Saturday Night Life

Unlike my 10-day outing before leaving Toronto that included several events, Ottawa has been mostly eating out. Primarily, it had to do with being far from the downtown core. Long transit rides make me reluctant to head out after dark. But it also seemed that any events here sell out; perhaps the lack of fun activities meant that any going-ons quickly fill up. So a trip to the NAC to hear a Peruvian musical show-case or seeing local bands covering other bands (similar to Death to T.O.) at the 27 club were no-go.

I had given up on continuing this exercise but then I remembered that near Laheeb on Montreal Rd was another grill place called Lazare's BBQ House. The curry goat at Royal Prince was all right but in general I have found African-descent food in Ottawa (Creole Sensations, Boukannen) to be disappointing. There was no 9 Mile, Pam's Roti, or the exquisite Afrobeat Kitchen. But I was glad I gave this spot a chance because it was a delicious dinner.

At first, I thought the owner was Muslim since the food was halal. But an open Bible on the counter and people singing at an African church on TV cleared up the restaurant's name. There were a few tables inside but it was obviously a take-out place. The quarter-chicken combo ($20.80) was substantial and filled with flavourful ingredients: chicken was smokey and tender, plaintain sweet and freshly fried, and the rice was a bit oily but so good. If I can forget that a half-chicken dinner at Sardinha (The King of BBQ Chicken) was once under $10 (and didn't now eat a mostly plant-based diet), I'd put Lazare on regular rotation.

Friday I'm not in Love

With the Blue Jays hosting game 1 of the World Series, I planned to be home on Friday. So while I was pondering what to do, this week's daily posts reminded me of the song by The Cure. In the early evening, I headed over to Chahaya Malaysia. Why? It was one of the last dinner my crush and I had some decades back. Before going, I should have consulted my entry about Chahaya because I ordered the same bad dish.

Found on busy Montreal Road, near a run-down motel and a condo construction (formerly an autoshop called Marier), the trip to Chahaya wasn't quite as romantic as strolling along the Rideau Canal from the university campus to The Glebe for its old location. They had long taken over half of what used to be Chinese diner Kung's Palace. From the utilitarian interior without much charm, apparently they haven't bothered with any upgrade in the decades since.

My vegetarian Sayur Masak Lemak (now $18) was spicy but not much else: tough onions, unremarkable young jackfruit, and a forgettable mix of veggies. I even missed the wok hei flavour of fast-food joint Thai Express. The bowl of traditional basmati rice ($4) was also a problem. The Nasik Minyak was dry by itself (nothing like chef Saha's) yet it retained a tasty hint of spices and ghee. But when you add the curry, the latter overwhelmed the rice. I might as well have chosen white rice and save $1. Mostly though, I mistook the dish's description of raisins and almonds garnishes (they were barely there) for another dish. I'm pretty sure my crush and I had Nasi Goreng, even if the typical preparation isn't vegetarian-friendly. Raised by hippie parents as a vegetarian, either we had asked for some changes or agreed to gloss over some of the ingredients.

Compared to the last few days of delicious eats, this was a major disappointment. I suppose the lesson here is that whatever magic (or so you think) happened back then, it's unlikely to be duplicated in the present day. Nostalgia is best left as a daydream.

Tuck-In Thursday

On Thursday, I had planned on visiting Old Ottawa South again. The venue House of Targ had a concert that promised some weird synth-pop. But in the morning I looked at the poster and realized despite being a 3-band show, doors was at 8 pm. A decade ago, comedy band Blimp Rock opined that "I see there's more than 2 bands on the bill, so I don't think I'm gonna go. Cause I wished it started at 7" (Let's All Stay In Tonight). They took the words right out of my mouth.

I then remembered that at the corner of Hemlock and St. Laurent, where there was an Algerian restaurant (Idriss) and an Indian diner (Mia's), there was also a new business with the odd name of Explosion persian style. It opened about a year ago in the old location for Golden Crust Pizza. A Persian-flavoured pizza sounded interesting but I wasn't sure I could finish one.

So I settled on the cheaper Bandari sub ($14.90), an Iranian street-food,  and a can of Coke ($2). In a nutshell, Explosion was the rare Ottawa spot that hit the trifecta of taste, portion, and price (sort-of). It was a large, crunchy sub stuffed with flavourful pickles, fried onion, potato cubes, and very messy sauce. I was thoroughly full and satisfied. 

But there were two caveats with my meal. One, there wasn't much sausage. The few slices I had was tasty, even though it mostly reminded me of bologna. Two, most of the wonderful flavour came from cheap ingredients like pickles and fried potatoes. Similar to my experience with the tacos at Vegena (and they had in-house vegan chorizo as the wow factor), I would have preferred a few bucks off. I'd gladly return if the Bandari sub was closer to $10. And given the other ones were $20 or more, Explosion would not be a regular dining spot for me. I might come back once to check out that Persian pizza.

Warming Wednesday

It has been dreary and raining since the week-end with only sporadic sunshine. Unfortunately, I think it's the same overseas for my mom on her trip. On Wednesday, I thought that a hot dinner might dispel some cold. During my childhood, there was only Fat Albert pizzeria in the plaza at Ogilvie and Montreal. Now the strip mall housed a few eateries. I ate at Creole Sensations regularly for a short period. But I finally had to admit that the $10 lunch special was a good price but the food was middling: rice was dry, fried plantain was tough, and the veggie stew was gloopy.

I stepped inside Pho-V to find two older women eating. Over the course of my stay, several diners, online deliverers, and take-out orders came. In the corner, two children sat doing homework. One brought me my water and even practiced taking orders from other tables. This was my second encounter this week with the cliché of good restaurants having children "employees".

After perusing the menu, I chose a medium bowl of Bun Bo Hue ($16). The version here was essentially a spicier pho complete with beef brisket, even if the flat noodle was replaced with a chewier round one. Missing was the rarer ingredients such as pork knuckles and congealed blood cubes. However, they could have included cha lua, which was easily available from other dishes.

In any case, it was a tasty soup with both broth and beef being better than the usual pho place. There was actually a generous helping of the latter: enough to last to the very last slurp. Pho-V wasn't quite at the same level as Ca Phe Rang in Toronto. But for an Ottawa business outside the city core, it offered a decent meal (if you are old like me, you have to forget that these mains used to cost $5.99).