oh so good | byward market

begrudgingly, i recently entered a new phase in my life: post-undergrad. along with crippling self doubt, debt, more crappy apartments and a lot less (socially acceptable) drinking, this means attending weddings. lots of them. apparently, my friends have no issue getting a man to put a ring on it. a few weeks ago, i had the pleasure of being the co-master-of-ceremonies at the lovely carolanne's nuptials to her high school beau, andré. also, as i briefly alluded to in this post, one of my oldest and dearest friends, caroline, recently said "yes" to a beautiful sparkler from another friend of mine, justin. and finally, there's jordan who will be walking down the aisle at the end of july.

jordan moved to montreal to go to mcgill after high school. her mother and step-father then moved to nova-scotia. the end result is that we don't see much of each other which is why it was so special to spend some time with her during her brief stay in ottawa (for a wedding dress fitting) last weekend.

after a yummy dinner at caro and justin's pad with val and mat, we met up with jordan at the rideau centre and made our way to the market for desert. caroline opted that we dine at oh so good.

oh so good is a coffee and desert place nestled beside zaphod beeblebrox on york street near sussex in the byward market. i've been quite a few times: mostly on dates in high school and a handful of other times since.

in general, it's a nice concept. oh so good only serves desert, coffee, tea and the like. in the front part of the restaurant, there's a counter that showcases two dozen or so different cakes and pies. you can order from the counter, pay at the cash and sit at one of the tables to enjoy the yumminess. alternatively, you can walk towards the back and request a table where you will be served by a waiter/waitress. throughout the restaurant, the dark walls are adorned with paintings by local artists. it's a got a cozy feel too: perfect for a first date or catching up with friends like we were doing. it was fairly busy, though on a saturday evening they were able accomodate our group of 7 immediately (that might have something to do to with the on and off rain all day).

now i should mention that i am not a foodie or a baker by any means (not like annie from http://mysweetfrostings.blogspot.ca/) ...that being said, i've always really enjoyed these deserts. and personally, i have fairly plain tastes; i really enjoy chocolate, just chocolate, so i ordered the chocolate mousse all to myself, though once i saw the portion i realized probably should have shared like caro and jordan did with their grand marnier cheese cake. it was absolutely delicious and, as my friends took turns bringing up embarassing high school memories, i devoured most of the large piece of cake. 

where things get less so good is when the bill shows up: the slide of chocolate mousse cake set me back $7.25 ($8.33 tax in). the cup of earl grey tea was $2.25 ($2.59 tax in). pretty pricey.

bottom line
this place is an old favourite and i'll be going back to oh so good, no doubt. next time, i'll remember to share my piece of cake. the slice was so big that i couldn't finish it all and it would make the price more reasonable.

cornerstone | byward market

backgrounder.
soon after i decided to launch this blog, i got in touch with sarah (who was fresh off the
plane from europe) and got her on board. there was no doubt what my first post would be about: the byward market. in fact, this will likely be the first of many posts on the different things there are to do the market.

the byward market covers about four square blocks (originally laid out by the aforementioned colonel john by in 1826) in downtown ottawa. it's home to lots and lots of restaurants (108 of them), clubs, bars and stores selling books, fashion and home decor items. during the summer days, you will find buskers on nearly every street corner, and at night the bars are packed. it's also fabulously gorgeous during all seasons.

& on a warm friday afternoon, it's the perfect place to hang out with a pitcher of sangria.
free parking dt.
i picked up sarah with rhonda (the honda) and we drove from where we live in orléans to downtown. when there's no traffic, this takes about 15 mins. generally, i hate to pay for parking if i can help it. there's no way i'd go downtown as often as i do if i had to pay to park my car each time. during the week days and evenings, i like to park on st-patrick street (or go north one street to guigues) between cumberland and dalhousie. for years, i've never failed to find a spot there and it's a nice 2-3 block walk to the market from there. on weekends, you can park at the world exchange plaza on (o'connor and albert) for free.

shopping.
on the way, we stopped by milk (on dal & st-pat's). i love this store. so much. i wish i could get it together and buy more stuff there. it's so cool. i think i'll do a blog post on it's on for this place, but for now just take my word that it rocks. (i promise, they didn't pay me to say all that). oh wait, look how cute!

le sigh.

food.
then, we got to our destination (or rather we found it, because i don't think we had any set plans to start with): cornerstone (on william & clarence). this bar & grill is located in the dead-centre of the market, right in the area of all the bars. what makes it stand out of a sunny day is that it has quite a large patio... probably the largest in the market. part of it is in front, looking out onto the street, and there's a much larger section on the side parking lot. the latter might be better for a large group but personally, i prefer the front one if you're just with one other person... better view.

sarah & i quickly ordered some white wine sangria; i had had it before and new it was good. in particular, it comes with lots and lots of fruit. always a bonus. as we sipped our drinks, we chatted about sarah's trip to europe, our friend's upcoming nuptials and (of course) shared gossip on our high school classmates.

soon, i was starving. (no doubt this will become a common theme).

and craving some good old guac. sarah was kind enough to go halfsies on it with me. honestly, i was disappointed. we were served quite a small portion of guacamole and chips, and it wasn't anything to write home about. nevertheless, it hit the spot.

going inside to use the washroom, i noticed that the inside decor was real nice. i had been to cornerstone a few times, but always on the patio. i could definitely see this place being a good hang out spot for a nice night out even during the colder months.

bottom line.
including tip, our bill came up to $50.00 for a pitcher of sangria and a plate of guacamole. slightly on the pricey side, even for the market. cornerstone has great location, great service, great sangria. i'll definitely be back, but for drinks only. if my guac experience was any indicator of their food, i think i'll stay away from that.

the end.
to cap our afternoon, we took a nice stroll around the market and discovered a few new places that i'll make sure to check out and blog about. since this was the second weekend of the tulip festival, we got to see a few of these always:

love it.

that's all for now!

xo
OC