The Guest Room Cocktail Lounge

Yummy cocktails
Drinks ⁴⁄₅
Lots of cool drinks to choose from!
I had the olé olé margarita was okay but a little sour. «Heard it through the grape vine» was good too especially for the hit of almond taste. Lastly I had the dessert drink called flippin’ yankee which was amazing. Tasted like popcorn and chocolates (in a really good way!)
Service 3.5÷5
Ambiance ⁴⁄₅
Cool atmosphere, unique décor, good place to chat with friends (kinda quiet)
Food ³⁄₅
Good but not too memorable. We had the charcuterie and oysters. They only serve hors d’oeuvres. So don’t come for dinner !

We went to The Guest Room for cocktails immediately after getting engaged to celebrate (really!), and we weren’t disappointed. Ottawa is still a bit new to the cocktail scene, so I’m always wary of too-​sweet mixed drinks masquerading as cocktails and overcomplicated drinks that don’t let the quality of the spirits shine through. Here we were served tasty, unique drinks with a bit of flash to them — The Clash comes out as a glass full of applewood smoke held in under a slice of wood (and is a mighty tasty drink) — as well as a well-​executed oaxaca old fashioned and boulevardier. Yellow Submarine was a bit sweet for me, but I’m notorious for finding things too sweet, and it was well-​balanced.
I get a kick out of the ambiance of this place, which is sort of cool-​hipster but, thanks to the rap music that was playing, didn’t seem to take itself too seriously.
We were chatting up the bartender and learned that there are big changes in store, and it sounds like they’re for the better. He’ll be bringing some of the cocktail service tricks he brought with him from Scotland to the bar, as well as a whole new lineup of cocktails and a renovation, all of which should be complete around the end of September 2015. We can’t wait to go back and see if The Guest Room can earn that last star.