The Black Tomato

Outstanding service. Great food: very fresh, tasty and original. Classy menu presentation. A most pleasant experience.

Only downside: the bathroom was out of paper towels and needs sprucing up. Dark and dingy.

We got in right away, and loved the quaint, trendy atmosphere. The food was delicious and the service was great as well. We enjoyed our stay there tremendously and the c.d selection was amazing. I do not have one bad thing to say about this place.

I really liked this place, it's cute and cozy, has a lot of character, unlike many other market restaurants. The beer is really great, I love the selection and the full range of st. ambroise products, and the fact that Neustadt 10W30 is included - you can't find it anywhere else in Ottawa. The food is delicious, it's getting pricier as time goes on, but still worth it. Service is nice, unpretentious. The owner used to own Shake Records and still has a small selection of cds which makes for interesting music, although kathleen edwards is getting old. It's interesting that the other review claimed to get sick on bad chicken - if you get food poisoning, it takes at least six hours for it to make you sick. You probably just ate too much and got diarrhea.

Where to start…..
1] The small table beside the bus station should be eliminated. They are pushing their capacity to the point of it being uncomfortable
2] no air conditioning makes summer evening inside the restaurant unbearable.
3] water was erved warm with no ice…we actually had to request ice.
4] although we intended on ordering pre-dinner drinks, the waitress didn’t stick around to take drink order for 15 minutes, so we skipped it. Potential profit forfeited.
5] waitress had no idea what the house wine was or how much it cost (wasn’t on menu so was had to ask). She wasn’t very knowledgable about the menu either. Clearly she was new, and the restaurant failed to train her properly….which also indicates restaurant doesn’t care.
6] The beer selection is not as extensive we are made to believe. Most of their draft are from the same brewery.
7] despite this being classified (and priced) as an upscale restaurant, staff were dressed very casually, with one waiter wearing cargo shorts, t-shirt, and dirty tennis shoes. If this is supposed to be a bohemian café….then sorry, that should be a different price range
8] the chicken in my soup tasted like it was freezer burnt. And my salmon was tasteless. I got sick during dinner, which I suspect was bad chicken……I should note that I did not report it to the restaurant, so they were not given a chance to investigate, but frankly I just wanted to go home and didn’t feel like dealing with chef’s egos.
9] my companion’s spanakopita was essentially a reheated pre-made freezer appetizer that you can get in Loblaws…for $12 that’s unforgiveable.
10] I gave the waitress a normal tip as I just wanted out of there. However I resented paying even that much to someone who knew nothing, and was rewarded even more (as tip was percentage) just because the menu was overpriced.
11] Summary: Uncomfortable venue, uninspiring food (if not dangerous), unknowledgeable staff, lazy chefs, apathetic management …and unjustified prices.

Funkey relaxed restaurant with an ever changing list of specials.
Excellent music selection, and import CDs for sale as well.
Owner used to own Record Runner CD shop...