Café Orient

Earlier this year, I was grocery shopping with my parents in Chinatown and got hungry. I was craving beef brisket (egg) noodle soup. The only restaurant that served it -- to my knowledge -- was at the Oriental Café. My parents caved in pretty easily.

The beef brisket noodle soup was a bit lacking in flavour. It was there, but just not enough of it. Speaking of which, the soup wasn’t very hot. The tender beef brisket, themselves, were packed full of the beefy braising liquid. If only there was more of that flavour in the soup. Mom was disappointed that there weren’t any tendons, but I told her that I ordered the beef brisket noodle soup and not the beef brisket and tendon noodle soup.

We also got a plate of fried rice noodles with black bean sauce. The chef wasn’t as heavy handed with the bean sprouts this time. Much appreciated. I actually ate the bean sprouts! As usual, the noodles were on the greasier side of things.

Dad ordered a plate of beef with Cantonese sweet sauce to eat with rice. There was a bit of miscommunication with the waiter and Dad. The waiter came by and asked if we wanted the rice on the bottom of the plate or separately. Dad just smiled and nodded when the waiter asked that. The waiter confirmed, “are you sure you want the rice under the beef?” Dad smiled and nodded again. Dad actually wanted the rice separately. Fail.

The last dish of the evening was the soup dumplings (xiao long bao). I remember reading it on Nooschi a while back and always wanted to try it. There wasn’t much soup inside the dumplings but I’m comparing it to the Northern Dumpling Kitchen. The skins of the dumplings weren't super thin or super thick. I didn't mind it.

I believe it’s the only restaurant in Ottawa that serves soup dumplings. If I have a bad craving for them, I’d go back and give them another try. I'd also like to go back and try their beef brisket and wonton noodle soups.

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Café Orient

808 Somerset St W

Ottawa, ON

613-563-2422