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Town
Category: Restaurants Canadian (New) Canadian (New) [Edit]
296 Elgin StreetOttawa, ON K2P 1M3
(613) 695-8696
- Hours:
Tue-Thu, Sun 5 pm - 10 pm
Wed-Fri 11:30 am - 2 pm
Fri-Sat 5 pm - 11 pm
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Dogs Allowed:
- No
16 reviews for Town
Review Highlights
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"But, the small plates here are perfect, sharable appetizers." In 3 reviews -
"By far my favorite the Ricotta Gnudi." In 4 reviews
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"Their beef carpaccio is, by far, the best I have ever..." In 2 reviews
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16 reviews in English
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Review from Risa D.
Walked into Town at about 8pm on a Saturday and had the good fortune to be seated at the chef's bar. The two of us were cozy perched there with our backs to the rest of the clients, taking in the food network worthy action in front of us. Our waitress Kerry was delightful - at first I found her startlingly cheery but then I remembered I was in Ontario, not Quebec, and I relaxed into it (it's better if you don't resist =). We chatted a bit with co-owner and chef Marc Doiron throughout our meal and enjoyed his wife's sense of comfort and class in the decor.
We shared the beet salad, meat balls stuffed with homemade ricotta, pork chop and homemade ice cream sundae. Everything was just exceptionally good. The beet salad included some kind of delicious charcuterie, a paste of walnuts and aioli, little deep fried goat cheese balls - fricken heaven. The meat balls were big as your fist and grandmother-good. The pork chop was huge and better than any I've had elsewhere, and the bacon-wrapped endive on the plate will be duplicated with a tip of the hat to Town at all my bbq's henceforth. The homemade ice cream put the experience over the top. My date observed that the meal made us full in a clean and wholesome feeling way, and with that we left loving Ottawa more than ever before. Thanks so much to yelper Coy W for the excellent recommendation!Listed in: Ottawa
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Review from Sheila B.
Ottawa, ON
5/18/2012
My 3-star rating will skew the results down a bit and as another reviewer has noted, there's no accounting for people's tastes. The service here is fantastic and the vibe is good - always busy, and nicely decorated front-of-the-house, so it's definitely a nice dining experience. The food however, for me, was not stellar on either of the two times I've eaten here. The menu is updated Italian and I have found that after two tries, it's a bit heavy for me.
I like the simplicity of Italian ingredients and, apart from a nice beet salad that many places are doing well these days, there was nothing that made me sit up and say "more please!". Hubby's mama is Sicilian and her sauces are so simple and flavourful, her salads so refreshing and free of pretense, that when I want to eat Italian, I'll save my appetite for a visit to her house! -
Review from Kimberly S.
Ottawa, ON
2/27/2012
We love town, it's one of our favourite places in Ottawa.
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Review from John Paul T.
Montréal, QC
7/3/2011
Town is a delightful little addition to the Ottawa culinary scene and I truly enjoyed my experience here. I should preface this review by admitting one thing: I was perhaps a little tipsy while dining here. My boyfriend, my cousin and I hit up this place after a full day's worth of drinking and we may or may not have been a little intoxxxicated. But such is life in the nation's capital on Canada Day weekend. Needless to say though, we enjoyed ourselves.
The restaurant itself is not far from the downtown core (indeed it is on Elgin Street easily accessible from hotels, Ottawa U, central neighbourhoods, etc.). The restaurant is a very chic-hipster bistro-type place with its menu written in chalk on the wall. There are also small clipboards passed around with the small-ish menu available to those far from the chalkboard. The service was perfecto. I mean truly welcoming and accommodating. They just made us feel at home and their motto 'Town loves you,' was an ethos I just felt.
I started with the 'salad' as it is called--a wonderful if not totally original salad with pears and a balsamic vinaigrette, but genuinely a scrumptious salad. There were also nuts (I love nuts). For my main I had the 'half chicken under a brick' which was blow your socks off delicious. Like actually. F*ing amazing, people. Get it. Eat it. Love it. My boyfriend had the beef carpaccio and as much as I like meat I don't like it raw. But he LOVED it and highly recommends it. So def get that if you're feeling it. And he had the ricotta stuffed meatballs for his main which were off the hooooook. Deliciousssss. I mean seriously their food probably has crack in it because it was just so good. Maybe it was because I was basically drunk but I was like loving life over at Town the other night. My cousin had the cavitelli and she was also more than impressed.
PS this place is totally reasonable in terms of price. I mean with wine, an appy, a main, and dessert (I forget what it was, again a little tipsy), and tax and tip included it was like $50/each which for me is totally affordable every once in a while (even on my shoestring of a budget). So yea bring some friends and head on down to Town if you're in town! It was fab! Thanks guys. -
Review from Melissa E.
Vancouver, BC
6/18/2011
Was in Ottawa for work and met up with an old high school friend. When I googled the restaurant she suggested...I knew we would have lots in common.
The lunch menu is small...only a few appis (one salad) and mostly sandwiches. This was a little challenge as she couldn't do gluten so we ended up sharing the half chicken...oh shiat. That was some amazing bird!! Served on grilled romaine ceasar salad. We also had another side salad that was yum. Clearly the quality of the ingredients and the chefs were top notch.
Simple, fresh food done right. Me likey. -
Review from Allie R.
Hamilton, ON
1/22/2012
What can I say? Amazing. I was in Ottawa on business and stumbled across this small restaurant on Elgin. Although they were booked (a decent restaurant that still takes reservations!?) they did still seat us when they opened as they could squeeze us in, but only if we promised not to be there more than two hours. Two hours? They would give me two hours to eat? I realised I was not in Kansas (or Hamilton) anymore.
The food was outstanding. Simply amazing and delicious. The chef had clearly taken their time with our meals. The waiter we had was attentive and friendly. He recommended the cheese tray to us and we we not disappointed and his wine pairings were perfect. The steak was cooked to absolute perfection, and the chicken? Who knew chicken could taste so good! The menu is small, and the price is a little on the high side, but worth it! I will definitely go back, but will make reservations next time! -
Review from Lori C.
Vancouver, BC
12/6/2011
I would give Town 2.5 starts if flexibility allowed, but forced to choose, I rounded down to a mere 2 stars. I suspect that had I not been to Play (another Ottawa restaurant) the night before, Town would have faired better. But, as fate would have it, Town does not stand up to Play's star performance.
About Town. . . With all the tables claimed, I sat at the bar. The bartender looked after me, sparing a modicum of attention. I ordered the only salad on the menu - an overdressed bed of greens with mushy pears, thinly sliced parmesan, and a goodly amount of toasted hazelnuts. The nuts were the best part of the salad. For my second course, I ordered the half-size plate of ricotta-stuffed meatballs. These were very good, but the sauce around them was mediocre. My bet - a jar of Classico was heated and poured over the top. The meatballs were supposed to come on a bed of soft polenta, but the kitchen must have forgotten this in my order. When I asked about the polenta, the bartender told me it must have been absorbed by the sauce. I doubt it, but just let it go at that.
Play, on York Street (in Byward Market) is a far better choice for meatballs and salad. See my review on Play for details. -
Review from John S.
NEPEAN, ON
5/21/2011 1 Check-in Here
With every dish I was served, I wanted them to live up to the reviews but they did not.
I am a foodie and I eat at a lot of top restaraunts in Ottawa and around the globe and for me this was not one of them.
That said, nothing was bad about the food but it really was OK. Nothing special or surprising if you measure it against ... let's say Ottawa Magazine's top 10. Not that their list is the gospel but Town would exist at 11 or below.
The service was fantastic and fun.
Based on other reviews and "there is no accounting for taste", go ahead and try it for yourself. You may find a gem or like me ... It's OK. -
Review from Denise R.
9/9/2011
Great food. Great service - thankyou to chef Raphaël who made my birthday xtra special. Place is a little small and crowded. Gets noisy when full but well worth it for the food!
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Review from Adam T.
9/21/2011 1 Check-in Here
This place is awesome from the food to the people that run it. A must in town!!
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Review from Michael A.
10/14/2011
Town is like a great party: Friendly, fun, loud-but-not-obnoxious, great drinks and good food--with some of the best service in Ottawa.
Go. -
Review from Russ M.
Ottawa, ON
9/15/2010 2 Check-ins Here
Visited on a Tuesday night and it was packed ! A good sign, luckily we had a reservation. Food was quite good but could have used a couple small tweaks. Definitely top shelf for Ottawa and particularly Elgin St. which is definitely lacking for good spots to eat.
They have alot of small plates but there are full dinner options, we stuck with the small plates to give everything a try which is the way to go.
Ambiance was great, place has a nice vibe. Decor has a cool factor about it except for the trinkets on the glass shelf, they look like they should be at Mother Tuckers or something, ditch 'em fast and put up a a couple cool prints or something. -
Review from Kat T.
5/31/2011
This is going to be one of those memorable meals from another great weekend in the Capital City. Service was great, although sometimes I almost felt like it was forced niceness. We were seated soon after arrival for our reservation. I couldn't beleive this place wasn't bigger, or fuller from the great reviews.
Cocktails list is great and I ended up with a seasonal Spring Blossom because who doesn't love the St Germain liquor?
I have to say I usually hate small plate restaurants. Sometimes I just want the whole entreé, plat, and dessert instead of apps that I have to share. But, the small plates here are perfect, sharable appetizers. For the 5 of us, we split 1. Olives (house-made, garnished, cool), 2. Salad (way more than just greens with pears, candied nuts and amazing dressing), 3. Potato things (really a big fried potato sprinkled with cheese if you can handle heavy foods, go for it!), 4. Asparagus with a poached egg (1 stalk each with cool crispy/fried egg for everyone), and 5. By far my favorite the Ricotta Gnudi.
Having never actually been exposed to gnudi, I thought it was like gnocci. Sounds the same, right? Nope- this is pure cheese in a delicious pine-nutty pesto. Amazing!
For mains, lots of meatballs came to the table, but I opted for the carb-load with the fettucine with crab and tuna. Perfect green strands of pasta lightly coated in tomato sauce.
Although I was stuffed, I 'had' to order the cheese board. See the menu for local, seasonal selection of cheeses which come paired with honey and another house-made spread.
Bill was totally reasonable, why go anywhere else when you are looking for a unique, special-occasion meal? -
Review from damon r.
12/1/2010
Best restaurant in Ottawa, hands down. I'm not from Ottawa but I've spent the past 3 weeks enjoying the restaurants of the city. I went to most of Ottawa Magazine top 10 of the city, and by far TOWN is the superior place. It has all you need to enjoy a night out, great ambiance, style, unbelievably good food, and service that is actually fun to be around. The meatballs, tuna crudo are a must as well as the short ribs, the salads were tasty although the size was on the small side, and the deserts were fantastic (rice pudding was of the hook). Decent wine selection and not overpriced. It was like going to a party, where you didn't know anyone but you felt at home, zero pretention, justified passion.
Book a reservation as they are full, you won't regret it. -
Review from Katie D.
Ottawa, ON
4/24/2011
Town is a welcome addition to the Ottawa dining scene. The food quality, service and ambiance deserve five stars. The portion size / value for money rating is three stars.
Their beef carpaccio is, by far, the best I have ever tasted. The beef is covered with toasted almonds, purple mustard and arugala among other tasty toppings. My hubby enjoyed the ricotta filled meat balls and found them to be filling. My dish, spagettini topped with tuna and gulf prawns was good but didn't even make a dent in satisfying my hunger - and I ordered the large size! The wine and beer list is decent and has a local focus.
The damage? An appetizer, two large mains and two beers and two glasses of wine came to $100 plus tip. That's a lot of cash to spend to leave a restaurant hungry.... -
Review from Jeremiah S.
Ottawa, ON
11/19/2010
Town makes you want to eat out more. It is the kind of place that on a Thursday night, takes you to someplace else. Say, Toronto or MTL, a place that has a culture where food is something of a sport. Town is that place. With a reservation in hand, we set out on the town, for Town last night. The place was hoppin and we had a momentary thought that the service was going to suffer from being packed to capacity. It did not. In fact, despite a rowdy inbibed crowd, the service was flawless and there were no spots for improvement. It was top shelf, all the way. To the food, it was great. It is the kind of food you think about cooking when the weather goes south. The slow cooked, the braised, food cooked gently into submission. Tender shreaded beef short ribs with a handmade cavaletti with bits of crunchy breadcrumbs reminicent of popcorn. Two large meatballs stuffed with ricotta were silky smooth resting in a perfect red sauce. I believe they are already famous for these meat balls. Gnuddi of ricotta with walnuts on top were rich, yet kept you coming back for more. A beet salad that can only be described as redonkulous started things off. They have small plates (tapas like) along with a small board of large plates and a few desserts. It is the kind of place that you want to share everything in order to maxmize your tasting potential. A pretty decent wine and cocktail list has a good number of modestly priced wines by the bottle. We did not have dessert but have to imagine they were as good as everything else. If you have not been to Town, go now, but call first and get a res to avoid disappointment.
