Umbrella Bar — Restaurant in Ottawa

After an hour long pedal boat ride at Dows Lake my family decided to go upstairs to Umbrella Bar for some lunch.

From our Uber eats experience, I figured it was the best option given the proximity with two young children.

We were out in the water with a few other families at the same time who also decided to go up for a bite.

Upon speaking to the reception, we provided our names and numbers and indicated that there are 4 families.

We never said we were together, yet we were all charged an 18% gratuity because it was a party larger than 7. This was not a party and was not intended to be a party. We had explicitly stated that there are 4 families with 4 people. We had never requested to sit close to each other either. The assumption or perhaps kindness of the person did so, which then led to the automated tip.

My youngest son is quite particular with his food (due to a number of allergies), yet he was not able to eat the food I brought. I had prepared the bowls and once my sons and I came back from the restrooms my husband indicated he was told outside food was not permitted. The food was from home and not another restaurant. I then put the food back into their thermos. The boys kept questioning me why they could not eat their food. It was probably around 1230 at that point so they were hungry and as I mentioned to the waitress this is the first time anyone EVER told me I could not feed my children the food I made. NOT ONCE in the past 5 years of having my children has ANYONE at ANY restaurants in Ottawa, in Ontario, in Canada and in all the places we've travelled to told us we could not. Umbrella Bar restaurant is the ONLY one that has. Extremely disappointed that I had recommended your restaurant to family and friends.

The food took a very long time and the kids were very upset. The eldest ate a fair amount of the mac and cheese while the other had a few bites. As we got back to the car he exclaimed that he was hungry.

What was the point in starving my child? 1. Not permitting him to eat the food we brought 2. Taking a long time to prepare the food (other tables who were apparently part of our party received their first few dishes long before our first arrived) was it because I had questioned the policy? What was the purpose? Is that how you treat your children? Why make it difficult for a family with young children who are trying to enjoy the beautiful weather? Right, you may not need or want our business. Perhaps it was simply discrimination. Nonetheless, you will never have my business again and I will never refer anyone to Umbrella Bar.

Most restaurants we've been to try to make an effort to make our time enjoyable and simpler (such as Chop earlier this week). Umbrella Bar has done quite...

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I cannot believe I did not check out UmbrellaBar before the pandemic started! I went and LOVED the cozy atmosphere (hello, waterfront views), and the food! I found a few new favourites here, and will definitely be back!

The dishes in these photos were from two visits, and they are:

Ahi Poke ($17): ahi tuna, edamame, crushed peanuts, cucumber, avocado, sesame, truffle-soy dressing, fresh ginger, taro chips, lettuce cups - I LOVE that this comes with taro chips AND lettuce! The fish was fresh and the flavour was light. A great appetizer!

Mac N Cheese ($14): smoked cheddar cheese sauce, Wisconsin brick melt finish - this came highly recommended, and I understand why, although I felt it could have been cheesier (but I am also cheese-obsessed).

Beef tartare ($17): raw beef, classic garnish, toasted rosemary bread - the flavours of the tartare were good, although I wish it was not on bread but on crisps instead.

Tacos ($7/each): I tried the crispy fish and pulled chicken birria tacos! The Crispy fish was my preferred taco as the fish was fresh and crispy.

Fried Chicken Sandwich ($12): Southern fried breast, crinkle cut pickle, vinegar slaw, comeback sauce, buttery bun - this was my FAVOURITE new chicken sandwich. The chicken piece was thick, crunchy, and filled with flavour. I'm drooling thinking of it now - a MUST order!

Another favourite drink of mine are milkshakes, and the one here ($7) delivers! It was SO thick and rich - my new favourite milkshake to get! They have chocolate, vanilla, salted caramel, strawberry, and cookies & cream.

I tried a couple Mocktails (all $6), but will definitely get a cocktail next time - their mocktails are beautiful, and flavourful too.

Pro tip: if you want a table with views of the water, I highly suggest going early (5pm or earlier), as they do not take reservations...

Very disappointing experience. We went this past weekend to check out the bar as a potential wedding venue and were so let down. Communication was terrible. We had been emailing back and forth and then stopped hearing back. We were told they could not give us a little tour as there was a wedding at the restaurant next door. We still drove 6 hours to see the place and see what the service and food was like. We waited half an hour for drinks and over an hour for food. We had a table of 5 and one meal never even came out. They offered to take the tacos off the bill which obviously they should as we never got them. I still have not received a follow up or any communication. The inside was completely empty only the patio had patrons, I'd say 80-100 people max. With 4 people behind the bar and a full staff of servers I can't imagine how they could not keep up. Planning a wedding of 80 people I can't imagine how they would manage to keep up for an event. I would NOT recommend this place for anything more than afternoon drinks at best. When people are looking to spend 20+ thousand dollars at your business, you would think a little effort would be made but NOPE. We got cold Nachos that had none of the cheese melted, a chicken sandwich that was worse than kfc, and overall just sub par food. I'd like to review the fish tacos but again, we never got them. They did comp the brussle sprout salad which looked like it glowed in the dark, so that was kind of nice (I guess). It was generally just a huge let down. If you're looking at this place for a wedding venue, keep looking. There are tons of pretty spots on the water in Ottawa that would be way better options. I still have not received a follow up or any kind of confirmation. Just really disappointed all...