absinthe

i always go for the cornerstone burger at absinthe and it never disappoints. it's $16 during lunchtimeand $24 (!!!) for dinner. you get a double decker burger with two thick, juicy, and rich patties smothered with cheese and sitting on an artisinal bun. it comes with salad and fries. this is arguably the best burger in ottawa. extremely fulfilling and delicious. only possible knock is that it might be a little too greasy for some people. service is excellent at absinthe and i would not hesitate to recommend it.

double check your food. i was recently back to absinthe for lunch with a friend because the firsttimei went i loved it so i wanted to let her try it as well. she ordered the burger and i ordered the tacos. the food was good. however, neither of us could finish our food. i had only ate one of the two tacos and some fries. the plate had the salad and the second taco untouched and some fries left. my friend couldn't finish her burger. we both asked the waiter to pack it to go. my friend had checked her take out box to make sure she had the right one (in case it was mixed up). i didn't bother checking mine because i trusted the waiter as he provided very good service. however, when i got home, i realize the only thing the waiter packed for me was the taco. the salad and fries were not packed and probably thrown out. it was irritating because 1. i had paid for the food and couldn't finish it and expected all of it to be packed away but i only received one out of the 2.5 items unfinished. 2. the food must have been thrown out which is such a waste. it was ridiculous. i feel like if i ever go back and need to take the food to go, i would need to double check it. very disappointing!


-----27 jan, 2013-----

excellent service and food. i took my boyfriend there for his birthday and we both loved it! i had order the steak while he ordered the duck. they were both very good. the service was def. awesome as it was his birthday, the waiter gave him a complimentary dessert that said happy birthday. def. recommend it

my friend and i were at absinthe yesterday for dinner. we were seated at an outdoor table. it was the firsttimei have been to a restaurant since march 2020. it was brilliant. we shared 4 appetizers - the lovely fresh tomatoes, the incredibly too tuna, superb salmon and exquisite duck pâté. our server (emilia) was terrific - friendly, sweet, competent. i was most impressed when a street person approached her and asked for some water - she didn’t hesitate and gave him a glass of water.

bravo to the staff. they made our first night out a highlight.

my wife and i took our son and girlfriend there for an early supper before the rush on sun dec 30th. this was not our firsttimeat absinthe. we were greeted by the staff and taken to one of the few non-reserved tables. the staff asked if they could take our coats to their coat closet/room. they took all of our coats. after a lovely well served and delicious meal i paid and we were ready to leave. when my son and i went with the staff to collect our coats, the staff member was all flustered as to which cabinet the coats were in.

after being home my sons girlfriend was aware of missing her keys and wallet from her coat. my son made a phone call the next morning back to the restaurant. the answer had turned up nothing but the person that answered finally said that the key was there. my son and girlfriend went back to restaurant to pick up the keys and were greeted by who seemed like the chef. he was very abrupt and defensive. he said there is no wallet and that was the end of conversation.

 really it would just been nice to have had this issue dealt with by a sympathetic helpful staff and not an arrogant unapologetic person . 
the management has my sons contact number to rectify this issue.  

needless to say we will not be back to this restaurant.

a totally wonderful experience! charming and classy decore, the friendliest and most accommodating service and the food!! most definitely the tastiest in ottawa or maybe on this planet! we took the seafood appetizer which was delicate, yet overflowed with mouth-watering flavours..the mushroom soup was robust and so creamy..my steak with horseradish was beyond divine..my son and his wife took the pork cheek and the duck; both were raving how tender and delicious it was. in all honesty, we spent most of our eatingtimewith our eyes closed, revelling in those sublime tastes...the creme brule that was offered at the end of this birthday dinner was simply perfect; delicate, creamy and crunchy and not too sweet. even foccacia served at the beginning of the meal, dipped in the olive oil and balsamic vinegar was outstanding. unquestionably, this dinner experience topped the many high end meals we have had in various countries. we will most definitely be returning there as often as we can! most highly recommended!! ; )

my wife and i went here for the firsttimeon our anniversary. cozy atmosphere, yet open and loud. if you are looking for a quiet place to eat, this is not it. that said, the place was buzzing and was full of energy which we liked. complimentary glass of champagne given to us for our anniversary.  we both had the steak, and it was better than steaks we've had at more expensive "steak houses". i like how they tell you it will be medium rare, which is how a good steak should be. our server was pleasant, yet at times seamed like a robot. her focus never really seamed to be on us, but more on what task she had to move to next. she would mumble something to us, while not making eye contact and scanning her surroundings. not a bad thing, but a server should be more interactive with their table.

overall, we were very pleased with our evening.

i was greatly disappointed. my sister had gone there before and it seems like they changed the menu because they had nothing from her lasttimethere. anyway to keep it short and simple the food was way too salty and not in a good way, it has this very upscale image but too me the food was mediocre at best. the beet 'salad' consisted of 1 small beet cut in quarters. the duck tartar was about 2-3 bites and was accompanied by this salty mess they call a salad, the fries...another salty undercooked mess the tuna carpaccio was the only decent thing besides the fact that i had to squirt a whole lemon on it. and the service was very cold and nonchalent. visit at your own risk.

it's our secondtimeat absinthe.

it's a lovely place and the food and drinks are awesome.

we went last night and brought my cousin and her husband that were visiting from out of town.

we all loved most of the experience.

our main server had a very bad attitude. no smiling, hardly any talking and no effort to help the person sitting with us that was not understanding english very well. he could have at least slowed down while talking. that was disappointing.

all other staff we dealt with was friendly.

this guy must have been having a bad day.

my husband and i went to absinthe for the firsttimeand for my birthday... and we were so pleased that we did! the staff was so kind - they treated us to a lovely drink to celebrate when we were seated. and after dinner, they surprised us with a birthday cake as well! talk about amazing service - it was totally their initiative to do all of that. we had steak frites and it was delish! the ambience and atmosphere was just perfect. highly recommending this place to all friends and colleagues. we will definitely go back!

great food, excellent wine pairings.. y wife and i have been to absinthe a half-dozen times now, and it has quickly become our favorite restaurant in the city. the atmosphere is great the food is excellent, but it's the wine pairings above all that keep us coming back. the sommelier is second to none. if you haven't been already, it's definitely worth yourtimeto check it out.

damn that poutine is good!. i have been here twice with the intention of going back again. the firsttimei went the waiter was a bit rude, but the secondtimei went the waitress was a wonderful and attentive.

i got the burger twice which comes with a salad to start and a side poutine.

the salad is very tasty and it is a good starter!

then comes the poutine and burger. the poutine is amazing, the gravy is very flavorful! the burger is also very good, although i usually end up bringing most of the burger home because it is huge! (not that i am complaining)

would you like some steak with your salt?. went to absinthe for the firsttimewith my husband and small group of friends. our waiter was friendly and left our table to be for the most part, checking in every so often. the focaccia was pretty good. by thetimeour food came everyone was very hungry, so the food was wolfed down. i, however, could not scarf down my food despite being quite hungry. my steak was incredibly salty, which was what was agreed upon by the entire group (though they had finished theirs). by thistimewe flagged down the waiter and explained i could not eat this food on account of it being too salty (the frites were also incredibly salty). he took mine away and probably 20 minutes later i had a new steak in front of me, with the exact same problem. it turns out they marinate their steaks in soy sauce and then use a sea salt brine, which explains why the sodium content was fairly high. apparently they do not have any steaks that are not marinated either. i was then offered to have another dish. by thistimeeveryone else had finished eating. one of the couples even had their dessert before my new food came 30 minutes later (and nothing for me to munch on). when my new plate finally came i had them pack it up because it was so late by then. despite the server being nice and them giving my meal on the house, i won't be returning just because the salt content was over-the-top and the prices high for the quality of food.

i am undecided. our server was attentitive and friendly but by the final end of the last dish we were looking at a two and a half hour dining experience. this did not include the 20 minute waittimeof getting seated when we had a reservation. now for the food. the charcuterie board was a major disappointment, yet the beef tartare and escargot were rather tasty. for my main dish i ordered the duck breast and the flavours were great but the portion was extremely small for the price. overall i would say that absinthe is an average restaurant with high prices. i do not think i will be returning to this establishment as there are other restaurants i would like to try in the city.

the best!. absinthe, i cannot say enough good things about this place! the servers (we had partick tonight) also highly recommend nosh (sorry if i spelled incorrectly). we've eaten there quite a bit and everytimethey recognize us, and the service is always fantastic.

on the menu they did not have fois terraine, which is amazing. i asked if i could have it and patrick said wait one minute came back said yeah they'd do it. they made their own plate up on the spot because we requested it. if that's not service i don't know what is. the duck - how can you really spell out how much you love something with so many words. my husband said it's the best duck on the planet as far as he was concerned. i've ate their duck many times, and tonight was by far my favourite. the slaw they had was out of the world - my mouth was partying like it was 1999 (yes i just said that). they had flavours of garlic, bacon with smoke, fennel and then the duck with the sweet red wine sauce, so much was going on but the flavours all came together and it was fantastic.

so thank-you guys! for another amazing night - we will be back :)

went to absinthe for the firsttimeon a dinner date with my girlfriend. the menu was interesting, however, nothing really popped out at me. don't get me wrong, what we ended up ordering was delicious, but upon first glance, nothing caught my attention. i really wanted the deep fried frogs legs, which were awesome, and the burger or steak sounded good, but something i could get anywhere. after reading the whole menu and not really liking the sound of the dishes, i went with the benevolent burger, which was essentially a gourmet version of a big mac and was amazing, so big i could barely eat it with my hands. it was very greasy though, a minus. it came with a mushroom bacon poutine and salad; very filling. my girlfriend got the broccoli cheddar soup and squid ink tortellini. the soup was good, i wasn't a fan of the latter, she enjoyed it. the service was great, however, the environment was a little noisy, so it was hard to hear each other talk, but that was ok. the only downside i would say is that absinthe only has one individual washroom for everyone, a little unpractical for a restaurant that seats so many. overall, good experience, a little pricy, but the food is worth it. good place for a date or night out with friends, not the most romantic evening though due to the noise level. but still an enjoying and tasty experience.