thursday nights

I would have to say that Thursday is definitely one of my favorite days of the week. It's not quite the weekend but everyone knows that it's almost here and workday Fridays are always super slack - meaning you can show up a little hung-over and no one is gonna care. Also, restaurants and the various entertainment venues around are not to packed. No reservations needed allows me to stay carefree and spontaneous.

For a night where I didn't even end up going out, it sure felt like I did a lot. Things started off a little later having dinner at the Blue Cactus around 9pm. I used to go to the Blue Cactus all the time with my best friend but i hadn't been in a while so it was nice to go. After dinner we headed across to the french side and hit up the Casino in Hull; no gambling, just some drinks. After the casino, my night didn't exactly end there but I'm sure you wouldn't find it anything interesting about what I was doing ;)
______________________________________________

The Blue Cactus
2 ByWard Market
Ottawa, ON K1N 7A1
(613) 241-7061

For starters, I would like to say that I do really like this restaurant. The atmosphere is modern and the furniture is classy and new age without seeming over the top. The lighting is low and candle light is used to promote an intimate mood. The music is always lounge type stuff which is appropriate and it's never too loud that it drowns out you convos. With regards to the food, I think it's pretty good with a range of different choices. Check out the menu at http://www.bluecactusbarandgrill.com/site/menu.html . The pricing is somewhere between Montana's and The Keg. I would say that the prices a affordable and not too high. The restaurant caters to most age/social groups which is why the clientele at Blue is extremely diverse. A group of seventeen year old girls would enjoy themselves as would a middle aged couple out on a date.

I have two problems with the place....
1. The menus used to be nice in fold out style; however, they recently changed them to this tacky plastic style place mat. Arguably this small detail takes aways from the restaurants class and modern feel. It's just so lame.
2. The service is not that great. Like I don't even care that much about high quality table service but I would like decent satisfactory service. Maybe I have just had bad luck or something but basically every time I've gone it's always just blah service. It's not that they make mistakes but it feels like chop-shop service. Not the biggest deal, but for a restaurant like Blue it should be higher quality.

Overall highlights....
a) Great for going on dates for reasons such as: romantic feel, young and fresh atmosphere & decent prices (so girls don't feel bad letting the guys pay).
b)It's right in the heart of the market so if you have a window seat you can people watch. And if you want to hit up the club scene...you're right there.
c) Good food, good prices, not the greatest service but your still gonna love it!