Black Tomato restaurant, Ottawa

Whenever Jeff and I go on vacation, I try to plan a couple of beer-related outings. Ottawa, for some reason, does not have very many brewpubs or breweries (which surprised me considering it's our nations capital and more than one of our politicians has been known to enjoy a drink now and then).

I called Hogsback Brewery - a new player in the city - but they don't have a brewery yet, they're just contract brewing (was super impressed the guy called me back and left a message after I contacted them, though).

Other than that, there was Kichesippi - but it was a bit far from our ByWard Market hotel and to be honest, neither Jeff nor I had a whole lot of interest in going there.

So instead, I searched for restaurants that had local beers and one that came up more than once was the Black Tomato. I saw several posts on different websites boasting about the restaurant's impressive beer list, so both Jeff and I were keen to have dinner there.

Too bad it didn't live up to the hype.

Don't get me wrong - the food was great, but the beer selection was lacking for what we were hoping for. We wanted to try different Beau's beers, but they only had the one (the one beer everyone has). Jeff was hoping to get some good eastern Ontario beers, or some from Quebec, but alas - no such luck.

He did have his Mad Tom IPA from Muskoka Brewery and admitted it changed his mind about the beer. In fact, I think he had two of them with dinner. He told me he felt he had been too harsh on the beer the first time around and it was really growing on him. Perhaps it's his new summer beer? (I was told maybe, but he'd been itching to try Garrison's Hopyard, and he's had that beer since we returned and I think he's now in love with that beer ... but that's for another post).

I had Neustadt's Mill Gap Bitter. It was awesome, as was expected - but I was a tad disappointed to get a beer that I can get any time we go see my family in Grey County.

Jeff tried Hogsback Vintage Lager and unfortunately said it was pretty forgettable. I think this could be because it's a new brewery trying to please - and it takes a few years and a few batches for breweries to really experiment. I expect to see more from this brewery in the future.

So, a bit disappointing on the beer front, but the food was excellent.

We did hear about a place called Vineyards, which also apparently has a huge selection of beers, but they don't come cheap (and, note, things like Bud Light appear on this list). We didn't make it there, unfortunately, but it might be worth a stop next time we're in the city. Something to look forward to, I suppose.