Charlie's Lunchbox
Charlie's Lunchbox
(in University Plaza, betweem Gino's pizza and Grand China. Waterloo)
Today I didn't bring my lunch (more precisely speaking, I didn't pack my lunch last night) so I decided to grab something from this newly-opened restaurant. My coworkers and I were kind of pressed of time so we decided to order something to go.
We arrived around 12: 15PM. The menus were written on two blackboards. One had items such as "Lunch Box A" "Lunch Box B", the other one had more specific description (e.g. "BBQ chicken leg"). I couldn't help but to ask, "What's in Lunch Box A?". I was told that they would start to offer lunch combos once the school term begins. O~kay. So what options do we have? The young lady was very nice, she removed the lid of every tray and showed us the items (the sincerity is very much appreciated). Today they had BBQ chicken for $4.99, grilled salmon for $5.99 and shrimp tempura for $5.99. I ordered shrimp tempura while my coworkers ordered BBQ chicken.
There was no shrimp tempura in the steam table so it was MADE TO ORDER :). We were prompted to choose "steamed vegetables" or "salad". I chose the steamed vegetables. The young lady first had a big spoonful of veggi in my container, but was soon instructed to take out half. I was a bit shocked at that time. "I knew it! I knew it! $6 for a shrimp tempura combo. maybe I'll only get a piece of greasy batter w/ bite-size rice and 2 baby carrots"...that was the first idea coming into my mind. However, she filled up that corner w/ potato wedges. Then the "assembling line" started to operate. One slice of Japanese spongy egg (the type normally appears on top of nigiri sushi), 2 deep-fried dumplings, 3 small sauteed fish balls and rice were put in my lunch box and only left one corner for the battered shrimp. My coworkers were asked if they would like to have pickled ginger or pickle. They said, "neh, it's ok". But they still got a generous does of ginger. While at the cashier, we were offered to take one free drink since it is still their promotion period.
We went back to the office and finished our lunch in the kitchen. Our lunch boxes were the CHAMPION! Everyone else was asking, "Where did you get that?" after learning that it only costs $5 or $6 (plus tax), mmm...it is quite obvious where we will all go for lunch next time. :) The food was fresh and the staff was extremely friendly. I've been thru the ups and downs of Mr. Sushi (Did I mention that "Charlie's Lunchbox is run by the Charlie who started Mr. Sushi?). It was a great experience today and I hope that the quality of food and service will last.
2 comments:
Some update on Charlie’s Lunchbox. I quickly dropped by to grab some dinner this evening. Charlie was there and he greeted me. I am so surprised that he still remembers me. He recommended his salmon carpaccio combo. All the side dishes are about the same…less than one pot sticker, but I got both pickle and pickled ginger this time.
The raw salmon is very fresh. I am glad that Charlie convinced me to try it. At least now I now where I can go to quench my craving for fresh fish. Less incentive for me to rush to Toronto :p. The carpaccio is served with shredded daikon and wasabi…with sushi rice on the side. Mmm…is that sushi DIY? (In case you are wondering, there is one form of sushi which has fish eggs, sea urchin and thinly sliced of seafood evenly placed over the rice in a bowl (or any rice container) It is good anyway.
Charlie told me that he only partially (70%) recovers from the heart attack. But he gotta work to support his family. I asked him to take it slow. After all, he can’t run the restaurant well without a healthy body.
that was very informative (the comment too) thank you
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