18

Reviews

• ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
  The restaurant is top notch. We celebrated our birthdays and Sam was fantastic. The drinks and Rose were great. The bone marrow mushroom were delisous. Our poached lobster with 36 hour vaccum sealed pork belly and avacado moose was the best Lobster I ever ate. Our desserts were phenomenal! Sam was wonderful. Thanks!!
  By Anna Magdalena, February 19, 2017
• ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
  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.
  By Cameron Waumsley, February 10, 2017
• ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
  Book early. While having to book weeks in advance doesn't always mean quality, in this case, 18 Restaurant's reservation wait list is well earned. We visited the restaurant for my birthday, and no, I'm not saying _which_ birthday. All of the staff were friendly and welcoming without a hint of the snobbery and arrogance you can sometimes find in places like this. Having an unexpected 3-year-old with us was the biggest test, and while they don't have a kids' menu (nor would I expect them to), our server was extremely accommodating. Anyway, onto the food... The 3 guys decided to round out their Steak section. I, personally, had the Striploin (the Cognac sauce called my name). It was grilled perfectly, the sauce was incredible - even the whipped potato side gave the steak a run for its money. I enjoyed that combination (Steak, sauce, and mushroom side) more than steaks I've had that cost 3x what this one did. The Ribeye and the Tenderloin steaks around the table were met with similar approval. The real winner was the Roasted Black Cod that I played the birthday card to get a taste of. It was so flavourful and tender that, I kid you not, we still talk about it today. I've never had a piece of fish melt onto my tongue like that one did. My bias for truffles is apparent (truffle popcorn, truffle eggs, etc), and the dashi truffle sauce was wonderful. All things considered (including generous portion sizes), the prices were right where I expected them. The birthday dessert didn't hurt my opinion of them either :)
  By Paul N., October 24, 2016

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About 18 in Ottawa