Ottawa's beloved Preston Street strip — long known as the heart of Little Italy — has a compelling new reason to visit, and it's serving something entirely different from pasta and cannoli.
Hum, a sleek new Indian restaurant that recently opened on Preston Street, is making waves in the city's dining scene with a modern approach to Indian cuisine that's drawing rave early reviews, including a glowing write-up from the Ottawa Citizen.
A Fresh Take on Indian Cuisine
Hum isn't your corner buffet. The restaurant brings a refined, contemporary lens to Indian cooking — think carefully plated dishes, bold flavour combinations, and a dining room that feels as polished as the food it serves. The vibe is sleek and modern, a far cry from the red-velvet booths and twinkling lights of older-school Indian spots.
The Ottawa Citizen's review praised dishes that "wow," suggesting the kitchen is firing on all cylinders with a menu that respects traditional Indian flavours while pushing them somewhere new and exciting.
Why Preston Street?
It's a smart location choice. Preston Street is already one of Ottawa's most walkable and vibrant dining corridors, attracting food lovers from Centretown, Hintonburg, and beyond. Adding a standout Indian restaurant to a street dominated by Italian classics gives diners a reason to explore the strip with fresh eyes.
The neighbourhood has been quietly diversifying its food offerings over the past few years, and Hum fits right into that evolution — sophisticated, ingredient-forward, and clearly built for a crowd that cares about what's on the plate.
Modern Indian Is Having a Moment
Hum arrives at a time when modern Indian cuisine is having a genuine cultural moment across North America. Chefs are reimagining the subcontinent's rich culinary traditions — drawing on regional cuisines that rarely get the spotlight, experimenting with local Canadian ingredients, and presenting it all with the same care you'd find at any top-tier restaurant.
Ottawa has been a little slow to catch this wave compared to Toronto or Vancouver, which makes Hum feel like an exciting arrival for the local dining scene.
Worth the Trip
Whether you live in the neighbourhood or you're making a special dinner-out of it, Hum sounds like exactly the kind of restaurant Ottawa needed — ambitious, well-executed, and doing something genuinely different.
Preston Street has always rewarded those who stroll its length looking for a great meal. Hum looks like the newest reason to make that walk.
Source: Ottawa Citizen via Google News Ottawa Food RSS feed.
