Stone Soup Foodworks a Mere Fable at the U of O?

After leaving Premiere Moisson at the Faculty of Social Sciences building at the University of Ottawa, my wife and I headed over to the Stone Soup Foodworks Mobile Truck (currently occupying corner of Jean Jacques Lussier Private & Marie Curie Private outside Lamoureux Hall). 

We approached the large green truck that prides itself on locally produced organic food that caters to both vegetarians and regular folk who enjoy a mixture of meat and vegetables. 

We scoured the menu which was serving up tacos and soup for the main dishes of the day.  The menu does vary from day to day which makes for a great variety for regular customers.  However, it also means that for those of us who are in there to try it out for the first time, we are not sure what to expect. The best way to check out what is on offer is to check out the Twitter feed of the Stone Soup Foodworks as they tweet on a daily basis what the menu will be.  Otherwise, if you are in the area be sure to check out the chalkboard outside the truck, head to class, ponder what you wish and revisit to enjoy some fine cooking.

My wife and I decided to have the days Taco Combo which is your choice of one taco and one soup.  So we approached the window, asked a few questions (which were warmly welcomed and answered in a warm and caring way) and placed our order. 

The Order: 1 Korean Taco (Beef & Kimchi) & 1 Tomato-Basil Soup and 1 Refried Been TGaco with 1 Vegetable Chili.

After our food was ready, we inquired how the the name "Stone Soup Foodworks" came about.  It was explained was based on the fable of the Stone Soup and proceeded to tell it in short form. Interesting concept for a food vehicle but will the food live up to the fable?

We paid (2 Taco Combos for $20.00 including taxes), gathered our food and headed to Lamoureux Hall looking for warmth.  The only problem with a food truck in December is the hunt for a warm place to eat.  We ventured through Lamoureux Hall, Montpetit Hall and eventually to the University Centre where the main cafeteria is.  We sat down and dug into our meal. 

The Refried Bean Taco was delicious.  The refried beens were at the bottom of the taco but the rest was loaded up with lettuce and other vegetables.  The only complaint about both tacos was too much fresh toppings!  Nice problem to have but half of it ended up back in the taco container and needed to be mopped up with my soup spoon.  A word of warning if you grab the taco for a meal, make sure to grab more than one napkin, things are a little messy due to the number of toppings.  As well, be careful for the jalepenos they are hot but usually on the top and easy to pick off if you do not wish to many.  You can also request to "hold the jalapenos" which Stone Soup Foodworks will gladly do if you wish.

The vegetarian chili was excellent as well.  My tongue barely misssed the usual beef that was replaced by a nice tomato taste accompanied with kidney beans.  The chili was of a good consistancy and not watery due to the lack of meat. 

The Korean Taco with Kimchi and Beef my wife had.  She first questioned how spicy the Kimchi was before ordering.  It was promised not too spicy.  My wife enjoyed it and never complained about the spicyness of the taco.  She did note that between the taco and her soup this was perhaps the best tasting real food we had in a while that tasted both great and wholesome at the same time. 

The Tomato soup we were promised by the Stone Soup Foodworks was pretty popular one of their favourites.  The soup lived up to it's promise with a great tomato flavour that was accompanied by, our best guess, bread soaked in.  No crackers were necessary for this delicious soup as each spoonful delighted the tongue with tomatoey goodness. 

Overall, the Stone Soup Foodworks Truck is a great addition to the University of Ottawa campus.  The truck  is just a small ways from the former location that used to house the hamburger and fries shack that used to be owned by the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa.  The concept is pretty good as it offers university students great dining options while also being mobile to attend festivals and other busy areas when the university campus is not as busy.  The only downfall is location is not really close to anywhere with great seating during the winter months.  The food quality is excellent and definately lives up to the fable with heartwarming home cooked style meals.  It is not a fable, it is at the U of O.

The Expensive Premiere of Moisson

On a night out to enjoy one of the traditions that Ottawa has developed, lighting the Christmas lights on Parliamanet Hill, my wife asked if we could visit the new Premier Moisson (120 Universite Private, Ottawa) at the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Social Sciences building.  We ventured over but not before warning my wife this would be an adventure considering I have never set foot in this brand new building so I have no idea where this restaurant would be. 

We arrived shortly after 5 P.M. to find Premiere Moisson easily on the bustling ground floor of the new building. The set up is similar to a one aisle convenience store with a bakery added on.  You start one side and work your way around looking at the various baked goods and other wares for purchase.

The main issue with this store is it really does not fit in with the University student culture. I challenge anyone to find a meal at this place for less than $10.00.  The footlong sandwiches alone that I spied were about $9.00 before taxes which is a significant challenge considering Subway on nearby Laurier Avenue East is offering a footlong Cold Cut Combo Sandwich for $5.50.  Sure the bread at Premier Moisson may be artisian and baked that day, but when your a student every cent counts. 

The Croissants were also a little challenging price wise as well. $1.50 for a Croissant when the local Loblaws supermarket are selling them for $0.85 to $1.00?  Again, not really price competitive. 

There was artisian pasta sauce selling for $7.00 as well which may have given a few students a dream to treat themselves to a night of gourmet dining without having to leave residence.

We approached the checkout and reviewed what we would like to order.

The Order: Nothing!

My wife and I looked at each other and decided there was nothing special about this place except the to look for the Stone Soup Foodworks Truck which happened to be residing at the University of Ottawa for the school year.

Overall, Premiere Moisson is a high priced gourmet food store sandwiched into the Faculty of Social Sciences building at the University of Ottawa.  This location is the company's first location in Ontario and at a university campus.  Perhaps someone at Premiere Moisson missed the fact that Ottawa's Glebe area would be more suitable considering that customers looking for and affording gourmet foods would more than likely head there as opposed to the University of Ottawa campus.  This is mainly because people looking for this type of food are more likely to drive than ride the bus.  With the University of Ottawa campus not being the friendliest to drive on, a huge target market would be missed.  Thus, it is sad that the University of Ottawa students are stuck with overpriced gourmet food taking up space in a new building as opposed to affordable eating establishment.

Cinnabon: Not the World Famous Cinnamon Rolls

I can not remember how many times I have walked by Cinnabon (50 Rideau Street, Ottawa) at the Rideau Centre without thinking about entering.  For coffee there are plenty of options at the Rideau Centre and Cinnamon rolls are not exactly my go to sinful dish, but I do appreciate a good one. 

But earlier this week I walked past the store to see the sign claiming "World Famous Cinnamon Rolls".  So I thought I would put that claim to the test and today was the day to do so. 

I visited shortly after 9 A.M. to be the only person in the store. There were two employees working in the front area with the mixer and other baking utensils. I looked quizzically as to where I should place my order as there was no sign or marker to indicate where to place and/or pick up your order.  Eventually one of the employees came over and I placed my order. 

The Order: 1 Minibon and 1 Medium Black Coffee.

I paid $4.19 including taxes, grabbed my items and left for the Rideau Centre Mall's Food Court.  To be fair the store does have sit down and eat, but I would have been the only customer there.  

Two minutes later, I sat down at the food court to dig into my Minibon and Coffee. 

The Minibon was a let down.  Not sure how the "World Famous Cinnamon Rolls" would let this pass.  The Minibon was luke warm and squishy.  At no time was I offered to have the Minibon heated up or as is.  Heck a simple microwave would have saved this.  I also doubt the Minibon I had was freshly made due to the lack of customers in the this location.   Sadly, the McDonald's Cinnamon Melts are better quality tasting and better value.

The coffee was worse.  The coffee tasted like instant coffee and I am now even doubting the brew I drank had even seen the inside of the Bunn-O-Matic machine for quite sometime or even at all. Cinnabon needs to pull up its socks on the coffee as it even tastes worse than the old McDonald's coffee and may even rival the old gas station coffee offered at the old gas stations off the Interstate in the back country of New York.  The quantity of coffee was the only saving grace, there wasn't much of it so it was easier to put the coffee out of it's misery and not feel too neglected. 

Overall, Cinnabon was a disappointment from the beginning.  "World Famous Cinnamon Rolls" they are not considering even McDonald's, who doesn't even specialize in Cinnamon Rolls, does a better job.  Your service counter doesn't provide any indication as to where customers are supposed to go when entering the store.  With lots of other coffee and bakery style places to choose from, customers are better to go elsewhere. Perhaps calling it "World Famous Cinnamon Rolls" was setting the bar high from the start.

Bridgehead in Byward

Today I thought I would give Bridgehead another chance after the last visit I had to their Elgin Street location. So I visited Bridgehead in the Byward Market (224 Dalhousie Street, Ottawa), a location I have yet to visit. 

I entered shortly after 9 A.M. to find nobody in line at the cash.  I walked up to the counter and placed my order.

The Order: 1 Medium Blend Medium Sized Coffee and 1 Triple Berry Oatmeal Muffin.

I paid for my order and left the location to check out the rest of Dalhousie Street.  Dalhousie Street, a number of years ago, was not that great heading northward towards the Ottawa River from Clarence.  It used to be a rundown stretch.  Now it is looking up a little bit with new stores moving in and the buildings getting a little TLC.  The side streets off of Dalhousie north of Clarence also looked questionable in years past especially at night.  However, during the days now there are people out and about walking.  It also helps the Byward Market stores and restaurants have expanded to at least Murray Street making the area a little more upscale in sections as well as bringing more people to the streets.

The new Triple Berry Muffin with Oatmeal was interesting.  Bridgehead, as noted in the previous Elgin Street location review, had added Oatmeal to their original Triple Berry Muffin.  Taste wise the muffin is a bit drier than the original Triple Berry Muffin. There is less berry zing due to the Oatmeal as well.  I'm not sold on the new taste but perhaps this new recipe will grow on me overtime. 

The coffee was Bridghead perfect.  No slightly burnt taste and it didn't taste like coffee grounds either.  An improvement over the Elgin Street location as well and more like the Sparks Street location.  Freshly ground coffee beans brewed freshly.  Pretty good combination. 

Overall, this Bridghead location is located on the edge of the Byward Market in an up and coming neighbourhood.  The coffee is up to standard and the usual exemplary service with a smile is provided.  Thus, this location will probably do well in the future.

Get your Caboose on Down to Starbucks @ Ottawa Trainyards

I visited the Ottawa Trainyards to do some shopping and before leaving decided to visit the Starbucks (100 Trainyards Drive, Ottawa) for some coffee. 

I arrived shortly after 8 A.M. to find a bustling coffee shop with only one customer at the counter awaiting their order and three Baristas working the counter including one adding more baked goodies to the display.

I placed my order right away as the other customer was finished and moving away from the counter. 

The Order: 1 Medium Blend Medium Sized coffee and 1 Chocolate Caramel Muffin.

The Barista who took my cash poured my coffee and retrieved my muffin.  A slight playful grimmace from the Barista who just restocked the baked goods was seen by me.  I apologized with a smile on my face at her misfortune of just finishing only to have to replace a single muffin. 

I left the store with coffee and muffin in hand. 

I dug into the $2.25 Caramel and Chocolate Muffin to see what sets it apart from anything to set the price.  Taste wise it was exactly the same as an Oreo Chocolate Muffin from McDonald's but with the added caramel.  But for an extra $1.25 it is much more pricier, and presumably upscale because it comes from Starbucks.  Was it worth it? No, better to visit McDonald's if your in search of the muffin because for the price of the Starbucks muffin alone you could have a muffin and a medium coffee at McD's.

The coffee was satisfactory medium blend from Starbucks.  Seems as though Starbucks has received the message from coffee drinkers that their old regular coffee was way to strong for most customers and have tamed it down.  A good starting point and I might get used to it. 

Overall this Starbucks is an interesting location.  Nestled in one of Ottawa's larger big box retail complexes, the Ottawa Trainyards, it is a decent spot to grab a coffee during or after getting your retail fix.  The location even spills over onto the oustide sidewalk providing decent sun and people watching opportunities.  But again, the downfall is the price of the baked goods, for the same price as an entire meal you could purchase a muffin or other baked good.  Good coffee but terrible baked good pricing.

Breakfast at Lieutenant's Pump

Sunday morning my wife and I visited Lieutenants Pump Pub (361 Elgin Street, Ottawa). We arrived at 9 A.M. for the Pub's weekend brunch and were seated quickly.

Our waitress stopped by shortly thereafter to inquire if we would like coffee.  She poured it right away with coffee cups, cutlery and napkins all on the table for whenever you might need it. 

The "bottomless" coffee was decent for a non coffee house place and was refilled several times over during our stay.  The waitress gave us time to enjoy our coffee and peruse the menu.   We decided what we wanted and waited for the waitress to return. 

The Order: 1 Strawberry-Banana Sourdough French Toast with coffee and 1 Scrambled Eggs with toast, fruit and home fries. 

The food took about ten minutes to be prepared and brought out.  Of course the coffee was refilled without being requested which is pretty good service.

The Strawberry-Banana Sourdough French Toast arrived with three pieces of plain toast sized slices of sourdough cut in half stacked nicely.  The strawberries and bananas were not mixed in or associated with the French Toast directly at all, but artfully arranged around the edge of the plate. This was interesting considering that menu called it "Strawberry-Banana Sourdough French Toast" $9.75 and did not mention any sides thus I was puzzled.  But there were ample strawberries and bananas associated on the sides.  Tastewise mixing in the straweberries or bananas with the toast or adding a little syrup was required.  I've learned that I don't really care for sourdough which is not the Lieutenant's Pump Pub's fault, but just my own personal preference. Added fresh melon and grapefruit slices were excellent value.

The Scrambled eggs my wife seemed to enjoy.  The home fries were fried cubed potato chunks served hot. Accompanied with a little ketchup, you have a great take on the traditional greasy spoon date of tomato and potato. Added melon and other fruit is, again, excellent value.  

The pub location itself is clean and arranged to be different cosy rooms adorned in traditional british pub style with leather seating and well kept wooden tables.  The pub itself could be full of people for brunch or on an evening, but each table seems remarkably quiet in their own private function.  The pub, indeed, prides itself on its intimate atmosphere. 

Overall, Lieutenant's Pump provides good wholesome well prepared food is a major draw.  Add in the summertime shaded patio that borders Elgin Street and you have a great place to hang out enjoy breakfast or a couple of beers with friends.  This place grows on you and is the reason it has become a favourite of mine.

Chez Lucien = Chez Mikey

On Saturday evening my family was in town for a visit.  I asked my sister to choose a place for dinner and provided her with several suggestions.  She came back with a suggestion from her friend Daley. Who recommended Chez Lucien (137 Murray Street, Ottawa) in the Byward Market. 

I looked on Urbanspoon.com to find Chez Lucien in the top 10 restaurants. I ventured over earlier in the week to scope out the location of the restaurant as I had read on Urbanspoon.com that it was a small location that was quite busy.  So was a little concerned that this place would be cramped or a long wait for a table like other popular chain restaurants.

The outside of the restaurant is nothing to write home about.  It looks like a wooden outcrop added on as a mudroom onto an older building. I peered through the front window to find a couple of tables for two and a long bar with some additional seating.  Not very roomy at first appearance.  I sent a text to my sister asking her to come up with a back up plan if we were not successful in obtaining a table.   She replied her second choice would be Tucker's Marketplace (which I visited earlier).  

On Saturday my family ventured over to Chez Lucien and arrived at 5:30 P.M.  I was a little concerned this would not be quite early enough as sometimes restaurants can start getting busy at 6:00 P.M. onwards. 
We entered the restaurant to find it bustling with quite a few people. The restaurant was bigger than I expected with an upstairs balcony with about eight tables and a downstairs near the food preparation area with another eight tables.  This was no small cafe but does have room issue due to the restaurant's popularity.

We approached the bar and left our names there on the list.  My sister, who left her name, forgot to inquire how long approximately the wait would be.  Before we could reconnect with the server, he went upstairs and spoke with a couple of people if they would be willing to move to a smaller table in order to free up some space for our larger party. They graciously agreed and moved tables.  The server though, went to another table in order to take a food order.  Thus we were puzzled if we were supposed to come upstairs to the table or wait for our seats to be adjusted.   But we were eventually ushered upstairs and sat down. 

We were not given any menus, so we were a little puzzled what we were supposed to order.  One of us found an acrylic table holder which in most restaurants contains the desert menu.  We discovered the acrylic menu had the full dinner menu on the front and back.  We passed around the menu to each member of our party to choose something from it.  The only issue with having one menu, is it takes time to pass around to choose something as opposed to having multiple menues available handed to you as you are seated.  But enjoying the company of my family who I had not seen in a while resolved this issue. 

The server returned and inquired if we were ready for drinks. We replied we were ready for drinks plus ready for the food order.  The server graciously said he was more than ready for everything. 

Note: Due to the large party of 5 people I will only provide an order for what my wife and I ordered.

The Order: 1 Grilled Chicken Sandwich Burger with fries & salad and a Kichesippi Blonde Beer and 1 Salmon Burger with fries & salad with a glass of water.

The food arrived fifteen minutes later which was pretty impressive for serving five people.

The Grilled Chicken burger was delicious.  The chicken was definately cooked but moist.  Garnished with fresh lettuce and tomato it was perfect.  The fries were string potato fries served at room temperature.  Not great, but considering they had to coordinate the meals with different cooking times all arrive at the same time is impressive though.  The fries otherwise were pretty tasty and an interesting take on the regular pub style staple.   The salad provided was lettuce, grated carrot and another vegetable I can't remember at this time along with Chez Lucien's homemade creamy garlic salad dressing. It dressing saved what would otherwise be a pretty boring tossed salad.  The salad dressing even was pretty good to dip the fries into as well. 

The Grilled Salmon burger was also equally impressive.  Served with the same salad, fries and other condiments.  The burgers all around seemed to be enjoyed by many but this restaurant also serves other pub favourites like liver & onions. 

The inside of the bar was mainly clean exposed brick with hand drawn artwork that was for sale by the artists.  The juke box played the entire time we were there with mainly oldies being the mainstay of the music. 

Overall, Chez Lucien is a hidden gem.  The unattractive exterior (as seen on Google Maps Streetview) they apparently gussy up with flowers in hanging baskets and window boxes, only hides the modern interior. The pub also has several local brews on tap like Mill Street and Kichesippi Beer.  The food is excellent pub food that many will enjoy for it's freshness and it's taste.  We will definately be returning to Chez Lucien.  As well, a big shout out thank you to Daley for his suggestion.