absinthe

amazing burger...cold steak?. i ate here for the secondtimethis past week. rarely will i order the same meal twice in a restaurant where i have not experimented with the menu yet, however their benevolent burger is an exception. so. freaking. good. my boyfriend on the other hand ordered their steak frit which is suposed to come "medium rare". not even a touch of red, the steak only had a pinch of pink, at the keg this would be considered well done. the flavour was still nice, however it was served cold. overall great service, will def return...just won't be ordering that steak anytime soon.

the wait staff must be family.

i have been to absinthe 3 times in the past year. i love the atmosphere, decor, wine list, presentation and the food is top notch. kudos to the kitchen staff.

my issue is the servers. not only have i witnessed them being rude to and engaging in confrontations with other customers, but one in male server (tall, dark spikey hair, light eyes) is particularly intimidating and confrontational. he unfortunately served our party eachtimeand left me feeling that he was just waiting to go off on us or another table. i shouldn't have to walk on eggshells or be humble to avoid my waiter's unwarranted tumultuous mood.

my only theory is that at least one, if not more, of the wait staff is related to the manager/owner. why else would they still be employed after repeatedly treating customers with disrespect (i've read the other reviews). they need to deflate their egos and refocus on the meaning of a server. if a customer rubs a server the wrong way, they need to suck it up and carry on, not confront them in front of the restaurant.

please tell me, manager/owner of absinthe, if i am wrong and that none of the staff is related to you?

fortunately, there are other great restaurants nearby where waiters are trained to cater to customers and make them feel comfortable and that there business is appreciated, like allium and supply and demand.

unless i'm informed of a change in wait staff, i won't be spending my money at absinthe.

vip treatment!. my family celebrated my father's 65th birthday at absinthe tonight and we were all thrilled with the service and the food. when i made my reservation i added a comment that it was my dad's 65th and they really stepped up to make us feel special.

the service. the server brought the 5 of us each a champagne glass of prosessco (and something else added, forgot what it was) to toast with, on the house. when it wastimefor desert, they wrote a big happy birthday on the plate next to my dads crime brûlée, which later we found out was also on the house. these gestures and super friendly service really was the cherry on top of the great food and wine we were served.

the food. i don't think any of us were dissatisfied with the taste of any of the dishes tonight. they either met expectations or was above. i will only mention the exceptional dishes. everyone always appreciates good bread and butter, their bread had a great crisp crust and was fennel infused served with brown butter which made it very flavourful. the duck! wow, don't remember the lasttimei was so happy with a duck dish at a restaurant. i hate when duck tastes like chicken. but this dish had an intense duck flavour in the sauce and it was seared perfectly on the outside so that when you took a bite you had a crispy smokey sear with wonderfully tender medium rare juicy meat. artic char trio and bbq korean quail deserves a special mention too. the dessert was the perfect end to the meal, chocolate fondant cake was so intensely chocolate that it was almost black but managed to still feel light. bread pudding was deliciously maple flavoured.

perhaps one suggestion to the restaurant. the decor doesn't match how great the food and service is. not a fan of the wall colours, makes the place feel dingy. bathrooms have a strange red, silver thing going on. it would be nice to see a more chic and unified interior. but definitely don't judge this restaurant by its cover. thank you! we'll be back again :)

awesome again!. some friends and i went there for my birthday and once again it was fabulous! a big bravo for the top notch service. the server informed us that the mains might take a while to come out of the kitchen and proceeded to offer each of us an appetizer on the house. some had food sensitivities and they had no problems substituting menu items. food was excellent yet again - nobody was disappointed. the crème brûlée was delicious!!! this is quickly becoming one of my ottawa favourites.


-----17 jul, 2012-----

excellent service!. went for the firsttimelast weekend. i had the table d'hôte and chose the tuna tartare, arugula salad and duck duo. my husband had the steak. everything had a wonderful taste. steak was cooked perfectly. my only complaint is that the duck breast was overcooked for my taste (i like mine more on the medium-rare to rare side and this was definetly medium). service was exceptional. the waiter was friendly and was very attentive without being annoying or overbearing. probably best service i've had in ottawa. he was also fully bilingual which is rare for that neighbourhood. not sure what his name was but if his boss is reading this, it was the gentleman with the red hair :-). i will be going back for sure and will try the crème-brûlée...always a big test for me!

among ottawa's best. after having been to absinthe five times in the past year, i can confidently say that this is the only restaurant in the city that's been 100% on the mark on every visit. the service is virtually second to none, and the food is absolutely on-point every time. i have tried about 1/3 of their menu, which does undergo some periodic changes, and my recommendation is quite simply to take their recommendation for the day. wine selection is perfect.

and to demonstrate just how above the mark they go - went for my birthday recently with a group of 18. there were people with various food sensitivities at the table, and others who ordered those very foods... so without giving us any hint of inconvenience, they quickly served up apps, sanitised the cooking surfaces and cookware, and managed in that tiny kitchen to serve up all our food at the sametimewhile going to great lengths to avoid cross-contaminiation - an unnecessary but very appreciated effort.

servers are exceptionally friendly, knowledgeable and just downright awesome. food is absolutely spectacular. can't recommend it enough.

best on the street. we live just off wellington and there some fabulous eateries along wellington west. tried them all at onetimeor another but must admit the food at absinthe has been the best and most memorable. great spot.

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 their duck salad (at lunch time, which was the most amazing salad i ever had), their famous burger, their korean style quail, beet salad and the duck and 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 firsttimehe 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.

my boyfriend and i went to absinthe for the firsttimefor valentines day dinner. it couldn't have been a more perfect evening. the service was amazing, the atmosphere music and decor as well. they prepared a special valentines tasting menu for the evening. every dish we were served was perfect from the taste to the presentation. the appetizer was a sake glazed pork belly & crispy oyster with spicy pear slaw and lime dressing that was superb, my boyfriend who has never liked seafood even tried and loved the oyster! for the main course we chose the filet mignon with leek mash, mushroom ragout and madeira sauce. we both agreed that the steak was hands down the best we had ever had! even the bread they gave us as a snack which was homemade and served with honey butter was extraordinary! we had a greattimetrying the different absinthe cocktails too. absinthe surpassed all our expectations on a special night, and we will definitely be back. highly recommended!!

we did a table d'hôte with wine pairings and everything was great- except for my main dish... the pork was disappointing. nexttimei'll get the steak frites, which my husband ordered and it was excellent. their verne brûlée was divine and my starter (an indian themed raster platter) was fantastic too. wait staff were suberb.