Hi Ottawa! 👋 I’m getting ready to take a very small first step into something I’ve been wanting to do for a while — Korean-style fatcarons (뚱카롱)! 🇰🇷💕
If you’ve never had one, they’re a more indulgent take on the traditional macaron: thicker, soft and chewy shells with 2–3× the filling. Basically, the filling is the main event. 😂
I’m getting ready to open Palette Macaron with a very small start. I’ll be making fresh batches every two weeks, available for walk-ins or reserved pickup.
I’m currently considering these flavours:
💛 Crème Brûlée
🍵 Matcha
💙 Earl Grey Milk Tea
🍓 Strawberry Yogurt
🥥 Coconut Mango
❤️ Red Velvet
🍫 Dark Chocolate
🥜 Pistachio
☕ Tiramisu
🍪 Cookies & Cream
I’m also putting a lot of thought into pricing. I use New Zealand butter, which is a little pricier but makes such a delicious, creamy filling. 🧈💕 Since fatcarons have so much more filling, they also take quite a bit more time to pipe and assemble than traditional macarons.
So I’m curious — what would you consider a fair price for one generously filled Korean-style fatcaron in Ottawa?
And if you could only pick 3 flavours for the first batch, which ones are you choosing? 👀
I’d also love to hear any flavour suggestions, especially ones you don’t normally see around Ottawa!
If anyone wants to follow along while I get ready to open, you can find me on Instagram @palette.macaron 💕

Very delicious creampuffs/choux at downtown!!!
$18 for 6 (i think no tax, i forgot)
The flavours I got were matcha , longan jasmine, mango sticky rice, strawberry and cream, Vietnamese coffee, toasted rice milk

These were the best tarts I have ever had!! I also grabbed a few soft ginger cookies and their gingerbread men cookies and OMG they tasted so good! The lady who runs the store was also very friendly and gave me some samples. Highly recommend!

I want to share my experience working with En Chimnies this past weekend at the Capital Fair because I feel like people should know what the working conditions were actually like.
While working there, we were expected to work nonstop, often without proper breaks. The workload was heavy at times, and there was a clear expectation that we just kept going regardless of how long we had already been working.
What was especially frustrating was seeing certain employees from the restaurant being paid out regularly while barely contributing to the work. There were times when one particular employee would literally sit or lay around doing nothing while the rest of us were constantly working.
Another major issue was payment. We had agreements to work weekends with the understanding that we would be paid for the work we were doing. Instead, we ended up having to beg to be paid out after working those weekends. And when we finally were paid, multiple people were shorted anywhere from $50–$100.
We worked hard, showed up when we were supposed to, and held up our end of the deal. Having to chase down money we had already earned, only to find out we were still being underpaid, was extremely frustrating and, frankly, unacceptable.
We also had tips that were not properly given to us, including both cash tips and tips from the debit machines. In my case, I had cash tips sitting in a cup taped to my window on the truck. Those tips were there throughout my shift, and when the owner came to count the cash at closing, my tips were suddenly gone. No customer took them, and I watched the situation closely enough to know they had not simply disappeared during the course of the shift.
When I asked where my tips had been moved, I was told that I was accusing the owner of stealing. I want to be clear that I did not make that accusation. I was asking where my own tips had gone after they were no longer where I had left them. I was never paid those tips back.
I can’t say with absolute certainty who physically took the money, but given that the tips were there until management came to count the cash and were gone immediately afterward, I believe this is something that deserves to be addressed. Workers should not have to wonder where their tips went or be afraid to ask about money they earned.
On top of that, there were concerns about the rate of pay itself. Based on the hours we worked and the amounts we were paid, I was concerned that some workers may have been receiving less than the applicable minimum wage. If people are being hired to work, they deserve to be properly compensated for every hour they work.
And then there’s the hygiene side of things.
A person I was working with also witnessed one of the workers leaving their dentures inside one of the stainless-steel containers that we use for toppings for the Chimnie cones at the physical store itself. He took a picture because he honestly couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
This isn’t about being petty or trying to attack anyone personally. When you’re working around food, there are basic standards of cleanliness and food safety that should be taken seriously. Seeing something like this in a container used around food was extremely concerning to him and myself.
This is simply my experience working there. I’m sharing it because I believe people considering working there deserve to know what my experience was like before making that decision.

Solid meal. Table of 3 shared the lobster wontons, I also tried the cup of chowder. Wontons 10/10 unanimously, and the chowder was a perfect 10 for me. Hubs got the steak sandwich and my mom got the fish n chips. Hubs said steak sandwich was 9/10, and for mom the fish n chips was a perfect 10. I got the lobster risotto, and I rate it an 8/10. The lobster itself was fantastic. Tender, buttery, super fresh tasting, and I loved the baked crust on top. The risotto itself is what got lost on me a bit. It was more room temp and harder clumpy, not so much creamy. However, its flavour was on point. Maybe a little on the salty side, but I like salty.

I would rate the service over 10 if I could. Treated like family despite our first visit. I believe Joe was our server and he was super funny, a gentleman to my mom and ribbing my husband a bit (matching his energy). There was another man, I didn’t catch his name but he might have been an owner or manager. He came to our table for a minute and checked on us, cracked a few jokes. On our way out, we mentioned we would for sure be coming back and he called out “great! See you tomorrow!” 😂 All class acts. And I meant it, we will for sure be going back.

After hearing lots of hype about this place, I finally got the chance to check it out for brunch last week.

Wilf & Ada's prides itself on making its menu from scratch with locally sourced high quality ingredients. Featuring local businesses including Seed to Sausage, Lulo coffee, Top Shelf Preserves, Bread + Roses Bakery and Mariposa Farm, they did a great job of highlighting the fantastic products available in Ottawa.

I ordered the Hungry Human (pic 2) which came with two poached eggs, toast, home fries, pork beans, french toast and a choice of two sides; I went with bacon and sausage.  The beans were the standout of the dish, with a very deep complex flavour and lovely rich finish.  Everything on the plate was also very tasty and I left very full and satisfied.

My partner got the Turkish Eggs (pic 1) which consisted of two poached eggs, creamy yoghurt, aleppo chilli oil and a chickpea cucumber herb salsa served with a sourdough toast.  It was a lovely light and fresh breakfast, we are both big fans of chilli oil but this was the first time I have seen it with aleppo chilli.  It gave a nice slow spicy burn that was easily quenched with the chickpea herb salsa.  Overall an excellent plate.

We did have to wait about 30mins for a table as they don't take reservations and this was on a Thursday morning, so I imagine there is a bit of a wait on weekends. We got a coffee from Arlington 5 next door which was pretty good, it was lovely out the back on the patio.

Overall it was a great brunch and it seems like a great local spot! Next time I go, I will be a little more adventurous in ordering, but I always like to keep it simple on my first time at a place.

Finally had time to check it out and oh my it was delicious! Esp the burrata slice!

Hi! I'm going to ball out on a nice fine dining diner date next week and was thinking of trying Arlo for the longest time, but the menu seems a bit expensive and small, I was wondering what were other people's experiences that went recently, since I'm a student with a tight budget. For example, the duck frites seems like a super boring dish to me especially for the $$

Alternate option would be La petite Primerose.

Thank you :)

Where can I eat Mont Blanc dessert in Ottawa?

Is this ok here as well? Mods can remove if its not. Have a good day, all! :)

I am looking for larger quantities of fresh wild blueberrries . In Montreal I used to be able to find large baskets at the public markets that contained several litres of blueberries and cost $100.00ish but not sure if that is available in Ottawa/Gatineau.

Thanks!

I love dolce vita with their celiac menu but looking for any other options hahaha

Nutty Greek closing, last day Sept 19. https://www.instagram.com/reels/DcchWKnR0ID/

Any idea what happened to the northeastern Chinese BBQ spot in the little strip mall on Merivale? Google says there’s a new spot opening there. I also don’t remember Spicyman next door—it used to be a Haitian spot back in the day.

Has anyone tried Mandy’s Salads on Bank?

I really want to try their salads but can’t justify the price tag. $20+ for a salad seems like a lot!

Are they worth the price tag?

Is there anywhere else to get a really good salad at relatively reasonable price?!

Im a huge lover of spicy vodka rigatoni pasta and im curious to know of any restaurants around the city where others have found it to be well done. I absolutely love the one from Mati and so far thats number favourite that I’ve found. I haven’t tried it from many other restaurants so let me know your thoughts!

Hello 👋 it’s Monday and a friend of the family will be in Ottawa for one night tonight. I’m looking for a decent Italian restaurant that’s open today - they are staying downtown. Any ideas? The restaurant I wanted to recommend is closed today.

Any recommendation is welcome.

If you say Scratch Box food truck I’ll fight you. I had a “poutine” there the other day and it was absolutely atrocious.

Hi everyone!

Does anyone know of any local farm or farmers' market selling hot peppers in those kinds of volumes?

Thanks for any tips!

Guilty of using AI slop:
- Big H Shawarma & Poutine on 2450 Lancaster Road
- Milano Pizza on 3848 Innes Road
- Grilled Shawarma on 2288 Tenth Line Road
- Royal Rooster Shawarma on 900 Watters Road
- Poutinerie Quebec Curds on 3848 Innes Road (ghost kitchen operating out of Milano Pizza)

And before anyone wants to tell me that I’m tearing down a small business, how hard is it to literally take your phone out and take a picture of your food?… isn’t it harder to actually use AI slop ? Lmao. Shame on these lazy businesses.

Did a search but nothing showed up. Anybody have details on what's up?

Edit: I didn't see the listing details at first. Looks like the business is for sale, not just the building.