Rice Pea - Ottawa, Ontario

The restaurant looks a bit old but I loved the foods! It reminded me of Beijing which is hard to come across in Ottawa! Prices might seem a bit high considering the look of the place but quality wise worth it for me.

This is one of the very few authentic Northern Chinese restaurants in Ottawa. The service was a little awkward* but the food was very good (by Ottawa Chinese food standards) so I gave it 5-stars...because there are very few comparable establishments, if any, in the area. Beef & tripe in chili - ... The chili sauce reminded me of the stuff my relatives used to make / feed me back in Northern China. The best dish of the meal. Moo-shi chicken with bean curd - Not a big fan of this dish compared to the other dishes of this restaurant but still good compared to the other Ottawa Chinese restaurants. Egg & tomato with homemade noodles - This is my ultimate nostalgia food and it was very good. The handmade noodles were excellent - could taste the care and effort! Pork spine hot pot - This was only written in Chinese on the glowing "specials" board. I wish they'd translate it. It's like they assume non-Chinese-readers won't like it. Anyway, the meat was very tender and fell off of the huge bones when gently pulled, sauce was good. Veg consisted of basically just cabbage. You also get vermicelli to put in whenever you like. *Awkward service = I am not talking about food prep time because all the food came super fast (and still yummy). Mad props for that. The server(s) just seemed uncomfortable in dealing with 1) Asians who are not fresh-off-boat but not totally banana, and 2) non-Asians who can/want to eat authentic Chinese dishes including animal intestines. For example, I wanted a little more info on certain items on the "specials" board (written in Chinese only) but was met with a weird attitude, and she assumed that my companion who is very used to eating authentic Chinese food would not like beef & tripe dish. Also, it always took a long time to get her attention. All of that being said, I can't wait to come back to try more dishes, or when I have noodle cravings. Read more

It seems like Rice Pea has new owner(s) and new chef(s), and you can without a doubt taste the difference. I asked the waitress and she reluctantly confirmed that. You can also see how the place is now dirtier, it was always spotless under the last owner. The food is ... not the worst if this is your first time here. Unfortunately, if you have been a regular here for years looking for that consistent perfection, you will definitely be disappointed and never come back. Read more

Not your traditional Canadian Chinese food. There are many traditional items to chose from. Lots of sour stuff too! Always good. Dropped them to 4 star because I found a feather in the Baby Bok Choy? 😞

If you don't want your run of the mill Chinese food this is one of the few places in Ottawa that has food from other regions of China (xi'an to be specific.) Lamb skewers are bomb. The dish you see in the photo was pretty good as well but you ... should get with extra noodle. Had many spicy options if you like intense flavours. Read more