Eating up the Hill: Committee scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam

I feel at this point that, after seven years working in the halls of Parliament, I've sampled most of what the Hill's catering services have to offer. But we had something I hadn't tried before at committee on Friday and, while I didn't go in with high expectations, I was quite pleasantly surprised: scones.

Doesn't sound overly exciting, I know. And there is room for improvement. If the scones could be warm, that would be a big step up. And the strawberry jam was a little separated and could have been more viscous.

But the clotted cream was amazing. And the combo of clotted cream, strawberry jam and scone was such a treat. And while it can't quite blot out the committee drama like those Philly angels enjoying cream cheese in the clouds have their worries float away, it is a sweet treat that brightened the day.

I mean, it's not SconeWitch, but it's a nice change from the usual fare.

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Eating up the Hill: The evolution of the caf's General Tso Chicken

You're not going to get high-quality Chinese food from a Parliament Hill Cafeteria -- you'd do better at a nearby mall food court or, better yet, walk down to Sommerset Street and Chinatown. But for a quick lunch that is a nice change, I always try to make it to the caf when General Tso Chicken comes up on the rotation menu of daily specials.

It's been a staple for most of my seven years on the Hill and the basic idea has remained much the same: chicken in a general tso sauce on fried rice with a spring roll and plum sauce. It tends to align with one of my preferred soups, so it's a nice once a month or so treat.

There have been some bumps on the General Tso road over the years. It tends to be a popular dish, so occasionally they've run out of chicken -- usually unbreaded chunks of processed-looking white meat. On these occasions they will sometime sub in a couple of breaded chicken strips and sauce them which is curious, as chicken strips aren't on the menu at all -- if so, they'd be in my rotation. I asked once, and apparently they only keep them on hand for chicken emergencies.

Sometimes they run out all together.

One time I was down early but they had pulled the special -- apparently they felt the sauce was too hot this day for the Hill population to handle. I have never even gotten a hint of heat from their General Tso sauce, but my sensitivity has been dulled by years of Scarborough Hakka and South Asian cuisine.

A few months ago, I ordered the special when it was up and it was inedible. The sauce was just gross and the chicken very low quality.

Still, I believe in second chances, so when it came up in the rotation again I took the plunge, assured they had made changes. And indeed, they had. The first and most noticeable was that they were now using breaded chicken nuggets. Rather than being in the sauce as before, they were kept separate from the sauce and were sauced on the plate. The veggie rice was also now just regular rice, although the number of red peppers in the sauce seemed increased. All through the years, the spring roll has remained an unchanging constant.

Breaded nuggets are an interesting choice. I'm not sure what the General would say. I mean, it's higher quality than the most recent chicken iteration, but it's far from traditional. I miss the veggies in the rice; hell, even tossing in some of that pee/carrot/bean frozen veg mix would be welcome.

Glad to see them trying to innovate the menu, though. Maybe rotate this out for something in a peanut sauce or a curry though? Better is always possible, my friends.

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Eating up the Hill: Garden Party food round-up

Tonight marked the return of the annual Garden Party for Liberal MPs and assistants on the grounds of 24 Sussex Drive after a two-year pandemic hiatus. Without the recently COVID-positive Prime Minister, sadly, disapointing a generation of post-pandemic young staffers who won't be able to update their Facebook profiles tomorrow with a picture of themselves with Justin Trudeau.

Also missing were the amazing tandori lambchops which in my view were the standout of the last pre-pandemic garden party -- sorry JT. Though I am told Coconut Lagoon will be reopening soon. There were a number of local vendors with tasty small plate nibbles though, and your humble blogger sampled most of them for you.

Crispy chicken taquito

It was crispy, it was chicken, there was queso and guac -- what's not to love? I could certainly have eaten more.

Summer salad with flank steak

A little radish-heavy, but I enjoyed the pea pods. Steak was medium-rare and tender. Maybe needed a little pepper. But very tasty.

Charred haloumi lettuce wrap

This was delish. They were grilling the haloumi on site, which was cool. I make haloumi a lot at home when BBQing and I love it, but it can be a little one note. I like the lettuce wrap idea and will do this at  home.

Not pictured: oysters, because I don't like them.

And ice cream bars from Moo-Shu, because it was really hot and I ate it really quickly. There were a menu of choices, but I went with the chocoloate-covered strawberry sprinkles and had no regrets.

Next year, open up the pool.

Happy summer, y'all!

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Eating up the Hill: Chicken shawarma platter – better is definitely possible

Ottawa is Canada’s capital, in terms of government and in terms of shawarma. We have a longstanding Lebanese community that has ran shawarma shops across the city going back several generations. So when I saw that a chicken shawarma platter was newly added to the Parliamentary Cafeteria’s rotating daily specials, I was intrigued and trepidatious.

Going down to order it today, the first thing I noticed was a heating tray of chicken breasts caked in seasoning. I guess investing in a shawarma spit that would be used every six weeks would be too much to ask for, but I thought maybe they would have shaved it off site or something.

Anyway, they sliced the chicken breast like you would a chopped steak, and then put it in a takeout container with some turnip, tabouleh salad, a small handful of pita chips, a cup of what I presume was a garlic sauce (ingredient list unclear) and a cup of humus. No pita bread on the side or a green salad, as would be traditional for a platter. Sometimes potatoes too, though I usually pass on the carbs. This is half the price (and size) of a typical shawarma platter though, so sacrifices must be made.

Bringing it upstairs with a Diet Coke, I dove in. I sampled the chicken breast on its own. A little dry. Caked in seasoning, from which I got no heat but notes of cinnamon. The ingredient list confirmed this, as well as cumin, paprika and chili powder. It was OK, but I can’t say it screamed shawarma to me. Some quick googling confirms this is traditional, though could have used more pepper. But without being toasted on a spit, it's not shawarma meat.

I dipped the chicken in the garlic sauce and the pita chips in the humus. Both were fine. I ate but didn’t care for the tabouleh salad, but I don’t care for any tabouleh salad. I get the green salad when buying a platter. I wouldn’t have gotten the turnips but wanted to show you the full offering – I ate one to confirm I still don’t like them,

I appreciate the effort, but the caf just doesn’t do well with ethic food. They do a passable Chinese food offering which I’ll have tomorrow. They used to have a gyro sandwich which I made passable by having them heat the pita on the grill – I guess not enough people knew this trick as it’s off the menu rotation. 

So if you want shawarma, leave the building, walk a block and get the real thing. In Ottawa, better shawarma is always possible.

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Eating up the Hill: Italian Sausage Ragout

 During election campaigns the Parliamentary cafeteria system often takes the time to renew and refresh its rotating menu of daily specials. This week, it has two new offerings making their debut and I shall endeavor to try them out and report back to you, my faithful handful of readers.

Today was the Italian Sausage Ragout. My first thought on seeing it in the pan, which I shared with the cafeteria staffer, was that it basically looks like lasagna. She replied it basically is, but with penne. She cut me off a square and slid it into a takeout container, which I took upstairs for $8.25.

For the record, the Wellington cafeteria is now open for limited dine-in, with some tables removed, spacing in place, and take-out containers only used, if you leave your details for contact tracing. I prefer to just eat at my desk for now.

Anyway, back to lunch. The first thing I looked for was the sausage. It was a very meaty dish, with big chunks of meat as well as finer grains with the sauce. It was formed like a lasagna, with what the ingredients say is bocconcini cheese on top.

I isolated a meat chunk and I don’t think this was Italian sausage. It looked like ground chicken to me, and I could taste no seasonings that would indicate Italian sausage. There were also supposed to be red and yellow peppers, but I couldn’t find many.

It tasted fine, but I would have liked more (some) vegetables and a more (some) flavoured Italian sausage. It also seemed a bit lacking for the price; throwing in a slice of garlic bread like they do on spaghetti day would be better value.

Overall it was fine, but if it’s made to order pasta bar day you’re better off to go with that to fulfill your pasta craving.

Up tomorrow: chicken shawarma platter. Will be interesting to see how they handle this one...

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Eating off the Hill: Dumpling? Dumpling! opens on Bank Street

The pandemic has been tough on many restaurants and other retail businesses -- there are more than a few closed storefronts on Ottawa's Bank Street. I'm happy to report though that one new business that has been "coming soon" for most of COVID-19 has made it to a grand opening -- Dumpling? Dumpling!

As you can probably deduce from the name, they serve dumplings. They also have a Nepean location, which I have never been to. I am not a a dumpling connoisseur and I haven't eaten a lot of dumplings in my life, so I can't made any judgements on authenticity or anything. All I can say is whether I liked them, and whether I'd eat them again.

They have a pretty large dumpling-centric menu, with different varieties in the categories of pork, beef, chicken, shrimp and vegetarian. There's also drinks, braised dishes, soup and sides. An order of 15 starts at $13.99 for boiled or steamed, with an $1 upcharge for pan fried or deep fried and if you want multiple flavours in an order.

Stopping by on my way home from work the other day to get some takeout for dinner, my plan was to do the combo for $16.59, which gets you 10 dumplings, a soup and sides. However, as the person ahead of me in line tried to order the combo and was told it was for dine-in only (they were open for that, but no one was taking them up in it) I was forced to change my plans.

So I instead asked for an order of dumplings, pan fried, half pork and Chinese cabbage and half beef and curry onion. I sat down to wait, and watch the gentleman hand-making dumplings behind the counter. Good to see proof they're not just frozen pot stickers from the grocery store. It took about 20 minutes to prepare my order, and I went home to eat.

Getting home, I saw that they had given me beef and coriander instead of beef and curry onion -- I shall strive to enunciate more clearly next time. My order came with a variety of sauces of unknown (to me) provenance (except the soy sauce), chop sticks, a candy and a fortune cookie. With taxes and tip, it was a bit over $20 all-in.

It was certainly filling, although for $20 it should be. Shared with some sides would probably be a good way to go. I tried the sauces but none really did it for me. While not soup-dumpling level, they were juicy as my shirt discovered biting into the first one. I was more strategic with the rest of them. I liked the crisp of the pan frying, and they were flavourful and meaty. A friend commented that they looked thick/doughy; I don't have a lot of basis of comparison but they were fine within my limited dumpling experience. It's definitely a carby dish.

It's a short walk away so I'll definitely try them again, and will do the combo when I safe dining indoors. A filling dish, but I need to discover some sauces I like, and maybe get a side or variety and same half the dumplings for lunch the next day. 

Glad to welcome them to the neighbourhood. They're next to Wolf Down (tasty German/Turkish donair kebab sandwiches), at Bank and James.

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Eating in quarantine: Veggies and meat to my door with Freshii and TruLocal

Since the end of the before times when all this isolation and distancing began, my Facebook feed has been filled with ads for two things: veggies and meat delivered to you door. Since I'm both doing more cooking and limited to grocery shopping once a week (and to what I can carry home since I don't have a car) I decided to try some of them out.

Freshii Sparks veggie bundle

I filled my freezer with meat before we went into lockdown, so while I worked to create freezer space I made a veggie order first. Freshii is a smallish Canadian quick serve chain specializing in healthier bowls, sammies and the like. I presume they began offering the grocery bundles as a way of using up the stock from their standing produce orders, and have kept it going and expanded it to other stores as it proved popular. They have also begun offering different bundles and add-on options, like beer from Dominion City.

The base bundle for $50 (delivery included, tax extra) comes with a selection of veggies and fruits, including a few things I don't usually buy like bananas (mine are destined to be banana bread) and avocados (which I used to make guacamole that I had on rye toast from Rideau Bakery this morning with brie -- a delish breakfast.) Substititions are available, so I subbed out the cauliflower for more brocoli. I also added on two pounds of mushrooms, and 4 pounds of brown rice to restock my rice supply.

The ordering was automated through Facebook messenger on the Freshii Sparks Street Facebook page, which was pretty cool. This generated an order and they followed up by email to confirm delivery and provide payment options -- I paid by e-transfer and they were at my door with a box of veggies the next morning.

If you price it out, it's probably a bit more expensive than getting it all from the grocery store yourself. But you need to factor in the convenience of delivery. It's also healthier for me, as without a car and limited to one shopping trip per week I can only carry so much home. So, while I was already eating more veggiies lately, this upped my intake substantially and allows me to carry other things home from the grocery store instead. I'll likely do another order in a week or two, once I work through all this.

TruLocal meat box

When I had cleared enough freezer space, it was time to order some meat. A number of local farm-supplied options have been scrolling through my Facebook promoted posts, but after crowdsourcing for recomendations I settled on TruLocal, which sources all its meat from Ontario farmers, much of it even organic.

It's a subscription model where you get a box every set number of weeks, but you can modify, delay or cancel at any time. You choose a box size for a set price, and you get a number of points you use to fill a box -- the fancier the meat, the more points. So while ground beef might me one point, a prime rib roast might be four.

I went with the large box for $250, and here's what I selected:

I got a note that they were out of the hot dogs and they subbed in beef sausage; slightly disapointed as hot dogs are something I have for lunch while sausage is a dinner thing, but some supply chain issues are understandable these days. I tried to get a mix of things -- bacon is a weekend-only treat. I was happy to see that the salmon burgers were wild caught, not farmed.

Usually they deliver by FedEx within a week, but it's taking up to seven days to ship as they've had a surge in business during the pandemic. I got the shipping notice on day seven, and the next day FedEx dropped a big box of meat packed in dry ice at my door.

I should mention that I also got six free chicken breasts as part of an introductory offer. Everything was portioned and packed and thankfully I had plenty of freezer space. So far I've had the chicken wings (delicious), the samon burgers (good, but I'm reminded why I don't usually have salmon -- it's a strong fish) and the smoky cheddar susage (very good, juicy, nice flavour).

I'm not sure I'll be ready for a re-order in six weeks, but we shall see. Looking forward to the bacon tomorrow, and to cooking the roast one day soon. And I will need to come up with a good recipe for the haddock. I avoided steaks as our communal BBQ is off limits, but maybe next order. Also excited to try the schnitzel -- I am envisioning a mushroom sauce with homemade pasta.

So far, I would say its good quality local meat and with the convenience of delivery its good value. Only downside is, on my Wednesday trip to Farm Boy not having to buy veggies or meat, I came home with sooo many carbs... :)

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Eating in quarantine: Indian food Easter from Dosa & Curries

As it came to dinner time on Easter Sunday and no turkey having appeared in my larder,. I turned to Door Dash and went in search of Indian food, hoping for a bit more spice than my last attempt. I suceeded to an acceptable level in ordering from another Centretown Indian spot. Dosa & Curries.

Well reviewed on the online delivery app, I was sidetracked by googling the difference between regular Chicken Biryani and Hyperbad Chicken Biryani. I think it means that the chicken is cooked with the rice instead of being added later already cooked, and decided that was worth the extra dollar. I also ordered Chicken 65 (also took a google), garlic naan (my go-to naan) and corn soup.

I got a phone call not long after placing the order than they were out of the corn soup (one of my favourite Chinese dishes, had been looking forward to sampling the Indian version) so I agreed to sub in a chicken soup instead.

When I met the driver and took posession of my meal as safely as possible, he also gave me a small coffee cup and said this was "for the soup." I was puzzled why it was such a small cup of soup for $7 and, as I headed towards my door, why it was cold, but carried on upstairs and, after washing my hands, opened the cup and peered inside with curiosity.

A cold, thick off white clear cold broth seemed the weirdest chicken soup I'd ever seen. Taking a tentative sip it was immediately clear it wasn't soup at all, but was sweet and fruity. Another few seconds and I realized it was mango lassi, which they must have given me as a sorry we didn't have your soup choice available.

So, that solved that mystery and was a nice gesture. Thank you, Dosa & Curries. And opening up the paper bag, I found there was indeed a soup-sized cup of chicken soup -- to which I added some frozen corn for fun.

Meal plated, I sat down to eat. The biryani was flavourful and had several pieces of bone-in chicken which, while I am annoyed at having to deal with the bones, biryani purists tell me is the key to the most flavourful biryani. At least it was cut into pieces recognizable to my Western eyes and not hacked randomly as is often the case with food from this region. I did dispose of the hard boiled egg though. The rice had enough spice to be noticeable, but not in your face.

I enjoyed the Chicken 65 to the point that I have leftover biryani but not leftover Chicken 65. Again, some spice but subtle; I was slightly worried based on my googling but it was quite tasty. The naan was well garlicked. The soup was probably the spiciest of the dishes, and I have some left for lunch. Finished off the lassi though; very tasty.

A successful Indian food Easter in quarantine. Happy Easter to all.

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Eating in quarantine: How to get crispy chicken wings at home

Chicken wings are the traditional bar food, although as I've written in the past I wouldn't consider Ottawa a wing town. However, since I won't be going out for wings any time soon, I've been experimenting with my at home wing technique, and how to get an appropriately crispy wing.

The secret I've discovered, which I will share with you, is to double dredge. That is, to dredge nit just once, but twice. It will take some prep time and prior planning, but we have plenty of time these days.

To make your dredge, start with some flour in a bowl. Add whatever dry spices you have on hand and would like to. In my case, to my flour I added corn starts, garlic power, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Stir it all to combine and your dredge is ready.

Now, get dredging. Circulate each wing piece (which you have already patted dry with paper towel) through your dredge, shake off the excess, and place on a plate.

Then take your plate of dredged wings and place them in the fridge for about an hour.

About an hour later, you will see that some of the coating has soaked in and more pink is showing than what we saw before. So do another dredge, and back intot he fridge for another hour.

Then you're ready to go. You can bake or you can deep fry. Baking is certainly healthier but won't be as crispy and won't replicate that bar wing we're going for. Since I do this just twice a month, I go with the deep fry for six to eight minutes to get these nice golden crispy wings, ready for saucing.

Sauce is the second key to good wings. I picked up some wing sauce at Farm Boy's that promised a mix of hot sauce and blue cheese. I sauced and tossed them in the bowl before plating. It was tastyl but I was trying to not go too saucy and the wings really soaked up the sauce. In two weeks I'll go heavier on the sauce, but it was a tasty treat certainly on par with bar wings.

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Eating in quarantine: Patty melt and rings from The King Eddy

As I've mentioned I'm doing a lot more cooking while physically distancing, but I am trying to support local reasturants so at least once a week, often Friday nights, I order out for dinner delivery. And I'm trying to order from places I haven't tried before. So last week, my Friday dinner came from The King Eddy.

A diner-style restaurant located in the Byward Market, the King Eddy touts the quality of its hamburgers. Being partial to a good burger myself I ordered the patty melt, hold the pickles. Yeah, come at me y’all, I don’t like pickles.

Basically, it’s a grilled cheese sandwich with two burger patties and red onions inside. I made onion rings my side for an upcharge, and it came with two cups of their dipping sauce. I haven’t knowingly had thousand island dressing since I can’t remember when, but this is what I imagine it to be.

It was fine as a grilled cheese, fried appropriately golden with melty processed cheese. The menu described it as Texas toast, but it seemed like regular white bread to me. The patties were small and, when tasted separately, lacked much independent seasoning. I had passed on the option to add a third patty for $2.99 because it seemed like it would be too much, but it would not have been. A third was necessary. It needed a bit more substance.

The onion rings were excellent. Crispy, and served in a generous portion. Everything you would want diner onion rings to be.

Since it was a Friday night I ordered desert and they only had one on offer, which was a vegan, gluten free chocolate cake. My friends, just, no. Chocolate cake needs dairy and it needs gluten. Other than the chocolate icing, which was tasty, this cake was dry and unfluffy. I get they’re likely limiting the desert menu right now, and want to offer the option for those on restricted diets – I will leave the cake for those folks next time.

All in all, it wasn’t a bad meal, but by the metrics of Uber Eats and food delivery it falls on the wrong end of the value for price curve. When life returns to normal, I’ll try them in person and get that extra patty. But this week, new adventures await.

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Eating in quarantine: Chicken tacos with homemade flour tortillas

In the before times I didn’t do that much cooking outside the weekends. But now, with nothing but time on my hands I’m cooking all the time and trying some new things from time to time. I haven’t jumped on the breadmaking bandwagon, but I did come close by making homemade flour tortillas for my chicken tacos yesterday.

Some googling had confirmed it’s a pretty simple recipe and it really was, and with a few technique changes I was quite happy by the end with how most of them turned out. And I already have some ideas to kick the next batch up a notch. But first, taco fixings.

After my weekly trip to the newish Farm Boy on Metcalfe (way better than Massine’s, but keep that on the DL) I was well provisioned with fresh veggies and all the fixings. First step, dice and sauté my chicken breasts with garlic and red peper flakes with avocado oil, then set aside.

While the chicken was cooking I prepped my yellow pepper, onion and mushrooms, and then set the chicken aside and proceeded to sautee the veggies in the same manner.

I picked up a packet of chicken taco sauce at Farm Boy as a seasoning cheat (my limited pantry is pretty full already) so after heating the sauce in my pan I added back in the chicken and veggies and set that aside to simmer while I moved on to the tortillas.

I found a simple flour tortilla recipe on the interwebs which I modified based on the comments and my own whims. Mix two cups flour and one tablespoon sea salt, then add 1/3 cup avocado oil (called for olive but works fine) and then stir in ¾ cup of water. What you get is a pretty stick ball of dough you let rest for a few minutes.

There are two keys to success here: use lots of flour, and after portioning the dough into 8, roll them into balls. This will help you get closer to roundish tortillas.

While heating my cast iron pan on medium heat, I rolled out a ball of dough as thinly as I could.

I then very carefully transferred it to the pan, which I had given a spray with cooking spray. About sixty to ninety seconds is enough time to roll out the next one.

Some nice light browning as the other side cooks after the flip, and then the completed tortilla goes into a pan in my pre-heated oven to stay warm while the tortilla making continues.

Now it was taco time. My chicken veggie mix was complemented by tomatoes, green onions, salsa, sour cream and, just for fun in a last minute addition, pineapple. I was so excited that for my first taco, I forgot the cheese.

The pineapple was a pleasant addition, and the tortillas were warm, tasty and certainly had more texture than the store-bought versions.

Homemade tortillas are defintiely much better than the store versions, no surprise there. Without a tortilla press they don't look super round or uniform but that's fine, they're bespoke. It's all simple ingredients you likely have in your pantry and the technique is easy enough. What it does take is time, maybe half an hour to prep and cook eight tortillas. But when you have time, as we do now, it's definitely worth doing.

Next time I'd like to try to fancy up the dough with some seasonings. Definitely think there's room for innovation there.

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Eating in quarantine: Maverick’s Donut Company

So, I won’t be going out for a meal I can review in the near future. But I still gotta ear, and now I have more time to write too. So I shall turn my culinary scribblings to delivery/carry out from local purveyors of fine food, as well as the occasional at home creation of my own. (No, I’m not on the bread baking train, at least not yet).

If you can’t go out for food, bring the food to you. And it’s a good way to support the local businesses that are hurting for business during the pandemic. So with the motto of #TreatYourself in mind, I dialed up upper eats to try local fancy donut company Maverick’s Donut Company for the first time…and they were unavailable. And so I tried again the next day…and they were unavailable. But then Wednesday morning…success!

Maverick’s Byward Market location is closed for the time being, but the Bank and Heron location is open for carry out and delivery. I logged into the app not longer after their 10AM opening, because I’ve heard the popular selections can go fast. And indeed, two of the ones I was keen to try were not available. Still, I picked my six and placed my order.

And 30 minutes later I was meeting my Uber Driver at the curb wearing my winter gloves, making brief small talk with the driver from a safe distance as we did the hand off of the box of delicious goodness. Back upstairs, gloves off, hands washed, and we were ready to feast. Don’t they all look so pretty?

I’ll do a donut by donut review. Did I eat all six in one day? That’s not covered by ATIP; I’ll never tell.

There are two categories of donuts at Maverick’s – the classics at $2.25/each or $22.95/dozen, and the signature at $3.25/each or $33.15/dozen. Pricy, but you get what you pay for. And this ain’t Tim Hortons, even in theirdreams. I’ll review each donut but they were all just so fresh and quality, made with care.

I’ll start with the classics, and in the order I ate them. Over, um, many days…

Cinnamon Sugar Classic: The first one I tried, and probably my favourite of the bunch. A fresh vanilla cake donut that was still a little warm and had that crunch of freshness around the fluffy, most interior. And the cinnamon sugar, mmm, so flavourful and lip smacking. A classic done right.

Chocolate Dip Classic: Chocolate cake this time with that fresh fluffy crunchy texture, and chocolate cakey flavour. Sampling the dip separately you also get actual chocolate flavour in the frosting too, which you don’t always at you know who.

Vanilla Sparkle Classic: Again, the vanilla cake base, crunchy fluffy moist, with a vanilla glaze to hold on a boatload of traditional colourful sprinkles. Well executed, but not my favourite of the classics.

Now, on to the signature donuts.

Chocolate Peanut Butter: Vanilla cake base with chocolate frosting, peanut butter cream, and sprinkled on top. I’m a big chocolate peanut butter fan (Reese Peanut Butter Cups what up?!) so I was excited, but I don’t think this one executed as well as it could have. Biggest miss was that they used a vanilla cake base and not chocolate; I was really surprised to find that. Chocolate frosting was good, but it didn’t have the strength to hold up the chocolate pillar on its own. The peanut butter frosting was light and fluffy and had a subtle peanut butter taste – maybe a tad too subtle? It was generous and went down into the donut hole. The peanut bits on top were a nice textural note. All in all, it felt like it didn’t quite connect. A solid double, not a home run.

Lemon Ricotta: A vanilla cake base again with lemon frosting and lemon cream with little fruit bits I couldn’t identify – maybe some sort of candied lemon? Again, it was good, but not great. Could have been more lemony was my takeaway.

And that’s it. If you're doing some at-home modelling you may have noted that was five donuts – I ordered two of the chocolate peanut butter. A few were unavailable that I’d like to try the Cinnamon Swirl in the classics, and Oreo Nirvana in the signatures. The S’mores is popular but I’m not a big smore guy (don’t care for marshmallows) and I’m not sure about Maple Bacon.

Overall, I thought these donuts were great and I’ll have them again. They’re quality, flavourful, and oh so fresh. Tim’s is more an every day donut; these are a well-deserved #TreatYourself. And while the signatures may get the attention, I think the classics are where they standout. That Cinnamon Sugar Classic was simply outstanding.

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Eating off the Hill: Jerk Chicken Roti at Island Grill

I wrote last week about an Indian food outing that lacked some heat -- well, a few days later I had some Jamaican food that more than made up for it.

Island Grill is another Bank Street restaurant I’ve been walking by for year but never dropped into, so one day after work I dropped in to this little Caribbean spot that is nestled amongst the Bank Street pizza by the slice counters.

It’s a small spot but it was doing a pretty good early evening weekend business, with just one guy working the counter and seemingly the kitchen too. But he did a good job considering at keeping up with drinks and orders.

I came craving roti, and went with the Jerk Chicken Platter for $14. For that, I got a good sized roti stuffed with jerk chicken, a salad, and rice and peas. The sides were fine; the salad was OK and the rice is what I would expect. The plantains were a pleasant surprise – the ones I’ve had in Cuba and the Dominican Republic were fried to within an inch of their lives, and were more like a chip. These though still had substance too them and were quite enjoyable.

The roti was the star though, and deservedly so. Stuffed full of quality jerk chicken breast, just on the edge of my spice tolerance. Thoroughly enjoyable and flavourable and just a little burn without being too much. I needed my drink, but it was well worth it.

When the world is back, I will be too.

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Eating off the Hill: Cheese steak at Centrale Bergham

A sudden craving for cheese steak a few weekends back led to a googling of local options and to the decision to try a fast food spot I had passed by on the bus a bunch of times but never had the opportunity to pop in to: Centrale Bergham.

They're a Montreal-based fast food chain that seems to have a bit of a Middle Eastern influence, with a Halal menu and many items coming in kebabs. They have some very interesting/weird options, like a double cheeseburger and grilled chicken in one kebab, or their signature "bergham" sandwich which is 3 beef patties, egg, beef bacon and cheddar cheese in a kebab.

Some of that is a little out there even for me; I was only looking for a philly cheese steak. I went to the Ottawa South location on Bank Street, at Heron, and it was pretty quiet on a Sunday afternoon with one guy working the counter and one in the kitchen.

After waiting for a rather slow-ordering family I ordered a Philly Steak with onion rings and a pop. I ordered it as they make it, which is alleged "creamy filet mignon" with onions, tomatoes, lettuce, mushroom and swiss cheese on a kebab roll.

Having been to philly, my expectations were low. On my trip there five years back during my East Coast baseball tour, I did my research before placing my order at Sonny's for one whiz with. It was delicious. One day, I shall return.

For a not overly busy fast food reasturant, they weren't very fast. After 30 minutes cooling my heals with a diet coke and Twitter, I went up to the counter to enquire just as they came out of the kitchen with my order. Guess they must make every order to order, one at a time?

Anyway, I took it back to my table to dig in. The onion rings were light and not greasy, and I don't recall what the sauce was but it paired well and I appreciated being given two of the small cups and not just one. As for the sandwich, I should have told them no lettuce and tomato. I know you can get that in Philly too, but for me a philly is beef, cheese whiz, and onions. Will accept mushrooms.

Anyway, the beef was fine and so was the roll. It's definitely not a philly, but nothing outside of Philadelphia is. It filled me up, and I'll be back to try something else. I just wish it was less of a wait.

Here's my sammy at Sonny's in Philly back in the day. Ahh, memories.

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Eating off the Hill: Indian food for white folks at Roast N Curries

Don't worry, I haven't been eating out. But I do have a few backlogged meals I now have time to blog while distancing, which brings me to my craving a few weekends back for Indian food.

Some quick googling found I was just down the street from one of the higher-rated Indian reasturants in Ottawa -- Roast N Curries, on Bank Street at Nepean. In fact, I've walked by it most every day on the way to work for over four years but never thought to drop in. So on this day, I did.

It was quiet around the lunching hour, and I was the only customer, so service was quick. Now I'm far from an Indian food expert, but having lived in Scarborough for a decade I've had a decent amount of exposure to good Indian food, from the hole in the wall to the fancy -- and have developed an expectation and a decent spice tolerance.

I would call the menu here Indian food by the numbers -- you have all the major items you would expect to see, but nothing overly adventerous. And no mention of heat. Butter chicken, curries, korma, assorted veggie options all on offer.

Nothing really jumped out so I kept it simple and went with a classic: butter chicken. I got the combo, which also came with my choice of naan (which was garlic), samosa (which was chicken) and salad. And a soft drink

I got a good helping of food for my $18, so I certainly didn't leave hungry. But I did leave underwhelmed.

I'll start with the sides. The garlic naan was excellent. Hot, flavourful, buttery garlicky. The samosa was OK, a little too veg heavy for a chicken samosa, and not as good as the Rinag chicken samosas I've been vibing on sold at Herb & Spice down the street. The salad was the same basic salad every South Asian reasturant serves.

Butter chicken over basmati rice. I liked that it was breast meat, it wasn't dry, and it was a good portion. But the sauce was just bland. It lacked body. No spice. I know you need to cater to all palates, but if I had been asked, I'd have asked for a medium spice. This was blandy bland bland. Which is why my bullet review when folks have asked has been Indian food for white people. Scarborough has spoiled me. I can't go back.

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