Halibut House Fish and Chips — Restaurant in Ottawa

EDIT: I tried the cod and chips and it was actually quite good. I ordered extra tazitki because their tartar sauce isn't very good. Changing my rating based on this.

I finally decided to give this place a try on new year's day as they had the bogo offer on fish & chips. My order for 2 adults and 2 toddlers came out to almost $65- kinda pricey given the bogo but I still wanted to try it out. To my disappointment, the food was mediocre at best, although the portions were generous in my opinion. I was also disappointed with the tartar sauce- a fish and chips restaurant ought to make its own. Not only that, that sauce wasn't even tart and tasted sweet.

I ordered the grilled halibut with California veggies for my kids on account of their allergies. They didn't seem to like it either and I don't blame them. It was pan seared and not grilled, no salt & pepper, and very dry and tough in texture (possibly over cooked?). The veggies seemed like they were the frozen ones in bags- very meh.

The saving grace and my reason for the 3 stars: the calamari. While I found the portion to be on the small side, I found it to be pretty tasty. It went really well with the tazitki sauce. Its not spicy though- idk why they tell customers it is. The fish also tasted a lot better with the tazitki than it did with the tartar sauce.

The bottom line: don't think I'll be willing to try it again, although I'm curious...

My wife and I just experienced the best restaurant for cleanliness, Service, food, atmosphere and an absolutely "to die for" supper.

The Halibut House just in front of Costco and a couple of hundred yards from Amazon in Barrhaven. The floors, tables, chairs, and the whole place is spotless. The men's room was without a doubt just immaculately clean.

The waitress was very personable and helped us with our choices, but it was a given we came for the fish and chips.

Carol had haddock and I had cod, both with chips and silly me thought it was a good idea to order the garden salad.

We both agreed the fish was way beyond spectacular. Very thin coating and the fish was cooked to perfection. As unreasonable as it might seem too many restaurants just don't do a decent job on french fries, Except this place. The fries were beautiful golden, firm but not overcooked and a delight to enjoy with vinager and salt to taste.

Would we return,? In a heartbeat.

Most noteable... There was NO music playing, which meant we didn't have to compete with something canned. And we sat able to talk to each other and our waitress in a normal tone and volume.

Congratulations for making us believers in your fine kitchen experts, staff and food.

I'd give you 100 stars if I could.

Thank...

For my wife and I this was a special anniversary place to eat...on our list as a place to go for some time now. It could easily be a regular for fish lovers.

We had a lunch time meal and our server Lyly (Lily) was excellent and explained things about the fish and meal ahead of time to set expectations. Any other questions and comments were kindly received and answered graciously.

The meal was delicious. We each had halibut steaks (plain and battered) with a Mediterranean salad and a solid amount of fries.

Fried dill pickle appetizer. Yummy.

For dessert we shared a Dulce de Leche cheesecake slice with caramel drizzle. 🫠🤤👌 Sooooo good. Somehow it instantly⚡hit our brain num-num feel good center and we agreed we had not tasted such a delicious and creamy cheesecake in a long time...literally "perfect".

Much deserved tip for good service too.

Washrooms and restaurant were clean. Decor is pleasant and appealing for the vibe.

Lots of parking though we had to park a bit further from the location.

One thing to note for fish noobs. (and maybe something for the restaurant to consider)...the fish easily cools quickly so cut the chit chat when you get the food and dig in while it's hot. A warmed plate might help mitigate cooldown. Nothing to complain about.

A...