Excellent meat ! Very good service. I recommend AI's steakhouse
As always food and services are excellent. The steaks at Al's are way better than other competitors in Ottawa.
We had reservations and were seated without a wait.Service was great and food was excellent.
Anniversaire
All 5 steaks were ordered medium rare but 2 of the five steaks came out medium. However the appetizers were very good. We were placed at the back of the restaurant in a small alcove. There was no circulation of air and it was noticeably hot compared to the rest of the restaurant. It made for a poor dining experience as we rushed our meal to get out of the heat. Even the waitress admitted it was very warm.
It was very hot. Uncomfortably so.
I was looking for an early evening snack before attending an Ottawa Chamberfest concert at Dominion Chalmers Church. Al’s looked like one of the liveliest joints in Elgin Street’s lively dining scene, I suspect because of the 4-6pm Happy Hour which offered reductions on appetisers, deserts and some beverages. Ushered to a table inside by a tanned leggy young lady in a short black outfit I was given a sort of truncated menu with appetisers and a lunch menu from which I chose a steak tartare supplemented by a bowl of frites. A grapefruit based mocktail in a pewter bowl was a refreshing accompaniment. But only when I ordered a sorbet for a desert was I given the actual Happy Hour menu which was an even more truncated version of the one I had started with. Meanwhile a trio of city gents opposite had given up on Happy Hour altogether ordering a bottle of wine and larger carnivorous mains whether from a full a la carte or their imagination I know not. I was irritated here as in other venues to be given a card machine suggesting tipping starting at an extortionate 18%. To a Brit used to tipping no more than 10% this seems like a North American con.
Birthday dinner celebration and food was excellent! Highly recommended.
-Arrived for a couple of drinks then dinner (anniversary). They advertised a happy hour. BUT found out the happy hour didn't apply on the Patio by the Park. No one mentioned this before seating. So much for drinks. -Ordered a bottle of wine and calamari. Calamari came quickly but looked and tasted like it had missed cooking time: Not crispy, and too chewy. -Caesar salad - my wife's comment: Yours is way better. A thin, not a creamy garlicky, dressing served with rusty romaine. (Yes, supply issues - brussel sprouts, the side - could swear they had been reheated. I cooked some the next day with bacon & garlic... much better. - Wagyu (Australian loin) - waiter told us the chefs suggested cooking it medium rare to allow the fat to melt. The centre was delightful, the ends not so much. - We did not stay for dessert & coffee. - I did not complain or comment (remember anniversary - I had to be on good behaviour). -server was pleasant, patio nice, it could have been wonderful. It used to be, we have had steak dinners before the pandemic, this does not compare.
Very nice place and food was delicious. First time in a very long time I was there, not sure why but it won't take that long and will go again soon.