Union 613 on Somerset near O’Connor is in one of those redone old houses that have been turned into a restaurant. The restaurant is not very big. with two rooms on the first floor and a room downstairs (more on that later). We were seated at the bar because I did not have reservations. Most of the tables seat 6-8 people…more like communal seating at large tables.
Bar taps
This place is a definite drink place with specialty cocktails, multiple craft beers on tap and a very good selection of wine. They also make their own sodas..rootbeer and ginger beer. The tap handles are eclectic using knives and other kitchen implements.
At 6:30 the downstairs speakeasy opens. It is definitely fashioned as a speakeasy as the door is a bookcase. If you didn’t know you wouldn’t know there was a room behind it.My friend and I turned the wrongway and were very confused as there were only doors to the washrooms.
SpeakEasy
The speakeasy is very tiny with low ceilings and 5 tables and a bar. The drink menu is different from upstairs…fewer choices in beer.It was very dark ..not for the old who needed the flashlight app to read the menu.
The menu is very eclectic southern style food. Our friends had the hog jowl and catfish. I had the catfish and my husband had the ribs. Sides are priced separately. I had the rainbow chard with chilis and smoked rabbit. Tasty with a nice bite. The catfish was perfectly cooked in a crunchy cornmeal coating. The ribs were dry rubbed with salty spice mixture which was complimented with the corn on the cob side that had chipotle butter and parmesan on it. We ordered corn bread to share which was very rich and soft served out of the skillet. Service was extremely attentive. Oh I nearly forgot…instead of bread to start, they bring you boiled peanuts in the shell…very yummy, slightly salty, peanuts were soft…had the flavour of natural peanut butter.
Ribs and corn on cob
We then decided to go for dessert at Oh so Good in the market. I remember why I don’t like the market in the summer night. It was crowded and noisy with smokers hanging on the side walk. I think Ottawa does not have enough dessert places where you can enjoy a nice beverage and a piece of decadent dessert and enjoy interesting conversation.
Catfish with escarole and rainbow chard
Oh So Good is order at the counter place and take your goods to a table. The choice of desserts is very large … 2 shelves of cakes and one of cheesecakes. They also have cookies and squares. The pieces of cake are huge with a large dollop of whipped cream. There could be more wait staff as many of the tables had dirty dishes and there was a long line for ordering.
Raspberry Chocolate Cake
For our last meal we went to Rice Pea, a northern Chinese restaurant. Looking at what other tables ordered, we settled for rice noodles in chili sauce, fern vermicelli in chili sauce, BBQ lamb skewers, shredded pork in bean sauce.
Rice Noodle in Chili oil
Lamb Skewers
The rice noodles had a salty taste with a chili oil bite. These were cold noodles and every table ordered these as a start. The lamb skewers were spiced with cumin and had a choice of spicy or mild taste. The fern vermicelli is a dark noodle in a sweet sauce and chili oil. The shredded pork was stir fried in a salty bean sauce that came with thin egg roll wrappers and shredded green onion. We assume we rolled it in the wrap like you do with peking duck.
Shredded pork in bean sauce
Fern Vermicelli
We were still hungry and ordered the dumplings in peanut sauce…about8 dumpling in a smooth coconut peanut sauce.
Two dishes to try next time is the candied sweet potatoes that look like fries in a sugar glaze coating and the beef noodle in soup.
Hunan dumplings in peanut sauce
Definitely the signature dishes are the lamb skewers and the rice noodles in chili sauce as every table had ordered these.
This is definitely authentic as my husband was the only non-Asian in the place for most of the dinner.