The Ladies Dine Out

Following our walk to Parliament Hill, daughter, Alberta friend and I met up with my friend (Fairy Godmother) from days gone by. We were on the prowl for a place to eat in the BIG CITY. Where to go? So many places, so many choices! Fairy Godmother has scouted many restaurants during her time in Ottawa and was able to help us narrow the list down considerably.

At first we leaned towards a funky menu and colourful venue....
... but the menu didn't appeal to everyone so we strolled on down to the end of the street and headed to a place that serves up great steak...
at a place called the Empire Grill. Inside this restaurant there is a wall covered in real cow hides but we settled out on the patio outside.

Fairy Godmother and I had a BLAST catching up on times & gossip. The younger ladies were highly entertained by the conversation between us old and er...more mature types... yeah, right, mature ~ that's what we were!

And even though the girls were h-u-n-g-r-y they smiled for the millionth photo. It was probably a lasting effect from one of Fairy Godmother's endearing stories that kept us in stitches. The lady can tell a story!


As with everything, all good things must come to an end and the lingering laughter kind of petered out as dinner still did not show up! By now Alberta friend was ready to shoot me for snapping yet another photo, but what am I to do? We were ON AN ADVENTURE!!

Daughter was more in the spirit of things...at least until her dinner was served...


Now before everyone comments on what a bad mother I am for just letting her have meat on daughter's plate, it was her choice. I repeat ~ that is what she wanted! The girl does not eat vegetables and has not since the ripe old age of 3 or 4. Since all the accompaniments consisted of mashed potatoes or fries or a salad or vegetable soup she politely declined these extras. The result is the meat on her plate.
Daughter had the filet mignon with sauce on the side. What we didn't know when ordering is that the meat itself is either marinated in something spicy or cooked with a hot sauce. Daughter likes a bit of kick and spice but this meat left her mouth burning. So if you ever eat at the Century Grill beware your meat could be very spicy. Alberta friend chose a milder, pasta-oriented dish that smelled and tasted very nice.

Now MY dish was something to rave about! Fairy Godmother highly recommended it and I boldly went where she previously dared to go. It looks awesome doesn't it?
The meat melted in my mouth and the taste of all the extras was incredible. I was nicely satisfied after finishing that pile of food but not overly stuffed. (I do confess that I didn't eat that green leafy fluff at the top of the pile.)

Once we finished at this place we moseyed on over a street or two and hit a lovely dessert restaurant...whose name escapes me right now. Fairy Godmother is currently restricted in what she can eat so she inhaled vicariously through us that evening. After slobbering, er...deciding...on which dessert to have, daughter eventually chose the Baby Chocolate Truffle. Which she was going to share with me, I might add. I was supposed to get half. I ordered a hot chocolate and Alberta friend went for some tea.
Yeah, daughter - about that sharing? Can we go over the rules again? Half means HALF, NOT one itty-bitty half spoonful. And scarfing it all down while your Mother takes pictures? NOT NICE!

Alberta friend relaxes with a spot of tea to finish up her excellent meal.


A slow walk back to my vehicle followed dinner and dessert. Downtown Ottawa comes alive with different features as the night wears on and by the time we left some places were changing into music and dancing. We also glimpsed the nightly light show on Parliament Hill. We were sorry we didn't stay to see the whole show because the changing colours and scenes playing across the Parliament building looked like quite an event. Perhaps next time.


Good night everyone! Hope you had as good a night as we did.