Absinthe is wonderful. Fantastic food, great atmoshere, no problem wearing business casual.
I agree with previous posters and would heartily recommend Domus and Wellington Gastropub.
If you want a great view of the city you could try Merlot. It's a revolving restaurant at the top of the Marriot. Wonderful special occasion place with very attentive and discreet service.
Also, here's a great link to another site that has extensive info on the ottawa foodie scene. http://ottawafoodies.com/
Enjoy your visit!

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Absinthe
1208 Wellington St W, Ottawa, ON K1Y2Z7, CA

Merlot
100 Kent St, Ottawa, ON K1P, CA

Thanks for the tip. Will do. We plan to hit Greg's as well, but hey, 2 ice cream/gelato stops in one weekend sounds perfectly reasonable to me!

This could work well, my timid country mouse friend is very fond of Mexican and it might be fun to show her what GOOD Mexican food can be like.

Looks like Greg's will be the ice cream stop of choice. Everyone I've talked to has great things to say about it.

MMmmm ravi looks well worht a stop for lunch, and Cuban sounds very intriguing. Thanks

I think we'll hit Mill St. just because we want to walk around the distillery distict anyway and it'll be a good place to stop for a pint or two. I'm excited to try their cobblestone stout on tap! I wonder if it's on a nitro tap? Anyone know?

Wow, thanks! The Gladstone looks very intriguing. Looks like my kinda joint. Thanks for all the ideas. Really helpful.

I may reconsider going to bier markt based on feedback from this post. I find it sooo frustrating to get excited about a beer only to be told that it's not in stock. Grr.

Walima's is def a possibility, and thanks for the feedback on Sultan's Tent. Good to know.

Thanks for the tips foxymoron.
Yes, you're right I should have been more specific regarding ehtnic. I'm open to suggestions but perhaps moroccan (is the Sultan's Tent worth the price tag?) or ethiopia. One of our country mouse friend is spice intolerant though, so there would have to be some timid options available for her. And, not exactly ethnic, but I bet some good southern BBQ would be a big hit.

Hi Chowhounds,
We're a thirty-ish city mouse couple from Ottawa and we'll be meeting our country mouse friends in Toronto, March 18-21 for a weekend of stellar food and beer consumption. We're staying around King and John but we are well versed in TTC use (we lived in Toronto in the early nineties) so we can move around the city a bit, but I'd rather avoid the suburbs. We're beer freaks so we're definitely hitting biermarkt, beer bistro and volo. Can't wait for that!

I'd like advice on a great brunch spot, and a couple of cheap and fun lunch spots. I'd also love suggestions for a cool ethnic dinner experience. We have a pretty adventurous palate, but our friends are less ... experienced. I want it to be special and unique for them but not intimidating or formal. We'll want to steer clear of places that attract the Paris Hilton set, and we're not interested in night clubs or singles hang-outs. We'd like to dress casually for the whole weekend, so places with a dress code will be inappropriate. Thoughts on a few great coffee places and ice cream shops would also be appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Kelly