absinthe

my absolute favourite.. this place is freaking amazing. theduckis always incredible, we have never had a problem with service, and they are accomodating to gluten free people. not ony that but they alter meals so you can have them!!! this is hard to find.

we were never waiting for drink refills or for the bill. the staff was knowledgeable and helped us decide.

4 stars from me.

love the food, questionable service. i have gone to absinthe many times and was actually surprised to see i had never written a review as i really like their food. i've had theirducksalad (at lunch time, which was the most amazing salad i ever had), their famous burger, their korean style quail, beet salad and theduckand a few other dishes i forget! needles to say i like this place and their food! all of these dishes were delicious and cooked perfectly. i was recently there in november and again a couple weeks ago for my birthday, unfortunately we had the same waiter both times. the first time he ended up giving my friend and i 20% off of our bills as he knew he wasn't being a great waiter, forgetting our drink orders, never bringing us bread and plain just not being an attentive server. needless to say i was a little worried when i saw he was our server for my party of 11 on my birthday. he was excellent with me as he knew i was the "birthday girl", giving me a nice glass of wine on the house and a complimentary dessert. as for my guests, it was the same thing again- forgetting drinks, over charging on certain bills, checking his phone instead of serving us etc... and it was even worst for my friend who had been with me back in november. i love the food at absinthe, but feel service is just as important as the food especially in these types of restaurant. i will be taking a break from absinthe and hopefully on my next visit i will get better service.

a delight. it is always a delight to go to absinthe cafe and i routinely bring clients here. the food and service are second to none. you can taste the freshness in everything that they make. i love their benevolent burgers andduckbreast.
other restaurants would be wise to take pointers from you. bravo!

a must-try. from what i've seen of the negative reviews, the most common complaint has been the service. we went to absinthe on a saturday evening when the place was packed, and if there were ever issues with the service, i'd say they've been worked out. i think we interacted with three or four different people, either bussing or taking our orders. they were all extremely friendly and enthusiastic to the point that i'd say the service actually enhanced the whole experience. thankfully the atmosphere of the place is decidedly non-stuffy. as for the food, it was incredible. for apps we had the charcuterie plate and the korean bbq quail. for mains, steak and frites, and the benevolent burger (which is indeed served with a side ofduckpoutine). the food was almost beyond description. one of the best meals either of us have ever had. we also really enjoyed the wines we both tried. it's also worth noting that unlike most other "fine dining" places, none of the food was weird for the sake of being weird, and the portions were surprisingly generous. despite how delicious our mains were, neither of us ended up being able to finish our meals. and to top it all off, the bill was completely reasonable too.

to sum it all up, absinthe is without a doubt one of the best restaurants in the city.

after having a bad first experience at this restaurant, i was contacted by the manager with a gift certificate to return and had a much better meal. our server was friendly this time- although he forgot to take our drink order and left us sitting for 15 minutes until we asked for them. food was good, started with escargot- delicious!, then we had salads- bland and just ok, main courses were theduckand stuffed chicken- plates were well presented and good, we finished with their famous creme brûlée - it was delicious and very rich...but for a true critic the consistency was off , it was not firm enough or 'set'.

the male server we had was very friendly with me- my partner on the other hand may as well have been invisible to him. he explained my plate, but just set down his and walked away, he asked me if i wanted something from the coffee bar- i declined and then just walked away without asking him, ect. he needs to pay a little more attention to all people at the table- seemed very nervous- he even leaned-elbowes on the table at one point to discuss the menu- big no no in the serving world.

so all in all food was good- still overpriced if you ask my opinion ($140 for 2) atmosphere is not good for an intimate dinner but great for a group, and servers need a little more training on the 'proper' table serving they seem to be going for there.


-----08 apr, 2012-----

very over priced and pushy. i ordered the steak and asked for it medium- it came well done in the middle and burnt on the outside to the point that the char taste was overpowering. will not go back.

just went for lunch had great service. i had theduckmonte crisco it was way way way to sweet. it came withduckconfit cheddar caramelized ognions in a pain perdu club with fig sauce. this dish would have been mich better without the fig sauce it made it far to sweet. im sure they have some other great dishes here but it was a bit overpriced while i did enjoy my 15$ shot of absinth

one of the best in ottawa!. the atmosphere, food and service are outstanding. the charcuterie, squash soup, andduckduo were particularly memorable. definitely worth a visit and an excellent evening out!