This is one of my absolute favourite restaurants in Ottawa. Rice Pea specializes in northern Chinese cuisine. This is a cuisine with which most Ottawans will be wholly unfamiliar. It's not your grandad's Chinese food, unless your grandad is from northern China. Northern Chinese cuisine is very different from the Chinese fair that the denizens of our Nation's capital would recognize. It's not Canadianized Chinese nor is traditional Szechuan or Cantonese fair. Northern Chinese cuisine is wheat based as opposed to rice based. It uses cooking techniques with a Central Asian influence like barbecuing over coal. Most of the dishes at Rice Pea derive their flavour from the freshness and quality of the ingredients. Some of their standout dishes included bbq'd lamb skewers (phenomenal), cold fresh handmade wheat noodles in a mild chili oil sauce that taste like nothing you've ever eaten before, hot oil poured over hand made noodles - that's the actual name of the dish - it's garlicky and a little spicy and super delicious, griddle cooked shrimp served with fries, pork on a bun - basically a Chinese pulled pork sandwich. There are several outstanding noodle dishes and so many things I haven't tried which will keep me coming back for a long time. On top of all that, the prices are very reasonable. On my most recent trip, my friend and I had 2 noodle dishes, lamb skewers, griddle shrimp, and steamed rice. We're 2 big guys that eat and there was enough food to feed a third. All this for a total of $42 after tax. Great deal for fantastic food!