Dining Out, Ottawa Style: Perkins Family Restaurant

As I mentioned in the last post, we went out to eat a lot this past weekend here in Ottawa. We also went to two restaurants I have personally never ate at, but either my grandmother and father have eaten at before. Both of them are American chains that happen to have restaurants here in Ottawa, but not in Quebec. Hence, it was quite the treat for the two of them. So for today's post, I'm going to focus on Perkins Family Restaurant.

Considering that it was 10 pm at night and there is only a limited amount of 24 hour restaurants in Ottawa that have parking, I took the family to Perkins Family Restaurant on St. Laurent, right across the street from St. Laurent Mall.

Upon our arrival, my father declared that he didn't especially like this chain of restaurants and he would have preferred going somewhere else. However, considering that I don't really know how to get around Ottawa very well, I told him this was it and to enjoy.

Perkins has the look and feel of a family restaurant. Nice wall paper, big booths, friendly staff. There was four waiters there while we were and our waiter was very attentive to us. He stopped by several times to see if we needed anything or wanted anything else. He was also very friendly and had a ready smile.

I had the cheese quesadillas, which at $8.99, were a bit pricey, but they were good nonetheless. My grandmother had an egg, with bacon and two pancakes. She enjoyed everything but the pancakes. My father had some sort of meat dish, which he said was good.

I personally enjoyed the restaurant and would go back if I needed to go to a 24 hour restaurant again. Considering the time of day, ect, we had excellent service and the food wasn't have bad. I did find it expensive though, especially considering what I had to eat. I have had similar dishes elsewhere for either cheaper or with more food for the same price.

Overall: Nice atmosphere, friendly staff, but I wouldn't have gone if it wasn't a 24 hour restaurant. I'm convinced you can find just as good, if not cheaper place, elsewhere.

Perkins Family Restaurant
1130 St. Laurent Blvd.
(613) 747-9190

Over the Weekend: Adventures in Family Visits

This past weekend, my father and grandmother made a quick trip up here to Ottawa to see me and my new apartment. They had also planned on doing a couple of other things, but I'm afraid the weather gods weren't on our side this weekend. The highest temperature all weekend was 20 C and it was rainy, cloudy, and pretty miserable the rest of the time.

I've been fighting off a wicked head cold since Wednesday, so I wasn't the happiest of people to be around this weekend. To my knowledge, it isn't H1N1, so I should be fine!

So what did we do? Well, here's the play by play.

Friday: They arrived around 9:30. We went out to eat at Perkins (review to follow in a future post) and then off to bed we went!

Saturday: Went to Denny's on Bank for breakfast and then headed out to Perth.

Sunday: Out for breakfast again, then to the Trainyards and St. Laurent Mall. They left mid-afternoon. I crawled into bed and died.

Monday: Feeling much better and happy to be home alone yet again!

Hopefully, my dear readers, you had a better weekend then I did. But do not worry, I will be back in good shape soon enough!

Bad Mood Tuesday

I'm having one of those days.

I had day two of my First Aid Course today, which required me to wake up at 6:30 to be there for 8:30. So I was tired and groggy most of the day today.

Good news is that I passed First Aid. With a 94%!

Arrived home to do laundry and have some supper. Was feeling kind of lonely, so I chatted with my friend N. in Montreal via Facebook chat for a while, then called J. and K. and talked to them for about an hour.

I miss my friends. I miss having things to do. At this moment in time, I don't have a job, a volunteer gig, or classes to worry about. Quite frankly, I spend a lot of time alone, hence why I feel lonely. Also, even though I know like 5 people in Ottawa, I'm a considerate person and I don't like to harass them on a daily basis with my problems. Especially when they have their own lives to lead.

Following this, my father called. Now, since my father does not know I am writing this blog, I will now proceed to rant:



My mother died when I was 19 (or 6 years ago). Of my two parents, my mother was the more mellow one of the two. I used to call home every two to three days when I lived in Quebec City and we would chat. We would then go on our merry little way.

I hardly every spoke to my father. He was never around. See, he's a truck driver and decided to leave all the parenting to my mother. Which is exactly what she did.

Now, one of the key roles of parenting is giving the support for your children to become individual and healthy members of society. My mother knew this. She gave me roots, but she also gave me wings.

My father, on the other hand, does not understand this concept at all.

Over the last couple of years, every couple of months, my father and I have the same argument and that argument is about my safety. In his opinion, I should give him my friend's personal phone numbers so that if, in case, something happens to me, he will be able to reach them. I, however, disagree, because my friends do not know the crazy person who is my father and I believe it would be an invasion of privacy to give him their numbers.

So we had that argument again tonight. And I got royally pissed off for a couple of reasons. The main one is that he doesn't treat me like an adult. I am 25 years old. I already have a Master degree and I've been living on my own for 8 years now. This is also the 3rd major city I have ever lived in, so I do know about city life and personal safety.

I AM NOT A CHILD. I do not need to be checked up on every day. I do not need him to call my friends when I do not answer my cellphone because I'm at work, or at school, or at a movie, ect. 95% of the time, I can take care of myself. And if or when I would need him, I would have my friends call him, not have him call them.

It's times like this that I miss my mom. I miss her a lot for a lot of different reasons. Most because she understood that I should be treated as an equal and not some child that doesn't know any better.

And for F*** sakes, I live in Ottawa. It's like one of the safest cities in Canada. Why should people be concerned? Hell, I'm not. Not anymore so than when I lived in Montreal.

So Dad, for the 50Th billionth time, you are not getting my friends' phone numbers. It's called let me be a mature adult and let me take care of me.

A Guide to: Cheap Eats Ottawa

I am now the proud owner of a Cheap Eats Ottawa book!

After looking at it once or twice in the Chapters on Rideau, I decided that it was a good investment and to go for it! Spend the $12.95 and save more in the long run!

Though I have only tried one of the restaurants out (and this was pre-guide), I look forward to eating at these highly recommended if not cheap restaurants. I will document it for you, all of my lovely readers, in the future.

But instead, this post is about how good of a "guide" book it is. First off, they is the required map at the front, which provides you of an idea of the different areas of the city where these restaurants are located. This was actually very practical for me because I know very little about neighborhoods in Ottawa and that my friends, includes my own.

It's a small book, which makes it ideal for putting it in purses, backpacks, cars, you name it. It does not take up a lot of room. Also, at $12.95 (or less if you have an iRewards card like yours truly), it's a good deal.

I find the rating system a little difficult to understand, but this is mostly because the explanation of the rating system is at the very front of the book, so you have to look at the restaurant, flip back to the rating system, ect, ect.

Also, the restaurants aren't organized by what type of meals they serve or area of the cities they are in. Rather, it's alphabetical order! This gets annoying as well, because I was trying to find a brunch/breakfast place in my 'hood and spent 95% of my time flipping between all these random pages. That is crazy frustrating for me! Urgh!

Here's the pros and cons of the Cheap Eats Ottawa Guide.

Pros: Cheap ($12.95), provides lots of options for lots of different restaurants in different neighborhoods around the city.

Cons: Needs better organization.

But I do strongly recommend going out and getting this little darling, because what's wrong with trying to find the most delicious and cheapest places to eat here in the Other National Capital? Nothing, if you are a graduate student like me!

PS: They also have a blog! Feel free to check it out!

http://www.ceotblog.com/

Dining Out, Ottawa style: Buster's Bar & Grill

Yesterday, after a quick change in plans from some friends, I was picked up and brought out to the West End (Bayshore/Britannia area) for supper.

Now, I haven't eaten out much in Ottawa, but coming from Montreal, I will admit that I often have high standards for places. Montreal is considered one of the best restaurant cities in Canada, while Ottawa has restaurants, quality to be discussed.

Buster's Bar & Grill is located in the Lincoln Fields Shopping Centre. Now, in my experience, restaurants in malls do have the tendency to be sketch, but this one was not. It was nicely renovated on the inside, with tall, dark wood seperations so that you could sit in a variety of areas, such as the bar.

The food was a decent price and you did get a good amount. I have the quesadillas, which were stuffed with cheese, tomatoes, green peppers and onions and had a side of fries that I dare say, looked homemade. This was $8.99. I also had a Coke at $2.99, which was a bit steep, however, you also had unlimited refills, so the price did make sense to me then.

My dining companions had chicken fingers with french fries or mashed potatoes, as well as a chicken wrap. All reported that it was very good and filling.

Our waiter was this friendly guy who checked on us fairly often, but then forgot to bring us our bills. One of my friends had to flag him down at one point for them, which was a bit annoying, but considering how we were sitting around talking, I can understand the waiter's point of view.

Apparently, they also have live bands on Friday and Saturday nights, which does kind of break up the sports bar feel of the place. Honestly, it seems like a really mixed crowd of customers, from families to young professionals to this middle aged woman with too many tattoos.

Overall, a good experience. If it was closer to me, I would definately return, especially to watch a Hockey game.

Buster's Bar & Grill (Sports bar/family restaurant): B
2525 Carling Avenue, Unit 48
(613) 828-9004

Canadian, Please!

Pros & Cons: Bytowne Theatre

Welcome to Pros & Cons, my newest installment of things I like or dislike about Ottawa!


One of the things I like the best about my neighborhood is the Bytowne Theatre, which is a one screen cinema located at the corner of Rideau and Nelson here in Ottawa. It was built in the late 1940's and still keeps much of it's mid century charm. It is actually one of the few movie theatres I have ever seen that includes a balcony, which you are more than welcome to check out!


The Bytowne plays an "exciting lineup of independent and foreign films", but my favorite is the classics that they show on the big screen. This past month alone, I have seen Rear Window and Grease, both of which you could watch on DVD, but there is honestly nothing like watching it in it's original format.


I also find the prices to be quite decent at the Bytowne. It's $9.00 for adults, but if you buy the membership card for $10 (and it's good for a whole year!), you pay $6.00! Now that's something that the big companies don't offer! Also, refreshments are cheaper as well. For example, I bought a small Pepsi the other day for $2.75, where at most other theatres, it would have been about $4.00.


Of course, there is nonetheless a few cons. The building itself hasn't been renovated in a few years, but I merely think of it as giving it extra charm! Also, they do not take Debit or Credit Cards, so bring cash. They do have an ATM on site, but then you have to pay those service fees, ick!


If you want more information about the Bytowne Theatre, check out their website at: http://www.bytowne.ca/.

Welcome

Hello from Ottawa, or the Other National Capital!

I have recently moved to Ottawa and have decided to share my comments and thoughts on living here.

This is my first time living away from La Belle Province and as a result, I've had a bit of a cultural shock upon my arrival. Many of which I believe blog worthy.

So enjoy and I will keep you updated on me and my happenings here in O-town.