Arlo Wine & Restaurant — Restaurant in Ottawa

SUMMARY: Accommodating staff/ownership, great atmosphere, excellent chef, and mind-blowing music.

CONTEXT: My newlywed wife and I rented the private upstairs room here to sign our marriage certificate and celebrate with family and friends. We were interested based on the classy, vintage decor and competitive minimum spend amount for a Saturday. Everything was done to make our special day as special as possible.

SERVICE: The staff and ownership were fantastic, respectful, and inclusive of everyone, and went out of their way to ensure so. We got the sense that they were close with one another and wasn't just an establishment simply trying to take in as much $ as possible, but rather people with good values and positivity. They were happy to let us bring a cake in too and did a good job accommodating our needs in the ceremony.

FOOD: Numerous discussions with the ownership had shown their attentiveness toward people with dietary restrictions, and as a vegetarian this meant a lot. They asked beforehand on numerous occasions to provide a list of people with sensitivities and allergies. The plates were family-style and delicious, and I especially loved the oyster mushroom + pesto main they served. I heard numerous compliments from our other guests on the non-vegeratian options as well. When there was a small amount of leftover food the staff were attentive to ensure it didn't go to waste.

MUSIC: I'm genuinely floored. I went around asking a few music admirers amongst us who hijacked the speaker to play Richard Hell & The Voidoids, and turns out none of us had - the playlist the venue had was nothing short of perfection. They also had ESG, Coltrane, Kendrick Lamar, Speed Glue and Shinki, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Lee Perry, King Tubby and the list goes on and on of well selected tunes. This is unheard of in an Ottawa venue, so you can expect a great selection when going here.

ACCESSIBILITY: There are many stairs, especially to get to the two private rooms. It proved to be challenging for our friends with accessibility concerns, but was also understandable from our part given the nature of the building...

Went for a romantic dinner with the wife tonight and have never eaten here before. We were lucky and found a parking spot directly in front of the place on the street. There is a paid parking lot right next door as well and there was lots of room there. The space is pleasant and hipsterish, with eclectic, slightly too-loud music that was slightly distracting. The lighting was low enough to provide ambience but was still bright enough to read the menu! This gets more important the older I get... The space was a little tight; our little table beside the wall was just far enough away from the 2 parties adjacent to us to not be able to hear their conversation. I think it might be why the music volume was slightly louder. It actually provided a little auditory privacy. Service was knowledgable and attentive. Between the waitress, hostess and kitchen staff running out some food, everyone was warm and pleasant. The food - we opted for appetizers only, because they all sounded so good! The ceviche was fresh and tasty but could have used slightly more acid. We had the pear and raddichio salad, which was an interesting blend of tastes- the bitterness of the greens was neatly complemented by the soft bite of the cheese. The stuffed clams were bacon-y and homey. A squeeze of lemon helped there too. The real prize was the Beef Tataki. Several thin slices of rare beef with perfectly seared edges was drowned in anchovy aoli and pickled shallots. Crispy sweet potato filaments and just the right amount of chili heat made this the best appetizer I've eaten out all year! We also had the Maple Pudding Chomeur for dessert. This was a maple soaked, buttery, cakey, pudding served with clotted cream and a tinge of vin jaune. Decadent and delicious, along with a very well made cappucino, it was the perfect way to finish. The menu apparently changes every now and then, and we will definitely be back to try it, as long as the Beef Tataki is...

With apps at around $20 each and mains in the high-30s to low 40's, the menu itself sets the stage for an experience that is going to be above average compared with your usual date spot. While we appreciated the simplicity of the menu itself (one page, nice and clean), and the descriptions therein, the food itself was just pretty-good with a presentation to match. We (my date and I) stayed optimistic as each drink and app came out, it quickly became evident that the food doesn't quite live up to the prices...We felt, like other reviewers, that the food was OK, but not really memorable in any way (and a bit too salty - does the chef smoke?) and too oily. The presentation of the duck skewer was really underwhelming...While the patio is a nice place to be with well-dressed people making the most of their evenings, it was strange to see the servers dressed so casually with kind of laiser-faire service style (they do this at the Whalesbone too which always strikes me as kind of disappointing). Don't get me wrong, they were all really nice, but it's strange when all the guests have put in a little effort but the staff didn't get the memo...If the prices were 1/2 of what they are I would totally not say a thing about it, but on a $200 bill for two, maybe leave the baseball caps in the locker(?).

I'll certainly come back at some point as I want to give local restaurants a fair shot. Please don't let my review dissuade you from trying it out. They're putting in effort and I think that with some tweaks it could...