I love finding good eats in the most unexpected places: industrial parks, gas stations, and office buildings. And Capital Fare Cafe is just that, a cafe that serves delicious food, that happens to be in a medical building.
I was searching for food in the area and Capital Fare Cafe popped up. At the time, there were no reviews on Yelp. Hey, I'm always up for a food adventure, and as a result I've had a lot of bad eats, but I'm still standing, so I took the chance and checked it out. I'm happy to report that Capital Fare Cafe is excellent!
I had the Jerk Chicken Salad ($9.61 including taxes). It was a real spring mix salad (none of that iceberg nonsense, thank goodness), with bell peppers, stir-fried onions, plantain chips, jerk chicken, and cheddar cheese. I usually ask for dressing on the side for salads, but I forgot this time, but thankfully, it wasn't overdressed nor excessively oily. It was fantastic. The jerk chicken was lean breast meat bursting with flavour. It had a very subtle spicy note to it, but I wouldn't describe it as spicy, so don't shy away from it if you can't handle spicy/hot foods. I'm sure it can be made spicier if you like, which is what I will be requesting next time ;)
The crunchiness of the plantain chips added some nice texture to the salad, as did the shredded cheese. I really enjoyed my salad. My only complaint is that the serving size was on the small side IMO, but maybe I'm just a little girl with an huge appetite, lol.
The place is very small. There is only seating for 8. Two tables for 2 and a table for 4 (which can technically be separated into 2 tables for 2, but it would be really snug and tight).
It's inside the Phenix Medical Professional Building (it's not a typo, that's how they spell it, there's no "o"), on the ground floor. Even the signage at the cafe entrance from inside the building looks medical and sterile, lol (I took a pic). However, I have learned that good food sometimes hides in unexpected places, so I never judge on looks or environment.
So the parking situation is like this: like almost all medical buildings in Ottawa, it's paid parking in their private lot. However, there is a 15 minutes free grace period. So you can probably do takeout or turbo eat and not have to pay for parking, haha.
Anyway, if you're in the area, Capital Fare Cafe is definitely worth a visit. read more