Tucker's Marketplace is located at 61 York St. in downtown Ottawa. We had reviewed many other Tucker's locations, but they unfortunately all closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. This one was resurrected in 2023 and is keeping the Tucker's name alive. Went for a Sunday brunch. Interior is darker, elegant and had nice smooth jazz playing as atmosphere. Tucker's even still has the free birthday meal as before, although finally they have the requirement that one paying customer must accompany (which I was hoping they would implement before, because otherwise they would be taken advantage of!)
Pork sausages were somewhat dry and pretty basic but were not bad. Bacon was crispy and delicious... Some would call it overcooked, but I like it that way. Barbecue chicken was delicious with a clearly house-made sauce which was quite tomatoey, fresh and effective. There is a self-serve taco station which was one of my favourite places at the other Tucker's locations, so I had one with plenty of beef taco filling, salsa, tomatoes, lettuce, shredded cheese and a couple of pepper rings...loved it. Scrambled eggs are delicious and creamy even without anything added. Baked beans were good and fresh although they tasted like they came out of a can.
There was also a carvery station, and because I went on Thanksgiving it had turkey as well as ham and roast beef. Mashed potatoes with gravy were very good, well seasoned and delicious. Curry rice was interesting and had raisins in it. Stuffing was alright, though I would have added more seasoning ie sage, rosemary and thyme... Simon and Garfunkel didn't write those lyrics by accident. Turkey with turkey gravy was quite good, and the turkey gravy had interesting seasoning... Someone in the kitchen is trying to be inventive, and not entirely badly. Roast beef with gravy was good although it was a little dry, but still very welcome to find this and other meats on the lunch menu.
Home fries were small and tasty and well-seasoned, and were great even without anything added. Cheese tortellini were excellent with plenty of Italian seasoning especially fragrant basil meaning it was probably fresh. Spinach and lentil soup was excellent well seasoned fresh and quite savoury, a very good flavour combination. Chili was quite good but an interestingly different flavour combination than what is usual, however it worked well. Sweet and sour chicken with green beans was quite good although unfortunately the chicken was a little dry and chewy. Beef stew was delicious with a savoury gravy reminiscent of Campbell's beef barley soup. There was an unnamed rice dish which was quite good but unfortunately don't know what it was. Oriental stir fry noodles was saving the worst for last as far as the cooked items go, as I did not enjoy the flavours and it was a bit oily... it was the only unenjoyable part of the meal.
Potato salad was good and fresh, although a little understated in the seasoning. Bean salad was delicious, and I think it had raisins in it. Coleslaw was alright, although the sauce was not creamy. Carrot salad was good and fresh, and I think it had raisins as well... quite the popular ingredient. Wild rice with cranberry salad despite the fanciness of the name was rather plain thou was pretty good.
For dessert, apple crumble was enjoyable enough and what was a bit dry. Classic carrot cake was very good, but caramel carrot cake was even better. Nanaimo bar was quite good. Chocolate mint ice cream was very hard while it was in the freezer and I expected it would be freezer burned, but it wasn't and it was quite good, as was the rainbow sherbet. Sunday brunch although it's listed for $27 at the front counter ended up being $35 for the lunch price... maybe it was me misreading it, so you may want to confirm prior. This is a bit expensive although I appreciate the accoutrements of the location... happily most items were enjoyable.
Rating 7 / 10
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