Chinese Cuisine

ROYAL TREASURE RESTAURANT - 774 SOMERSET ST. W - 237-8827

This is an attractively set out, smaller restaurant, with an amazingly varied menu of over 250 items, that is well patronized by oriental customers from the area along with a good mix of people from all of Ottawa's other cultural backgrounds.

The food is very well prepared and presented with generous portions at reasonable prices.

Don't expect to be able to order "Canadianized" Chinese cuisine such as chicken balls, but if you are either familiar with, or would like to try, some of the more exotic Chinese fare such as fish maw soup (not for the squeamish), a good variety of appetizers, Chinese hot pot and other oriental delicacies and comfort food, this well managed restaurant is well worth a try. Even when the restaurant is at full capacity, with customers lined up waiting for available tables, the co-owner manager seems well able to keep things running smoothly.

Minimal parking is available at the restaurant, but parking is available on the side streets in the Somerset Street area. 

   Date: Mon Mar 15 22:49:55 1999
   From: bu932@freenet.carleton.ca (Jim Roy)

WELCOME BACK RESTAURANT - 90 A ROBERTSON ROAD - 820-1225

This Bells Corners restaurant on Robertson near Moodie Drive has a nice combination of the "Canadianized" Chinese food and some of the more traditional Chinese cuisine.

Usually three different combination plates are available as luncheon specials. Each of these combinaton plates cost $5.25 for an egg roll, three items and tea or coffee. Items may be substituted within the combination plates as long as they are from one of the other luncheon plates available on that day.

The menu has a fairly large selection of the more traditional Chinese dishes such as sam see chow mein, Chinese hot pot, Budda's Delight, birds' nest specialties (potato or taro nest).

The cuisine is always consistent in its tastiness, presentation and quailty. The atmosphere is very pleasant and the service is usually very good although it slows down noticably if the restaurant gets to or near capacity.

There is ample parking in the strip mall parking area where this restaurant is located. 

   Date: Mon Mar 15 22:50:55 2003
   From: bu932@freenet.carleton.ca (Jim Roy)

DU BARRYS RESTAURANT - 33 SELKIRK, VANIER - 749-2088

This is probably the best of the Chinese buffet houses in Ottawa. The food is exceptionally tasty for this style of restaurant and is very hard to beat on a value-for-money basis at less than $7.00 for lunch. It doesn't seem to suffer the 'everything tastes the same even though it looks different' syndrom encountered at many other restaurants of this type. For a very large restaurant area it seems to have no trouble filling to or near capacity.

A well varied selection of taste treats is available including appetizers and also a pick-your-own-ingredients soup that is made up for you while you wait, all included in the price.

There is also a good variety of 'dim sum' items in a steam table especially devoted to some of these Chinese snack delicacies such as chicken feet, stuffed tofu and a variety of assorted Chinese dumplings. 

   Date: Mon Mar 15 22:52:55 2003
   From: bu932@freenet.carleton.ca (Jim Roy)

MANDARINE OGILVY - 1137 OGILVY RD. - 749-8838

The Mandarin Ogilvy is still one of my all-time favorite chinese restaurants. The Dim-Sum is sooo good and we went last night for an ordinary supper (in contrast to a buffet) and the Moshe Pork is worth a meal in itself!

Ask for more pacakes since 4 (!!) is not enough and it is delicious. The service is very good and the owner really tries to please - he's the chubby guy with the mustache. 

   Date: Fri Oct  4 21:39:23 1996
   From: ac307@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (M. Collins)

CAVEAU DE SZECHWAN - 129 YORK ST. - 562-2882

This is an interesting and popular restaurant in the Byward market area of Ottawa.

Besides the regular menu, they have a more limited but interesting all you can eat menu where you check off the items you want to have served. It includes a couple of soups (hot and sour and wonton) and about a half dozen appetizers as well as a good selection of chicken, pork beef and shrimp dishes along with rice and noodle dishes.

All of the food is freshly prepared to order and, after about four visits, a friend and myself look forward to returning. The hot and sour soup although good is usually served a bit on the wimpy side so it's a good idea to ask for more spicy or ask for a side order of chili sauce to give it a bit more kick in spicyness. If you still need more food than you've checked off initially, you can order more.

Prices for the all-you-can-eat menu vary depending on the day of the week. I don't remember the specific prices, but I think it ran from $16 to $20. Sunday was cheaper than Saturday which seems to be the more high traffic day. 

   Date: Fri Nov  5 18:39:23 1999
   From: bu932@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Jim Roy)

NEW HONG SHING - 285 GREENBANK RD. - NEPEAN, ONT - 828-2168

Here's something for anyone who's used to having to travel from Nepean and area or vicinity to Chinatown on Somerset for the more authentic Chinese cuisine.

There's a new restaurant at 285 Greenbank in a little strip mall just before you reach Hunt Club if you're going south from Baseline.

It's called the New Hong Shing. It specializes in authentic Chinese cuisine such as Peking Duck, crab meat and fish maw soup, tender black pepper beef on a sizzling platter, kung po squid and many other oriental delicacies for dining explorers who can appreciate the finer things in oriental cuisine.

If you prefer the more authentic cuisine (they do have a 'chicken balls' menu for the less exploratory in oriental cuisine taste treats) I think this place is worth a try.

So far, I've tried the Yang Chow Fried rice (they do have Fokin Fried rice that has a fish maw sauce for the more daring diner), the seafood soup, barbeque duck on rice, squid with spicy salt and the hot and sour soup. All, except the hot and sour soup were very good. The hot and sour soup was tasty enough, but overly sweet and nothing exceptional in my opinion. 

   Date: Wed Mar 12 11:45:17 2003
   From: bu932@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Jim Roy)