Born and partially raised in Japan. My dad ran a sushi restaurant, so I feel somewhat qualified to weigh in on the recent criticism TOMO has been receiving.

First of all, I’m generally anti-sushi restaurant in Ottawa. The pricing, quality, and service range from terrible to mediocre compared with what you’d get in Japan.

A quick glance at TOMO’s menu and I’m already petrified. $12 for a bowl of miso soup?! Then I see a sushi roll with tuna, trout, and mango. Why are we putting mango on sushi? Canadians, would you be a little insulted if we started putting fish sauce on fries and called it poutine, then charged $40 for it?

I understand that some of the chefs are Japanese, and I have nothing against fusion cuisine when it’s presented as fusion. But this is crazy to me, especially for a high-end sushi restaurant that comes across as a high-end Japanese dining experience. There’s nothing inherently wrong with adapting Japanese food to Canadian tastes, but at least be honest about what you’re serving. Charging premium prices doesn’t automatically make something more authentically Japanese.

Finally, the tipping. I don’t know whether the owners themselves are Japanese, but the mandatory tipping policy immediately stood out to me. In Japan, tipping simply isn’t part of the culture. Good service isn’t something you’re expected to pay extra for, it’s considered part of the experience.

There’s a well-known expression in Japanese, 「お客様は神様です」 (okyakusama wa kamisama desu), which roughly translates to “the customer is god.” It reflects the enormous emphasis Japanese service culture traditionally places on hospitality and treating customers with care and respect. It’s one of the reasons the level of service in Japan is so appreciated by foreigners.

So if TOMO genuinely wants to honour Japanese culture and recreate a high-end Japanese dining experience, I think a mandatory tipping policy is completely at odds with that goal. If the owners happen to read this, I would strongly encourage them to look more closely at Japanese hospitality and the philosophy of omotenashi. Authenticity isn’t just about having Japanese chefs, importing ingredients, or putting Japanese words on a menu. The way you treat your customers is part of the culture too.

Went to the Whalesbone on Bank street for a date night with my partner last weekend. What a fun place it is! We sat at the bar and it was a fun atmosphere, they were happy to offer suggestions and chat between shucking oysters and changing records.

For starters we had the ceviche.  It was full of Matane shrimp, sweet potato, corn, onions, avocado, button mushrooms, marinated in green aguachile and topped with fresh cilantro and chilli and served with Cajun dusted patacones.  The dish was an excellent starter, fresh and light ceviche but still a substantial bite with the plantain patacones and vegetables.  The shrimp were small but juicy and packed with flavour.  

Next up was what we were there for, the big ticket item, OYSTERS!!  We ordered a plate of 24 oysters and were very happy to let the staff direct us in a journey of Canadian oysters.  We started with the Beach Angels from BC, then onto Peddlers Pick and Three Witches from NB before moving onto the Eel Lake, NS and finishing with Lily oysters from Tyne Valley on PEI.  All of them were fantastic, the BC ones were my favourite.

Perhaps my favourite thing about the restaurant is the sauces that come with the oysters. Starting with freshly grated horseradish and lemon, Tabasco, red wine vinaigrette, cocktail sauce, scotch bonnet hot sauce, island grill Caribbean style sauce and whiskey.  It is a lot fun to try different combos of the sauces, especially the whiskey, which goes well on the oysters or as encouraged by the staff as a palate cleanser.

Got to get some veggies in so ordered the harvest veggies special. It came with roasted broccoli, chilli sesame vinaigrette, pickled onion & chilli, Szechuan peanuts, sesame seeds  & Kewpie mayo. It was actually much more of a substantial dish than I thought it would be as a side salad and was a great accompaniment to all of the seafood.  A nice balance of vinegar flavour with a little spice and some nice crunchy broccoli.  

If you haven't been here and you are a fan of seafood, specifically oysters, then you I would highly recommend for your next intimate dinner or date night.  It is hands down one of my favourite restaurants in Ottawa.  The Elgin Street location is much larger and has an extended menu with a lot of non-seafood options which is great for a larger crowd.

Ok, a small little rant. Judge me if you will for something so trivial, idc. They stopped carrying the Boston Cream a while back. Why? This was literally their best donut. When I asked an employee, they said, "I don't know, all we ever have is customers asking for it." Anyway, they ended up bringing it back, but no fewer than 12 times now, I've visited Ottawa from out of town and they've been out of it. I feel like it stands to reason that if you recognize there's a demand for something you carry, you make sure you have enough supply to meet the anticipated, consistent demand.

Ok, end rant. Also, if you haven't tried their Boston Cream (Brampton Cream, I think it's called), do yourself a favour and try it. (that is if your fortunate enough to get there when its in stock)

I don’t usually reply to internet trolls. But you’re a TOMO customer, as you say, and our team has benefited from your past visits and support, so I feel we owe you an explanation.

Which part of my reply did you find disgusting? I’m confused. You’ve been to TOMO before, so you may already know that automatic gratuity applies only to the omakase experience and groups of more than six for regular dining. I wasn’t aware that you had an issue with this. It’s a common practice at many restaurants, and there are reasons behind it. Omakase and larger groups require more labour and attention.

Beyond the tipping issue, I said that I have never given a restaurant a one-star review in my life, regardless of the food or service. I simply don’t go back. That’s what my parents taught me, and it’s what I plan to teach my children one day: be kind, offer more support, and spend less time attacking others. I grew up surrounded by love and support from family and friends, and I want to raise my children the same way.

That’s why I genuinely don’t understand why someone would attack a business without ever setting foot inside or interacting with anyone there. It would never cross my mind to do that, so I really don’t get it. Do you think business owners should just suck it up and accept every unfair attack that comes their way?

If someone in my life behaved that way or supported that behaviour, I would cut them out of my life. You never know, one day, they might do the same thing to you.

Anyway, I wish you and your family the best. We can disagree and still wish each other well.

Thank you,
Ann
TOMO Management

There used to be a woman selling thai food at the Carps' farmer's market. I crave her pad thai all the time.

She hasn't sold there for a while (i seem to remember that she stopped with the pandemic perhaps?). I wrote to them once and asked if they still made food. They said yes and to send them what I wanted. I did, and never heard back. They have been inactive since.

Does anyone recall them? Does anyone know if they still sell somewhere? Or does anyone have that specific recipe for the pad thai? It was different than what I've had in restaurants.

Thanks, friends!

Can someone rich and bored please open a Brazilian steakhouse. I yearn for unlimited steak.

Well then. Not sure how I feel about this or if both sides could have handled this better. Thoughts on Tomo and the automatic gratuity?

Fake reviews. That's a pretty bold claim.

My go to used to be sabai Thai but I’ve found the quality and taste hasn’t been the same recently. Any other recommendations?

Does anyone know where you can get banoffee pie in ottawa?

Help pls

For direct consumption or as a tea sweetener, would prefer something with some medicinal benefit but open to all suggestions. To date my experience is only with the standard Costco stuff.

Sorry if this isn't the best place to ask, these aren’t fancy things, but I have some very specific, let's just call them... preferences.

If I can't find the specific product, I just can't have the associated food/drink or alternatives and I'd like to.

I've been looking for some of these things a while, and it could be bad luck, but if you can share if/where you've seen any of these things recently, it would be genuinely appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I'm looking for:

Legal Sea Foods House Tartar Sauce (last saw at either Kitchenalia or Grace in the Kitchen a long time ago. I've seen a chipotle version at Independent but that's as close as it's been)

Lee's Coffee - Vietnamese Coffee Concentrate - Triple Shot (last saw at best price oriental market - haven't seen since it closed)

Highlands Coffee Ca phe sua (last saw at t&t - hasn't been stocked for a bit)
Cavenders Greek Seasoning - (haven't seen in many many years).

"Retro Pepsi" made with real sugar - (might be seasonal, saw it last year)

I’ve been able to find them at Costco business centre but they only have strawberry. Good price though. I saw that Metro and Walmart had smaller sizes, but again limited in variety, could only find mango and strawberry.

Is there any other places you could think of to get the larger buckets of them? Less interested in the 1 lb buckets, more interested in the larger ones.

To be clear, looking for the popping boba, not tapioca.

TIA for any leads!

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Online or on app

Promo code - SENSWIN

Apparently, it’ll be back on Tuesday in the USA, but I’m not sure about canada. If anybody spots McRibs in the Ottawa area, please report back here. Me wants one.

I’ve been craving bone marrow so bad lately, but I can’t seem to find any restaurants in Ottawa that serve it! 😭 Does anyone know of any restaurants in Ottawa where I can order bone marrow? I’m looking to eat it at a restaurant, not buy it to cook at home.

Also, what is it usually called on the menu? Is it listed as “bone marrow,” or does it go by another name?

Please drop your recommendations! Thank you! 🙏🏾

Where can I get a good enchilada?

Anyone know of buffets(dinner/brunch) that offer crab? Use to be some prior to covid but now it doesn't seem to be the case.

I did see that the Hard Rock Casino has a Sunday brunch with crab but its not AYCE and a rather small sharing plate.

Does anyone know what happened? I saw their Instagram saying they were closing but not really. Then they were giving out free ice cream. It seems pretty sudden. Went with some friends in the summer and it was yummy! I'm sad they suddenly closed down and would like to know if they're planning on opening anywhere else.

Edit: puspin - autocorrect

I was wondering what are good recs?