A Surprise at the Pump

While my family was visiting from Toronto a couple of weeks ago, we decided the last meal before they returned, a brunch, would be at Lieutenant's Pump Pub (361 Elgin Street, Ottawa).

We tried calling ahead to make a reservation as our group would be eight people including a small child.  The response was "we do not take reservations after 10 A.M.".

I could understand the no reservations after 10, as I know "The Pump" can be a busy brunch place on weekends.  Nothing disturbs people more than a large empty table with the little "reserved" sign on it while the place is lined up out the door.

I hung up the phone dejectedly and explained the situation to my family.  We decided to try for Lieutenant's Pump anyway in hopes the line up wouldn't be too long.

We arrived at 11 A.M. as per the original reservation attempt.  The entrance is a set of stairs about six steps down before reaching the hostess' podium.

We told the hostess how many there were, 8 including the toddler.   We were promised a fifteen minute wait.  Pretty good timing so far considering we still had two stragglers who were circling the block trying to find parking.   So fifteen minutes later we were all there with the toddler surrounded by 3 ladies who he had no clue who they were.  My nephew is already such a ladies man.

I didn't watch the clock at all while watching either the people walk by on Elgin Street or my nephew waiving at anyone who would look his way.  Good thing this entertainment was going on, cause it was apparently 45 minutes before we were sat down.  I did not have a clue how long until later.  The hostess, to her credit, had kept us updated with the usual bait of "it won't be long now as we are just waiting on one table to pay their bill" and "we are just cleaning the table for you".  Normally, these lines are used to keep up the hope of the prospective customers instead of letting them think they should turn around and head elsewhere.

I had started to think about heading across the street to the Elgin Street Diner which I had previously been to before that was across the street and up a block. The service there is usually fast and the food was good.  But would they be able to take a party of 8?   I knew Zak's in the market had booths large enough for 8 people but the volume of people on a Sunday is usually similar to "The Pump" so a similar wait would be undertaken.  Hmmm...

Before I could think anymore we were called and led to our table and handed menus.  Before we could order, the owner stopped by and apologized for the wait time.  I'm not sure if he knew we had attempted to make a reservation that morning.  He seemed to feel his staff had let us down by making us wait so long.  He apologized again and said the meal would be on the house and left.

This was a first for me, no manager had ever given out free meals to the entire table.  Sure we I have seen meals comped at other restaurants when something went wrong.  Usually it was because a dish was cold or a side was wrong and the replacement meal seem to take twice as long as it should to get there.

Reading through the menu I discovered my old favourite at "The Pump", the Turkey sandwich on a croissant with home fries.  Mmm..... good.   Add to this my wife's big breakfast that she can't possibly finish so she needs help and I'm good to go with additional toast, fruit and even more delicious home fries! CHACHING!  
The food was as good as ever at The Pump and the waitress provided timely service with a well run kitchen backing her up.  Food was brought out within ten minutes of ordering, drinks were refilled on a timely manner and we all had a good time including the toddler for the most part.

The toddler was a little grumpy at times and I felt a little guilty at his noise and squirming.  A quick look over at the next table over from us and smile was returned from the parents of another toddler slightly older reminiscing about what is was like for their own son at that age.  The two university age ladies on the other side didn't even bat an eyelash and continued their conversation.

We finished our meals and the plates were gradually being ushered back to the kitchen by the friendly wait staff.  We conferred with the waitress about the owner's gesture on the bill.  Yes the entire meal was at the compliments of The Lieutenant's Pump Pub.  

This left us in somewhat consternation about the tip.  Do we tip for the service on a free meal?  The answer was unanimously yes. But without a bill or receipt, what do you base your calculation of a tip on?  Hmmmm....we settled on a generous tip of $60.00 and pulled everything together.  We called the waitress over and presented the money to her.

The waitress had a big smile on her face and again apologized for the wait.  We responded that despite the wait, we had a good time at the restaurant, the service was good and the food was excellent.  Please share the money with everyone involved.

Sometimes there are mistakes at restaurants.  Sure every business, no matter what industry they are in, makes a mistake or something doesn't go right that should have in the first place.  The sign of good restaurant is how it bounces back from these situations in an attempt to keep the customer on side.   The Lieutenant's Pump could have given us empty platitudes of apologies and understanding without backing these up with action.  It could have also given us a 10% discount or something similar on our overall bill.  But free meals for the entire table of eight was very generous.  I could not help but leaving The Lieutenant's Pump Pub that day without feeling happy.  Happy that my family had visited, happy I was full of good food, but most of all, impressed that a possibly bad situation was handled so well and turned into a positive.

Gabriel Delivers!

Saturday evening, with family arrived from a celebration near Brockville, there was only thing to turn to get a lot of food in a timely manner.  On the trip back to Ottawa from Brockville, I was asked what my favourite pizza was?  Pizzaville came up, Pizza Pizza, and Pizza Hut also were mentioned. I replied Gabriel Pizza was one of my favourites in the Ottawa area as I had it previously and enjoyed it.

The talk of pizza on the way back resulted from the need to get delivery as we had just had a road trip back with a just less than a year old who was probably going to be grumpy.  This meant at least his parents would not be able to join us at, lets say, a restaurant meal out at a pub downtown.  So pizza it was.

We called Gabriel's Pizza (2660 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa)  to order. The call was picked up in a timely manner.  We first mentioned we had coupons for medium pizza that were received in the mail.  We were told to have them ready for the driver.  Next we placed our order.

The Order: 1 Medium Regular Crust pizza with Bacon, Pepperoni and Mushroom, 1 Medium thin crust pizza with spinach, Feta cheese, Red Peppers and Extra Sauce and 1 Medium regular crust pizza with Pineapple and Ham.

The downfall, was we had to wait 45 minutes for the pizza's to be made and delivered.  We reluctantly said that was fine realizing it was a Saturday night and most pizza places would have a significant wait.

The driver arrived at 35 minutes with the three medium pizzas.  He was prepared with the Visa credit card machine and was off to his next run.  We didn't feel rushed at all and he never made it seem like it was on the clock.

We opened the pizzas to find three hot and obviously cheesy pizzas. The remarks were pretty forthcoming that all the pizzas ordered had a lot cheese on them.  Good thing the cheese was of excellent quality, otherwise the meal would have gone south pretty quickly.

The bacon, pepperoni and mushroom pizza was delicious.  The mushrooms pizza and sauce were fresh.  I'm not sure about how freshly prepared the bacon was before it was put on the pizza, but it was not terrible.

The same with the other two pizzas.  Lots of cheese with fresh toppings added. A knife was definitely required to extricate each of the slices due to the cheesyness of the pizzas.

Overall, Gabriel Pizza provides a high quality pizza at a slightly more expensive price than the average neighbourhood pizza parlour.  But  the added quality ingredients and the quality customer service experience is worth it.  Gabriel's delivers quality pizza on time and, if needed, right to your door.

O'er the Bridge to Tim Hortons We Go

Needing a place to wait for someone convenint to Highway 401 after spending half a day perusing historic Downtown Brockville can be a bit of a challenge.  Sure, I had lunch, but I was still in the need of an afternoon snack.  I worked my way up William Street past the historic Leeds and Grenville County Courthouse towards the bridge over the main Toronto to Montreal CN Rail Tracks.  I stopped short of the rail bridge at William and Brock Streets where a shiny new Tim Hortons (77 William Street, Brockville).

This Tim Hortons is a perfect spot to meet someone coming from out of town along Highway 401.  Just south of the railway tracks close to downtown Brockville yet, just north of the railway tracks after William Street turns into the Stewart Boulevard, is the exit from Highway 401.

I entered at 1 P.M. to wait for my father who was working his way east from Toronto to pick me up.  The Tim Hortons is part of the chain's new modern look with comfy seating and modern look.

The line up was decent length but moved forward frequently. The cashier welcomed me with a smile and inquired of what I wished to order.

The Order: 1 Boston Cream donut and 1 Medium Black Coffee

While the cashier was about to get my Boston Cream, a supervisor walked by and warned her the Boston Creams had just come out of the back, thus, the chocolate might still be soft and stickier than normal.  The cashier looked back at me quizzically as she hadn't asked if I wanted my order "for here" or "to go".  If  it was the latter, she was in trouble, the to go packaging would be stuck to chocolate and I would later have to carefully extract the donut while losing half of the chocolate.  This is typical of Tim Hortons' takeout packaging even when the Boston Cream isn't fresh.  Not sure how this issue can be overcome.

Fortunately, I was going to be at this Tim Hortons for at least fifteen to thirty minutes.  So I said "For Here!" on the donut.  This meant a small plate could used to serve up the donut and preserve the life of the chocolate.

My coffee was poured in "To Go" cup just as requested.  I like to sip my coffee, and without knowing if I was going to be at the Tim Hortons fifteen minutes or longer it was tough to tell.

The coffee was the same great Tim Hortons' quality.  The donut was indeed Tim Hortons' fresh as well.  This latter part is not really "fresh" per say as Tim Hortons years ago moved to a central bakery where the donuts are made and not in the stores.  So "fresh" at Tim Hortons comes down to "how long ago were the donuts defrosted" as opposed to the old days of "when was the batter made?" But I digress.

Overall, this Tim Hortons location is convenient to Highway 401 with decent service and cleanliness. Located just to the north of the old Highway 2, Brockville's King Street, it is a centrally located franchise location with a modern feel and look.  Best part is on summer days you could probably watch the trains go by from the north side of this Tim Hortons or do so while walking o'er the bridge as you sip your double double.

Feeling like a King at Dominos King Street

Last weekend, I made the trek via VIA Rail down to Brockville from Ottawa for a day of fun with family.  But I had to kill some time in Brockville until my family caught up to me from their trek from Toronto.  Of course one of things on my list to do in Brockville was to find some lunch.

On my travels along old Highway 2 (King Street as the local's call it), I spied a Domino's Pizza (191 King Street West, Brockville).   I entered at 11:30 A.M. to find a quiet storefront with no customers inside.  I was warmly greeted by an older gentlemen who was ready to take my order.  

The Order: 1 10" Pepperoni Pizza

After ordering and paying I was told the pizza would be out in about 7 minutes.  I turned around and sat down to wait for my pizza to be made, baked, boxed and handed to me.  

I glanced around at the Domino's Pizza and locked on a television screen.  No, not an interesting sports game going on or even the daily newscast.  It was an order status screen with the exact location in the pizza making process my pizza was in!

Domino's Pizza order status screen

When I spied it first, it said it was being made and ready in 10 minutes.  I grinned and pointed out to the gentlemen behind the counter the status screen was something I had not seen before and it said was at the 10 minute mark and being made.  He said they had the screen for a couple of months and was currently a customer crowd pleaser.  

The pizza came out, boxed and ready to go right on the seven minute mark on my watch.  The status screen? About 2 minutes left on it, not bad time wise and novelty screen wise too! But how would it taste? I left the store in search of a nearby park or streetside bench in the historic section of Brockville.  I found a streetside bench and dug into the pizza.

The pizza was cheesy with the strings of cheese splitting off as I extracted a slice from the pie.  A decent amount and taste of pepperoni was also available on this pizza.  No scrimping was noticed on the toppings of cheese and pepperoni.  Pretty good Domino's Pizza quality right here, nothing wrong tastewise.

Overall, Domino's Pizza on King Street in Brockville provides quality customer service with a warm welcome and smile from the employees.  Speedy service was expected due to myself being the only customer on a quiet Saturday morning and I was not dissapointed.  Quality chain pizza with quality service at Domino's Pizza Brockville.

Reliable Tim Hortons while on the Go

On the first Saturday of October, we dropped my Mother-in-Law at the airport for a 7 A.M. flight. Of course she had to be at the gate for 6:30 A.M. ready for boarding.  Great, up at 4 A.M. and ready to leave by 4:45 A.M.

There is only one thing someone needs after arriving at the airport with bags in hand at the ungodly hour at 5:15 A.M., a cup of coffee.  We checked in, got the baggage tag and before heading to security, stopped off at the 3rd floor Food Court of the Ottawa MacDonald-Cartier International Airport that has Booster Juice, Harvey's, Rideau Bar & Grill, and of course, a Tim Hortons (1000 Airport Parkway Private, Ottawa).

This Tim Hortons is a full service store front with shared seating to the side.  If you arrive early enough for your flight in the morning be sure the check in first before proceeding to the food court area.  Some airlines hand out free newspapers (example: Westjet offers complimentary copies of the Globe & Mail and the Ottawa Citizen) as well the food court area is at the top of the escalators from the third floor down to the second floor and security.

I lined up at the counter watching the operation overall.  There were two American customers over at the bakery waiting for their breakfasts being put together. They were dumbfounded that they do no receive their orders for their breakfast sandwiches at the cash register where they ordered like at McDonald's but over at the bakery area.  They were talking with the lady making their sandwiches about what Tim Hortons offered.  It was quickly noticeable these two gentlemen were not Canadian, any Canadian would know how the average Tim Hortons operated. The lady took her sweet time putting together the two Americans' sandwiches.  I took note of this and decided to skip anything that would have to be prepared in the bakery area.

I moved forward in line and placed my order.

The Order: 1 Medium Black coffee and 1 Boston Cream Donut

The coffee was poured in seconds and my donut retrieved without any complaint. The pricing was consistent with all Tim Horton's pricing I had experienced in the Ottawa area.  Sometimes other chains allow the prices of their food to fluctuate depending on the market.  This results in chains like Burger King and McDonald's having exorbitant pricing at counters in movie theatres and airports.  Thus, to Tim Hortons' credit, they kept the pricing exactly the same as any other location in Ottawa.

I ventured over to the common eating area for all of the airport's food court restaurant counters and had a seat.  The coffee was exactly as I would find it elsewhere.   The donut, the same.

Overall, the Tim Horton's on the third floor food court of the Ottawa International Airport before security is matches up service and taste wise to other Tim Hortons found elsewhere in Ottawa.  This is noticeable as sometimes institutions and movie theaters like to jack up prices of the food available at their locations as they have captive customers.  The only downfall I noticed of this location is the slow bakery preparation on the back end.  But this could happen, and has happened, at other Tim Hortons locations and comes down to experience and training of the employees.  For a quick bite to eat before heading through security to your flight, this location should be a stop for you before saying "Bon Voyage!"

Pasticceria Goodness in Little Italy

Friday for lunch in Little Italy, I visited Pasticceria Gelateria Italiana (200 Preston Street, Ottawa) which I originally thought was a mere bakery of wedding cakes and the odd sweet including Gelato.  But I was sadly wrong, why had I not at least seen there was more?

Perhaps it was because the storefront itself is raised a little bit with a front veranda and thus making the front windows hard to see all the delightful goodness inside.  I heard there was more inside and decided to check it out in hopes of finding another lunch spot.

I was warmly greeted from behind the counter by the staff inquiring if I knew what I wished to order.  I was a little too awestruck at the delectable site before me.  To my left was an expansive display case of regular gourmet cakes, cookies, and other sweets.  To my right were the day's pasta dishes for lunch plus a display case of various Italian Gelato's.  Further down was a complete coffee bar for any Italian coffee you could imagine.  Of course there was the usual seating with customers exploring their Italian creations.  A little sign on one of the display cases indicates there is a Wedding Cake museum that can be toured upon request by one of the staff members.  Apparently, it is quite the impressive sight.  I didn't bother the staff as they were busy preparing and serving the restaurant's typical Friday afternoon customers who all seemed to be known by name or at least warmly greeted like they were old friends.

The staff member guided me to a couple of menus to review after I regained my composure of being impressed with the surroundings.  I selected something from the pizza menu and ordered.

The Order: 1 Margherita pizza.

I was told the pizza would be ready in about 10 minutes.

For the next 9 minutes I perused the delicious treats of the shop.  At about the 5 minute mark of wait, I was inquired with if I would like the pizza dipping sauce.  "Of course" came my reply not knowing what I was getting myself into but seeing the deliciousness I was surrounded by, I was not worried.

At the 9 minute mark, my pizza was boxed and ready along with the pizza dip and decent amount of napkins.  I was graciously handed the box and left the store before my tastebuds could convince my brain to bankrupt my retirement savings and purchase everything else in the store.

I returned to the office and opened the box to the fantastic sights and smells of a gourmet pizza made with loving care.

Margherita Pizza with dipping sauce.

I dug into the Margherita Pizza and found the cheese was still melted.  The pizza was a traditional Italian thin crust with Parmesan & Mozzarella cheeses, Italian tomato sauce, basil and olive oil. Delectable with each bite.

The only minor complaint, don't expect this pizza to be filling.  But what the pizza lacks in quantity, it makes up for in high quality.

Overall, Pasticceria Gelateria Italiana is an Italian destination restaurant for those looking for the highest quality Italian cooking without having to visit Italy itself.  Award winning professional chef Joe Calabro owns and operates this hidden gem in Little Italy that provides great opportunities for those looking for a place for lunch, a place for desert, a coffee shop or even a romantic spot for dessert.  A one sized fits all with terrific knowledgeable staff and delicious freshly made food.

They Put their Heart into it Heart & Crown on Preston

Friday after I had my lunch, I received a phone call from my boss who wanted to know if I'd eaten or not.  "Of course," I replied, I had been to Domino's Pizza and had eaten already. But I would be willing to have a snack and a few drinks if need be.

So of we went to Heart & Crown Pub (347 Preston Street, Ottawa) where we were greeted on the patio and inquired if we would like to sit outside or inside.  Inside we went and we were seated in the back corner near the bar.  Not a bad spot as it is open to the complete restaurant and not where they shove customers they would rather not have seen.  The only issue with this back corner is lighting to read the menu.  We had to get our cell phones out to light the menu in order to see enough.  Once through that, I looked for a simple side order of fries.  Couldn't find it.

The waitress arrived and inquired if we were ready to order.

My Order: 1 Basket of Fries and glass of Coke

The waitress nodded and left to place our orders with the kitchen.  Fifteen minutes later a large basket of fries arrived along with a Heinz Ketchup bottle.

The fries were a little greasy, but hot.  Soft and delicious with a little ketchup to help out.  Perfect pub food.

Service wise our waitress sure moved.  Drinks were always refilled promptly and food came in a reasonable 15 minutes.  It probably helped the bar was only about half full for a lazy Friday afternoon lunch.

Overall, this Heart & Crown Pub location is pretty decent on a Friday for lunch.  Wait staff hustle and the food, based on my simple basket of fries and the rest of my table's meals.  If you are looking for simple pub food with friendly staff who put their "Hearts" into it, this is a crowning pub for you.