Tamis Café
103 Fourth Ave., 613-567-7550, facebook.com/tamisottawa
Open: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily
Prices: main courses $14 and under
Access: Steps to front door
Liza Sare is succinct when she conveys how hard 2015 was for her family. “We were devastated,” she says.
Her younger daughter, Jiselle, was battling stomach cancer, and the Sares had to pull together. Everyone stopped working or going to school. For her part, Liza left her tech-sector position and job as a private chef.
Fortunately, treatment for Jiselle, now 20, sent the cancer into remission. Now, she works at Tamis Café, the four-month-old eatery and bake shop that the Sare family opened in the Glebe, tucked away on Fourth Avenue east of Bank Street.
In Manila, before the Sares came to Canada in 2001, Liza and her husband, Lito, ran a café named Jessica, after their older daughter. “Tamis” simply means “sweet” in Tagalog, and it was the two Sare daughters who came up with its concept.
The café is a spare, woody, brick-walled place that seats 16 inside and a few more outside. Liza rustles up French toast or omelettes in the morning, and a range of homey Filipino dishes through lunch and into the early evening. Jessica, who has nearly completed Algonquin College’s culinary program, stocks a showcase with mostly Filipino baked goods.
Braised Beef Mechado from Tamis Café at 103 Fourth Ave., just east of Bank Street
Grilled lemon chicken at Tamis Café
A sizeable pork chop was nicely seasoned and sufficiently juicy. The plate’s mango salad, its garlic rice and its price ($14) made it a steal.
Pork chop and mango salad at Tamis Café
Vegetarians should be pleased with lumpia ($7), a soft, freshly made crêpe encasing cooked sweet potato, carrots, onions and more, served with peanut sauce.
Vegetable crepe (Lumpia) with peanut sauce at Tamis Café
Pancit ($12.50) was a hearty plate of very thin noodles, flavoured predominantly with soy sauce and joined on the plate with vegetables, shrimp and slices of sweet Asian sausage.
Stir-fried noodles with shrimp and Asian sausage at Tamis Café
Lighter appetites should be content with one of the appetizing empanadas ($4.50 each) made with either beef, chicken or vegetarian fillings. Having just a stuffed pastry, especially at lunch, would leave more room for a potent, espresso-based coffee and a dessert from the showcase.
Brazo de Mercedes ($3 each) placed its custardy filling inside a soft, sweet meringue wrapping, and there was a variation that substituted a purple yam-based filling. Chlorophyll-green, florally frosted, single-serving sponge cakes ($3.50 each) were flavoured with pandan extract, derived from a tropical plant.
Purple Yam Brazo de Mercedes at Tamis Café
Pandan cake at Tamis Café
Chocolate fans should succumb to the raw, gluten-free, vegan, brownie-like slabs of deliciousness ($4) that combine chocolate with a walnut and prune base. They will also likely want to take home a box of bite-size chocolate crinkle cookies (50 cents each) for later enjoyment.
Vegan chocolate cake at Tamis Café
Halo-halo at Tamis Café
The café is not licensed, but the wi-fi is free and the Sares are very hospitable.
“The most important thing is that the girls are happy,” says Liza. “They are doing what they love.”
With its tasty, wallet-friendly and unique savouries and sweets, Tamis Café should make its guests happy too.
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Peter Hum’s previous restaurant reviews
