Eating up the Hill: Cheese Ravioli Bruschetta

As the House of Commons cafeterias roll out their new rotating menu of specials, they seem to have adopted meatless Mondays. Yesterday's meatless special Cheese Ravioli Bruschetta.

They began with a base of parma ravioli, containing spinach and ricotta cheese. The pasta is served in oil (I would hope olive, but the background documentation wasn't specific) with basil, oregano and parsley. The bruchetta topping of diced tomatoes and what not is included in the serving dish, and after a portion of pasta is plated, a portion of feta cheese is added on top.

All in all, I enjoyed it. The pasta was cooked properly, and the feta cheese added a nice sharp dose of flavour. While I don't feel I necessarily got shorted on bruchetta, I wouldn't mind seeing it added to the dish after the ravioli is served, as is the feta -- although this would be slightly more labour intensive.

All in all though, a nice light lunch I will order again in six weeks time. Will add a side though; was hungry for a muffin a few hours later.

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Eating up the Hill: BBQ Chicken with Fries and Coleslaw

Another new menu item in the Hill cafeteria menu rotation that caught me eye this week was the BBQ Chicken with Fries and Coleslaw. It was a dish I had decidedly mixed feelings on, and likely won't be one of my regulars.

I'll start with the positives. It was a chicken breast and not one of the cheaper cuts like a leg, so points there. And it was a meaty chicken breast at that. And they allowed me to sub-out the fries for kettle chips without charge. And I do like the chips. It was a good amount of food for under $8 so I didn't leave hungry, and it was a bit more balanced a meal with the veggie slaw.

That was the good. As for the rest, the chicken was rather on the dry side. I know, it's a cafeteria, but the sauce was very much needed. Was also needed as the chicken had little seasoning to give it flavour on its own.

And the only thing that made it BBQ chicken was the BBQ sauce; clearly, the chicken had been baked, not grilled. And speaking of the sauce, its was more of an American style sauce (molasses instead of brown sugar), than the Canadian style ketchupy-sweet sauce I prefer.

And while some may prefer the vinegarette slaw, I like it creamy myself.

All in all, a good amount of food that doesn't deliver in the execution.

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Eating up the Hill: Mushroom Arancini with Tomato Sauce

It's a new year, and the Parliamentary cafeteria system is celebrating with some new additions to its menu. And after two-and-a-half-years of the same menu of specials on a six-week rotation, I for one welcome this real change.

The first new menu item I had the opportunity to try the Mushroom Arancini with Tomato Sauce. I usually check the menu online before heading down to the caf, but this one I had to Google as I had no idea what it was. But when I learned it was risotto balls, I was in. Why didn't they just call it risotto balls? Marketing, people!

I was served two good-sized risotto balls, or Arancini if you're all fancy like that, generously bathed in tomato sauce. I was a bit surprised there was no side or anything else to it -- some pasta, perhaps. But nope, I was told that's it, there's rice inside. So I added a bowl of seafood chowder, which I would have added anyway because seafood chowder is awesome.

I dug in and it was quite tasty. A mix of three types of mushrooms was a highlight (oyster, button and shiitake) and the buttery risotto contrasted well with the tomato sauce. And I was impressed that, for once, the cafeteria made it a genuinely vegetarian meal by cooking the rice in vegetable stock. Quite often, they will take a meatless dish and make it inaccessible to vegetarians (and Halal-observing Muslims and kosher-observing Jews) by using a chicken stock.

While I still think they could add a nickel's worth of noodles on the side for a heartier main and still maintain their margins, for $7.63 taxes-in (not including soup) it's good value and a good addition to the starting rotation.

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Eating up the Hill: Lasagna at Cafe Colonade

It's my own fault, really. Cafe Colonade is renowned for having some of the best pizza in Ottawa. So when I found myself there for dinner a little while back, I had to go and order the lasagna.

You have to be in the mood for pizza. I just wasn't in a pizza mood that night. And while I don't often order pasta at restaurants -- doesn't always feel like it's good value -- I was hankering for a hearty, warm the insides slab of meaty lasagna.

The bread course was a warning sign for me. Now, I know that not everyone bakes their own rolls in-house. Hardly anyone does, I'm sure. But is it too much to ask that you pretend that you do? Lie to me a little, I'm saying. Take the bun out of the plastic, warm it a smidge and put it in a basket or something. Maybe put the butter in one of those little butter thingies. A little effort is all I'm asking.

The Caesar salad was fine. I liked the garlicky dressing. But powdered Parmesan and no bacon? Again, they could try just a little harder, it seems like.

On to the main event. My first thought was mmm, cheesy. My second thought was, why is there meat sauce on the side? As I dug in, I discovered it's on the side because it's not on the inside. Is this lasagna deconstructed or something? Did they run out of meat lasagna, and give me a slice of veggie with meat sauce on the side? I dunno. But it was awkward to try to reconstruct my lasagna on the go. Maybe this is how they do it in Italy?

Next time, I'll have the pizza.

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Eating up the Hill: A hike to Hintonburger

I don't try to be negative when I do these reviews. I'm generally a pretty easy person to please, cuisine wise. But as I catch up on my food blogging, it seems I had a number of underwhelming meals in a row this summer. Today's entry is an unnecessarily pricey Hintonburger.

During my stay-cation this summer I decided to venture out on transit to some of the spots I'd heard about, but aren't in my usual neighborhood. I'd heard much about the burgers at Hintonburger -- best in Ottawa, they say -- so one weekday I grabbed my Presto Card and began the trip to the trendy Hintonburg neighbourhood. It's somewhat Queen-Westish but less pretentious.

Hintonburger certainly isn't a fancy place, but that's a plus. It was pretty quiet though, with not many customers on this weekday afternoon. It being a nice summer day, I placed my order and was told they'd bring it to me on the picnic tables outside.

I got the Hintonburger combo, which is a six ounce patty with bacon,cheese and BBQ sauce, as well as fries and a can of pop for $15.50. With the $2 fee to upgrade my fries to onion rings, it rang in at $17.50 before tax and tip.

So let's call it $20.

For a burger, onion rings and a can of pop.

That's insane.

The burger was good. Patty was a bit small, but it tasted good. Crispy bacon. Good bun. Onion rings were excellent. Pepsi instead of Coke, but whatevs.

But $20?

Not sure they'd even try that in Queen West.

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