Borealis

Looking for suggestions for restaurants in the downtown Ottawa area - anything from fine dining to funky bistros to ethnic cuisine, for lunches and for dinners (for free moments on an upcoming business trip .

Thanks!!

HogtownJim

Breakfasts/brunch - eggspectation
at Bank and Laurier.

Lunch - D'Arcy MgGee's Irish pub at the end of Sparks Street next to the War Memorial. Good place to end the evening with a nice pint.

Dinner - The Bytown market area (Sussex Drive/Rideau area) Restaurants of all types are found in this area.

laverendrye

For fine dining, try Beckta, Signatures, Domus, the ARC Lounge and Wilfrid's (Chateau Laurier). Juniper is not downtown, but is one of the best. In Gatineau (Hull), not really far from downtown, le Tartuffe and Café Henry Burger. After Signatures, the most elegant and some say the best restaurant in the area is le Baccara at the Casino, which is a bit farther from downtown than the others.

I wouldn't go to D'Arcy McGee's for the food, but it's interesting to see al the self-important political operatives there (it's right across the street from the Prime Minister's Office). The place for lobbyists' power lunches (other than the private Rideau Club) is still Hy's, a steak house, and the Capital Room at the Delta.

As HogtownJim says, there are lots of restaurants, bistros and pubs in the Byward Market, and new ones keep cropping up all the time. My favourites include Clair de Lune, the Black Cat, Trattoria Spiga (Italian/Portuguese) and Domus. Sweetgrass, an aboriginal restuarant which has just opened, has had good reviews, but I haven't yet been there. For pubs, I like the Heart and Crown and the Duke of Somerset.

The best East Asian restuarants (Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese) tend to be around Somerset Street a bit west of downtown. Slightly farther west, many of the good Italian restuarants are on Preston Street. For Indian food, try Café Shafali in the Market.

BAK

A friend ate at Fred's, Feida's,or some similar name Italian restaurant in the Market area last week, and recommends the calamari.

BAK

Borealis

Wow! - there certainly seems to be a large variety of restaurants in the downtown area - thanks so much!!

Borealis

Just heard about a new japanese fusion restaurant in The Market called Kinki - has anybody been there? Is the music as loud as the reviews make it out to be??

Thanks.