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Last updated 3 July 2009.
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Having garnered a bit of a reputation as foodies, we've been asked a few times to supply restaurant suggestions. So here a stab at that. We'll cover the categories we tend to frequent:
a) Fine dining. Best-quality food, excellent service, and higher prices to match.
b) Good, less expensive. A restaurant that provides very good food and service, but not at the very top end—no truffle toppings, not quite so many people tending to your table. And therefore lower priced.
c) Ethnic. We tend to favour the oriental—Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Korean—but have been known to try others, such as Indian, Indonesian, and Greek.
Below we cover Kitchener-Waterlo0. We have other pages on Montreal and Québec City. You can also check our vacation reports on Paris and Scotland, and the Charlevoix, Spain, and New York City, which include an awful lot of information about what we ate!
Our home town—where we don't eat out as often as people probably think! But we still have some suggestions.
The
best restaurant in Kitchener-Waterloo, in our opinion. Verses
makes everything in-house, even the ice cream and the bread. Their foie gras
is on pare with good Québecois restaurants. They offer a cheese tray
with interesting options. All dishes are beautifully presented and taste even
better. The wine list is extensive, including many options by the glass, and
several Canadian options (so somewhat less expensive).
Verses is in a former church, and still looks pretty much like a church. We don't have to sit on pews, but there is seating in the choir and on the altar, and the windows are stained glass (see picture at left). It's a pretty interesting atmosphere, the only downside of which is that it can get a little noisy when the restaurant is crowded.
Service at Verses is impeccable. The hostess will remember your face after one visit (which is a bit freakish). Several people attend to the table, each with their own speciality: wine, food, keeping water glass full.
Website: www.versesrestaurant.ca
Other options: For a somewhat less good, but also somewhat less expensive experience, you could try 20 King. Jean has also enjoyed eating at Langdon Hall in Cambridge (more expensive than Verses).
A recent addition to Uptown Waterloo, we've only been to Nick and Nate's Uptown 21 once so far, but we were quite impressed. They offer daily $35 (three-course) and $45 (four-course) special menus featuring in-season items, optionally with wine pairings ($22 for four, $16 for three). They try to include a good dose of local dining options. Everything we had was very well-prepared, including foie gras and fresh trout. Service is professional and knowledgeable. The feeling in the room is relatively casual despite the white linen and nice glasses.
Website: http://www.uptown21.ca/ (warning: sound -- but you can turn it off.)
Solé's
a bit funny in that their food quality can be inconsistent; we've been both
blown away (as by the salmon platter pictured at left) and a little disappointed
by food there. Still, we keep returning because the place has such a “warm”
atmosphere (in an old Seagram building with a fireplace at the entrance), the
service is always fine, the wine list is amazing. My advice for likely getting
the wows rather than the disappointment: try the specials if they sound appealing,
and ask your server for suggestions if they don't.
Website: www.sole.ca
The Village Creperie on Belmon Street. Befitting the name, crêpes are the main feature, and they do make lively ones: very thin, very light. Their fillings are equally fresh, light, and tasty, without the heavy cheese and sauces that just weigh you down at some crêpe establishments. They do offer some non-crêpe options as well, such as crostinis, salads, even steak and potatoes. As added bonuses, they use mostly organic ingredients, and all wines are available by glass, 1/2 litre, or full bottle.
Website: www.villagecreperie.ca
While it may not be saying that much, the best place we've found for seafood here is King Crab and Oyster Bar. The selection of oysters varies, but always seem to be quite delicious. King crab is always on the menu, but I'd recommend it only in season; other times, the texture just isn't always quite right. In season, great, and often on special. They generally do well with their other fish items as well. Non-fish/seafood options are available too, but not having tried those, I can't say how they are.
Website: www.kingcraboysterbar.com
Little Yukiko's in uptown Waterloo is usually dependable also, though the small size can make you feel cramped at busy times.
Not that I've tried them all, by any means, but we do find Cameron Seafood (on Cameron St., Kitchener) to be the best Chinese restaurant we've been to in these parts. They do really nice dim sum food, of course; the only challenge there is that you have to order by name from a menu rather than selecting from a cart, and I just don't know what all my favourite dim sum food is called. They also do a nice job with their non-dim sum food, using fresh and flavourful base ingredients and not over-relying on salty or sweet sauce to give the food interest. The place has the usual boisterous atmosphere of Chinese restaurants, and it's generally full at meal times.
Website: www.cameronrestaurant.ca
For Thai food, while again we haven't been to them all, Northern Thai is a cut above the ones we have been to. It's lovely littler restaurant on Queen St., with a gracious hostess, and all dishes are carefully prepared and fresh-tasting. You'll need reservations for Fridays or Saturdays. This restaurant is listed in Where to Eat in Canada.
For Japanese, we most often go to Sakura Island, on King and Hickory, where the food is good and the service excellent. The chef remembers the regulars and will give freebies. We recently tried Taka, on Bleams down in southern Kitchener, for the first time in years. It too offered excellent service and some fine sushi, soft-shelled crab, and soup and salad options. (They also have teriyaki, and some Korean dishes on the menu.)
The best Indian restaurant in town is probably Masala Bay. The advantage here is that the cook grinds his own spices, giving all dishes a freshness of flavor that lacks in competing restaurants. The prices here are a definite bargain.
Website: http://masalabay.com/
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