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In 2017, I scoured from Stittsville to Aylmer to Wakefield to Orléans for delicious, memorable dishes, and I didn’t do too badly at all.

Of course, new, upscale restaurants in Ottawa’s downtown dining districts — places such as Sur-Lie and Oz Kafe in the ByWard Market, Stofa on Wellington Street West and Orto Trattoria in the Glebe — provided thrills.

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But further afield, there was also La Maison Conroy in Aylmer, plus a wave of more casual eateries such as Flavours of Kerala in Kanata, Meatings Barbecue and Persis Grill in Orléans and Xiang Zi in Nepean. The latter was one of many in a wave of cheap and cheerful Asian restaurants that opened this year in Ottawa.

Established eateries that I visited, such as Aperitivo in Kanata the renovated Albion Rooms downtown and the funky Le Hibou in Wakefield, also chipped in.

Looking back at my 100-plus meals out this year, I found that many of my favourite dishes came from the above-named restaurants. Below are my faves in a dozen categories.