Works for me!

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This particular Friday evening, the Supper Seven (who were yet again eight), decided to do something really adventurous and include the RCMP musical ride in our normal routine. Since this was to take place at the RCMP stables at the end on St. Laurent in Ottawa’s Manor Park, we thought that it would be expeditious to choose a restaurant in the general area. Although this is not one of the busiest areas of the city, it is remarkably well served with gastronomic destinations. One of our favourites, Le Saint O, is on the corner of St. Laurent and Hemlock and the Rockliffe Bistro which is currently closed for renovations, is just a couple of doors down on St. Laurent closer to the river. Neither of these, however, is ideal for young kids.

Where we went: The Works, which sits at the Eastern end of the parking lot that houses the Dairy queen, is one of six locations dotted about the city. This would be our first visit simply because the locations nearest to us in the East end are always too busy on a Friday evening for us to suffer the wait time. This evening, however, we decided to show up early and hope for the best! Although there was no line-up, the hostess initially informed us that we were looking at a 30-45 minute wait for a table for eight. Taking note of our obvious dismay, she suggested that there were two open tables of four on the patio if we were prepared to sit at separate but adjacent tables. We jumped at the chance but had to tell a small, white lie when she further informed us that half of the group needed to be present before they would seat us. Although we were clearly only three at this point, we indicated that we met this qualification and were shown to our tables. As luck would have it, the balance of our party was at that very moment walking through the door.

What we ordered: Well, it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out that most of us ordered burgers, since they make up 90%+ of the menu. However, I must say that I don’t believe I have ever seen such a dizzying array of fixings. What’s more, they are apparently open to any and all substitutions that you might wish to make, so literally anything goes. Some of the combinations definitely seemed more enticing than others. The biggest surprise was perhaps that in the bun department, the choice was simply between white and whole wheat.

What we got: No surprises here, we all ordered burgers and that’s what we got! On the whole, everyone was pretty pleased with their choice. Half of us ordered the sweet potato strings. They were quite good but most did not finish them. For some reason, I as well as others cannot finish the same quantity of sweet potato fries as regular. This brings me to a pet peeve that I have about many restaurants in general. They offer a single side and give you too much of it instead of offering smaller quantities of two or more. There would be little, if any, difference in their cost.

Since I was feeling adventurous, I ordered a burger with egg, pineapple, beet, caramelised onions and Gouda cheese. The only problem was that it came stacked too high to fit it in my mouth. I pulled off the beet and egg and ate them separately, curious to know how they would taste in combination. I can also suggest that you don’t knock it until you try it yourself….

Worthy of note: This is apparently the original Works location and is really too small to accommodate the number of diners that they attempt to cram in. As a result, one has a feeling of being hemmed in. Although nicely presented, these are still just basically burgers and fries and we are not sure that the fairly hefty price tag is justified!

Summary

• Positives: Everyone was happy with their food (not usually the case). Although very busy, wait times were not too long.
• Negatives: Very cramped. If you don’t like burgers, you will be out of luck here. I wish that there had been a lamb-burger option.
• Recommendation: I was not expecting great things here, since I am not a huge burger fan. I was pleasantly surprised.

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