Rushes Restaurant

Rushes Restaurant
475 King Street North
Waterloo, Ontario, N2J 2Z5

I've been to Rushes Restaurant twice so far. The first time was with J. The second time was with my sister Jen. I couldn't pick her up from the airport when she came to visit me from Sydney. Instead of having door-to-door service, I suggested that she could wait and take the regular Air-porter to Waterloo Inn. I would meet her there and take her to the nice contemporary restaurant. I don't remember why I ended up picking her up at the first stop (Cambridge Holiday Inn), but we still went to Rushes for dinner and we had a good time.

When I first stepped in Rushes, my eyes sparkled. For any soul who yearns for contemporary interior designs, sometimes it is nearly unbearable to live in K-W region. Don't get me wrong. There are lots of nice restaurants (food-wise, decor-wise) in town, but nothing as sleek and contemporary - the earthy neutral color palettes, frosted glass doors with stainless steel handle bars/trims, dark stained wood and multi-color glass tiles, orchids, white linen and clean-line designs. I thought I was in some trendy restaurant in Toronto.

They have some sample menu posted on their website. I remembered having their grilled asparagus salad and duck breast with orange marmalade and raspberry Merlot reduction for the first visit. I don't remember what I had as main during the second visit; only remember I had salad w/ grapefruit vinaigrette and sampled my sister's seafood pasta. I think I was quite happy w/ my choices 'cause I didn't remember complaining anything. J has slightly more negative impression of their food though. I only tried one bite of his appetizer and it had very rich, intense flavor. But J felt slightly disgusted after finishing the appetizer all by himself. He also complained that the New York steak he ordered was overcooked. I didn't order dessert for both visits, probably because their dessert selection wasn't interesting enough to make me "activate" my dessert stomach. Overall, it is a nice-looking restaurant. The service might be slow sometimes but the server was always nice to us. As a fine dining restaurant, their food is good, but not particularly good. Maybe that is why I haven't been back since.