| Pepper Garden: Don’t judge this book by its cover! |
| Montreal Road, I’ll admit, is not much for spice! It’s not where you’d think you’d go to eat something nice. However, The Pepper Garden clearly goes against this grain The food inside is as good as the outside is plain! Your satisfaction is sure, not a mere roll of the dice! |
It feels somewhat strange to be writing a review in November of a restaurant that I visited in July. However, I have reason to remember this one fairly well since The Pepper Garden was where we went to celebrate my birthday. As is often the case, it was not a major celebration, just Dorothy, Ian and myself. I had been wanting to revisit this restaurant on Montreal Road in Ottawa’s East End for some time but for some reason, Dorothy did not have good feelings about the place. Therefore, I used the leverage of its being a special occasion to get her to acquiesce.
I would be the first to admit that The Pepper Garden is not really anything special judging by its exterior appearance and being annexed to a Pizza Hut location does nothing to enhance this impression. The modern, boxlike facade would seem to belie its claim of being a ‘ bistro-grill’. Fortunately though, things do improve once inside the restaurant. The interior is much more what you would expect and thus I am reminded a little of Dr. Who’s Tardis.
The pictures above tell a better story than I could about the quality and variety of the food. We started off by sharing a crab-cakes appetizer which we all deemed to be really delicious. I followed with lamb steak and Dorothy chose the chicken. I don’t recall the actual description but you can see that the food is attractively garnished and presented as well as being a reasonable portion size. For dessert, I was tempted by the bread pudding and was not disappointed even though the picture does not do it justice.
We don’t claim to be wine connoisseurs so, more often than not, we will select the house wine when we feel like sipping a glass on a special occasion. I really should have made a note of the house red here because we really enjoyed it.
All in all, it was a very pleasant meal and I believe that even Dorothy would be more willing to return after this experience.
Summary
- Positives: Good food at reasonable prices. Portion sizes are just right. Not too small but you won’t come away feeling stuffed.
- Negatives: Don’t be put off by the drab exterior!
- Recommendation: If you are looking for something special in the East End of Ottawa, the Pepper Garden is worth a try!
| Category | Rating | Explanation |
| Food Quality | **** | Above average |
| Price | $$$ | Fair |
| Decor | ***** | Good |
| Service | ***** | Good |
| Overall Rating | **** | Recommended |
| Website | http://www.peppergarden.ca/ | |
| Frivolous Foodie Facts |
| All peppers provide rich amount of vitamin C. But chili peppers contain an additional substance, called capsaicin which provides several health benefits such as:- Effective treatment and natural pain relief for inflammation such as arthritis, psoriasis, diabetic neuropathy.- Reduce risk of heart attack and stroke as it helps to reduce cholesterol levels and formation of blood clots.- Clear blocked nose and congested lungs.- Prevent stomach ulcers by killing bacteria in the stomach and stimulate more protective stomach juices, etc.
This red chili comes in different sizes, shapes and degrees of hotness or spiciness. The more mature the pepper, the hotter it will be. A sweet bell pepper measures 0 SHU while a habaneros or scotch bonnet, one of the hottest known chili peppers, records at around 300,000 SHU. Not hot enough? Then try naga jolokia, the hottest chili in the world which holds 1.04 million SHU. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/820240 |
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