Restaurant Review: Molto Bistro & Cafe

I've recently read some articles critizing food bloggers who write restaurant reviews. I don't do a lot of restaurant write ups on here and now I feel even more hesitant to say anything about a restaurant. At the same time, I blog to capture subjective memories (good and bad) for my own keepsake. I also enjoy showing the world what there is to offer in my city (Ottawa) and the surrounding areas.

So - let me start with a disclaimer -- this is a post about my experience at a restaurant that I have visited once. I am your "average" restaurant goer who likes to cook and eat, but doesn't know much about food.

Having said that -- this is a positive review -- because I liked the restaurant.

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R and I went to Molto Bistro & Cafe recently. Molto is just a short drive across the Rideau River into Gatineau.

For those of you unfamiliar with the area, Gatineau is on the other side of the Rideau River from Ottawa, in the Province of Quebec (Ottawa is in the Province of Ontario). You can easily drive (or walk) across one of the many bridges that join the two cities. Many people live in Ottawa, but work in Gatineau (and vice versa). Here's a picture I took from just behind Parliament -- it'll give you a sense of the distance between the two cities.



Molto has a pretty hip vibe (do people say hip anymore?) with live jazz every Thursday and Saturday. Here's a view of part of the interior of the restaurant.

Photo Source

We shared a bruschetta and caesar salad to start (pretty traditional choices, I know...). I really enjoyed the tomato blend on top of the bruschetta. The balsamic reduction was an attractive addition to the plate.

I am a fan of their use of prosciutto in the caesar salad. Aside from that, the salad was pretty average.


R ordered the tagliatelle con pollo. After eating this dish, he reminded me that we should add peas to more of our dishes (the guy is crazy about peas for some reason). R often orders a cream-based pasta when at Italian restaurants because we never eat them at home (I'm moderately lactose intolerant, but cream is a killer for me). He was quite pleased with his dish.


I ordered seafood linguini (or linguini aux fruits de mer -- sounds better in French), which I really enjoyed. I would have preferred that the clam came in the shell, rather than de-shelled and mixed into the sauce. But, I was impressed with the ratio of seafood to pasta (lack of seafood in my pasta dish is a pet-peeve of mine).


We weren't aware that there would be live jazz. It was a nice addition, but being that it was a jazz-night, the restaurant was louder than we expected. Overall, we really enjoyed the meal. I would go back and recommend it to friends.