Restaurant Review: Dantessa Italian Restaurant and Bar - 86%

The German and I took a week’s vacation at the beginning of July, and were in Ottawa for Canada Day. As the gentleman at the front desk of our hotel said “It’s something every Canadian should do in their life time.”

We were very fortunate to be right downtown, only a 10 minute walk away from the Parliament Buildings. I had attempted to scope out some gluten free eats close to where we would be sightseeing (as we were not renting a car) and only succeeding in finding one place with purposefully gluten free dishes. Coincidentally, it was located directly across from our hotel!

Both the German and I were so impressed by Dantessa, we opted to eat their twice during our two day stay (and it had nothing to do with the proximity to our hotel, as being downtown there were numerous other restaurants in close proximity).

The restaurant interior

We stopped by for a late lunch on Day 1, and we both ended up ordering pasta. Nearly all their pasta can be made gluten free (stuffed pastas are the exception) and are corn based, which I prefer as I find the texture is much closer to traditional pasta. I chose the Spazia pasta; fettuccine in a cream sauce with shrimp, chicken, pancetta, asparagus, and asiago cheese. It was the first dish in a long time that had everything I loved in it, and I settled on it pretty much right away (which entertained the German, as I usually take a fairly long time to decide). He decided on the Gorgonzola; angel hair pasta with gorgonzola cheese, green onion, and sundried tomatoes.

The Spazia

The Gorgonzola

The server was very knowledgeable about Celiac disease and its gluten free requirements; he also mentioned that their thin crust pizza can also be made gluten free. He assured us he had personally tried most of their gluten free food himself, and with the degree of accuracy he was explaining things, I would have been inclined to believe him.

The sauce was wonderfully cheesy and creamy, and the chicken had a nice smoky taste and clear marks from being char-broiled. There were four large shrimps in the dish, cooked to a perfect firmness, and they didn’t skimp on the pancetta at all. I personally would have liked more asparagus in the dish (it’s one of my favorites!), but I know to a lot of people it can be overpowering, so I think they left it at a reasonable amount. The German seemed to enjoy his pasta equally, and I would have loved to try it, except he didn’t order his gluten free.

The second time we ate here, it was for dinner the next day. I was very intent on trying the pizza, but the pasta special seemed to call my name. It was a special, so not found on the menu; Fettuccine again with a cheesy cream sauce (I can’t remember the cheese they used, but it didn’t have the bite of the asiago, it was pretty mellow) with sun dried tomatoes, green onions, shrimp, scallops, and squid. This time, since it was dinner, we were provided bread (although, alas, it was not gluten free, so the German was more than happy to eat my portion).

After we received our pasta, ate a bit and noticed that they had forgotten the squid! It was quite busy that night, and there seemed to be only one waiter, so I wasn’t able to flag him down, resulting to have to go physically get him. He was very apologetic, and took my pasta, and with no time at all it came back with a double portion of squid, on the house! It was a wonderfully nice gesture, although that amount of squid was a little much for my taste. The shrimp and scallops were wonderful, sweet and tender as they should be. The squid itself was a little gummy and tough, but I think that was just the speed it was cooked and sent out of the kitchen. The pasta itself was perfect, and I would definitely order the dish again.

If you are sightseeing in Ottawa, and are anywhere near the downtown area, I would highly recommend this little gem for delicious quality Italian cuisine and good service. Celiac or not, this is well worth 100% of the 10 minute walk from Parliament Hill.

Atmosphere 7.5/10

Service 9 /10

Presentation 8/10

Taste 9/10

Variety of Gluten Free Dishes 9.5/10

Value 8.5/10

Restaurant Review: East Lake Pho - 77%

As you may, or may not, know, I live and work in Airdrie. There isn’t much variety available here in terms of a quick lunch, so most of the time I take my own food from home. The German and I are heading to Ontario on Saturday, however, so we've been trying to run down the fridge which doesn’t really fit well with my diet.

So, unless I wanted to skip lunch (which I do frequently, not healthy, do as I say not as I do please!) I needed to go out. One of the places I hadn’t been to in a while is a handy little Vietnamese place about a 5 minute drive away, East Lake Pho.

I used to love the subs here, until my diagnosis. I was tickled pink when the staff knew right away what “celiac” meant, and were happy to check on whatever items I wanted. Ever since, the service has been pretty close to impeccable and I have never had a request to check on ingredients turned down or shrugged off as annoying.

Today, I ordered an A0, Beef Salad Rolls with sate peanut sauce, and a C49, Charbroiled Pork with Lemon Grass and Spring Rolls on Rice Vermicelli. They have a great deal where 99% of their Bun (Vermicelli) dishes are on for $6.95 Sunday through Tuesday. The only one not included is C44, Special Rainbow Combo (several different types of meat + spring roll).

Speaking from experience, the shrimp and chicken are not gluten free due to the marinade they use. I know the Pork Chop used for the rice dishes (or as an add on) isn’t either, even though the lemon grass pork is. I am not 100% sure about other thing, so please ask your server when you order. They are very friendly and knowledgeable.

Now, the peanut sauce, sadly, is not gluten free here so I had fish sauce substituted, and I passed on having the spring rolls with my vermicelli for the same reason. Often if I am dining with someone else, I ask for the spring rolls to be packaged separately (so my companion can eat them) and this is never an issue. They add cilantro to a lot of stuff here, and I personally can’t stand the stuff, so I always order my food without it.

As of right now, VH sauces (Teriyaki excluded) in Canada are gluten free, so I keep a bottle of both Soy and Hoisin at home/work. Not just for Vietnamese; because I like Asian flavors and use soy sauce on nearly everything.

The beef salad rolls were pretty average, they don’t flavour the beef beforehand but that doesn’t bother me so much as I just dunk it in sauce anyway. I like they add julienned cucumber to their rolls, along with the standard vermicelli and lettuce. They aren’t anything special, to be honest, but they are rolled nice and tight and the wrappers are nice and squishy, like they should be.

The vermicelli wasn’t too bad. There was a good amount of pork, and it was well seasoned, but a little dry. Lettuce, carrots, and cucumber were a little in short supply, although extremely fresh and crunchy. I’d say 60% of the entire dish was the vermicelli noodles, which I was very tired off by the end.

All in all, I would say these guys don’t serve bad food at all. The standard Vietnamese fare although what they do put out, I feel is quite freshly made. I don’t come here specifically for taste, I come for the awesome service and the high degree of knowledge they exhibit regarding wheat allergies and celiac disease.

Atmosphere 6.5/10

Service 9.5 /10

Presentation 6.5/10

Taste 7/10

Variety of Gluten Free Dishes 7.5/10

Value 9/10

Restraunt Review: Silver Inn Resturant - 75%

I have had a serious jonsing for ginger beef lately, which is odd, since it is one of the Chinese dishes I've never really been fond of, even before my celiac diagnosis. The usual Chinese restaurant I've went to since learning I'm celiac doesn't office gluten free ginger beef, so that wasn't an option.

Enter Google, a celiac's best friend.

I actually live in Airdrie, so it was nice the apparent "Home of Ginger Beef" was on Centre Street North. The German is always up for anything battered, deep fried, or salty, so he was in.

From the outside, it looks like the typical old neighborhood Chinese place. A little run down, but that usually leads me to hope that they spend more time on the food, and less time on appearances. We were seated very quickly and had our drink orders taken right away; Coke for him and water for me.

Now, at the other gluten free Chinese place I've been to, items that can be made gluten free are clearly marked on the menu. At Silver Inn Restauraunt, however, they are not, which was slightly disappointing. We ordered ginger beef, sweet and sour pork, and the crunchy chicken filet in sweet corn sauce. I was trying to find some dish with a little bit of greenery in it, but after naming two or three different veggie dishes, and being told they couldn't make them gluten free without omitting the sauce, we gave up and just stuck with our three dishes and steamed rice.

I asked for gluten free soy sauce to go with my steamed rice, but the waitress told me they only had regular soy sauce and told me to bring my own from home next time. I was really surprised and disappointed by this. Gluten free soy sauce isn't hard to find (VH is GF for goodness sakes).

Our beef and pork dishes arrived fairly fast, along with our rice, but the chicken was a fair bit delayed for an unexplained reason.

First and foremost, the ginger beef was - literally - out of this world. If I hadn't been with my boyfriend and surrounded by strangers, I might have just started shoving handfuls of it into my mouth. We were told the batter is made with cornstarch, and I'm wondering if that is the secret. Very light, crunchy even when covered with sauce, it doesn't remind me one bit of the incredibly chewy and tough ginger beef I remember from Chinese smorgs past. The sauce was perfect, not overpowering at all, with just the right amount of chili. If you come to this restaurant and don't order the ginger beef, I pity you!

A-MAZE-ING Ginger Beef!

The sweet and sour pork was pretty good too, although the coating on it wasn't nearly as good as that on the ginger beef. The sauce was nice though, not too vinegary like I remember a lot of places being. Nice chunks of onion, carrot, and green pepper (so I guess I got a little vegetable in me by the end of the meal) but no pineapple! That wouldn't stop me from ordering it again though! 

Pork on my fork, please!

Our crunchy chicken filet in sweet corn sauce was strangely good, a combination I never would have thought of before, but otherwise unimpressive. It was basically breaded chicken covered in creamed corn. My boyfriend was quite impressed by it (he also eats frozen pizza and beefaroni several times a week) but it was just too starchy and heavy for me to be anything else than a novelty.

Is there such a thing as the "starch sweats"?

All things considered, it was not a bad meal at all for $50 including tip, and I would like to head back some time in the future and try a different variety of dishes to hopefully find a new favorite. As good as the ginger beef was, I would be hard pressed to drive 40 kilometers for one dish unless I was having a helluva craving.

But hey, that's how I got here in the first place!!

Overall, I'm rating the Silver Inn Restaurant as follows:

Atmosphere 8/10
Service 8 /10
Presentation 6.5/10
Taste 8.5/10
Variety of Gluten Free Dishes 7/10
Value 7/10