Tamis has the best kamayan in Ottawa! Along with their regular kamayan, they also have seafood, chicken, beef, and vegetarian kamayan options too! It's a huge spread across banana leaves. No forks or spoons necessary; the fun is eating it all with your hands! The regular kamayan includes crispy fried milk fish (bangus), juicy pork bbq, garlic buttered shrimp, crunchy pork spring rolls, sweet mangoes, and perfectly grilled eggplant. I recommend that you switch out the steamed rice for garlic-fried rice. They have the best garlic-fried rice (sinangag) we've ever had! The kamayan dinner is so generous that we had enough to pack up for a whole other meal, and we happily ate the leftovers the next day. Located on Bank Street, this place is family-owned and operated, and they are super community-minded. One of the owners even runs basketball programs for Filipino youth in Ottawa! It's a place that's welcoming to both Filipinos and to those who are trying Filipino food for the first time. read more

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Decent food. The service is exceptionally slow. We had the kamayan feast and it was way smaller than expected for the price. On a different trip, I tried the chicken inasal which was delicious. Parking on Bank Street is difficult during business hours. The owner is very friendly. He stopped by our table a few times to chat. He seems like a tito (and he looks like he could have been in APO Hiking Society) read more

Nearly Everything over 20$. Not really affordable. But It was a unique experience with Good service. Very quick. Felts like A bit of a dismissing way of communicating when we entered without a reservation. I know you are almost fully booked but don't expect the customer to know that. Be more welcoming...? The lighting even during daytime was kind of dimly lit. I think the restaurant would be better at night. The pancakes were subpar. Honestly a lot of bread and not much toppings. Too dry. I feel they could have done better with the recipe. read more

Tamis Cafe - Filipino Near Me - Ottawa, Ontario

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A group of 6 went to Tami's for Brunch Here are the Pros and Cons list as i tend to keep it direct and helpful to readers rather than making them go through an emotional monologue Pros 1. Staff - Cordial , friendly , Prompt if you are reserving space 2. Seating - Spacious , small , medium and large table sizes available . 3. Specialty Dishes like pandan pancake and Sisig sans the pork 4. One of the best dishes is vegetarian 5. Traditional sweets available Cons 1. Service : I would call it rather slow or happily lazy . Maybe its the kitchen , maybe its the ambiance , if youre in a hurry keep this in mind 2. The Brunch Options : The toast in the breakfast platter is dry and totally unnecessary . I wouldnt get a phillipine breakfast to have brown bread toast in it 3. Parking - Its street and you may struggle As for the food 1. The pandan panckae was fluffy , rich and served with a smiley face made of powdered sugar , felt great 2. The sisig is served without the pork and its basically a vegetarian sizzler . it was amazing and the group got one to go 3. Kamayan feast can be tried fr an authentic feel , the number of dishes may be overwhelming and some of them may be underwhelming . You will strike gold in pork My recommendation is to skip brunch menu and go for the main menu even if you are there for brunch read more

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Looking to eat good Filipino food? You can find it here! They have a cute platter for 2 where you get a Kamayan feast! You can eat with your hands on a plate with banana leaf and a spread of Filipino classics. Although the portion size is not as big as what you would get in Toronto, it was filling enough. They also provided 3 different sauces to try out. Overall, it will scratch that itch for Filipino food. read more

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I haven't had much by way of Filipino food, but I looked at Tamis' menu before I went and it seemed like they had some delicious options. I ended up getting the grilled chicken adobo which was delicious. It came with veggies that were fresh and nicely seasoned/marinated and your standard rice. Staff were very kind and friendly. I'll be back based on this meal alone. read more

Tamis Cafe - Filipino Near Me - Ottawa, Ontario

Tamis Café has been on my list of places to visit ever since I first saw it on Yelp 3 months ago. I finally went today with one of my friends and we both really enjoyed it! We actually went twice in one day. First for lunch, then a few hours later we returned for dessert. For lunch, I had the Grilled Lemon Chicken Salad ($10) and my friend had the Grilled Pork Chop with rice and mango salad ($14). We both had some iced teas as well (I had the Blueberry and my friend had the Pineapple Mango). My salad was fresh. It had romaine lettuce (none of that iceberg lettuce nonsense, thankfully), cucumber, tomatoes, red onions, feta cheese and of course chicken. The chicken was tender and juicy and had a delicious citrus and garlic zing to it. The portion was a little on the small side, but it was very tasty. I got the lemon herb dressing and it was full of flavour and not too oily. My friend enjoyed her meal. The only minor issue was that she did ask for garlic rice, but was given plain rice instead. Our iced teas were nice and fragrant. They brew the teas from loose leaves, so it takes a while to receive it, but worth the wait. My only complaint is that the teas were not cold enough. We both felt that our teas could have benefited from more ice. Upon our return we were both excited to have the Halo-Halo. Unfortunately, we were told that their ice machine was not working. So we ordered the Brazo de Mercedes instead ($3 a slice). I got the custard one and my friend got the ube one. The meringue was so fluffy and melted in my mouth. The custard was creamy, yet not overly sweet. We both enjoyed our dessert. The café is really cute and homey. It feels like a lot of love and care goes into the place, which I really like. The washroom is painted gold and is pretty cool. It's in a converted old house. You have to climb several stairs to get to the entrance, so unfortunately, I do not believe that it is wheelchair accessible. They do have a few seats outdoors that only require climbing 1 step. They also have free WiFi - the password is on the window. The staff there were very lovely and friendly. It is a café so you order at the counter and pay in advance, then they bring the food to your table when it's ready. There aren't many places to get Filipino food in Ottawa, so I'm glad to have found Tamis Café. I definitely want to return to try their Halo-Halo (hopefully their ice machine will be working then) and other items too. Update: I went back the next day with my mom (she loves Filipino desserts) and we picked up some Brazo de Mercedes, a Cassava Cake ($3) and a Custard Cake ($4) for takeout. She liked the Custard Cake and my dad who normally doesn't like desserts liked the Brazo de Mercedes. read more

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Went to this cafe on a hot late Friday afternoon. I was craving for the Lomi but unfortunately they only have it when the weather's cold. Place is cozy. Has free WiFi Washroom is clean and gold. Lol Food is pricey but worth it and filling. I love the halohalo! Would definitely come back to try other food they offer. Fingers crossing I'll be able to have Lomi Owners are very accommodating read more

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The ube epspressos were done well here in my opinion even though it was our first time trying those at all. The service was friendly and the corny ass jokes the old man behind the counter kept serving us reminded me of my annoying Titos back home but nonetheless a chill place that I wouldn't mind coming back to again. Truthfully I didn't find the food had any authentic Filipino flavour - I ordered the grilled chicken chicken but it was more blandly grilled chicken with veggies and rice if anything. It wasn't hearty - more like a hint. Unfortunately they didn't have their kare kare during this season, but we also ordered the mechado, which was done a little bit better. The grilled adobo was $15 and the mechado, $16.25 For dessert, an ube cookie which was the last one and actually yummy. Then, the red velvet oreo and pandan cake. The red velvet oreo was by far my favourite aside from the ube espresso, and the pandan cake was okay to me. It was flavoured nicely but pandan isn't my go-to. I'd recommend this place if you're in the Ottawa area and looking for a nice spot to try out. read more

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Having heard about this place from other Yelp reviews, I was really intruiged due to the beautiful and unique desserts they have here. It's in a home, so you have to walk a bit from the intersection to find it. There was a huge variety of desserts available, and I chose a purple ube (yam) cake slice, as it's special to the culture. They also had a large loose tea assortment, so I chose the vanilla rooibos in a pot. Service was really friendly; it's family run, and the husband takes orders while the wife cooks the food in the back. I really enjoyed the cake; it tasted a bit like taro, but had a layer of dulce de leche as well, which added more sweetness; the batter itself is not too overly sweet! Paired with the vanilla rooibos tea and cream and sugar, it made for a really sweet break from wandering the Glebe area. I'll definitely be back again to try their food menu! read more

Tamis Cafe - Filipino Near Me - Ottawa, Ontario

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My daughter, grandson and I chanced upon Tamis Cafe thru Yelp and decided to try it out. Everything we had - lumpiang sariwa, chicken adobo, macaroons, alfajores, purple yam brazo de mercedes and cookies (forgot the name) - were all good. Not only will we definitely be back, we will tell our friends. Service is friendly and prompt. There is free fast WiFi. Ambience is relaxing. Decor is simple but classy. Price is reasonable. read more

Tamis Cafe - Macaroons, alfajores and purple yam sans rival - Filipino Near Me - Ottawa, Ontario

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Excellent service and food with a smile. The chicken lomi soup, the grilled marinated pork chop (very tender) with mango salad and garlic rice, and the Ube latte were all 10 out of 10. My Filipina wife is also an excellent cook, so I can appreciate authentic Filipino cuisine. A great family restaurant sharing their love of cooking and service! read more

Tamis Cafe - Chicken Lomi Soup & Spring Rolls - Filipino Near Me - Ottawa, Ontario

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A real treasure for Filipino cuisine in Ottawa. My husband and I went here for the grilled chicken adobo and chicken inasal with an appetizer of veggie spring rolls. The veggie spring rolls were a generous size and delicious, but what blew us away were the chicken dishes. We both couldn't stop talking about how we had never had chicken cooked that well in any restaurant we had been to, ever. Loved it so much we booked another reservation for a birthday dinner. The owner is very kind and we could tell that he and the staff put a lot of heart into this restaurant. Goes without saying we will be there again and again! Our favourite restaurant in Ottawa for sure! read more

3.5/5 With so few Filipino restaurants (if at all) in Ottawa, it pains me to have to post this review. Don't get me wrong - the food itself is not bad - we've been here twice, both for takeout (since we can never make it earlier than 15 mins before they close at 7PM). My favourite item so far is the custard cake (leche flan on top, light cake on the bottom), although we've also had the ube brazo de mercedes (too sweet for me, but still delicious), leche flan (creme caramel), empanadas (butter chicken & beef), mechado and (supposedly) adobo. Service is really friendly, and I'm glad that this is a family business. I'm all for putting more exposure and visibility on family-run ethnic restaurants (especially those that aren't as common). Two things that drastically impacted our rating from a 5 to a 3.5: we ordered mechado and adobo for take-out and received grilled chicken instead of the adobo (easy 3$ difference). We also received steamed rice instead of garlic rice, which we also paid extra for. They were already closed by the time we discovered the mix up, so we weren't able to inform them about it. Anyway, as an advice, I would pay extra attention to what I'm getting - especially for take-out. The mechado was good, but it was more braised beef than it is beef stew (which is what mechado is). So as someone who knows the culture well, I feel there's a bit of misrepresentation there, especially towards patrons whose experience with Filipino food starts and ends at this café. Certainly some disappointments, but it won't be fair if we give up so soon. We've had no problems with desserts yet, so if we come back, it's possible we'll stick to that. read more

We went to this Filipino restaurant during the Canada 150 long weekend. First of all, it was tough to find parking and once we got in and sat down, the gentleman who sat us down never got back to us and mind you there were only 3 other tables with customers that were there. We finally had to ask one of the girls who work there to get our order. We ordered the pancit, and mechado. Both was alright. What really was disappointing was how expensive it was and for such a small portion. After we left, we were still hungry! This Filipino restaurant had nice decor, but poor customer service, average food and terrible pricing. I will never go back there! read more

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Yummy breakfast - best potatoes I've had as a side to an omelette, ever. Ube cake (purple colour) was delicious. Owner and his family were very hospitable. read more

Went to this restaurant twice. The food is good but the service is really bad They always hard selling you to order more food. Asked me twice for a drink and hard selling us their desserts. I don't mind that you guys want to sell me more food in order to get bigger tips. But if you want bigger tips, you need to at least fulfill your minimal tasks. The server missed to fill up my glass while anyone else got their glasses filled up. But the party was not that big only six people. Another time she came to take our dessert order saw a couple of empty glasses and didn't come back to fill up. My feeling was, they had time to check around each table for more drinks and more desserts but didn't come to fill up water for us. I felt that they just want money from you but not customer oriented at all . read more

Being born and raised in The Philippines with a FILIPINA Mother who cooks our cuisine at home, I am a very picky eater when it comes to Filipino food. I really have enjoyed their Lumpiang Sariwa (fresh spring rolls) though not as traditional as most it certainly is delicious. I always gauge a Filipino restaurant by their pancit, my mom makes the best. I have to say, Tamis cafe has a great variation. I also brought non Filipino friends who tried their North American choices and really enjoyed their experience. The desserts are crazy good....yes they are sweet but that is what a dessert is, S W E E T! Great little place to lunch or just relax. Great people who run it and are so humble....give it a whirl...you'll enjoy yourself there. read more

The service and food was excellent. This was my first trip to Ottawa and my family and I stumbled upon this gem. This family owned business has a wonderful selection of baked goods. For example, the four layer tablea cake is delicious, and they also have a great tea selection. read more

Friendly staff, interesting menu, great location. The sizzling sisig is on point. It's a proper sisig, with all the delicious stuff your Filipino mom won't feed you because she's worried about your cholesterol. Highly recommended. read more

This place is easy to miss since it's off the main road in Glebe. Stopped in on a Sunday and immediately gravitated towards and admired the dessert showcase: Sans Rival, Mango Cheesecake, Brazo Des Mercedes, Cassava Cake, among others. Quite an impressive selection of hard to find/hard to make Filipino desserts. Ended up trying the ube cake aka purple yam cake with de leche filling. The cake was moist and had a strong deep purple colour, and mild ube flavour, the butter cream frosting was light, and the de leche made it just right. There is also a menu of Filipino and non-filipino hot dishes. Didn't try any this time but they all sounded appetizing. Great to see a Filipino Restaurant/Cafe offering quality food in a non (but typical) cafeteria style setting. Sounds like a good place for made to order Filipino food in the city! Will definitely try their hot dishes next time. read more

Cozy atmosphere, friendly service, nourishing homestyle food. The family that runs this restaurant have pride in their cuisine, and it shows. I ordered the lapsilog and a mango juice and highly enjoyed it. My only criticism is that I felt the portion was on the small side - it would have been perfect with another sausage or two. Otherwise I would visit again, and bring a friend to try a new dish. read more