calendar note: on September 7, 2016, Diva’s hosted a Rail Bridge Protest & Rooftop Dinner. Read foodhippo reviewer comments below
calendar note: on April 1, 2017, Diva's hosted dinner for six. Read foodhippo reviewer comments below—
"Tut-tut"
BringerOfRain: group of us went to Diva's the other night after first going to Escape Manor (half a block away). We didn't make it out of the Egyptian Room but the lady who came into the room at the end told us we got 80% of the clues. She wasn't pleased, though, when she saw that one member of our party had pulled off most of the trim between the walls and the ceiling, and another member had completely dismantled an intricate set of balance scales, right down to the miniscule V-shaped pivot and bearing. (95% chance the Escape Manor people will never get this thing back together IMHO).
“please don't share next time!!!”
rattlen8: Ummm, dinner at Diva's was good, but did the waitress have to tell us about the dream she'd had the previous night? It was about how she came across a friend (who all of us at the table know, and like) and because he was bleeding at the wrist she found a razor blade and slashed through the rest of his wrist, "just to get it over with". Not exactly relaxing dinner table conversation!
“... and then the conversation got even weerder”
furledbrow_96: In an attempt to lighten the mood, Diva's Hostess put on some Sam Cooke music. 'A Change Is Gonna Come', 'Bring It On Home To Me', 'You Send Me'—so beautiful. But then the same waitress just had to tell us how Mr. Cooke was shot to death in 1964 in the lobby of a seedy hotel in L.A. Oh, and at the time of his murder he was wearing just one shoe and a sports jacket.
Good to know!
“Diva's baker... half-baked himself?”
badger: At first the banging and clattering (along with some muttering and swearing) coming from the kitchen wasn't a problem, but the dining room table at Diva's is quite near the kitchen, and when the noises got louder we finally asked the waitress what was going on. Turns out Diva's baker (who must have had one beer too many on his break) had first dropped a pan of baking bread upside down onto the kitchen floor. Then he burned himself on the other loaf. Lucky for him he didn't cut himself LOL.
"Nice place but don't let waitress choose seat for you"
furledbrow#96: Rooftop patio a great place to dine (see photos above), but do yourself a favour and sit facing the river/hills/sunset/guy-in-purple-coat/etc. or you'll just get a crick in your neck like I did last nite. On a more positive note, the food was great—flank steak (medium-rare), Mushroom & Chorizo Risotto and a fantastic green salad. And the company was as fun as the food was tasty! Worth the sore neck imo.
"the things you overhear (shakes head)"
mcool: Was at same rooftop dinner as reviewer above and enjoyed the meal but had my confidence in Diva's shaken when I overheard waitress talking about meal they served last week:
1. catch pike
2. boil pike in large pot of water
3. after an hour pick up pike and shake over frying pan
4. when all pike flesh has fallen off bones into frying pan, fry it and serve immediately.
Let's just say I was glad I wasn't dining at Diva's that night! It sounds kinda disturbing to say the least. What do other reviewers think?
"the authorities should close this place down"
flat_five: What happened to Diva's fish supplier's much-ballyhooed policy of 'Catch-and-Release'? Oh I see. Catch the pike, and then release it into a pot of boiling water (face down). The City of Ottawa should close this place down, plain and simple. There's a petition going around demanding no less—find it on Twitter and sign it!!!
IMPORTANT NOTICE, September 1, 2017: Diva's owners have announced that they are closing down and moving. They plan to open a new restaurant a few blocks east of Diva's within a few weeks. It will be called FOMO>nomo (acronym for Fear of Missing Out No More). Diva's kitchen staff wishes to thank its many loyal customers.
