Travel: Ottawa Trip with a less than happy return…
In my post back on March 9, I mentioned that I would be leaving in two days for a trip to Ottawa. It was a very pleasant trip, with lots of restaurants visited and interesting food purchases made, but my return, less than a few hours ago, was not quite as nice. My wife left for a business trip to the western Arctic a few days ago and sometime following her departure some dickhead broke in to our house…
Thankfully, there is very little damage, just a bit of mess from drawers and cupboards being searched, and only a few things taken. Our Blu-Ray player was stolen, as well as a bottle of wine and some cigars, but other than those things and some food, little else is missing as far as I can tell. The miscreant (and this has all the hallmarks of a single individual entry) tried to take our television (it was sitting in the hallway) and it is evident that he gave up the attempt as too much effort. Anyway, I have notified the police but I don’t imagine too much will come of it…
On a lighter note, I visited my favorite bar in Ottawa, the Highlander Pub, on the third evening of my visit. I was tickled by the little insert they had in their menu and thought I would share. I didn’t eat there on this trip but I did sample a number of beers I have never had before, as well as a lovely (and very expensive) single malt Scotch.
During my six days in the capital I visited quite a few restaurants and will be posting reviews in due course. I also returned to some places I reviewed in the past in order to try some things I had seen on their respective menus. Some were very interesting, and will be featured in ‘Notable Nosh’ posts in the days to come, while a few were less than spectacular and did not make the cut. These were:
Scallop Dumplings … I had these as part of a Dim Sum lunch at the Palais Imperial. They are wrapped in the same sort of dough as used for Har Gow and actually contained more shrimp than scallop. They also included Cilantro, which is not my favorite herb at all. They weren’t bad but I think I can do a better job and I will post the results when I get around to attempting it.
Fried Shrimp Roll … I also tried this at the Palais Imperial. They were basically just whole shrimp wrapped in a commercial egg-roll wrapper and served with a basic, and mediocre, plum sauce. It wasn’t terribly special but the idea has merit and possibly worth experimenting with…
Squid Tempura… I revisited Ken’s Japanese Restaurant to try something I had seen on their online menu and ended up having several delicious dishes I will be telling you about in more detail in later posts. The squid tempura, however, was about the worst I have ever had. It was breaded, rather than done in a proper tempura batter, served with a tasteless mayo concoction, and badly overcooked. To the kitchen staff at Ken’s… PLEASE change your cooking oil more than once every ten years!!!
Well, returning home to a break-in was certainly not pleasant, but, on a happier note, my luggage is packed with a lot of interesting new foodstuffs that we can investigate in the coming weeks. Stay tuned…
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I think the scallop dumplings sound delicious, but I admit I also love cilantro! I’m sorry you had your house broken into – it’s happened to me and luckily, like you, nothing overly important was damaged or taken. Just enough to inconvenience and heighten the fear of it happening again, not to mention the cost of replacing the stolen items. I think “dickhead” summed it up nicely.
Actually I toned down to ‘dickhead’ for blog purposes
As would I, even though more colorful alternatives would certainly be forgiven in a case such as this!
Sorry to hear about the break in
Glad the damage is not so bad. Looking forward to your follow up posts…
So sorry to hear about the break-in! I hope they get the miscreant and I look forward to your take on the scallop dumplings!
I am sorry for the break-in. But your restaurant experience in Ottawa seems so be very fruitful. It seems the Cantonese dim sum is quite advanced there. I never had whole shrimp fried roll like that BUT in HONG KONG, in some high end Western cuisine places, there is something called ” fried shrimp toast” which is very delicious. I could never find it in other places. This one may be a modified version, and landed in a dim sum place. The Japanese fried squid looks like onion ring . The dumpling is quite good looking although the skin suggests that it is too thick! Well, I will wait for your experiments which may have a favorable result!
I have seen a number of recipes for shrimp toast but haven’t tried it yet. I must put it on my list
Hi, I wrote a long response but was lost, due to my iPad . I am looking forward to your future experiments. On the other hand, I like to comment on your little post it. The Asians eat lots of vegetables comparing to the Western world . The Okinawa studies found that the centenarians eat pig feet! Hong Kong women are now #1 on longevity. About red wine, Hong Kong is picking up. It is now one of the biggest red wine consumers and import / export industries of red wine.
Also see my blog on healthy and happy on longevity. I did not have time to write more on that blog. But I did have a little information there.
You are right, perhaps. Just enjoy life and eat! This is why we have our foodblogs!
The best advice I read was: “Eat (unprocessed) food, not too much, mostly plants…” But I want a little red wine with it
Love the Final Word sign. Have to have humor in this life.
I stay away from fried foods but I bet experimenting with the scallop dumpling could be fun.
Hope the police catch the thief.It may have been someone watching your coming and going schedule.Might want to check out an security system for the future.
We rather think it may have been two lads my wife hired to do some snow-clearing while I was away and unable to do it myself. No proof of that but….
Ouch. We’ve only had one break-in, years ago, but I still am annoyed by it!
Our first here, but we had four at our last residence. Caught one of them and held him for the police though!
Oh my goodness!
That sign is a riot! I agree eat what you like and oh my you ate alot of delicious things.
Also wanted to say so sorry to hear about the break-in. Some people have no respect! I agree that cilantro has very few applications where it adds rather than detracts from a dish. Not a huge fan myself. Looking forward to your reviews though; it’s nice to live vicariously through your gustatorial adventures!
So sorry about your break-in, hope they caught the culprit. That little insert is so coool, love it.
How deplorable to find your home violated! I’m so sorry. The fried shrimp roll sure looks good to me! They may not be prepared with special ingredients, but they look satisfying. We’ll stay tuned for the next round of recipes coming from your new ingredients! I hope things settle down at home.
Sorry about the break in. Loved the insert on the pub menu.
Oh my gosh! I can’t believe that your house was broken into while you were away! Is crime a problem where you are? That’s terrible!
Um, I know this is a weird question, but … they didn’t take the master sauce did they?!
Thankfully, the master sauce is intact …. and I think they may have caught the guy. I am waiting for follow up
Hope that they caught him too! And hope you get your Blue-Ray back!