Raphaël Peruvian Cuisine — Restaurant in Ottawa

Please do not listen to all the good reviews on this place. Came here for a friends birthday, and had one of the worst experiences I’ve had at a restaurant in Ottawa. I will start with the positives: their plating is phenomenal and each dish does look like a work of art, and the atmosphere in the restaurant is very good. However, that is where the positives end. Came in and ordered a beer within 2-5 minutes of arrival. It took over 25 minutes to receive that beer which is an absurd amount of time, especially when it was not very busy apart from our group. After which it took another 30 minutes for us to be checked in on again. Then we tried all of the appetizers, very mediocre (quite flavourless) and not really worth the money. The wine menu was very limited. My friends bought 2 bottles of wine. The one I managed to have a taste of was $75. When I tasted it I knew it was an under $25 bottle of wine immediately. I understand restaurants up charging for alcohol, however the bottle of wine was only worth $21.90. That is over a 3x up-charge which I find to be complete over charging. Now for the mains. I ordered the Lomo Saltado with the ribeye and the scallops and shrimp upgrade. This was a $102 meal and I wanted to try their best. When it arrived I was immediately disappointed, as it was not authentic at all. Lomo Saltado is supposed to be a nice stir fry usually containing many flavours and peppers etc. but here, they called a “stir fry” adding some red onions and just a few tiny likely canned mushrooms. On top of that, the weight of the ribeye was not displayed on the menu, but it being $82 I assumed it would be a beautiful 16oz. Unfortunately the portion was most likely around 10oz, and not only that, but the cook was incredibly uneven. Certain parts of the steak were medium rare which is what I asked for, but most of it was flat out well done. I’ve had beautiful medium rare ribeyes at other restaurants and none of them have had such a terrible cook. Additionally, for the $20 scallops and shrimp I ordered, they only gave me 2 SMALL SCALLOPS, and probably about 4 shrimp. The scallops also did not taste fresh and tasted quite fishy for scallops. And now for one of the most funny parts of this experience. The main came with a side of “garlic rice” which I assumed to be rice infused with garlic oil or something along those lines. What I certainly didn’t expect is what you’ll see in the image attached. Many cloves of raw garlic surrounding the rice. On top of that, the rice was somehow undercooked and crunchy. What’s even more humorous is they actually offer this as a side for other dishes with a extra charge of $9. Then, for dessert, I ordered a $19 marshmallow dish that turned out to be extremely dry and flavourless. To finish the night, and add a cherry on top, I was very surprised that at the end of the night I was charged a $50 auto-gratuity fee. I was completely unaware of this fee, and would have sent all my food back if I was aware of this. Overall, a horrible experience. Terrible service where you are never checked in on by the waiters/waitresses, (although the hostess was good about refilling water) food that is just a show of artistic ability but tastes bad and is not skillfully cooked, everything is tremendously over priced, they are scamming with the wine and an auto gratuity charge I’m forced into paying without any awareness of. I will never go back again, and continue to tell all my friends and family to never go to...

My wife and I came with high expectations. We were given a great recommendation for this place and we were excited to try something different in Ottawa. We’ve both had Peruvian food in other cities and love the cuisine.

Unfortunately, It was a very disappointing experience from a food, service, and even ambience perspective.

We had reservations the day after Valentine’s Day, and we arrived to a busy restaurant. They had some empty seating around but the server decided to seat us at a very small table (so small it was difficult to fit our food and drinks at times) right by the door. The door kept opening as guests entered and left, so there was a cold draft throughout the evening. There was a heater beside us, but it wasn’t working well and kept shutting down every minute or so (I actually had to keep turning it back on every 3 min or so).

We wouldn’t complain about this normally as it’s not something they could help at the beginning. But as the evening wore on, and they clearly saw us sitting uncomfortably. No one offered us to sit at a different table. Or bring over a working heater from a different part of the restaurant. Attention to detail like this at the prices they charge (putting them in the higher end category) is important.

Next the food… which was the most disappointing. Everything was seasoned a bit too heavy handed. There were some bites that were tasty but as others have noted, the ceviche was unbalanced. Their squid that you can add $12 for hakaido scallops was basically an overpriced calamari. We felt bad for such a wonderful ingredient like the scallops to be deep fried. The best part about the flank steak was probably the potatoes (cooked perfectly), but something just didn’t seem right about the rest of the dish. The arroz con camarones was also very salty, and it over powered the blue shrimp.

Our server was very sweet and nice. But quite honestly, she seemed a bit inexperienced. Our plates and utensils were not exchanged after the first course until she brought the second course out. There was almost 30 min between the 2 courses, so plenty of time to exchange them. Exchanging them after you bring out the food, just lets the food get cold while we waited for them.

Overall, we just found that the prices commanded at this restaurant were too high for the quality of food and service. We want a restaurant like this to thrive in Ottawa, which is why we’ve left our...

Underwhelming Experience Despite the Hype

I had high hopes walking into this Peruvian restaurant, having heard glowing reviews and seen stunning photos online. And to be fair, the space is beautifully designed—warm lighting, vibrant decor, and a layout that promises an immersive experience. Unfortunately, our table placement robbed us of that ambiance entirely. We were tucked awkwardly in a corner by the door, partially hidden behind a curtain. I was warned we’d be near the entrance, but I didn’t expect to feel like we were seated in restaurant purgatory. Honestly, I’m still wondering why that table exists at all.

The drinks arrived looking gorgeous, but the taste didn’t match the presentation. They were watered down and lacked the bold, refreshing flavors I associate with cocktails. The food followed suit—visually appealing but surprisingly bland. I asked for salt (which I rarely do), and was met with a surprised, slightly sarcastic comment about how they “don’t usually get that request.” That might be a point of pride for them, but it didn’t reflect well given how under-seasoned everything was.

The standout dish was the fried squid—crispy, golden, and satisfying. But let’s be honest, deep-fried anything is hard to mess up. Dessert looked promising and was a step up in flavor, but still didn’t wow. We were given a complimentary bite-sized treat that was actually quite tasty, but it felt more like a teaser than a finale.

Service was good—attentive and polite—but also a bit awkward. There were moments that felt overly rehearsed or slightly performative, and others that missed the mark in tone, like the salt comment. It didn’t ruin the evening, but it added to the overall sense of disconnect.

By the end of the meal, I was still hungry—and not in the “I could go for seconds” kind of way. I ended up making toast at home, which says a lot.

Having said that, the friends and family I went with were pleased—so maybe it was just me. Try it for yourself and see, but personally, I wouldn’t...