https://www.facebook.com/655080444611390/

Stroll & Bowl Food Review, Ottawa, ON (2026)

08/18/2023

Stroll and Bowl Food Review #69
Seoul Dog
154 O'Connor St, Ottawa
August 17, 2023
https://seouldog.company.site/
Happy Birthday, Lance!

My Stroll & Bowl Partner turned 30something today, so we decided to do a food review for Seoul Dog - Korean Hog Dog.

The place is where the old Bacon Factory used to be, which was some shawarma place before that. This particular business was located temporarily where 222 Lyon Tapas Bar used to be, but enough about the musical chairs - what did we get?

Well the way it works, you order your protein type, dough type, and coatings from a priced chart. All items are in the $9 to $11.50 range. Some sauces have an upcharge; more on that later. Here's what we got...

Jamie - full beef dog, jalapeno dough, potato coat, no sugar (sauces, ketchup and garlic sauce +$1!)
Lance - half beef, half cheese, jalapeno dough, potato coat, no sugar (sauces, two mustards)

First off, the guy working there (James) was super-chill. He reminded me of Jeff Skunk Baxter, the bass player who left the Doobie Brothers to become a military weapons expert. He guided us through the process as I looked around trying to find where on the wall any side dishes were listed. I didn't find any, but according to their website they have fries, rice cake skewers, and takoyaki, which is essentially Japanese for Tim-Bit. On the wall mirror there was a painting of fried chicken with "$18" as part of the artwork, so I guess there's that too.

We're not going to lie, we were both pretty baked. Like, can't-find-each-other-at-the-same-city-corner-baked. When we got the corn dogs we were both impressed by size of these things! The hotdog inside was big, and juicy, likely a Nathan's Jumbo that the belated James Street Pub used to make six different meals out of back in the day. The coating's dough did have a nice jalapeno kick, but I felt like it was a little undercooked for my liking. Lance bit into the cheese-side of his first so he couldn't tell this immediately. He told me that next time he'll also get a full hotdog instead of halfa hunka cheese. What kind of cheese was it? We don't know; we're assuming mozzarella. The potato coating is basically rolling the dough-covered dog and/or dog-hunkacheese hybrid in a pile of hash brown cubes, then the whole thing is stuck in the deep fryer.

Paried with the K-dawgs (as you can see in the photo) were two picnic mustard packs for Lance and one shot of ketchup and one oz of pizza garlic dipping sauce for me. The garlic sauce was one dollar extra. I'm still working that out my head, because I'm pretty sure that's not what I was expecting for an upcharge. Oh well, live and learn.

These were some tasty, trendy novelty extravagancies. This is bascially expensive junk food. I wouldn't classify these corn dogs as appropriate for an actual 'meal'. This a place to steer tourists to for their insta feed, or maybe a physical place for Tinder dates to hide their deep sadness; I'm suddenly reminded of the lyrics to Bob Seger's 'Fire Inside'. Oh, maybe that's the jalapeno dough saying 'hi' again...

That's all for now,folks.
See you soon, and Happy Birthday Lance!!

08/13/2023

We're back at Atomic Rooster for brunch! It's only been 17 months. 😆

03/31/2022

Stroll and Bowl Food Review #68
Atomic Rooster
303 Bank Street, Ottawa
March 27, 2022
https://www.atomicrooster.ca/

Nearly seven years ago, Lance and I made a multi-pizza review of four local spots including Atomic Rooster. We gave the pizza a 4/5, which was generous at the time to be completely honest. I mean this is was our second-most important local spot next to the late, beloved James Street Pub. I mean it's not like we worked there... yet. My ex did back then, and she would always offer to bring home pizza from work to share, to which I would politely decline. The Rooster did, and still does have *many dishes that they do very well; but in 2017, pizza was not one of them. It mainly came down to the crust which carried exactly one flavor note - dry flour. It tasted like a child made it. Let's fast-forward nearly five years to present day.

There's a new kid in town, and by 'town' I mean the Rooster's kitchen. To protect his identity let's call him "Kevin". The first thing I noticed when Kevin took over the kitchen was the immediate improvement in the wings, poutine, and other apps. I never once thought to see if the pizza had changed much since by brain would cancel out the mere suggestion. There are also new kids in town, and by 'kids' I mean Lance and I; we both host karaoke at The Atomic Rooster now (Lance on Mondays, me on Thursdays). Isn't that weird? It's totally weird, but it's still awesome. We go to each others shows and announce the other guy as the other host on the other night. The two Stroll & Bowl guys. Ha! Dang nab it, what a brouhaha!!

Anyways, this is relative to the story, because it was on a night I was hosting (last fall) that the floor server Emily (New Emily, not Errrrrrmerrrrrlerrrr), handed me a small plate with a slice of meat lovers pizza that this cute couple couldn't finish. Having skipped dinner I was more than glad to bite into it not even thinking that I'm not quite fond of... wait... what is this? This pizza... it's... it's fu***ng AMAZING. Once I had a free minute, I went over and asked the couple "where did you order this pizza from??" and they looked at me like I was an alien. "Um... from here?"

Folks and Friends, the pizza at the Rooster tastes nothing like it used to. It's simply AWESOME now. The tangy house-made sauce, the quality of the meats, the cheese. The photo I took - look at the damned CHEESE! And the crust ties it all in with flavor. I inhaled half of this pizza in about ten minutes. The difference is absolutely jaw-dropping, and Lance and I aren't the only ones who have noticed. Kevin's culinary talents have really made a difference in the food; but the pizza is nothing like it used to be. Thank Christ-Crust for that!!

Medium Meat Lovers Pizza recommended by Donny Junior.
5/5

05/06/2020

Stroll and Bowl Food Review #67
Prohibition Public House
337 Somerset St W, Ottawa
January 12th, 2020
https://www.prohibitionhouse.com

May the Sixth Don't Be Dicks!

Holy s**t, the last time I wrote one of these was before Christmas. Well, now we're in a full-on pandemic, but many restaurants are still open. So, I'm gonna review one that isn't! Ha!! So in mid-January Lance and I decided to do an old-school Stroll & Bowl Food Review (I guess I don't need to tag it since you're already here). This time we wanted to give some local love to a neighbourhood spot which is loved within the "industry" (that's shop-talk for restaurant/bar staff which also includes musicians and karaoke hosts - basically anyone who has to deal with drunk morons, so comedians, bouncers, and burlesque dancers are also "black collar workers").

Lance and I have been friends for over a decade, and Stroll & Bowl Food Reviewers for over five years, and now we're co-workers in a sense, we both host karaoke at Centretown's famous and beloved Atomic Rooster (well, we did before the Maga Plague); Lance on Monday nights, myself on Thursdays. A group of really cool staff would roll in on both nights to rock the mic - especially Elijah! Lance and I agreed that it was time to give them a whirl one snowy Sunday night, and I brought my friend along - to protect her identity I'll call her "Crystal Lafave".

Elijah recommended two meals; the fried chicken and the "seafood broil" I think it was called. I'm not sure because it's no longer one the menu. I've included photos of all three meals, and for the life of me I can't remember what she ordered; even when I look at the photo. I'd still eat it though.

This place is all about ambiance, and the ambiance is on-point. I can still remember exactly how chill the vibe was, the mood, music, every little detail was calming and beautifully rustic. The food, and how it's presented very much matched the woody interior that you would expect at a place which is heavy on promoting craft beers. Let's be clear one thing; this place is not cheap. You get what you pay for, and the menus include the names of the chefs and a list of their suppliers. Having said that, my $32 half-chicken meal could have easily fed two people as I ended taking more than half of it home with me. I'd probably ask to switch-out the polenta with another side, but the chicken (and everything else) nothing short of fu***ng amazing. You could hear the knife slice thought the battered skin into one of the juiciest birds I've ever had the pleasure to stab.

4.5/5 Stars.

P.S. Support local as much as you can during this pandemic!
P.PS. Elijah sings the hell out of Voodoo by Godsmack. ♫♪

12/13/2019

Stroll and Bowl Food Review #66
Boston Pizza (Glebe)
640 Bank St., Ottawa
December 7th, 2019
https://bostonpizza.com/en/locations/the-glebe.html

Happy Fu***ng Holidays!

This flash review won't be lengthy, and yes, I'm breaking two rules; 1) Lance didn't come with me on this and 2) I'm reviewing a product from a multinational chain. At least it's Canadian, so I'm supporting a billionaire from my own country? The reasons for the rule breakage are pretty self-explanatory; Boston Pizza came up with something so fu***ng weird that I HAD to review it, and the only person who heeded the call was a dear friend of mine. To protect her i-derpy-dentity we'll call her... Robin. Because I'm Batman, duh. The weird-ass meal in question, of course, is the new Christmas Pizza.

Yes, Christmas Pizza; rotisserie turkey, stuffing, cheese, green onion, and a rosemary sage cream sauce. Spicy cranberry sauce and hot gravy were served for dipping. This is real, folks. I decided to meet Robin at the Glebe Boston Pizza immediately after playing with the Powergoats as part of a charity show for Toys 4 CHEO at The Rainbow Bistro. I was still decked out in my stage clothes looking like a god damned rock star about to eat some chain food. Clearly showing up only to try this, we were told that we weren't alone; this weird-ass pizza has been bringing people in because of its novelty.

So... how was it? I'm going to say, we were both giggling a bit nervously when the pizza showed up. I took just one quick snap as I was trying to be nonchalant with Robin; "*click*, oh, you know, my food review thing, haha!". And it was time to finally take my first bite. Pouring a gloop each of cran and gravy on my plate, I thought of classing it up with cutlery instead of my grubby post-gig fingers (yes, I wash my hands before eating). It wasn't gross. It wasn't bad. It wasn't something I would not eat again at all. But most importantly, it wasn't really *pizza*, or it sure didn't really taste like it without the key ingredient of marinara-type red sauce. This tasted more like a Christmas Panini.

As for dipping, Robin was more impressed with the Cranberry dip than the gravy, and vice-versa for me. If I were to change one thing with would be the green onions; there was too much of ingredient that ends up rolling right off the piece as they're thrown on as a garnish instead of being cooked on top, which I found strange. Still, the turkey breast meat was real turkey, and the stuffing and gravy combo was fine. I can see myself ordering one more of these at some point before The Jesus's Birthday Bash for sure.

I would give this odd but intriguing dish a 7/10. It's not going to exactly cure any tryptophane cravings nor any genuine pizza cravings, but it is completely edible, enjoyable, and it makes for some interesting water-cooler talk for you daywalkers.

EDIT: I can't believe I forgot to mention the two Tolerance bars that came with it! 🤣

03/14/2019

Stroll and Bowl Food Review #65
The Waverley - Elgin
339 Elgin St., Ottawa
March 6th, 2019
https://www.thewaverleyelgin.com

Back in 2007, I had the worst case of food poisoning in my life off of crab cakes from Big Daddy's Crab Shack on Elgin Street. My ex-wife, her sister, and friend at the time had the gall at this venue to charge money from people claiming to have magic powers of clairvoyance, and to be able to talk to their dead relatives (seriously, psychics are BS, giving them your money is foolish). I was very sick in bed for three days. Fast forward to 2019...

Wow! It's been a year since I've published a review on this page. Yeah, yeah, I've done plenty of soul-searching, I've eaten at many places, and I've taken many pictures of meals over the last twelve months. Without Lance though, it's just not the same at all. While we've each gone through some things separately over the last year, it just didn't feel right writing another review without his involvement. Lance is a co-founder of this page after all. But did you know that he's also the karaoke host of The Waverly on Sunday nights, located where my would-be-murderers used to run their Psychic Osyter Nights?

The Waverley is the second business to open up shop at 339 Elgin since Big Derpy's Death Shack closed in 2012 (I can't for the life of me remember what opened after). Then The Waverley took over, and while they pimped out the exterior nicely, it still was a place that screamed for my attention on a regular day. Recently though I finally checked it out to support Lance's Karaoke Sundays (don't worry, we're reviewing James Street Pub next). Lance had eaten there a few times over meeting there and gave me a strong recommendation (trust when I say that we are not biased when we talk about food at places we gig at to each other). I wanted a surprise, so I deliberately did not check out their website or menu beforehand. Lance and I met up and smoked a bowl on the way there when it dawned on us that we were doing our first 'legal' Stroll & Bowl (not that it changed our habits that much other than when cruisers drive by). The sun hadn't yet set on Elgin street so we caught a good look at the cl*******ck of a mess, and it's no wonder the bars and restaurants on nearby main street have all experienced a boost in all-around sales (allegedly). Still, we, we trucked through the war zone and entered The Waverley.

It's a gastropub that goes for a certain character with a decorum that looks a bit better with night-lighting (in my opinion). While there are some funky circular booths the seating is most comfortable by the large, wide street windows that were letting in gorgeous sunset colours. George was our server. I've known him for a while but only behind different bars over the years. Never serving a meal before. Man, this guy knows a) a lot about food prep, b) a lot about where their ingredients come from, and c) how to talk to hungry stoners! Lance and I wanted to split at least one app; the ricotta meatballs. These meatballs. Jesus Christ. I can't even. The house-made sauce that covered them had these roast tomatoes that popped their own garden of savouriness to the meat which holds its own, potent flavors blending a different taste in every chew. Topped with pickled fennel, shaved parmesan and aged balsamic, this appetizer was a meal on its own. In my mind, I'd already completed the review at this point.

Before I continue, I will advise that if you want to have the kind of experience we had, set at least ninety minutes aside for this place. We stayed for over two hours, but it did not feel like it at all (we didn't even order any alcohol). Our appetizer was so amazing, we deduced that the main would likely be just as well-prepared, so on this rare occasion we both decided to order the same thing; braised lamb shank. Resting on creamy polenta (which we had to Google) and garlic green beans, this miraculous animal limb was the most tender, fall-off-the-bone experience I've ever had from any mammal. Being of Scottish background, I'm no stranger to lamb. I understand how it's simply not everybody's thing. But I swear, this was not "lamb-y" tasting at all, this was prepared in a way I've never experienced before. Topped with a pomegranate pesto, it was so rich, tender, and decadent, that eight days later, I still have to wipe my face recalling exactly how it tasted. It was like the taste equivalent of that slight amusement one gets when finally scoring with someone previously thought to be out of one's league. Mix that feeling in with the shame of being unaware of it before, and you have a gutting-ly complex culinary experience that forces you to ask yourself, what exactly do you want out of this life which is finite to the best of humanity's observations?

Then George talked us into dessert.

This is a big deal because I normally don't do desserts at all. I just don't have a sweet tooth, I never have. I was the kid at Ponderosa who picked fruit salad as his dessert choice instead of cake, pie, or Jello (gross). But bloody hell, the app, and main were out of this god-damned world. While this wasn't the cheapest Stroll & Bowl review we've had to front, you readers are all adults and don't require us to price-list for you anymore. Lance went for the New York cheesecake. I went for the hand-made apple crumble, served warm with caramel drizzle and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Just read that sentence again, f**k (once, don't get in an eternal loop). It was completely worth it. I don't even remember when I last had a *home-cooked* meal that was this enjoyable and truly satisfying. Congrats to The Waverley in impressing the *hell* out of me, and your karaoke host Lance the Romance. Thanks again to George; you're a standard-setting worker in the industry.

5/5 Food and Service

***
In loving memory of Bram
(aka Captian Obvious).
***

05/19/2018

Stroll and Bowl Food Review #64
Chelsea Pub
238 Chemin Old Chelsea, Chelsea, QC
March 21st, 2018
https://www.chelseapub.ca/en

So I suddenly became single over the winter. The first month was the worst, but I eventually re-built my life during those coldest months. I ended up burying myself in work gigging 19 nights in a row without break, concluding with every musician and industry staffer's favourite night, St. Paddy's (lol). I was so worn out that I the following three days were a complete write-off for me. But during that time I was able to reflect on the positive changes in my life. The sun was melting the snow. I had a clean, spacious place to myself for the first time in years. My gigging scheduling had never been hotter. I felt back to normal in time for the first day of muthaf8ckin' spring!

After the break-up dust had settled on my end, I noticed that my social circle hadn't really changed so much as shifted, as did my off-night hang-out routines. I saw certain people less than 'before', and I saw certain people more than 'before'. One of these people that I saw more of books the music at one of my regular pub. As you readers know, I don't like to use real names here. She's only 21 though, so we'll call her 'Jillbait'. I actually do call her this, and I'm envious that I didn't come up with it myself.

One of the benefits of working nights is having the ability to dash away from the city during the afternoon. Within the last couple of years, I have seriously fallen back in love - hard - with Wakefield, Chelsea, Gatineau Park, etc. On one occasion last September I went to The Chelsea Pub with another friend. I used to call her 'Supey' because she resembles the actress from the current Supergirl tv show, but that nickname has since devolved into 'Snerpy'. Anyways, on our way to the Chelsea Pub, Snerpy told me with a giant ear-to-ear smile that a domesticated skunk named Poutine and her daughter Lucy live on the pub's property. Sure enough, we saw them when we got there since it had gotten dark.

So as I recalled this story to Jillbait, one of the servers cut into our convo to tell us that it's not two, but six skunks that hang out at The Chelsea Pub - all the time. As we snickered about their infestation, I had the hilarious idea to start pretending to be Jillbait's dad when it was time to order our food. Playing right along, this is now a thing that we still do, if only to amuse our other darkly-humoured industry friends. I then asked her to order in French, because I assumed that she spoke French for two reasons; a) she has a French last name, and b) she has some kind of Ottawa valley way of talking that *almost* sounds like a French accent that she's *almost* completely gotten rid of. Anyways, nope. She don't French, son!

Speaking of skunks, I guess I should talk about the food. I'm kidding. It was really good. I'd even say it was great. It was like going to your friend's winter cottage who have prepared really nice home-made stuff to impress you. We each ordered the French-onion soup and shared a plate of melted brie. The melted Swiss cheese in the soup stopped time. especially against the texture of the traditional crouton-thingy. As for the brie, it's Garnished with pistachio, apple and maple syrup reduction, and served with baguette-style croutons. It felt like we were eating in slow-motion. What neither of us was expecting, though, was the impressive salad that it was served with! It was a welcome afternoon and a nice rare sunny March afternoon. As the sun was starting to dip, we did the same. We were both full-meal-satisfied for the drive back to Ottawa to our nightlife occupations, making sure that *you* muthf*ckahs all have a great night on the town.

Rating: Six out of Six Cute Widdle Skunky-wunkies.
I'm always down for this place.
Much Love to the Chelsea Pub.
Sincerely,
Jillbait & Derpy-Dad
♫♪♥

05/18/2018

Stroll and Bowl Food Review #63
Al's Steakhouse
327 Elgin St.
Thursday, January 18, 2018
https://www.alssteakhouse.ca/

So Lance and I planned to go to Al's Steakhouse sometime last December. It'd had been a go-to place for my (now ex) fiance and I anytime we hit up the NAC for a ballet or concert. I wanted Lance and I to be able to experience what I feel is the Best Steak in Ottawa (SPOILER, derp). Tragedy struck his family though, and his mother passed away. Having been through this myself at age 27, not much younger than Lance is now, I was part of his support of friends and family for him. One of the most lovable people you'll ever meet, Lance is always the first to show care and support for others going through hard times. After about a month, the dust settled enough for us to finally hit up Al's as a tribute to his mom, of sorts; she would have *loved* it!

We hit the place around 5pm, which is a great time to hit up any restaurant for a quiet escape. though when you're as baked as we were it can also feel like controlling giggles in a library. The recent renovations were done; it looks great, but I will miss that weird coy fish river thing that used to cut through the floor. The service is fantastic at Al's; it has to be. It's family owned and operated for over 50 years.

I ordered my go-to apps; escargot au gratin, and crab-stuffed mushrooms. My eyes glaze over, my mouths waters, and my shoulders fall anytime I think about these apps. Our steaks came with salads that always seem a little chilled, which is fine by me. I *highly* recommend ordering their house dressing - thinking about this makes my neck twitch and my toes curl. They bottle this stuff and sell it at Sobey's apparently.

Now you all know that Lance and I don't mess around; he ordered the 18oz rib steak w/ garlic mashed and I picked the 16oz strip-loin. We both took our time but neither of us managed to finish our meals in one sitting, also Jesus F*cking Christ on a Beefy Bone Stick did we ever try! This peaceful evening happened three days before my own life turned completely upside-down, but that's another story...

In conclusion, my opinion is that A's is the best place to get a steak in Ottawa other than from my own kitchen.
Oh!
Yes, that's a bold-ass claim.
Wanna go, bra? Pfff, tsss...

Rating for Food, Mood, and Staff Quality
5 out of 5 F**k-Yeahs.

01/19/2018

Stroll and Bowl Food Review #62
The Wellington Diner
1385 Wellington St W.
Thursday, December 7, 2017
http://www.thewellingtondiner.ca/

Don't ever review a restaurant while hung over.

Having enjoyed a sort of resurgence with this little page of ours, Lance and I decided over a month ago to finally hit up a place we'd been talking about; The Wellington Diner in Westfisherhamptonhintonmechanicboro. Did I mention how hungover I was? My Wednesday Open Mic (Pourboy)* was pretty bumping and went overtime, as usual. I'd forgotten that'd I'd promised Lance this trip. At 2pm I crawled into my car and picked him up. No strolling today, kids. F that.

*shameless plug

The diner is inside of what I assume at some point was a residential home in the neighbourhood of Westfisherhamptonhintonmechanicboro. The decor goes for family-fun, community, and a love of three things; hockey, rock 'n' roll, and 20th Century nostalgia. Lance and I chose to eat upstairs where the vibe kind of feels like everything social is happening downstairs. This was perfectly fine with me as a hangover does tend to hinder my appreciation of human interaction. I did like the pleather boothy chairs upstairs, but there was one funny thing; a jet of freezing cold air was shooting up from the seat cracks of the pleathery booth and right up my right hip. Lucky I'd brought my scarf to block it!

I don't remember the name of our server but she was very welcoming and friendly hitting all of the industry marks like a pro; this place shows care about their guests. This is *huge* with us at Stroll & Bowl. And it's the number one way a place can succeed or fail; heart. A feeding place business has to have it or a feeding place will fail. Great points are deserved here for the quality of service. Now, onto the food.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Is not what I want to hear hung over, and the twitching of my right eye as she asked that made her understand. "We do have pretty good milkshakes", said our server. It could have been the best bad choice that I made in 2017. These shakes are monsters made in the very metal cup that they are blended in. They are so thick that the provided straws are more like plastic hoses with the width of a nickel. Holy f***! We weren't expecting *these*! They're not cheap ($5.99), but hey, when you're hungover and slightly buzzed from a li'l sidewalk t**e, it took no effort to pull back at least half of it while waiting for our shameful meals; we each ordered... (ahem)... The Double Bacon Double Grilled Cheese Cheese Burger which is a *huge* Hand pressed house patty between 2 double-bacon grilled cheese sandwiches as the burger's buns ($16.99). Now Lance and I have been known to put away a pig plate or two, but there was no way in hell I could have finished this meal. We each cut this beast of a sandwich in half and took the other half (and all of the fries) home for later. We were officially defeated!

We give The Wellington Diner Five Stars for food, fun, frosty hip-drafts, filling shakes, and fu***ng ridiculously-sized beastburgers. This place doesn't want to be the fanciest joint in the lovely neighbourhood of Westfisherhamptonhintonmechanicboro, but it the most filling, and the most fun.

~ Jamie

11/28/2017

Stroll and Bowl Food Review #61
SubitoSandwich, 389 Gladstone (across the street from Spaceman Music)
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
http://www.subitosandwich.com/

*Previously, on Stroll and Bowl Food Review*

Faithful readers will remember how our latest review ( #60, November 18, '17, Flapjack's) ended with Lance and I leaving Failjack's disappointed, and still hungry. Luckily we were a short walk to DiRienzo's, who ended up saving the day for us by simply being fu***ng awesome (we even took pics of our sandwiches in front of Failjack's in defiance).

*Present Day*

While knee-deep in my usual pre-gigging office work stuff (it ain't all s*x drugs and rock and roll, kiddies), I get a text message from, we'll just call him Gandalf (our immediate friends will know who I'm talking about) asking if I'd tried "Subito, the new sandwich shop across the Esso. It's one of Paul's kids from DiRienzo's". Well, upon hearing that news I immediately dropped what I was doing (and cancelled the next whatever-I-was-doing), and hit up Lance to tell him the news. In twenty minutes we were at the door of the place ready to see if our Centretown Sandwich Dreams have indeed come true.

They indeed have, our lovely readers. Actual shop name aside, Centretown now essentially has a "DiRienzo's" on Gladstone just off of Bank Street. Typing these words fills my heart with so much satisfaction, and any Centretown dweller familiar with Ottawa's Legendary Sandwich Shop knows why I'm so fu***ng excited about this!

Instead of wasting the whole review gushing about how the same magical sandwiches are available with a far-less walk time, I'll highlight the main differences between Subito and DiRienzo's. Subito's is not a grocery store that happens to serve hot servings of pasta and ready-made sandwiches, it's much more focused on the sandwich-making itself (they so have hot pasta which I am looking forward to trying soon). The signage is clearer, where to order, in what order to orders ingredients for your order, etc. They also had fruit salads that I never noticed at Dirienzo's before, but they looked so good I had to pick one up (and they're cheaper than at the grocery store, too). I was far too full from the sandwich to have more than a few bites!

What a win, for every sandwich and past lover in Centretown. This has actually, truly made my day!
5/5 for food quality, friendliness, service, location, everything!

11/18/2017

Stroll and Bowl Food Reviews #60
Flapjack's Canadian Diner, Part II:
What the Actual F**k Happened?
Thursday, November 17, 2017
354a Preston St, Ottawa

Before I begin to review the recent experience that Lance and I had this Thursday afternoon at Flapjack's Canadian Diner, let me begin by quoting Review #59 for Flapjack's, way back in July.

"5/5
PS, We will be returning soon for something involving fried chicken, gravy, waffles, bacon and poutine mon ostie!!!"

This time, in chilly, wet, cold, gross November, Lance and I finally get together to do one of these adventure/stoner stories you all seem to love (and I'm grateful for it). Walking wasn't happening, not with my new(ish) wheels with heated seats and s*xy reliability. With Exile on Main St. in the CD player we were off to return for a repeat review of Flapjack's which we'd been meaning to do, obviously, for a very long time. It's not like I don't see Lance several times a week, either. We end up baked at JSP or The Rooster and repeat the same ideas. "We should totally try Flapjacks again because last time we had healthier s**t and didn't get the stuff on the menu that made us say 'thissssss'", meaning the fried chicken, gravy, poutine or waffles. After a few failed attempts at getting our s**t together early enough did what we didn't do the last time; walk inside the place. Our previous visit was on a gorgeous, rare sunny summer day on the patio.

I wasn't aware that Disney's Epcot Center's Canadian Pavilion was a Transformer that could fly all the way to Preston Street in Ottawa and s**t out a restaurant. That's the decor; corporate America's cartoon of Canada, but you can still tell that it was Wild Wing. It felt... off putting a bit. Like... who thinks this is a good idea, and why am I letting them feed me?? Water was given again, and we learned that the 'plastic cups for water' isn't just a patio thing. The water inside them had a funny taste to it; I thought it was over-chlorinated water, but I couldn't really tell, and neither could Lance. Yeah, something felt 'off' indeed. I used a Disney joke earlier in this paragraph because while we waited for our food, Lance and I talked about theme parks around the world for the entire time, and how it felt like we were in one. I ordered the Club Poutine ($13.95) and Lance ordered Chicken and Waffles ($15.95). We also split a plate of Battered Bacon (6 strips, $9.95).

Fu***ng hell, where to begin. The Battered Bacon was the most edible of the food, greasy, deep-fried batter dipped in a 1/2-shot glass of maple syrup, which is not to be confused with their own 'brand' of "table syrup" provided (I didn't know one could tap sap out of furniture). Ugh, they cheaped-out on the bacon in these though. Too bad, because Lance said that the piece that came with his meal was good. However, he wasn't too pleased that he spent sixteen bucks on it with three small chicken strips and a dry waffle (and another 1/2-shot glass of maple syrup, not table syrup).

The biggest fu***ng disaster had to have been my Club Poutine. It was inedible. I could only eat the fried chicken off of it (and by fried chicken I mean one of the same pieces Lance had cut up into little pieces). Luckily the fried chicken wasn't hit by the gravy that covered the fries because the gravy was instant and bloody burnt. Lance verified it. Instant BURNT gravy, on a fourteen dollar poutine, in OTTAWA. Nope. NOPE. You don't do that in my city. The fries were frozen shoestring fries that were hardened like hickory sticks. This makes hard to eat with a fork. What... in the actual... how... what... FUUUUCK!!! This is not okay. As a citizen of Ottawa, I was offended that someone on Preston Street in Ottawa would serve this to the public. We both decided to not address this to the server, because the server was great, and none of this could be her fault.

There's no other way to say it, we both felt ripped-off, and we are more than fair and understanding people. Annoyed and still hungry, we noticed how close we were to DiRienzo's and bee-lined there together on foot without even discussing it. As you see we returned to the scene of the culinary crimes to show our appreciation to our Savior of Sandwiches.

Flapjack's meal: 0/5
DiRienzo's sandwich: 5/5

Stroll & Bowl Food Review

08/18/2023

08/13/2023

03/31/2022

05/06/2020

12/13/2019

03/14/2019

05/19/2018

05/18/2018

01/19/2018

11/28/2017

11/18/2017

Address

Website

Alerts

Contact The Practice

Shortcuts

Featured

Share

Category

Our Story