Japanese eggplants are a little different from the standard garden eggplant that most gardeners are familiar with. They are long and thin, rather like a purple English cucumber. The leaves are marked by purply-black veins and large flowers show up nicely against the plant's black stems. Japanese eggplants are more flavourful than regular eggplants and are excellent grilled or in Baba Ghanoush. 
Japanese eggplants make an excellent container plant - they look good in leaf, in flower and in fruit, and they are very tasty. The yield is slightly higher than what you get with a regular eggplants - you'll get 5 or more Japanese eggplants fom each containerized plant. Seeds can be found at some Ottawa-area garden centers and at Preston Hardware in Little Italy.