The Daily Grind Art Café
601 Somerset St. W., 613-233-2233, thedailygrindartcafe.com
Open: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 11 a.m. to midnight, Friday 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 2 a.m., Sunday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., closed Tuesdays
Prices: most dishes between $12 and $18
Access: washrooms upstairs
The thing that I like the most about the Daily Grind, the Somerset Street West café, is that it feels like an escape from the daily grind, or rather, the monotonous tasks that occupy too much of our waking hours.
It’s a funky, artsy, relaxed, somewhat dishevelled, but quintessentially Centretown kind of place that’s been open for almost three-and-a-half years. Before that, the Seoul House Restaurant was at the address for at least a good 15 years.
Above all, the Daily Grind is welcoming and casual, to the point of being DIY in its directions to customers. Grab a clean spoon from this cup for your coffee, get your own water from this cooler; and pay at the bar when you feel like it. These stipulations were OK once you caught on, although I wasn’t a fan during one visit when we had to get our own cutlery, minutes after our plates had landed. Clearly this was a sin of omission.
On the cafe’s main-floor dining room that seats about two dozen or so, the chairs, tables and even a long church pew are well-used and a little mis-matched. Upstairs there are three cosy rooms, some with couches. It can really feel as if you’ve come to chill out at a friend’s house, where the Wi-Fi’s free and you can play a board game or spin a CD if you want.
The food here is down-to-earth, inspired by, but not really duplicating, Tex-Mex, Southern, Cajun and Caribbean dishes. Breakfast, that most important meal of the day, is served all day, with more than 20 colourful options listed, more prominently than anything else the café serves, on the blackboard by the bar.
The food’s well-intentioned too. All of it is gluten-free — “to the celiac degree” its website says — including home-made bread, baked goods and desserts that sit in a showcase outside the kitchen. Eggs and maple syrup are local and organic, coffees and teas are organic too, and freshly made juices are a healthy plus.
Over three visits, I’ve had a range of highlights and low points, from a much-too-fatty pork belly sandwich that I’d rate as “avoid,” to some so-so, inoffensive dishes, to a few that were noticeably better made and more tasty.
I thought highly enough of the shrimp tacos to want to eat them again, even if they weren’t as artisanal as others in town. The shrimps were small in the three tacos, but they had good sweetness, while bacon and avocado meaningfully bolstered the dish. The home-made salsa had good acidity, but the side salad was too heavy-handed with the onions.
Shrimp tacos at The Daily Grind
The spin here on chicken and waffles is to offer the breast meat blackened Cajun-style, rather than deep-fried parts. That’s a step down, if you ask me, but the chicken, while a little dry, was nicely seasoned and the waffle was commendably crunchy and then fluffy.
Chicken and waffles at The Daily Grind
The burger was not bad, a hefty and herbed half-pounder between a biscuit-like, gluten-free bun, along with good toppings. Be warned though, that you will need to go elsewhere for your French-fry fix, as the café opts with this and other sandwiches for chips.
Bacon cheeseburger at The Daily Grind
In the average-fare column, I’d place the very ordinary beef enchilada and the jerk chicken sandwich, which was likeably moist but lacked the full spectrum of jerk-seasoned deliciousness, hitting only the hot and sour notes hard.
Jerk Chicken sandwich at The Daily Grind
Pork received top billing on a number of dishes. I’ve not had the pulled pork with waffles dish that I was told is a top-seller. I was not that happy, though, with that much-too-fatty pork belly sandwich (and I do like pork belly), and the lacklustre, somewhat dry, pork chop that came with the otherwise fine “Porky Pig” breakfast.
Fat Back Pork Belly sandwich at The Daily Grind
Porky Pig at at The Daily Grind
Of those homespun, gluten-free desserts, I’ve had a satisfying slice of brownie-like chocolate cake, as well as a too-sweet macaroon and some arguably under-sweet chocolate espresso cake.
Gluten-free chocolate cake at The Daily Grind
Chocolate espresso cake at The Daily Grind
In the end, I liked the Daily Grind’s vibe more than its food. But I was thankful for a few dishes that merited re-ordering and left my curiosity and optimism about the rest of the menu intact.
phum@ottawacitizen.com
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