Miss Bean Café — Restaurant in Ottawa

This cafe does a great job of maintaining a lot of Mantovani's physical heart. There's a clear, new identity, of course, and an obvious turn towards a personal, instagrammable aesthetic, and this helps create a sense of open and welcoming space. Unlike Mantovani, Miss Bean also welcomes laptops. It's a nice space to sit in, work in, and chat in, and the folks working here are always friendly and welcoming.

I've been a few times now, however, and find myself leaving increasingly disheartened more than disappointed. I really want to like this place and support it. Even for the market, though, it's expensive and I can't say that the quality of beverages and pastries matches the price. I did love their hot chocolate, but have found the coffee unpleasant, the pastries expensive and boring, and--most egregiously and recently--I paid ten dollars for their pea flower lavender lemonade only to realize that it was made of packaged lemonade that was more sugar than water or lemon. While, again, the results have always been pretty, because aesthetics have been a focus for the cafe to great effect and success, I found the lemonade in particular to be slapped together and profoundly...un-refreshing. Indeed, the lemonade itself was so sweet I couldn't finish it and found myself searching for more of the lavender syrup (!!!) to balance it out. There's so much care in the aesthetics and yet the beverages (see also the very sour and simultaneous bitter coffee) are what I can only describe as...neglected, I guess.

Anyways. I don't want to ramble too much. I think this is a wonderful space. I really, really want them to be successful. Yet I don't see myself returning again and can't in good conscience suggest...

Great location and relaxing atmosphere but unfortunately we were quite disappointed with the service and food experience here.

I ordered the Nutella strawberry crepe which was decent (nothing to complain about flavour wise but nothing special). I would have loved the whipped cream to be made fresh but regardless it tasted fine.

My friend ordered the chicken fries & the presentation was just very unappealing & the fries were cold & hard.

What mainly disappointed us was my order came out first, my friend’s fries came 25mins later and our last friend ordered a chicken sandwich which essentially never came out because another 20mins passed and she just decided to get a refund since we were already done eating our food. Dining out at a cafe or restaurant is meant to be a communal experience but unfortunately we ended up eating separately in front of one another because the food was getting cold (you can see the whipped cream melting)

I understand sometimes the kitchen can get backed up and things happen but there was no communication from the staff about waiting so long yet beside us, the staff communicated earnestly and often with the couple who ordered after us but got their food before us.

Unfortunately this was just not a pleasant experience for us. I appreciate a beautiful atmosphere but service is really what makes or breaks an...

Been here a handful of times since they took over from Mantovani and I get more disappointed each visit. Last visit was on a quieter weekday morning. The cafe had only one other customer yet there were a couple of dirty tables with dishes still on them. The tables that looked clean weren’t and I don’t even want to discuss the floor. The decor is pretty although displaying Christmas decor by the window in the summertime is tacky. We keep coming back for the gelato as it’s the same as when Mantovani operated however they seem to be changing the flavour, specifically pistachio - it tasted like feet. The cappuccino was way too strong - ratio of espresso and milk was unbalanced and the coffee was spilling over when brought to me. I had high hopes for this place especially since they didn’t have to do much - decor wise. The place was already very simple yet sophisticated without the florals, window art and advertisement tv on the wall. Mantovani wasn’t anything special decor wise, however the cleanliness, service and quality of drinks and food made me feel like I was stepping into a chic gelato place in Italy. With light Italian music in the background, courteous and professional etiquette of the staff it had a specific charm that wowed customers and made it one of a...