In this feature, Apt613 asks blog contributors and local food lovers about their recent Ottawa area restaurant highlights to help you find new tasty treats to discover or revisit when someone inevitably asks, “Where do you want to eat?” We want to hear about something that you ate and loved! Leave comments below, and if you’d like to contribute to a future edition of Best Bites, email <editors@apt613.ca>.
Best Bites this week:
- Wilf & Ada’s (510 Bank St)
- The SconeWitch ( 35 Beechwood, 1638 Cyrville Rd, 150 Elgin, 393 Winston)
- Ten Fish (1149-B Bank Street)
When out-of-town family came for a visit and suggested brunch, Wilf & Ada’s was a no-brainer. For a group of four on a Saturday morning at 9am, we waited around an hour for our table. We knew from experience that they don’t take reservations so planned on a wait and after putting our name down, popped around the corner to grab a pre-brunch coffee at Arlington Five. Fun fact: if you don’t finish your drink before your table is ready, you’re welcome to bring your Arlington Five mug over with you to Wilf and Ada’s!
The quality of food and service at Wilf & Ada’s is what makes it so special. Home fries, or homies as you’ll see them on the menu, are crisp little nuggets of potatoey goodness. The menu has some fan favourites like the HungryHuman Breakfast (eggs, beans, toast, homies, two sides, and a piece of French toast), Blackstone eggs benedict (two perfectly poached eggs with bacon, hollandaise, and homies), and eggs in purgatory (two eggs poached in spicy tomato sauce service with toast and homies). Mains are around $25 each. The weekly special when we visited was a spinach and mushroom eggs benedict that was absolutely delicious. Fans of hot sauces will rejoice with the bottles of sriracha on each table. Made locally by Michael’s Dolce, the sriracha was delicious on everything on my plate. You can add a jar to your bill for $10 to take home.
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One of the great things about the menu is the number of vegetarian and vegan modifications, including their eggs in purgatory which swaps out the eggs for tofu while keeping the delicious spicy tomato sauce you’ll find when ordering shakshuka.
Note that only cash and debit are accepted and they do not take reservations. Wilf & Ada’s is open from 8:30am-2pm Wednesday to Monday (closed Tuesday) and can also be ordered for delivery through Uber Eats.
-Hannah Manning
One of the best lunches around, for the last decade more or less, is at The SconeWitch at any of their four locations. Recently I met up with a friend for a quick lunch at their Elgin location, and was reminded again how they’ve managed to stay one of Ottawa’s favourite businesses without adding anything complicated. The location is bright and clean, and you order at the counter for your meal to be brought to your table. They offer scone-wiches on any of their fresh scones, or simple scones with classic spreads, tea, coffee, and juices. I got the ham and gruyère on an herb & onion scone with a side salad for under $10. I added a fresh mug of coffee and the meal was perfect. The salad is a bright pile of mixed greens, tomatoes and cucumbers for the perfect fresh bite with the rich scone. The scone-wich had generous thick slices of roasted ham, and the tangy dijon was delightful.
SconeWitch. Photo Kiersten Vuorimaki
My friend ordered a scone with the fresh mango chutney and cream, which came just oozing rich gorgeous chutney in her towering scone. She still needed a knife and fork to eat it. Next time I’m going to order myself the lemon curd, and I’m already excited about it. I left with a box of 6 scones to take home, which are $3.25 each, or $18.60 for a half dozen, and worth every penny. They offer a couple of “low gluten” options as well, with alternative flours. Breakfast is served weekdays until 11, and until 3pm on weekends, and the Eggwitch is legendary.
You can also purchase ready-to-bake frozen scones, if you’d like to fill your home with the aroma of fresh baking. This is a great way to have perfect scones at home, with very little effort. They do offer home delivery within the city for large orders, and they do great catering options for takeout at well. Each location has slightly different operating hours, but they mostly close around 4pm or 5pm.
-Kiersten Vuorimaki
If you’re looking for some great takeaway sushi, look no further than Ten Fish in Old Ottawa South. The tiny restaurant off of Bank is take-out only, so you can walk in, place your order and be on your way in 10 minutes most days. I recently went in for a fresh lunch and got the Sunnyside Combo – California, Spicy Salmon Avocado, Avo-cucumber roll, for $21. This was an order of 24 rolls, which is a great deal of food for that price. They offer a full sushi menu with nigiri, sashimi, soups, tempura, vegan rolls, cooked rolls and combos. You can get a miso soup for under $4, and 8 rolls costs anywhere from $5 for some vegan options and $14 for the specialty rolls with premium ingredients. I was shocked at the size of the menu for the size of the kitchen! Everything was fresh and tasty, and the chef was friendly and lightning fast. I’m by no means a sushi expert, but there seems to be nothing but rave reviews for this place, and I’d return soon to try their tempura, and specialty rolls.
Ten Sushi. Photo Kiersten Vuorimaki
For larger orders, you can easily order ahead of time on their website, to save yourself waiting time. They are on Uber Eats and Door Dash as well, if you’d rather it just arrive at your door ready to eat. They are closed on Tuesdays, but open until 10pm every other day of the week.
-Kiersten Vuorimaki
We want to hear about something that you ate and loved! Leave comments below, and if you’d like to contribute to a future edition of Best Bites, email <editors@apt613.ca>.
