Orto Trattoria — Restaurant in Ottawa

Very pleasant greeting on arrival, our server was very genial. When bringing our drinks however is where the problems began, with one of our party getting the order wrong. I started with the Rigatoni carbonara. While the pasta was very good, there was almost no sauce in the dish at all. For my main I decided to splurge and get the veal chop at $45. There was no sign of the gremolata that was on the menu, and it was served with an unknown sauce. I asked our server what the sauce was, and he didn't know, but then asked if it tasted like hazelnut and chocolate, which it did to a certain degree, and he told me it was likely that. Unfortunately it also tasted of capers or olives, which made for a very unpleasant flavour. The chop itself seemed dry and tasted bitter. I had asked for it to be served as the chef preferred, which I was told was going to be medium, but it seemed closer to well done to me. For dessert I split a hazelnut caramel torte with a friend. While reasonably good it was tiny, perhaps 2cm at the crust end and 10cm long, which seemed a little small for $12. It also had lemon in it, which was not mentioned on the menu and is not one of my favourite flavours. The wine we had was reasonably priced and very good, but overall I'd have to say the experience was...

The ambiance of the restaurant was nice. However, that was the only redeeming quality of the restaurant. We attempted to order two different bottles of wines, both of which were unavailable. The server was unable to give recommendations as to pairings. One of the guests at the table wanted a virgin drink, and only after much discussion were they able to accommodate that. Two people ordered diet Cokes, to which the server was unsure if they would enough for both people. Finally, one person asked if the beer was draft, which the server stated it was. This was not accurate - it came out in a bottle. Dinner was OK - nothing too exciting. The waiter didn't serve everyone at once, and most people had eaten half their plate before the server came back and asked if we wanted Parmesan or freshly cracked pepper. The Parmesan came pregrated in a bowl. The worst part was when it came time to bills. I had only eaten a small portion of my plate, not because it wasn't good, just because I was full. However, the server asked if I didn't like it - and stated that I would not be the first person to dislike it. Also, before the bills were presented, the server stated he likely made a mistake on them, so to double check. This is...

This is the first time I’m reviewing anything publicly because generally I’m never really that disappointed or that impressed by a place. I was moved to review Orto because of how exceptional it was. My friend and I went on a Sunday night without any expectations and were pleasantly surprised that it was a spaghetti menu - not the full menu. I rarely order pasta at restaurants because I’m quite happy to cook pasta at home, but we went with the flow.

Started with “Gangster Meatballs” that were cooked and seasoned to perfection. Tried 2 different pastas for our main, both of which were delicious. But the salumia (?) spaghetti was DIVINE. If there weren’t other diners around, we might have licked our plates clean.

Romeo & Giuletta for dessert was delightful, even though I don’t care much for desserts.

The highlight was our absolutely wonderful server, who was charming, attentive, gracious, and very hospitable. He treated us as if he was the owner and we were his guests. Can’t remember the last time I felt that way about a server.

I really hope the community rallies around this exceptional new restaurant so that...