OK, to be fair, I loved what I ordered. The foie gras was generous and delicious, the prawn pasta lovely. My notes to the staff -- it should not be an hour and a half from placing an order to receiving the food. Seriously?! Then one dish was undercooked (seafood) and when asked to be replaced, the diner was given a hard time about it and blamed for the problem. Epic fail! read more

So far, one of the few restaurants in Ottawa that I didn't feel completely ripped off. The service was extremely attentive, to the point of being on the verge of smothering (granted, it was 5 pm). I had the tataki of albacore and the mackerel, both solid dishes with small but reasonable portions for the price (which, yes, is pretty high). The wine list (by the glass at least) was rather disappointing - I get that we are promoting the local economy but I have yet to be thoroughly impressed with a VQA wine and if I have to pay 12 to 15$ for 5 oz., that wine better rock my world. Got the Spanish white, it was nice and cold but the taste wasn't there. That being said, a cool joint with a relaxing atmosphere, great service, good but pricey food - oh and the bread is very tasty and they will bring you more if you want. Will go back. read more

Nice atmosphere, good service. Great wine list. It was pretty busy so we had to wait a bit, but we enjoyed good conversation and weren't in a rush. read more

Good food and server service, healthy portion sizes, but - like most places in the Byward Market - completely over-priced. Cost me $50 for a special with a glass of coke. Ignore the tourists and take a walk down Bank St for more reasonably-priced restaurants. read more

My wife and I checked out Restaurant 18 on a brief visit to Ottawa and I have to say, had one of the best meals I've had anywhere in the world in quite some time. We opted to try the chef's choice blind 5 course tasting menu complete with wine pairings. Every course was spectacular, creative, flavorful, and superbly matched to an accompanying wine. The service was similarly outstanding, perfectly paced, great detailed explanations of all the ingredients used and the rationale behind the wine pairings. The dining room is beautiful and intimate. Everything was expertly served with the proper flatware and crystal etc. Two hours of foodie bliss. I've done the tasting menu thing many places, would be hard pressed to think of another time when there wasn't a single "dud" course in the whole flight. The quantities were perfectly selected as well, as we were just starting to fill up by the end of the fourth course. Here's what we had to the best of my memory: Amuse Bouche: A raw oyster with a garlic scape mignonette, served with a sparkling chenin blanc from Loire First: Red beet salad with chicken liver patte and capicola and a mint pesto, served with a dry rose from Niagara Second: Lobster risotto served with a Chardonnay from British Columbia Third: Steel head trout with a fennel beurre blanc, served with a Sancerre from Loire Palette Cleanser: Rhubarb granita Fourth: Filet mignon with prawns and croutons in a salsa verde, served with a tempranillo / cabernet sauvignon blend Fifth: Parsnip cake, served with a 10 year old Madiera If I was forced to level a criticism, it would have to be only that it would be tough to characterize this as a good value, coming in at $425 CAN including tip for dinner for two. Quite the experience though and we certainly knew what we were getting into from that perspective. This is a world class restaurant, not to be missed, and what I'll remember about Ottawa every time my beloved Sabres are beating up on the Senators next season :) read more

Previously, I had only been to E18teen for martinis... which were great! The atmosphere was chic and fun. Last night, my husband and I went out to finally try the food.There was no music that I could hear, it was really bright in there, which normally isn't much of a problem, but I found it just showed off the industrial look instead of the chick-ness. Food was very tasty, but for the price we paid ($150 for two drinks, one appy, two mains) It wasn't exactly the experience I was looking for - in short I was disappointed. read more

Chic and elegant, it's kind of what you hope for when you go out for a night in the Market. It is pricey, and it is tasty. Service is attentive. read more

Wow the last time I was here was 7 years ago, in 2004. It had a much lighter decor - and more open airy-ness feel. I'm surprised to see how they've gone completely the opposite end and gone with super dark colours. Our food was good when we had it - duck and scallops. The service was great then. Yes, it wasn't cheap then either. But it was enjoyable. If I make it back to Ottawa some day, I will have to see how much it's changed. read more

Went there for happy hour and felt like they skimped out. They were definitely more attentive to tables that ordered more food. I asked for a second glass of wine and the server just said "we can't." No explanation what so ever... well that really put us off the mood read more

I went to Eighteen back in May, when I met up with a friend who lives in Ottawa. She recommended this place and I had never been despite several trips to Ottawa in the past. I had the duck breast as my main and the sugar pie for dessert, while my friend had the beef tartar, beef tenderloin and creme brulee. Overall, the food was pretty solid and the portions quite generous for a fancier restaurant. The 5 stars is in large part for the really great service that we received. Although a place like this can be at risk of being snooty and pretentious, the service we received was nothing but friendly, welcoming and professional. Also, I forgot my itemized receipt at the end of the night and they were able to send me a copy of the receipt within a couple of days after I sent them an email! Overall a pleasant experience and I would recommend this place if you are looking for something fancier in the market area. read more

Had an early dinner there last Sunday and the food and service was fantastic. Both my wife and I had the cod - it was done to perfection. I do prefer the old recipe a little better.My mushroom appetizer stole the show. Due to the cost we only go there on special occasions and when we have visitors. I also have found over the last year it has been hard to get in. They are very lucky to have great staff - over years we have found the service always to be good. Looking for forward to our next visit read more

I had some issues that I communicated to Management, however they were not willing to rectify my experience so I will list them here. This was for Valentine's Day, so we made sure to make reservations way in advance. Their menu looked great and the prices were very fair. I get a call a couple weeks before the event, notifying me that there would be a special Valentine's menu, which wasn't a surprise to me as every nice restaurant does this and was expected. The menu looked very nice, but it was very expensive and there were a couple dishes I did not want to eat, but I didn't think much of it because I already knew what I wanted from the regular menu. Cut to the actual day when we get seated and the staff inform me that the Valentine's menu was the only choice, and there would be no option for anything on the regular menu. So my options were to leave and try to find a restaurant with no reservation, or just accept the special menu which was $200 after tax and tip. We got seated right next to the entrance so it was extremely cold, and the decor wasn't anything special where we were seated. Just a big fire alarm on the wall, and some industrial piping, whereas every other table in the room had a very nice decor. The food that I did eat was very good, but not $200 for two people good. In the future I really hope they make sure people know that the special menu is the only choice, so people can budget their event adequately. read more

Joined May 2013 Disappointed with the Blind Tasting Menu and the Wine pairings DOESN'T LIKE IT DINER REVIEW * MAY 18, 2013 EDIT 5- Course Blind Tasting Menu $90 per person Wine pairings | $60 per person - My husband and I are foodies and we love to try tasting menus when restaurants are offering it...most of the time the tasting menu will be the deciding factor for us to return or not to return to that particular restaurant. We both travel in north America and internationally and we have managed to find some of the nicest restaurants in almost everywhere we have been. Unfortunately we will not be returning to 18th restaurant in Ottawa. We will not be recommending this restaurant to friends or to our blog followers. I took my husband for his birthday to try 18th's testing menu plus the wine pairing which left us very disappointing. It was a Friday night 7:30 dinner reservation and only 40% of the restaurant was occupied and even less after 8:30pm. Our first course was a regular poached egg on top of welted green with no taste, once the yolk broke we could not taste anything but the egg yolk. the following two courses were little tiny (the size of a match box) fish and they tasted alright but nothing special. We ate tones of bread with it so that we are not getting tipsy with the wine...(it was little finger food size porting to be perfectly honest), not a tasting menu size course at all. The last course was a piece of lamb, it was prepared very nicely but there was lots of fat in the piece to enjoy it and the mint sauce was very over powering to taste the meat The wine pairing was disappointing as well, we had to return our cheap red ontario to some other cheap red for the last course. *Our server was very nice and professional, I tipped him well because what come out of the kitchen and what the management decided is not his fault...you can not penalize the server for the poor management of the kitchen. Perhaps the steak and fries with a red wine of your choice would be a good choice if you must eat here. It is a work lunch place, it is good for cooperate lunch meeting. It is very quite and easy to hear yourself there, don't count on a fantastic meal though just a functional one for your business use. Not a place to wow clients with its menu. 5- Course Blind Tasting Menu $90 per person Wine pairings | $60 per person Total after taxes and tip $384.00 Save your money!!!! read more

Overrated menu for the price. Service was good though. We had octopus and foie gras for appetizers, cod and lobster for mains. Out of everything, only the cod stood out. Didn't stay for dessert. read more

Food is great but service was a little slow. Management were responsive. Overall a good experience that could have been amazing.

As a side note, after looking for my posted review, I note that for some inexplicable reason, every single positive review (including my own) has been hidden by the "objective" filtering feature. I have read the filtered reviews. I have been to the restaurant. The filtered reviews are objective and fair. I question whether there is another motive to this action. Shame on you, Yelp. read more

Although I heard great things about this upscale joint, I am always hesitant that $20-40 entree establishments won't live up to their hype. We decided to try a little test run and headed for this classy Byward Market restaurant on a Friday evening. A little known fact is that this restaurant has a Friday 5-7 special with a limited number of $5 cocktails (a choice of 2 - Caipherenias (sp?) and something else) and amazing ceviche and oysters from their raw bar. 18 passed the test for us. The cocktails were excellent and the ceviche was unusual with coconut and Thai spices, among the best I have ever had. read more

By far one of the best foie gras on this side of the pond. Fancy, stylish, good service, tasty food - what else would you look for? A bit expensive but this is not your average Blue Cactus Bar and grill. It is one of the few premier restaurants in Ottawa. read more