Michael’s Dolce sriracha sauce, which goes great with everything). Built-in benches, as well as a few cute patio tables, provide limited outdoor seating. All the offerings are vegetarian and full of flavour. My go-to lunch order is one of their grilled panini sandwiches (around $15) made on homemade focaccia and filled with delicious combos like pesto, tomato, and mozzarella; or apple and brie. It’s hard to pass up a sweet treat from the cookie bar with offerings such as Belgian chocolate cookies, ginger molasses whoopees, and marshmallow cornflake cookies (all around $4 each).
-Hannah Manning
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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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