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	1702 Carling Ave., Ottawa, Ontario, Tel: 613-728-0000

• Ottawa Magazine, November 2008, "Relax, we will take care of you"
• Ottawa Citizen, September 2007, "Big Food, Generous Service"
• The Ottawa Sun, March 2006, "Amber Garden bountiful with European Delights"
• Ottawa Citizen, December 2004, "Borsht Adds Festive Warmth"
• David Stuart, 2002, "The Amber Garden Restaurant"
• Fifty-Five-Plus Magazine, 2002, "Savour the superb European cuisine and warming hospitality"
• Dining Guide, 1999, "Middle European: The Amber Garden"
• Ottawa City Magazine, 1999, "The Amber Garden"
• Ottawa Citizen Food Section, 1999, "Hearty Welcome"
• NewsWest, 1998, "The Amber Garden"
• The Ottawa Sun, 1998, "Amber Garden serves homey and filling Polish fare"
• The Ottawa Citizen, 1998, "Slavic fare will fill you for a week"

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Relax, we will take care of you

Relax, we will take care of you is a refrain you are bound to hear at the relocated Amber Garden. After a decade on Richmond Road filling stomachs and practising the nearly lost art of hospitality, the charming Nowacki family bought the long-running Dalmacia restaurant on Carling Avenue. Since 2006, they've added Dalmacia to the name and continued serving the warming and soulful traditional dishes of Poland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria.

No one would ask their grandmother to mess with treasured family recipes, and likewise no liberties are taken here - no shortcuts either. Perogies, like all the dishes, are made by hand. The result is the lightest melt-in-the-mouth half moons imaginable, topped with sweet onion and plenty of sour cream. Don't expect to find cheddar in the potato-cheese filling; it's the authentic dry cottage cheese with the faintest hint of mint.

(...)

The Ottawa Magazine, November, 2008

Big Food, Generous Service

Traditional European Dishes are down-home, fresh and authentic - not to mention filling

In 2006, the Nowacki family closed their Amber Garden Restaurant (on Richmond Road, now home to The Diner) and bought the long running Dalmacia restaurant on Carling Avenue. There they redecorated using a few relics of their past (the wooden Polonus sign from their first Ottawa restaurant) and their enormous map of the Ancient Amber Route (from Amber Garden).

They now call themselves "Amber Garden and Dalmacia Restaurant", which may not roll off the tongue but does tell you what you're going to be eating: namely cooking from the Eastern European amber route, an ancient commercial trail that meandered from the Baltic to the Black Seas. This is food from Poland, RUssia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. The Dalmacia connection adds Croatian cooking to the mix.

So this big named restaurant serves big food: traditional Eastern European dishes that stick with you - cabbage rolls, pierogies, schnitzels, goulash, kulebiaka, chicken paprikash and Kiev, duck and boar and rabbit and trout. The cooking is very much down-home, fresh and authentic. No liberties with traditional dishes are taken. If this is the big food you like, you will like this food. And once you've dined, you stay dined for along time.

(...)

My absolute favourites are the house pierogies - cheese and potato, beef, sauerkraut, and mushroom, all served with soft onions and sour cream. If youe experience with pierogies extends as far as the frozen food isle, these will delight you - half moon dumplings, as light as dumplings can be, with perfectly seasoned stuffing.

(...)

The Ottawa Citizen, September 9th, 2007
by Anne desBrisay

Amber Garden bountiful with European Delights

I have a passion for homemade Ukrainian perogies and Polish perohe. And I discovered excellent ones - and many more East European culinary delights - at Ottawa's 80-seat Amber Garden (...)
This 10-year old family run restaurant - owned by Polish-born Czeslaw and Asia Nowacki - also offers upscale Russian, Czech, Slovak and Hungarian specialties.

The attractive multi-page English-French menu offered exotic appetizers, salads, soups, wild game, poultry and meat dishes, fish, seven vegetarian choices, desserts and authentic non-alcoholic beverages, such as Russian tea.

(...)

The Ottawa Sun, Match 8th, 2006
by Maurice Chenier

Borsht Adds Festive Warmth

The holidays are the perfect time to have a steaming hot bowl of soup to warm the cockles of the heart. And the varieties of soups are as numerous as a cook's imagination is capable of dreaming them up. There are two special borscht soups this winter at The Amber Garden Restaurant, 1 Richmond Rd. The first is a festive Polish-style beet consommé often served on New Year's Eve with small pastries on the side or little perogies. The other is the popular Ukrainian vegetable borscht topped with a dollop of sour cream and chopped fresh dill.

(...)

The Ottawa Citizen, December 29th, 2004
by Gay Cook

The Amber Garden Restaurant

This evening my friend Gilbert and I went to a restaurant called the "Amber Garden Restaurant", which is located at 1 Richmond road, an easy address to remember.

When I first arrived, I was promptly seated. The restaurant was almost completely empty but the hostess nonetheless thanked me for my promptness.

I took my seat and waited for Gilbert to show up. As I did this, I took in the ambience. The restaurant itself has a quaint "folksy" air about it, mixed in with a bit of classic formality and decadence. The chairs are not too comfortable but the music is tasteful and not too loud. This evening our selection included "Ave Maria" and some other assorted Christmas Music ('tis the season, after all).

Once Gilbert showed, it was not long before we settled on our orders. I chose the "Roast of Wild Boar", and Gilbert settled on the Schnitzel.

Before this arrived however, we were treated to some appetizers. I enjoyed a steaming bowl of Leek soup, which was quite tasty. I had not had the chance to have Leek soup before, so this was very enjoyable. It was mild but flavorful, and not too salty. Gilbert was having a bit of trouble with his "Hunter Stew" but only because it was a bit spicy. He assured me it was very tasty. Interestingly enough, the stew was more Saurkraut than stew, and was served on a plate instead of a bowl.

When the main course arrived, I dug in with gusto, since I also had never tried Wild Boar meat before. I would describe it as pork, but with a bit stronger taste to it, slightly more gamey. You could mistake it for red meat, even though I think that Boar is white meat (though someone may wish to correct me on this point).

The Boar was firm but not hard, tender and moist. Very pleasant. The sauce was a good compliment to this meal. I even enjoyed the vegetable side, which was tastefully done. The vegetables were still a bit crunchy. You could tell they were fresh not that long ago. Many places have a tendency to overcook their vegetables, but not here.

Another side with the Roast Boar was the Spatzle. This is, I think, a kind of pasta, but it has a very interesting consistency. It tends to dissolve in the mouth without much chewing involved. I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't tried this before. I have since learned that this pasta is egg-based, which would account for its different texture.

By this point the restaurant was almost completely full. There was some kind of corporate group that came in and the restaurant was very busy. I now saw why the hostess thanked me for my promptness.

All in all the Amber Garden is a very good restaurant, I could not find any fault with the meal and thoroughly enjoyed each portion. I would recommend it to anyone who likes Continental European food. The only tiny fault I found with the whole experience is that it took us quite awhile to get our bill, probably because the staff was very busy attending the large group. 9 out of 10.

Added: December 14th 2002
Reviewer: David Stuart
Score:

Savour the superb European cuisine and warming hospitality
at The Amber Garden

Experience the culinary delights and cultural flair of the Amber Garden Restaurant. You'll be enchanted. Located at 1 Richmond Road, this unique, fine dining destination serves up delicious, healthful food, in a warm, welcoming atmosphere. Inspired by the cuisine of the ancient European Amber Route, the mouth-watering menu features delectable fare from Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Bohemia and neighbouring countries. Remember Polonus, the top-rated European restaurant in the Byward Market? The same gastronomic talent brings you The Amber Garden.

"We introduced hand-made pierogies to Ottawa clientele," says owner Ches Nowacki. And what pierogies! There's a selection of the genuine gems and they're soooo good. Excellent borscht, cabbage rolls, chicken Kiev, schnitzels, goulash and Hungarian chicken paprikash are a few of the popular offerings, but there's something for every taste here, from sophisticated delicacies to hearty, lip-smacking dishes. Appetizers include goose-mushroom pate, caviar and smoked salmon canapes. Lamb, rabbit, quail, apple duckling and roast wild boar are other highlights, along with an extensive list of vegetarian choices. Everything is prepared from scratch, including desserts. No additives, simply superb fresh ingredients, expertly prepared on the premises. Yummm! Call 725-2757 for reservations and check www.ambergarden.net

Middle European: The Amber Garden

Price Rating: R (Reasonable, dinner for two with wine up to $65)

It jumps out at you, this arrestingly red restaurant on a drab section of Richmond Road. Inside all is warmth and hospitality and well-filled plates ot good filling food. The borsht is first rate, the pierogies are superb, the chicken paprikash is potently paprika-ed and the goulash is well seasoned and comes with an enormous latke. Skip breakfast andlunch and arrive hungry.

The Amber Garden

The menu promises a celebration of the cuisines found along the ancient amber trade route that once stretched between that Mediterranean Sea and the amber rich Baltic Sea. And the reality doesn't disappoint - solid Eastern European and Russian fare, heavy on the meat and potatoes. Goulash, schnitzel or cabbage rolls to follow hearty soups - all washed down with a good Czech beer or Hungarian wine.

Appetizers run the gamut from pickled herring to caviar to Russian potato salad, but on a cool day, soup is a must: a thick Ukrainian borscht, pink and earthy with chunks of peat, sour cream and a good sprinkling of dill.

The Amber platter for two ($29.95) is a great way to sample the best of the menu: chicken paprikash, rouladen, pierogies served with the big dollop of sour cream (warning to weight watchers - just about everything on the menu is served with a big dollop of sour cream either on it or in it), cabbage rolls and sausage.

All this hearty fare complemented by rich mashed potatoes (made with sour cream, of course) and placed on the bed of hunters stew, a thick and smoky mash of sauerkraut and chopped sausage. The only complaints on this particular visit: their rouladen proves to be a bit tasteless and dry, and the mountain of food begins to get cold before we can plow our way through.

Service is very personable, with staff happy to walk first-timers through the extensive liquor list, making recommendations and explaining what liquors and wines go well with what dishes - to start, try iced vodka or palinka, an extremely smooth pear/plum brandy. We had nothing against the wines offered, but the good Czech Pilsner or Polish Porter seems to match the food even better.

Wheelchair accessible. Closed Sunday but may open seven days a week in late spring. $70. 1Richmond Rd., just east of Island Park Drive. (725-2757).

The Amber Garden Restaurant

(1 Richmond Road, 725-2757).

A lovely warm and inviting ambience with a very welcoming owner who makes sure you get the total Slavic experience, drinks and all. All of the food is made on site and it's extremely tasty. I strongly recommend the perogi. You've never had them so good. The cabbage rolls are definite must as is a glass of Krupnik. This is a great place in for large parties of very hungry people who want to dine in a convival and elegant atmosphere. Try it, I won't be disappointed. Opened Monday to Friday noon-2:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m., Saturdays from 5:30 pm-10:30 p.m.

Hearty Welcome: Amber Garden owner Czes Nowacki hits the spot with traditional taste.

Russian fantasies fuelled by perogies ... by Francesca Gnarowski

I look down the road and see nothing to but they interminable glare of winter staring me in the face. I decide that it only my old friend Anton and a dinner at the Amber Garden restaurant can lift the apres holiday doldrums. Give me some perogies and a shot of some firewater to warm my innards - Anton's romance with all things Russian will only complete the experience.

We're walking into a spotlessly clean and inviting place made warm by the profusion of oak accent, ceramic tile and carpeted floors. A huge handmade chandelier done in a traditional Polish folk style hangs from the cathedral ceiling.

Cossack docks

The host an owner and is extremely welcoming. He does, however, give Anton a surreptitious once-over as he takes in the yards-long home-knitted and moth eaten scarf wound around Anton's neck, the knee-high docs Anton fancies as Cossack boots the longer , dish, tattered and leather coat, that dyed jet black hair shot through with real gray and the drawn, almost consumptive pallor of his face.

I've suggested he modernize his look and pierce his ears, nose and brow but he figures nobody would take him seriously. Our post escorts us to the second level which overlooks the first. This small oral lantern on the table is lit and the lights are dim. Lovely classical music plays and were offered to an aperitif, the Polish Krupnik ($4.95) for Anton and the Hungarian Palinka ($4.95) for me.

We order plate of assorted perogi ( $12.95 ) and the Polish saw it $6.95 ( as to how ) did all go down smoothly while we peruse the menu for the main course.

No sooner has said he had a sip of the Polish drink. Then Anton tells his guys to Russia this spring I've heard this a thousand times if I've heard it once. He's been planning this trip aboard least 10 years.

"I want to get there before there's barely a trace left of the old country," he says.

"Anton, you won't know the difference, you've never been."

"Franceska, I know what it was like," he tells me with a penetrating gaze.

"I've read everything that Chekov, Pushkin, Dostoyevzsky, Zinoviev and Bolgakov have ever written. Believe me, I know."

"What are you having?," I intervene sensing a lecture coming on. He decides on the special roast loin of pork in prune sauce ($13.95) while I order the cabbage rolls served with the bigos and potatoes ($10.95).

"Anton, you'll get stumped by some goons with within 24 hours of your arrival. I can just see the headlines "Canadian found strangled with own scarf in Moscow,"

There's no response as he thought for the truce on his perogies. They are home-made half-moon dumplings made of flour, egg and water dough then stuffed full of cabbage and mushroom, or cheese and potato, or a mixture of ground beef and onions and spices which is then boiled to perfection.

Each one is a delight and the generous dollops of sour cream top of the whole mouth-watering experience. The Polish salad I liken to a picnic salad, cubed potato and carrot in a light mayo dressing garnished with dill pickle radish, slices of cheddar cheese and apple. Sort of a Polish ploughman's lunch. Anton is wolfing it down as though it were his last meal.

Big oaf.

"Francesca, you don't understand the Russian people. Not like I do."

"Well, that maybe so my friend, but I know they'll see a big oaf of an innocent Canadian tourist when they see you and that makes you a perfect target. Now drink your Krupnik."

Juicy and tender, the sauce velvety and slightly sweet. It's served with noodles that are reminiscent of Japanese Udon, only not as large. These are served simply tossed in butter alongside perfectly steamed buttered carrots and zucchini and turnips, but I find the noodles somewhat bland and I think the pork would have been better served with some of the whipped potatoes. It's also warm rather than hot.

My cabbage rolls could also be hotter but they're delicious - made on site - and don't fall apart when I cut into them. Stuffed with ground beef and rice in a sauce that's not overwhelmingly tomato based, the cabbage rolls are a definite must.

The bigos, a Polish hunter's meal made of sausage and cabbage is robust and makes me want to go out and shoot a pheasant on a blustery day a while the whipped potato soaks up any remaining juces and fills me to the brim. Food that can only be followed by a 12 day gallop on the wild horse through the Steppes.

" Franeska, I know I've talked about this before but I'm really going. on March 15th I will meet with in St. Petersburg ." he says, casually dropping a bomb into the mix.

Choking on my herbal tea I squawk "What are you? Possessed? An idiot? I suppose you met her through the personals?" I say incredulous.

"No. I've been chatting with her on the Net. she's wonderful she is a bright and good-looking and she wants me to meet her family and I'm going, " he states with convincing determination.

"So, Prince Mishkin has finally met his princess." As, saying this I'm thinking, he looks happy but I'm also wondering what shall say when she finds out his real name is George Bainbridge.

NewsWest, February, 1998

The Amber Garden ... by Alice Billowes

The ancient amber routes and of Eastern and Central and gr and Europe date back as far as the dawn of trade. They wound from the Baltic Sea in the north, to the Black Sea in the South, and passed through countries we know today as Poland, Bohemia (Czech Republic), Slovakia, Hungary, Ukraine, Russia, Romania, and Bulgaria. Those were the times of plenty for precious amber, and of good food. Now, what used to appear on the noble man's or peasant's table has made its way through the ages to today's Amber Garden cuisine. The Amber Garden, 1 Richmond Road, opened in July 1997. Its menu consists of specialties from the old amber route countries, and just as in the old days, the food is prepared according to the traditional recipes, without any artificial preservatives, additives, or anything artificial.

For example, Kulebiak takes you back to old Russia, where the deep forests provided plenty of mushrooms for this savory dish. Together with beef, vegetables and spices baked in a deep pastry, it makes a delicacy impossible to find elsewhere in Ottawa.

Among other specialties are then Hungary and chicken paprikash ( white chicken meat with Ed delicious medium spicy paprika sauce), Chech goulash, served either with knedlik (dumplings) or large crispy potato pancake, and Ukranian druggies, broiled, tender pastry filled with beef, cheese/potato or sauerkraut/mushroom fillings. Holubtsi ( cabbage rolls) and Zrazy ( beef roulade) are Polish specialties, and the Amber Garden's Polish chef makes all these dishes to perfection. Vegetarian meals, fish and even game also appear on the menu. Enjoy delicately pickled herring, salmon canapes or Russian caviar as appetizers. The game dishes include roast wild boar, quails and apple duckling . Amber Garden offers free parking, wheelchair access, and the separate smoking section on the second floor with a balcony overlooking the bottom section. A unique, had-carved pine chandelier brought from the Slovak-Polish border hangs from the ceiling.

No need to say more-your visit will be the best judge of my words.

Average price of a main course: $11-$15. For reservations call 725-2757.

Amber Garden serves homey and filling Polish fare ... Dining with George Pandi

Dinner for two: $52, without wine and tip\Sun Rating 4.5 (out of five)

In Amber Garden, the Polish country air is still bear with a shingled roof over the bar with a ( a family of storks perched on it) and the carved wood chandelier.

The decor balances folksy and modern. The menu is decidedly traditional-although many dishes had been lightened for current tastes.

My goose foie gras and mushroom pate didn't have a pate texture, nor could I discern either foie gras or mushroom flavors. I decided I think of it as a terrine made with minced goose confit, and enjoyed it with its well varied garnish of excellent pickled mushrooms, radishes, tomatoes, pickles, cucumber, pimento, and a pretty chicken (or goose) carved out of a hard-boiled egg.

The Polish salad-familiar from this central European repertoire- was a mecedoine of vegetables with lean and light mayonnaise dressing, and a fresh garnish of sliced cheese, apples and tomatoes. More than a salad, it would make a good vegetarian first course.

The roast duck was flavored and moistened by the apple and prune stuffings, the meat tender with no fat at all. It came with knedlik, the Czech dumplings related to the Austrian knoedel made with a tasty potato dough.

Chicken Kiev may be familiar; it long ago invaded the West and many Paris restaurants serve poor imitations of it. Amber Garden's version was authentic, probably better than what Ukrainians make these days. The lightly breaded, gently fried chicken breast burst with parsley butter flavored and lubricated the tender meat.

Both main courses came with a standard set but carefully and correctly cooked vegetables. Amber Garden certainly gives value for money, serving hefty portions. Like other restaurants with similar background, it faces the dilemma whether to cater to cautious Canadians or satisfy the Central Europeans' demand for heaped plates. For now it's the latter.

As for quality, Amber garden's chief competition comes from its older brother: Polonus has this seasoned restaurant's professional edge that makes Amber Garden's fare appear; well, home-cooked? Nothing wrong, just a little way to go to the next level.

Slavic fare will fill you for a week ... by Anne Desbrisay

The Amber Garden 1&3 Richmond Road, 725-2757
Food: Central and East European
Accessibility: Fully Accessible
Price: Appetizers, $6.95 to $35 (for Sevruga caviar); main dishes, $10.95 to $24.95
Hours: Open Monday to Friday for lunch and dinner, dinner only Saturday. Closed Sunday

Inspired by a the potato exhibit at the Agricultural Museum and by his recent discovery that French fries are actually made more less from potatoes, my eldest son has now removed from the local library every spud book in the stacks. Let the other Grade Fours do un discour on MacKenzie King; Pete plans to do a potato project for school. (That's my boy!)

"Did you know, Mom. that next to Ireland, Slovakia is the world's greatest consumer of potatoes?" (I didn't know that, Pete.)

"What's a Slovakia, Mom?"

I was afraid that question was coming. Unfortunately, post-Berlin Wall geography is not one of my strengths. Fortunately, I had just over-eaten (very well) at the Amber Garden the night before and could stall a bit by reporting to my son on the vegetables other than potatoes he might encounter in Slovakia ( like the beets and cabbage). When we found the former Czechoslovakian province of Slovakia on the big map in his little room ( south of Poland, north of Hungary, west of the Ukranian, east of Germany) he left me in peace for a minute so he could stare at the world and I mashed potatoes for supper. Full-fat sour cream ( instead of our usual low-fat buttermilk) got thrown in the pot. It was my attempt to recreate that Amber Garden's (very yummy) mashed potatoes of the other night's dinner.

The Amber Garden is the (arrestingly red) Richmond Road little sister restaurant of that about-to-be-no -longer Polonus Restaurant in the that about the-to-be-renovated and the re-created Market Mall on George Street. The Garden's menu tells us that the food served is "dedicated to the culinary traditions of the people on the ancient European Amber Route, which connected to the the Mediterranean world to the rich amber deposits of the Baltic Sea." There is a whimsical hand-painted a map in the foyer to illustrate this historic highway and the nations through which the amber traveled. And so you eat her Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Hungarian and Czech cuisine here. none of it was elegant or sell all or particularly complicated it. But to all of it was tasty, hearty, comforting - perfect November-in-Ottawa food.

I suggest you skip high tea and you arrive big-time hungry to the Amber Garden. You will eat weightily well here.

You might start with a salad. With their Russian "pink" salad and the Polish salad (we sampled both) were large, attractively presented to mounds of still-crunchy vegetables ( mostly beets in the pink salad) and well-seasoned mayonnaise. We could do without the triangles of marble cheese or the pale pink tomato wedges, but if you skip the stuff around the perimeter of the plate, and the salad itself is delicious (and rather a meal in itself.) The "goose liver and mushroom pate) is not " this smooth, rich, well-cream to French-style stuff. It this course and highly seasoned, served warm and tasting strongly of liver. It suited me fine but my friends found the texture unpleasant. They stuck to slurps of my Polish borscht, which we all agreed was first-rate: clear, concise and. l-flavored

There are three bird items, two ways with fish and some meatless perogies - and nod to the vegetarian - but the vast majority of the Amber Garden main dishes is devoted to beef, pork and lamb. The Amber patter ( served for one, but could feed 14) allows you to graze through the house specialties. We ordered it, as well as the cabbage rolls, the apple duckling, meat-filled perogies and goulash.

The duck disappointed. The flesh was moist and had good ducky flavor, but the skin was unpleasantly thick and flabby and I missed the roasted apples and prunes that were to have accompanied it. The knedlicky (dumplings) and vegetable melange (turnip, carrots and red pepper) that finished the plate were just fine.

The cabbage rolls were seriously good. The cabbage was soft but still had life and color, the ground beef and rice stuffing was well seasoned and the tomato sauce had fine balance. Justin case you didn't get enough meat with "bigos" or hunter's stew (with cabbage, bacon and good bite) and then a large mound of very fine the mashed potatoes and the same turnip, carrot and red pepper mix-up.

The perogies both meat-- filled and the cheese and potato filled-were light, beautifully cooked, well-flavored, served with slow-cooked onion and rich sour cream. The chicken paprikash ( on the Amber platter) was to see white meat, potently paprika and -ed. The sausages were superb - lean, spicy, full-flavored - and the beef rouladen wasn't quite as dry as be huge f rouladen usually is, with a tasty stuffing. More potatoes, dumpings, bigos, vegetables completed the Amber platter (for one). What have I missed ... ? Oh yes, the goulash (stew) well-seasoned, tender, wrapped in and enormous latke (potato pancake ). It took me a week to feel hungry again.

Desserts here are clearly not an afterthought. The plum cake was exceptional, and ditto for the crepes ( filled with sweet cheese, covered with a good chocolate sauce) and the chocolate walnut torte (very fresh, more nutty than sweet). The kept me away Russian tea, most of the night, but I've forgiven them. If you stay clear of the Sevruga caviar, dinner for two at the Amber Garden could be in the $75 range.