Sidedoor

Sidedoor builds a contemporary kitchen and bar out of food that began on the street — tacos, bao, dumplings, and sashimi that arrive continuously and land in the centre of the table for everyone to reach. Plates come out as they're ready, not plated in courses, a family-style rhythm the kitchen treats as the default, not a special request. Set in Ottawa's ByWard Market, the restaurant runs on a single premise: order broadly, pass plates, and let the meal build instead of committing each diner to a private main course. The street formats come plated in a polished ByWard dining room, not off a cart, and a table that agrees to share gets the most out of the kitchen.

The first-order identity is the street-food lane. The Spicy Braised Beef Taco carries tasty sauce, pickled red onions, and crispy shallots; the Tempura Bajan Fish Taco answers with red cabbage and togarashi. Bao run alongside — Sweet and Sour Crispy Tofu Bao under citrus slaw, Stone Fruit Seared Pork Belly Bao with stone-fruit chutney and crispy plantain chips, a Spicy Dill Crispy Chicken Bao slicked with garlic dill aioli. The Sidedoor Banh Mi stacks cha lua and creton on a focaccia bun with nuoc mam, carrots, cucumber, and bread-and-butter pickles, and comes with a choice of soup, salad, or fries.