Food & DrinkLivingNews

Food notes

Winter’s on its way, and we’re going to need all the comforts our neighbourhood eateries have to offer in the months to come. Please remember to share your favourite Sandy Hill food experiences with: editor@imagesandyhill.org

Paula Kelsall

Curry & More
100 Louis-Pasteur Private 

Un nouveau “food truck” a proximité de la station du train léger de l’université offre deux choix de caris végétariens chaque jour.
Photo: Paula Kelsall

It’s nice to see a food truck once again on the corner not far from the Campus LRT station, and this is a cute one, lovingly decorated and looking well-established with its fenced-in yard and little tables. They serve two curries every day, offered in combination with rice or a naan flatbread. The menu is consistently vegetarian, with curries such as mixed vegetables with coconut or cabbage masala, rounded out with samosas, onion bhajis, a paneer wrap, and daily pasta of the day that managed to be both creamy and spicy on the day we visited. The owners are kind, and the mango lassi is excellent.

 

 

 

Golden Center
600 Rideau St.

I’m a sucker for an independently owned pizza place, so when I noticed this little shop at the east end of Rideau Street I had to try it out. It was nice to see some unusual combinations on the menu. The spinach and garlic pizza had a creamy sauce, and plenty of chopped fresh tomato along with spinach and feta cheese; a very satisfying ensemble. The Golden House Special has the same chopped tomatoes, along with peppers, onions, mushrooms and little house-made meatballs. Both were enjoyed by the folks I was sharing with and made satisfying leftovers on their second day.

 The Nelson Pub & Eatery
244 Laurier Ave. E

On a recent Friday night, the new pub at the corner of Laurier and Nelson was humming with patrons relaxing after a hard week of work and school. It was a little difficult for a group of seven friends to find a table, but we managed to piece one together thanks to helpful fellow-patrons. The food menu at the Nelson is quite short, so we were able to try almost everything, and we were pleasantly surprised by the flair the kitchen put into their rather standard offerings. The house salad featured tender arugula, roasted beets and candied pecans; it was rather salty, but hopefully that’s been straightened out in the days that followed our visit. We had the impression that the kitchen staff were a little overwhelmed; the food took some time to arrive, and they sent out a plate of bacon that they had forgotten to put on our burgers! But the burgers were tasty, the sweet potato fries were tender, the chicken on the club sandwich was a solid piece of moist breast meat, and the hot dog was adorned with a lovely sprinkle of parsley, crispy onions and a slather of chipotle-ming sauce. Overall, it’s a cheerful and affordable place to eat.

Ramakrishna
417 Rideau St.

It’s always exciting to see an old friend doing something new and different, so we were delighted to discover that Ramakrishna has started serving breakfast. The morning menu is quite different from their regular lunch and dinner offerings, consisting of a choice of flatbreads combined with a simple chickpea curry or a generous helping of yogurt-based raita, plus pickles, presented on a metal platter with compartments for each item. In addition to choosing your bread, and an optional filling, you are given a choice of having it cooked in the tandoor oven or on a pan. We had kulcha, a leavened flatbread made with white flour, two different ways. The tandoor-baked one, stuffed with cauliflower, was dry, crusty and extra-brown around the edges. The kulcha that was pan-grilled with a potato filling was more tender and oilier, and an even golden brown. Both were delicious, and I especially liked the way the pickled onions added crunch to the chickpea curry. Ramakrishna’s breakfast offerings are served from 9:00am to noon. Coffee addicts might want to have a cup of their favourite beverage before they go, but perhaps they will find that a pot of milky, spicy chai tea hits the spot just as well.

Le restaurant Ramakrishna sur la rue Rideau offre maintenant le petit-déjeuner, dont le Ç kulcha È (pain plat au levain).
Photo: Paula Kelsall