Ironstone Grill at The Marshes Golf Club

The Ironstone Grill is the restaurant and bar on the main floor of the Marshes Golf Club in Kanata. The club is part of the Brookstreet Hotel over on Legget Drive.

The restaurant is nice and open - high ceilings built using a timber-frame construction. A bar faces out on Terry Fox Drive, with the restaurant taking up the rest of the space. A combination of booths and tables is provided, with lots of privacy for business talk. There's also a selection of tables outside - nice in the summertime.

The menu is "high-class pub" style - a mix of burgers, sandwiches, steak, Indian pizza, and some Canadian classics like salmon. The food is good - nothing overly inspiring, but nothing too bad. My steak sandwich was a bit grisly, and overcooked - but they were running out of them due to the lunch-hour rush. They delivered my steak about 5 minutes before my wife's salmon - which gave her time to steal a good portion of my fries. Dale's salmon was good, but not huge - she was quite happy with it.

The restaurant has a nice selection of draft beers and wines - just a few wines available by the glass.

The staff is all summer students, and we were there early in the season, on a very busy lunch-hour (Why so busy on a Wednesday???) - they were certainly unprepared for the rush. If you were patient, and not in a hurry, lunch was fine. If you were there for a quick business lunch, you'd be quite annoyed at the delay.

The restaurant is trimmed out with a center-room divider made of wood topped with tree-branches sticking up vertically. Why do I mention this? The tree branches WERE FILTHY DIRTY. When they opened the clubhouse in the spring they should have done a thorough cleaning - and it appears they missed these utterly.

So, all in all a mixed review - our problem is that there are only a couple of places to eat out near our office - and this is one of the better ones. I hope they clean up their decor!

Ironstone Grill
320 Terry Fox Drive
(behind Brookstreet)

Reservations:
613.271.3370 (listen to the instructions - press "2")

Monday - Saturday
breakfast (small menu) 9 - 11 am
lunch 11 am - 2 pm
bar menu 2 - 5 pm
Sunday
As above, but with additional brunch 10 am - 2 pm

Juniper Restaurant

(Guest reviewer: Dale)

Well I just LOVE the new Juniper Restaurant.

I always liked Juniper, but then again I am a chick. They have always had excellent chick-food (you know, 8 million ingredients, pretty on the plate, lots of nice seafood, lovely fizzy fruity drinks). But in its new incarnation on Richmond Road in the old Subaru dealership, Juniper's has finally found its restaurant balls.

They have all the chick food, but they have EXCELLENT guy food as well. The menu states its point very clearly: BEEF, DUCK, SALMON . . . the main ingredient shouts out at you in an elegant way. So chicks, guys and anyone in between can find what they like and order it. The presentation and the taste is just heavenly.

The ambiance is very New York. The open concept is wonderful - airy, modern, makes you feel like you're on display and part of the very nouveau scene. Comfy seating, great lighting, great open bar area.

Service is top-notch at Juniper too. The waiters and waitresses are very attentive and friendly. The whole experience starts off with a tres amusant amuse-bouche: a nice surprise, and a hint of lovely taste combinations to come

The food is superb. So gals, bring your guys - they'll love it. And you will too.

http://www.juniperdining.ca/

Lunch
Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2p.m.

Dinner
Monday through Sunday from 5:30 p.m. to 10p.m.
Small Plates & Bar open all week from 5p.m. to 11p.m.
(until midnight on week-ends)

The restaurant is casual fine dining.

245 Richmond Road, Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 6W7
t. 613.728.0220 | f. 613.728.3993
Reservations are recommended.

The Keg Manor

Years ago we used to dine frequently at the Maplelawn Cafe on Richmond Road. We loved the ambiance, the wonderful old building, the relaxed atmosphere, and the owner, Peter Fallis was great. I guess there weren't enough of us regular visitors, so Peter ended up selling our fav restaurant to the Keg - a semi-ok chain restaurant generally suited for the tourist crowd.

Well we decided to stop by tonight on our way out to see the Bare Naked Ladies, and boy were we pleasantly surprised!

It being a cold winter evening, we asked for a table by the fireplace, a wish granted immediately. Our waitress, Korleen, was terrific, suggesting an excellent red wine for starters. We each ordered the Prime Rib Dinner which comes with Caesar salad and a choice of potato for $26. We generally like our beef rare, and thought the prime rib was medium rare, it was excellent - well prepared and tasty. The side vegetables were excellent, and the baked and mashed potatoes were very good as well. Nothing at all to complain about.

The restaurant has lots of nooks and crannies. You can easily find yourself a nice quiet place to eat, or a whole room to host an office party or lunch, though we recommend the nice area by the fire place, close to the entrance.

The washrooms are nice and clean and spacious by the back door.

The Keg Manor
529 Richmond Road
613-724-1242

Little India Cafe

This very small restaurant is a secret gem. You have to "understand" in order to appreciate this place. It has all of 8 or 10 tables, and it's often crowded beyond capacity. Service is not great, but that's not their specialty. You come here for the food, and it's great!

The food here is excellent and authentic Indian food. Everything on the menu is terrific. People come back again and again, just loving this place. Especially telling is the continuous lineup of people picking up takeout meals. Sure, there's only a few tables in this small restaurant, but they are feeding dozens of takeout meals for every meal served in-house! This may in fact be the best way to appreciate the Little India Cafe - use it for excellent Indian take-out!

Washrooms are small and cramped in the back. Nothing special, but not horrifying either.

Little India Cafe

66 Wylie Avenue
Ottawa, ON K2B 6M4

(613) 828-2696

littleindiacafe.com

Mediterranean Restaurant & Butchery

This small lunch counter is in a strip mall on Carling, near many high-tech firms. There are a few restaurants in this strip mall, but this one is consistently busy every day - even while the others are bare.

There's a small butcher counter at the back, an old style butcher where the meat is fresh and the service friendly.

Join the small line for lunch, and treat yourself to an excellent meal. There are lots of specials, including Shawarma, Kababs, and lots of plate lunches. Try anything, you won't go wrong.

And, for atmosphere, you'll probably enjoy the continuous world cup soccer match replays on the TV!

The washrooms are at the back, nothing special, but not too bad.

Mediterranean Restaurant & Butchery

4055 Carling Avenue
Kanata, ON K2K 2A4

(613) 599-9610