Jack Astor's Lansdowne: Zomato Meetup

Have you been to the redeveloped Lansdowne Park recently? Do you remember what it used to look like? My memories are a bit foggy. I vaguely remember going down for the SuperEx and going to 67's games. Gone are the empty lots. Now there are places like Whole Foods, Lindt Chocolate Shop, Winners, and Cineplex Cinemas. Among the new shiny establishments, Jack Astor's can be found by the Aberdeen Pavilion. Earlier this week, I had the privilege to be invited to the third Zomato Meetup in Ottawa.



Once we were all introduced to one another, we went on a brief tour around the restaurant. We learned that Jack Astor's has added more of a local feel at both their Lansdowne and Hunt Club location. At this specific location, they have coasters that feature local personalities, arena lights that used to light the old Civic Centre, pictures and memorabilia of Ottawa's sports history. Don't be shy to ask the staff if you're curious about the decor.

The Hintonburg Public House, Gelatini Gelato and Claustrophobia

To celebrate Andrew's birthday, we went to Claustrophobia yesterday. The idea behind the different game rooms is that you are "locked in" a room and have to find clues to unlock keys, which would hopefully unlock the final door within the time limit. Lucy, Jimmy, Richard, Andrew, and myself, did the Hostel-themed room. Lucy was the only one who had an idea of what to do. We were all lost and just spent the first few minutes looking for clues and writing them down. The ball got rolling once Andrew found a big clue. We solved the code and opened the first safe, which contained a key to unlock more clues. Without giving anything away, we got out in 35 minutes which was the May record for the Hostel. It really was thrilling as every combination was unlocked and it satisfying when we finally got out of the final door.




We walked down the block to The Hintonburg Public House for an early dinner. We were a bit disappointed how small the Ploughman's Plate was, but the flavours and textures were good. We really enjoyed their crunchy fries with their house ketchup and Beau's Beer Battered Fish & Chips with House Tartar Sauce. We were pleasantly surprised to find crunchy nubbins underneath the pile of fries. Our favourite! Lucy's Pink Fuzz from Beyond the Pale Brewing Co.
was bright. Jimmy inhaled his juicy medium-well cheeseburger.


Looking to satisfy our sweet tooth, we drove down to Preston Street and went to Gelatini Gelato, which is located beside the soon-to-be-opened Roberto Pizzeria. The pistachio was extremely creamy and nutty. The other flavours were refreshing. It was wonderful.

Happy Birthday Andrew!

~*~

Claustrophobia
984 Wellington Street West
Ottawa, ON
613-899-5170

Hintonburger and SuzyQ

I would like to buy a hamburger.

I would like to buy a ambuger.

I would like to buy a hamburger.

Eyould like to buy a am-berger.

I would like to buy a hamburger.

I would like to buy a damnbuger.

I would like to buy a hamburger.

I would like to buy de hambeduh!

I would like to buy a hamburger.

I would like to buy umburger!

I would like to buy a hamburger.

DEM  BURGUH!

McD's Olympic Fan Pack

While some people love to go to McDonald's all the time, I'd rather go have some pho or pizza instead. I do enjoy getting McNuggets when we do go after their breakfast service.




Anyway, one of the current promotions is the Olympic Fan Pack containing 20 nuggets, two medium fries, two medium drinks, two fountain drinks, two cookies, and two collector pins for $13.99. Pretty sweet, especially when you get fresh nuggets and fries. The nuggets were barely warm but the fries were fresh.


Back in the days when they served pizzas, I was that crybaby that only wanted their crappy pizza -- even if it meant that we'd have to wait for them to fire up the ovens. Pathetic, I know. I then went through a McChicken phase and then got hooked on Big Macs following the mad cow situation many, many moons ago. Now when I eat a Big Mac, my body is hit harder than other junk foods. And that's why I stick with their nuggets.

The previous night, Richard and I went to see a Sens game where the Sens scored a goal in the last minute of play. That meant that we could go to redeem a free Big Mac sandwich with our ticket stubs. So in addition to the Fan Pack, Andrew and I also got two free Big Macs. I didn't touch mine when we there.


I did enjoy a few nuggets with honey though. Fries and honey don't work well together. I'll stick with fries and sweet & sour sauce or ketchup.


With crisp edges, gooey melted chocolate chips, and a chewy center, these warm chocolate chip cookies were surprisingly good. But when I think about how much money McD probably spends on R&D, it makes sense.


Full Disclosure:
I wasn't paid, reimbursed or asked to write about McDonald's. These views are my own.

Revisiting Buster's

Last week, I brought Mom to watch the hockey game. Since the food at the Canadian Tire Center is crappy and overpriced, we went over to Buster's Bar & Grill. With the purchase of a meal or drink the ride on their shuttle bus to the game was free.


Mom settled for the special of the night: Buster's Burger with fried mushrooms added.

I already knew I was going to get wings after my second visit to Buster's. Were they going to be crisp and juicy again? Or was that a fluke?


The 1lb medium wings were remarkably spot on!


We quickly ate what we could, put away the leftovers, and then hopped on the school bus to watch the game. The Sens ended up winning 5-4 in a shootout.

~

On another visit, Andrew and I headed over to Buster's after a long day of work. The bus ruined our original plans to go for some chicken at Zaki. The main reason I suggested Buster's was because it was near the Lincoln Fields bus station. It would be much easier to bus home after we ate.

I was craving something comforting. Their special of the day was lasagna and a salad for $6.99. Tempting. But I find lasagna only tastes good when we make it at home with our simple meat sauce.


Hot turkey sandwich is a special dish that's close to my heart. I knew that the gravy would probably be from a can or made from powder. I was hoping that I was wrong. But if I was right, I was crossing my fingers that the gravy wouldn't be offensive.

The dish didn't live up to the name of hot turkey sandwich. It was warm at best. After a two bites, I sent the plate with the waitress to get it heated up a little more. Once it returned, it was easier to eat even though it was only a tad warmer than when I originally started to eat. The gravy was probably from a can. It was on the sweeter side which was a bit odd. I still found it comforting though.


Andrew didn't know what to get. He was either going to go for the fish and chips, cacciatore chicken parmesan, or breaded chicken parmesan. The random number generator decided that the cacciatore was the one tonight.


There were peppers, mushrooms, and onions underneath that blanket of cheese. He inhaled his ginger ale and dinner, although he argues that the pace was his normal speed. He's probably right. I'm a terribly slow eater.


I tried some of Andrew's dish. Then with the small piece of cheese left I made a little poutine.

The unassuming bar and grill inside the Lincoln Fields Mall has now been added to my rotation of restaurants. Perhaps it has become a pre-Sens-game meal.

Updated: Breakfasts at A&W

Our family has never been big fans of breakfast. Brunch or dim sum? That's another story. But when I have to open at work, I need to eat or else I'd be a sluggish zombie. I'm usually still waking up by the time I leave the house, so making breakfast is just not ideal -- whether it's the that morning or even the previous night. The sun is usually still waking up too.




And that's where A&W comes to the rescue. For a few months working at the Costco location in Merivale, I'd go to Tim Hortons for some morning coffee or tea. Some time at the end of summer, some one told me that A&W was open for breakfast. I was so excited! The last time I had breakfast at A&W was over 6 years ago in Kingston. Lucy and I loved their breakfast sandwiches made with hamburger buns. I knew what I'd order first.


Here's the breakfast sausage sandwich combo with a hamburger bun instead of an english muffin. The sweet fluffy bun provided a nice contrast to the salty sausage patties. The hash brown that was included was super hot and crisp. They were much better than the soggy thin hash browns at Timmy's.


One morning, I ran some errands before I went to work and so I was super early -- almost 2 hours early. So I tried out their classic breakfast and received a tray with my breakfast and a mug of coffee. The tray added something special. It was a nice touch. I got comfortable and enjoyed my classic breakfast while surfing the web on their free wifi.


I've since learned that their orange pekoe tea is a better option than their coffee.

Here's some bad news though. Earlier this past weekend, I planned to grab some breakfast at A&W before work but their signs were gone. I didn't walk up to the door. It looked closed so I walked across the street for some Timmy's.

There is good news! Their voicemail says that they've closed down their store temporarily from Nov. 11th to about Dec. 9th for renovations. Huzzah! I'm eagerly waiting until they're open for business again.

*Update on December 14th: I've heard that A&W has been reopened for a few days now. I can't wait to grab some breakfast soon.

~*~

Burgers Before Trip to Asia

As the days ticked down to our departure to our trip to Asia, I really craved some burgers and fries. I knew I'd be eating Chinese food everyday during the whole month, and that made me miss North American food. Thoughts of pizza and burgers weighed heavily in my mind. Since we hadn't had hamburgers since the fall, we decided we'd go and have some burgers for dinner. We drove to Barrhaven and picked up some food from Five Guys.

Along with a bunch of burgers, we got two large drinks and fries to share between five people. It was a perfect amount actually. There were three receipts.

The burgers aren’t exactly photogenic but they taste amazing! I love their sweet hamburger buns. It tastes so good against the salty toppings. All of the burgers were messy. Toppings, condiments, and juices dripped onto the table as we ate our burgers. Sadly, the french fries were limp and under-fried. I wonder if you can ask for well-done french fries.

Lucy was craving a hot dog. I didn’t even know they had it on the menu, but it was there. She was too hungry to tell if it was actually tasty.

For dessert, we had a LaRocca chocolate truffle cake in the fridge. Quite a healthy snack, huh? It was rich and luxurious.

I’d like to say that our family has cut down on our consumption of crap since the new year. We still do enjoy McD’s once in awhile, but just not as much. With that said though, I’d love to have a burger right now.

President's Choice Summer Tour in Ottawa

Updated: July 3^rd, 2011 @ 14:22

Who doesn't like free stuff? President's Choice has been traveling around the country while promoting their new products. They will be setting up at the Real Canadian SuperStore in Westboro on Sunday, July 3rd, 2011. I hear that they'll be handing out free food (sliders, ice cream, etc.). Take a look at their flyer to see some of their new products.

What a gorgeous day! Dad and I dropped by the RCSS earlier and noticed that there were a lot of happy faces enjoying the free samples of food and drinks.

We headed for the drink tent first. They were handing out samples of their new sparkling fruit drinks: Orange & Tangerine, Pomegranate & Cranberry, and Peach & Mango. I tried the Peach & Mango one first. I found it too sweet.

We lined up for some free BBQ but they had only had mini sausages that were cooked. They were cooking a bunch of sliders behind the able. We were told to come back when we finished with our sausages.

The sausage tasted fine. There wasn’t anything amazing about them. In fact, they were a tad dry so I added some BBQ sauce.

I grabbed another drink, the Orange & Tangerine this time. I liked this a lot better than the Mango & Peach one because it wasn’t as sweet. I’d buy the Orange & Tangerine sparkling drinks.

Since the line to get sliders and sausages naturally snaked in front of the drink stand, I just stayed in line and picked up a slider. The sliders were average. I wouldn’t buy these, but young families with children should buy these. They’re perfect for little hands and stomachs!

The last of the freebees were little ice cream cones and your choice of ice cream. There were five new flavours to choose from: Dark Chocolate, Strawberry Shortcake, Tiger Tail (orange ice cream with black licorice), Pink Lemonade, and Mint Chocolate. I wonder if they chose not to serve the Praline Pecans & Cream ice cream because of nut allergies…

Anyway, Dad and I tried the dark chocolate ice cream. The ice cream was rich and wasn’t overly sweet. We’ll definitely be buying this in the future!

The summer tour will be at the RCSS until 4pm so leave now! Check their schedule to see if they'll be at a RCSS near you.

Thanks for the samples PC!

Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival 2011

The 18^th annual Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival officially begins on Saturday! Lucy and I have volunteered for the past three years but have never gotten the chance to fully enjoy the actual dragon boat racing event. I can’t wait until the races begin this year because I’ll be getting the opportunity to ride in the media boat and take photos of the racers. Wahoo!

Since this is a food blog, I scouted out the food and drink vendors that will be at the festival.

This weekend weather forecast calls for a sunny 25 degrees Celsius – and that’s without humidity. No worries. There are plenty of places where you can purchase some cool drinks… like this Lemon Heaven stand.

I like the looks of this stand much better. Ah, I should probably mention that they also serve diabetic lemonade diabetic-friendly lemonade.

(I just went on their website and found out that they do sell mini donuts called “Cin City Donuts” – but not at the festival. Whyyyyyy? Do you remember how awesome the mini donuts at Costco [it was then called Price Club] were? Mmmm…)

There was only one Magnum ice cream stand that I spotted. I’m assuming that there will be more. Speaking of ice cream, I saw a Dippin’ Dots stand. The first one I ever saw was at the First Markham Place. True story.

It should be no surprise that Pizza Pizza is around. They make and bake all the pizzas on site.

Last year, Lucy and I each got a slice of pizza for dinner. The slice had a bit of extra sauce and the pepperoni was baked to a nice curly crunch. I love when the pepperoni gets crunchy. It makes the pizza so much more flavourful. Luck was on our side last year, cause our slices were taken off of a freshly baked pizza. So not only were my components of my slice of pizza spot on, but it was a hot slice of pizza. We washed the tasty slices of pizza down with some ice cold lemonade from Lemon Heaven. That was probably the best slice of pizza Pizza Pizza I've ever had.

The Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival begins at 7am on Saturday. I'm not sure if this waffle stand will be open that early, but it would be a great bite in the morning if it will be. I don’t think they sell chicken and waffles for lunch/dinner, which would be awesome. Can someone bring me some fried chicken when they come visit? Please?

Fridays Organics have been around for quite a few years now. Lucy and I had some of their burgers last year and they weren’t impressive at all.

I remember seeing Stone Soup Foodworks at the Ottawa Race Weekend two weeks ago. I’m not sure if they’ll be serving the same things the whole weekend, but on today’s menu: white gazpacho, green dragon, and strawberry, melon and ginger soup; shredded chicken taco and organic refrito tacos; organic iced tea, local rhubarb ginger cordial, cookies and water.

One stand that was a bit of a head scratcher was the Seafood Macs stall. The only item I remember seeing on their board was shrimp ceviche.

There was a stand serving authentic Indian food. Butter chicken, chickpea curry, samosa, naan bread, basmati rice were on the menu today. They also had some water and Gatorade… I didn’t know Gatorade was Indian… =]

Beside the Indian food stand sits The Piggy Market. I only remembered two things from their menu, sausages and pulled pork sandwiches.

For those who love Thai food, there’s a food stall called Cuisine Thai. It wasn’t open so I don’t know what they’ll be serving this weekend.

I remember seeing this stall during the race weekend as well. They serve smoothies and fruits with chocolate.

The festival’s largest sponsor, Tim Hortons, has a large tent. They’ll be serving coffee, decaf coffee, and iced coffee – all for $1. All of the proceeds will be going back to the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival. It's too bad they don't have any muffins, donuts, or timbits.

You know what's missing? A bubble tea stand. They don't even need to serve slushies. There's also a lack of Chinese food. I digress.

This stall sells pita wraps, french fries, and poutine. I bought my dinner from here.

I was expecting something flavourful, but the chicken was dry and bland. If it hadn’t been for the sautéed onions, the whole thing would’ve been bland. The tzatziki-like sauce wasn’t very good. I definitely needed the lemonade to wash every bite down. The lemonade tasted a bit weird. I can’t put my finger on the type of sugar they used. It didn’t have that aspertame aftertaste, but it tasted like they used some sort of sugar substitute. Oh… maybe they lady gave me a diabetic-friendly lemonade when I asked for their original lemonade. Bleh.

In terms of food and drink stalls, that’s pretty much it. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the beer tent. So back to the food, the average price is $7. I suggest you either eat before or after you go to the festival. Or better yet, bring food and have a picnic on the giant hill! Something like: Fresh French bread, genoa salami, havarti cheese, grapes, and peaches…

Anyway, come join the festivities! Admission is free and so are the OC Transpo shuttle buses. You should take advantage of the free shuttle buses, too, because there will be no public parking available.

… So come on down!



Wanna see some of the action shots I got? Go to my Flickr page or just skip to the dragon boat festival set that I created.