A cozy Filipino-themed Café and restaurant situated in the historic and elite Glebe neighborhood of Ottawa has been selected as among the best bites in the Canadian capital of the year. Tamis Café, is a family business affair run by Lito and Liza Sare, with their daughters Jessica and Jiselle.

In his year-end depiction of the Ottawa restaurant dining scene for the end of the year 2016, noted food critic Peter Hum featured Tamis Café in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper of the capital city of Canada.

Tamis Café, according to Mr. Hum, is among the “more humble but worthy mom-and-pop joints,” which joins the ranks of ambitious and distinctive eateries that set themselves apart from other dining establishments in Ottawa.

The café was featured by the Citizen in the summer of the past year where Mr. Hum noted how “Tamis Café brings (the) sweet, savoury tastes of Manila to the Glebe.” At the time, he noted the “simple, home-style savoury dishes that have been consistently well-made, tasty, generously portioned and bargain-priced.”

The author found the vegan chocolate pâté at Tamis Café very likeable, and among the dishes that, even now, he craves for.

Tamis Café also mixes its own unique blend of organic tea and coffee. Among their popular beverages is their ube (purple yam) latte. They also bake their own pastries and cakes– including pandan (screwpine), ube desserts, leche flan (crème caramel) and the venerable pandesal bun. For the winter season, the Café has begun to offer their bulalo (beef soup) and lomi (thick noodle) soup.

Their take on Filipino food staples such as the classic and ube brazo de Mercedes (dessert roll), okoy (shrimp fritters), kare-kare (peanut and ox stew) and bistek (beef steak) have been presented in various diplomatic and government functions and receptions of the Philippine Embassy and the Canadian Parliament. END