A Taste of the Philippines in Ottawa
Judylaine Dela Cruz says that “it was only a matter of time” before she jumped into running her own businesses in Ottawa. In 2008, she opened Divisoria Market, a Filipino grocery store, on Beechwood Avenue, which has since relocated to Carling Avenue. In the summer of 2023, she opened Divisoria Resto Bar in Orleans, a full-service Filipino restaurant.
Born and raised in the Philippines, Dela Cruz came to Canada in 1994 under the live-in caregiver program. While working in Canada to support her family back home, Dela Cruz helped found a non-profit called the Philippine Multicultural Society of Canada, now known as Migrante Ottawa, an organization that advocates for the rights and welfare of migrant workers and their families. Migrante Ottawa is affiliated with the global movement Migrante International, and supports Filipinos working in Canada, while also pushing for broader policy changes in the Philippines to support workers in their home country.
Though she remains involved with the non-profit, Dela Cruz has turned her attention to serving the Filipino community in Ottawa in other ways. After reuniting with her children in Canada, Dela Cruz studied business management and opened Divisoria Market.
Divisoria Market sells a variety of products from the Philippines, from cookies to toiletries, and offers remittance services for clients who are sending money to their loved ones in the country. It is also set up for “turo-turo” style meals — Tagalog for “point point” describing how diners would point to the dishes they wanted in a cafeteria-like arrangement. At the market, Dela Cruz serves rice and noodle dishes, fried fish and meat stews. The most ordered dish is caldereta (beef stew) and on the sweet side of things turon (a banana fritter with ripe jackfruit) is a favourite dessert. For the upcoming holidays, Divisoria will be stocked with Christmas hams and parol, traditional Christmas lanterns.
“I’ve always enjoyed experimenting with food and cooking for my family and friends,” Dela Cruz says. Opening a restaurant was a long-time dream of hers, but without experience in the restaurant industry she felt she lacked the confidence to expand the business until this past summer. After running the Divisoria Market for almost 15 years, Dela Cruz says the enthusiasm around the market’s turo-turo meals and the support from her family and friends were the factors that pushed her towards realizing that dream. Divisoria Restobar offers dine-in and takeout in Ottawa’s East End. With the market and the restobar in full swing now, Dela Cruz is busier than ever, but she’s proud to be able to reach more people and serve the region’s growing Filipino community.
The Restobar menu features authentic Filipino dishes. For the uninitiated, she recommends trying the crispy kare-kare (fried pork with veggies in peanut sauce), pancit (stir-fried noodles) and beef pares (braised beef stew). There are also vegetarian dishes such as ginataang lanka (jackfruit cooked in coconut milk) and sweet refreshments such as the ever popular halo-halo, with sweetened banana and beans, coco jelly, shaved ice and ice cream.
“One of my goals is to promote our products and food to non-Filipinos,” Dela Cruz says. “And a bigger goal is to continue to bring joyful memories back to our customers through our food.”
Divisoria Market
943 Carling Ave. | Ottawa
facebook.com/divisoriacarling | 613.725.3954
Divisoria Resto Bar
3621 Innes Rd., Ottawa | 613.590.6688
