Diners' Choice: Best Food restaurants in Ottawa

OpenTable

Updated June 05, 2025

Looking for restaurants with the best overall cuisine in Ottawa? You’re in the right place. Each month, OpenTable analyzes nearly 2 million global diner reviews from the past four months. We sort the results by location and category to help you discover new favorite restaurants. It's a great partnership: you reserve, eat, and review. We listen...and deliver the results for all to benefit. Enjoy!

Black Tartan Kitchen

4.9

4.9 (97)

CAN$51 and over

Contemporary Canadian

Downtown

About the restaurant

From day one, we have wanted this little restaurant to be a space where anyone can feel comfortable & welcomed. Classic French cuisine is the root of this ethos - consistent, familiar and even nostalgic flavours from the tried & true feel good classics, yet slightly elevated with a touch of whimsy. Whether you are up for a curated culinary experience with our 4 & 7 Course tasting menus (Fri & Sat evenings), or prefer to choose your own adventure with our 3-course Table D’hote menu (Wed & Thurs evenings), or are in search of an upscale lunch à la carte menu (Thur - Sat); we have you covered! Our menus are composed entirely to showcase the best local products in Lanark County & the Ottawa Valley and are tailored monthly to best celebrate the tastes of the season. What’s more is that we tie it all together with the best small town, friendly, warm and courteous service around. Just like at a good friend’s house; we look forward to welcoming you to our kitchen! Ian Carswell (Chef/Owner)

Top review

gerry

Dined 3 days ago

High end restaurant and good value for money. Best in Town but expensive.

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Experience

Nature's Apprentice Farm - Our July Supper Club

Experience

Thurston Livestock - Our August Supper Club

Experience

7-Course Tasting Menu ($144/person)

Shinka Sushi Bar

4.9

4.9 (64)

CAN$51 and over

Sushi

Gloucester

About the restaurant

After too long Shinka Sushi Bar is finally back to a dine in service! Nestled in the heart of an industrial park come check out our hideaway.

Top review

CoreyVIP

Dined on Jun 11, 2025

Excellent, creative, high-quality food in a lovely environment, with great service, and a strong beverage program. A unique and excellent spot. I've been multiple times and it is consistently excellent for a la carte and/or omakase.

Paper Tiger Noodle Bar

4.9

4.9 (111)

CAN$31 to CAN$50

Fusion / Eclectic

The Glebe

About the restaurant

"Paper Tiger"
Someone or something that seems intimidating and all powerful, but in reality, is not. Don't judge a book by its cover.
In the heart of Old Ottawa South, Paper Tiger Noodle Bar is where fusion meets local. With a seasonal food and drink menu, you are guaranteed to find your new favourite dining experience.

Top review

Sarah

Dined 4 days ago

Paper tiger is great. Emphasis on local food, friendly service, 10/10 food. Always love coming here.

DreamLand Cafe

4.9

4.9 (534)

CAN$31 to CAN$50

Italian

Little Italy

About the restaurant

Located in the heart of Ottawa’s Little Italy, Dreamland Pasta Cafe & Bar, is easy to love but hard to leave. The fresh pasta brings you in but the vibrant energy and heartbeat of the space allows you to indulge in
every moment from small talk to dessert.

Top review

reema

Dined on Jun 20, 2025

Great experience, as always! They’re amazing with kids. We brought our daughter a couple times now and she loves it there!

Raphaël Peruvian Cuisine

4.9

4.9 (725)

CAN$51 and over

Peruvian

Downtown

About the restaurant

Raphaël Peruvian Cuisine brings Chef Lizardo Becerra and his team's Peruvian food to the heart of Ottawa.

Enjoy a seasonal menu that features bold ingredients from Peru, Ocean Wise-recommended seafood and locally sourced meats. Fresh cocktails, curated wines, local beers and traditional Peruvian drinks complement the thrilling food menu.

Top review

Randy

Dined 2 days ago

We were greeted by our very friendly and knowledgeable server “Raphaël” who provided us with very detailed descriptions of each dish that he recommended. We made a meal of several of the tapas/small plate selections and each one was delicious, inventive and beautifully presented - featuring squid, seviche, crab, scallop and mushroom dishes. There happened to be a private event in one half of the restaurant that night, so we benefitted from the fact that they had a live band playing, which provided a fun background to what was a lovely and delicious meal. We recommend Raphaël Peruvian Cuisine very highly. You won’t regret it.

Perch

4.9

4.9 (231)

CAN$51 and over

Contemporary Canadian

Little Italy

About the restaurant

Perch is an intimate fine dining restaurant focusing on Canadian ingredients, ethical and sustainable products.
Awarded as the 4th Best New Canadian Restaurant 2022 by Enroute, Three diamonds by AAA and placing on Canada's 100 Best Restaurants 2023 and 2025. With the dining room facing into the wide open kitchen offering a nine course tasting menu and a bar focusing on unique cocktails and natural wines.

Nine Course tasting menu is $145 for food menu
Beverage Pairing is $100 per person (optional)
Non-Alcoholic Beverage Pairing is $85 per person (optional)

We release reservations 60 days in advance.

Please be sure to specify any dietary restrictions when making a reservation.

Please note that for reservations of 5 or more people, please call us at 613-515-0535 or email amanda@perchottawa.ca

Top review

Kaia

Dined on Jun 19, 2025

Had an incredible experience, the staff are so welcoming and knowledgeable and the service was outstanding. The dishes were beautiful, unique and beyond delicious! The bespoke cocktail perfectly embodied the flavour profile I was looking for and was one of the best cocktails I’ve ever had! Above all, the pairings (alcoholic and non-alc) added a whole other dimension to each dish and complemented them perfectly. Will definitely keep coming back, thank you so much!

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Experience

Tasting Menu - 9 Course Meal

Retro Gusto

4.9

4.9 (546)

CAN$31 to CAN$50

Italian

Little Italy

About the restaurant

Retrogusto is a pizzeria and bar that brings some much needed excitement to the north end of Preston street. We serve a Roman style pizza "Tonda", traditional roman fried snacks, salumi, cheeses and other small plates. Our food will be complimented by a small wine list that will be in constant rotation, strictly Italian classic cocktails, and beautiful amaro's from around Italy. The warm, cozy, dimly lit dining room with an open kitchen will be the perfect place to do the only thing that matters; eat good food, drink good wine and have a good time with friends.

Top review

Amanda

Dined 6 days ago

Highly recommend. Not a kid restaurant but very kid friendly. Service was incredible. Food was incredible. Great energy to the place. Exactly why you go out to eat.

4.8

4.8 (2281)

CAN$31 to CAN$50

Contemporary Canadian

Kanata

About the restaurant

Our menu represents Chef Michael's Blackie’s best food memories, which span over his 35 plus international career Chef worked in Asia, Latin America and is an expat from the UK.
His food style can best be described as a balance between Canadian roots with a strong influence in both Asian, Latin and European cuisines.
We are currently open for Dinner weekly 7 days week from 5 to 9 pm. We are known for our blind tasting menu that features 8 dishes shared between minimum of 2 people. We are also open for Sunday Brunch from 10am to 1 pm and offer a sharing 5 course - 10 dish brunch tasting menu.
NeXT opened in 2009 and is consistently in the top drawer of established restaurants in the Ottawa / Gatineau region. NeXT has been awarded many accolades over these past 11 years.
Come and discover one of Ottawa's signature original stand-alone restaurants that represent the acumination of Chefs Blackie's global career.

Top review

Lisa

Dined 7 days ago

Excellent food and service!! Our dinner was excellent.

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Experience

SUNDAY BRUNCH | 10 DISH TASTING MENU

Experience

BLIND TASTING MENU | 2 to 6 GUESTS

Experience

SATURDAY DINNER PARTY | 7-16 GUESTS

Stofa Restaurant

4.9

4.9 (143)

CAN$51 and over

Contemporary Canadian

Hintonburg

About the restaurant

Stofa is built on a passion for food, traditional and modern cooking methods, and creativity. We look to the ingredients to bridge the gap between time-honoured techniques and modern progression, producing a comfortable, inventive, and evocative dining experience.

Stofa's name represents a place of warmth and comfort where people can gather to eat, drink and be with friends. We proudly support local and sustainable products, and participate in the farm and food community, all while providing guests with vibrant and engaging food presented in an approachable yet innovative dining setting.

Located in the vibrant Wellington West area of Ottawa, Stofa offers a 3 or 5 course table d'hote menu which changes regularly. We offer patio dining (weather dependent) and have a private room available for large groups or professional meetings.

Top review

Brenda

Dined on Jun 4, 2025

Fantastic birthday dinner - service was attentive and kind - food was hot, fresh and delicious - wine suggestions were fun and delicious. Loved the ambient music at just the right level for conversation.

Fauna

4.9

4.9 (1449)

CAN$51 and over

Contemporary Canadian

Downtown

About the restaurant

fauna is about the things we love: eating and drinking with friends and family in a fun space. Our menu is seasonally driven and we support local farmers and producers wherever possible. We love the neighborhood and the space and are so happy to be open in Centretown.

We like to have fun in the kitchen. We serve small plates so you can try more than one dish. We use local ingredients wherever possible. We’re inspired by where we live, places we’ve been and things we’d like to do.

Top review

Dined 7 days ago

We shared the halibut, Thai fish cakes and lobster small plate. It all tasted wonderful and the service was great . We’ll return.

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