Mati in Ottawa's Little Italy: a mediterranean crudo and grill restaurant that takes craft cocktails very seriously.
Mati Ottawa
428 Preston Street
Tues -Thurs: 5PM – 10PM
Fri-Sat: 5PM – 12AM
Closed Monday
Mati is a restaurant & cocktail bar, focusing on modern Mediterranean grill & raw food (Crudo + Charcoal). It’s located on Preston Street, in Ottawa’s Little Italy. Their sister restaurant is a few steps away: EVOO Greek Kitchen. It’s a venue where you can comfortably go to eat or drink. Mati opened in 2018 in what was previously the Black Cat Bistro. In 2022 they launched Sidecar, a hidden bar in Mati’s basement, which ranked #32 on Canada’s Best Bars list in 2023.
Their website is titled “Mati | Fine Dining & Cocktail Bar”. This accurately describes what we witnessed: a special-occasion dining venue with an important attention to their cocktails. With their late opening hours on weekends, they are well equipped to gear more towards the cocktail side of things as the night goes on.
The Space
Mati is a beautiful venue. This is apparent even before you step inside. Walking by, you can already tell what a cozy yet vibrant spot this is. But it’s not just a pretty facade. After many visits, we can confirm that they deliver on every front, from service to food, to libations.
Mati is quite classy without being snobby, although it does attract a trendy crowd. Guests are often well-dressed. Most seating options are great for a date or socializing with a couple of friends, except for a few seating areas tailored for larger groups. The venue is sufficiently lit to accommodate diners but dim enough to enjoy a night out sipping on cocktails. Small table lamps & tea candles add to the mood with their dim yellow light.
The music is not too loud. It can get noisy with people chatting but not to the point of preventing guests from holding a conversation. Mati does a great job managing their space. Despite this venue being full most weekends, we never felt a sense of over-crowdedness during any of our visits.
The Service
The service was quick from the get-go. We were greeted upon entering and offered seating. We were served a glass of water which was refilled regularly by the bartender. The staff was properly dressed with the bartenders adorning nice leather aprons. Although Mati is always a busy venue, the bartenders took time for some quick chit-chat with most patrons sitting at the bar including us. The bartenders showed themselves to be quite knowledgeable, detailing the particularities of the ingredients that went into the cocktails. For example, the head bartender explained the difference between chili-infused tequila and the Ancho Reyes chile liqueur used in one of their signature cocktails.
The menu
Sitting at the bar, we saw that Mati’s liquor selection was quite extensive and included many fine spirits. For example, there were over 20 different scotches and many high-end tequilas. There wasn’t a menu for classic cocktails but the bartender serving us said they could produce any classic upon request. So we ordered something off-menu: a whisky sour. The bartender whipped it up without batting an eye. We then went on to discover their signature cocktail menu.
Their cocktail prices were slightly above average for Ottawa but we could tell that a lot of effort went into creating their 12-item cocktail program. The bar menu listed many unique ingredients such as matcha cream, cilantro oil, gold dust, gochujang honey, rosemary syrup, apple spice shrub, and orange blossom. Furthermore, not a single ingredient came up twice in their menu.
The cocktails we ordered were beautifully presented, each with a specific garnish. The bartenders used clear ice and served our drinks in fancy ribbed tumblers on steel coasters & black beverage napkins.
Al Pastor (23$): This cocktail was beautifully presented; garnished with edible flowers, and an impressive smoke experience. The beverage came in a smoke-filled glass bell jar that the bartender opened before us. The flavour was only slightly smoky which was a good thing because overly-pronounced smokiness in a cocktail is often not very good.
Modern Medicine (21$): As the name hints, this libation is inspired by the Penicillin. Similarly to the classic cocktail, it’s a whisky-forward beverage garnished with candied ginger. However the scotch was replaced by Japanese whisky, and the ginger syrup was elevated as it was replaced with a masala spice blend whose flavor was quite present. Finally, the sweetness of the honey is less present in the Modern Medicine compared to the Penicillin, as this cocktail was not very sweet.
Jubilee Negroni (20$): This cocktail was on the sweet side which was surprising considering that it is in the Negroni family. This libation was very elegant and simple in its presentation. One could even say it’s minimalistic, because the Jubilee Negroni is a clear drink with clear ice, with only a small circle of lemon peel garnish to break the silence. Like the White Negroni, the first two ingredients are gin and Luxardo Bitter Bianco.
Los Flamingo (22$): This cocktail was beautifully presented, with the logo garnished onto the top foam. Very Instagramable if you want people to know you were at Mati. The flavor of this cocktail was bitter but creamy: There were some bitter notes from the Campari & grapefruit, but it wasn’t an overwhelming bitterness that one expects from other Campari cocktails. The egg white added creaminess. All in all, it was well-balanced and delicious.
The food menus offered many lavish options, proving that Mati is a place where you can go to celebrate special occasions such as birthdays & anniversaries. Some examples are the seafood tower (option of 2 or 3 stories) & the tomahawk steak (listed as the Angus Long Bone). We ordered a dozen East Coast Oysters (46$) which were tasty and fresh. They were beautifully presented on pebbled ice.
Overall, Mati is a restaurant and bar we have visited many times and will visit again. Notwithstanding the challenge of finding parking in Little Italy on a weekend, you won’t regret an evening at this venue. The food is great, the drinks are excellent and the service is always very good. It’s a beautifully designed space with great seating options. It can get quite pricey but the quality is always at the rendez-vous.
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