Semsem - Ottawa

Very good food, generous portions, a little pricey but good value. Good selection good of food and drinks. A little slow service but very nice

I was looking for a Palestinian place since moving from Jerusalem. Ottawa has plenty of Middle Eastern, esp Lebanese, but this is a welcome change from the many shawarma joints. It is a bakery/cafe run by a Palestinian family from Nablus. If you have not tried the cuisine before, Grandmother's Breakfast is a great platter spread and goes well with the freshly made falafel. The baked goods are fantastic: the Cheese Sunflower is simple (cheese, bread, spices) and delicious. The Fatteh Tahini dish was also a highlight. Anything uneaten we took home, plus an extra Cheese Sunflower for later. The only thing lacking was that the pita bread was pre packaged grocery style. Everything else was excellent. I've been twice and it's been busy both times so I'm glad I made a reservation for brunch. Next time, we'll try their hummus and shakshuka.

Fantastic service, good food, nice decor.Great spot for a Mediterranean breakfast/brunch. It’s busy so better call for reservation (even on weekdays).Fatteh had good flavour and the amount was generous.Eggs with Sojok was good, but dry. Ask for it not well done and they will accommodate.Cheese Flower was tasty and my favourite.Mint tea was good too.The service was super friendly and very attentive.Try them out, it’s a different experience!

Excellent service. Fantastic food. Recommended if you want to experience Palestinian food.

Those guys have the biggest ego in Ottawa, they think they sell 5 star falafel when it’s really like 2 max, the costumer service is absolutely trash every single time I go there, and it’s safe to say I’ll never go again. I have a business that has 4.8 stars and when people put 5 star rating on how good costumer service was they mention the employees by name. Although last time we went we joked around with the person doing the selling and he didn’t even smile and totally ignored us, and when we gave him a tip he didn’t even react. Not even mentioning that every time we say extra tahini because the sandwich is dry af, they don’t even do what we say, because the falafels are super thick you are supposed to cut it in half, put some tahini between it, then complete the sandwich. The tahini sauce itself is just full of tahini and no yogurt. I haven’t tried a lot of other things to judge them but I’m certain I will not try them anyway.