Shandiz Persian Cuisine

Shandiz Persian Cuisine
170 University Ave. West
Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3E9

I had to admit that the first time I stepped in the restaurant because all the "usual suspects" weren't open. It was in between terms; many restaurants in the plaza were closed. The menu was intimidating; combinations of English letters I couldn't quite figure out what they were. What was worse, someone was doing some wiring above the ceiling. All the lights were on, the kitchen was packed in action and the TV was on. Gas, plumbing, electricity, cable...I had to tell myself "ah...he is just hooking up broadband internet connection". (So lame that I can't even convince myself, I picked the table closest to the front door after ordering what I wanted)

OK, the atmosphere in the restaurant is not that intimidating; it must be the gloomy weather doing funny thing to my head. My impression of the restaurant changed especially after tasting the food. There are lots of items I don't really know what they are (can't pronounce them either), but the menu actually includes very detailed description. The staff was quiet but at least polite. And the food...I love the lamb shank (btw, it is one of the few items i could actually read out loud), the saffron rice also goes well with it. The meat was on the dry side but heavily flavored. After the first bite, I had the illusion that the original size of the lamb piece should be 4 times bigger. Just like red wine reduction, one bottle of wine being reduced to less than one cup. The flavor of the lamb was so intense, but not too salty nor "herbal-y". I also ordered the beef kabob combo for J. It was good, but the lamb shank was better. So no sharing ~

I would definitely go back for the lamb shank.

Almadina Egyptian Cuisine

Almadina Egyptian Cuisine
150 University Ave. West
Waterloo, Ontario

This week some coworkers brought in Baklava from Almadina Egyptian to celebrate "Eid al Fitr" (feast at the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting). Syrup, crashed nuts and lots of butter in between phyllo layers make it "sinfully" tasty. This reminds me of my dining experience at Almadina Egyptian.

When I first came to Waterloo, I lived quite close to the campus. And I didn't cook, at all. Still, it took me several months before I finally decided to step in this restaurant. It was relatively dark and quiet. And I just didn't know what I could order. Luckily one day I went there for lunch with a friend, who was a "regular".

Their dishes were not as heavy/greasy as I expected; in fact, some were served with yogurt. I went there quite often for a period of time and sampled most of the common items. Alas, I still can't remember how to pronounce those dishes. The chicken quarter was normally moist inside and crispy outside. The hummus is nice but there is nice hummus somewhere else. My favorite dish, other than their baklava, is actually their rice side dish. It is rice mixed with buttery short fried noodles. It is kind of chewy but not crispy. I found this site through Google search. Based on the recipes provided on this site, I believe "Riz bi Sh'areh" (rice and vermicelli) is the dish.

I almost forgot to mention this. Recently they set up booth at Farmer's Market. You can get steamy hot wrap from them. I tried it once, the beef was nicely flavored. It wasn't very spicy because I asked for the non-spicy version.

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.

Hiro Sushi

Hiro Sushi
171 King St. East
Toronto, Ontario, M5A 1J4


This is going to be a long one. Please bear with me.

My hubby and I went to Hiro Sushi for dinner on August 13, 2005. We have heard good things about this restaurant (from friends and Toronto Life) and decided to check it out.

Before we went, we thought it would be a high-style restaurant. To my surprise, the atmosphere is actually quite "homy". Other than the chef's prep counter, what really caught my eyes is an old photo of two snuggling bunnies (the picture is so HUGE that the bunnies in the picture are at least ten times larger than their actual sizes). And the chef is probably a big fan of Marilyn Monroe; there are several posters of hers on the way to the washrooms downstairs. Some customers were in casual attire; they sat at the sushi bar and chatted with the sushi chef.

We were warned about the potential communication difficulty (with the staff) and the food portion. There is absolute no problem for us in terms of their food portion; we've seen worse. The REAL CHALLENGE is to order our food. Don't get me wrong, their staff is nice, definitely no "attitude". I just feel deeply regretted that all the money I spent on my Japanese classes was down in the drain; I wish I could order in Japanese.

We were guided to the Sushi bar. After we sat down, the waitress gave us the drink menu. There are about 6 sake items on the menu, including the usual Gekkeikan or Hakutsuru brands. I ordered a bottle of "Okunomatsu Ginjo" (200 mL bottle, $14) since LCBO doesn't seem to carry it.

Since we made up our mind to try the Chef's special (Omakase), we didn't spend much time reading the menu. After we placed our order, (here comes the fun part) a cook walked out from the kitchen asking us "what kind of omakase" we had in mind. Huh? Isn't that Chef's choice? After his explanation, we realized that we could choose to have the sushi-only omakase or the full combo, which includes appetizers and soup prepared in the kitchen. They are normally served before the sushi course. J ordered the full combo and I chose the sushi-only omakase.

Then he brought up the next question but we didn't quite catch it. something about "at the same time". I thought he was asking us if our meals should be served at the same time since the full combo would start with the appetizers and the soup. So I replied, "Yes, please." 'cause I didn't want to sit there and watch J eat. After he left, J asked me, "What was his question?" "Eh...see if we want to start at the same time?" My jaw almost dropped when the assistant placed the plate full of sushi in front of me within the first 15 minutes after we entered the restaurant.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~~ Is that all I'll have for the night? I was hoping that, by ordering omakase, I would have chance to get one or two pieces at once from the chef and let him gauge our eating. So we could have super-fresh sushi in every bite. But in reality I was facing a tough choice: should I eat fast and enjoy the freshness but see that $40 gone within one blink? or should I savor it but the freshness of the remaining pieces will decrease with time? The situation I was in pretty much explains the fact that...I completely misunderstood his question.

Despite this incident, the food is actually amazingly good. The sake came with a beautiful sake decanter. I remember I saw it in "Made to Order" (TV program) once. Not sure if I can get it from J-town but I should be able to order it online. The sake was well-chilled and had such fruity aroma, hard to believe that sake is actually made of rice.

The first appetizer was served on top of a big chunk of ice lined with one shiso leaf. The octopus along with other ingredients were thinly sliced and piled on that "platform". There is nothing fancy about their plating. But serving food on a big chunk of ice (about 2.5" in diameter, 1.5" tall) in the middle of the summer makes me feel that they sincerely want you to feel cool and comfortable and enjoy their food.

The second appetizer was made of some fish liver (monkfish?). I saw similar dish on Iron Chef before. It is considered a delicacy in Japanese cuisine. Let's call it "the Japanese' fois gras". There is nothing fancy about the dish but the flavoring was just so right.

The soup course had one salmon fish ball floating in the clear broth (or water, we couldn't taste anything from it). The texture of the fish ball was nice. There was such gentle yet complex taste in the fish ball; it slowly released in your mouth. You could easily miss it if you just scoop the ball in your mouth and swallow it.

There is another reason that I slightly panic when I saw all the pieces were on one plate - Where should I start? I used to be a fan of "Shota no Sushi" (Japanese manga/anime series) and I learned a lot from it. The sequence of eating your sushi is a BIG DEAL. If you happen to have something with richer flavor before a light piece, you won't appreciate the latter as much as consuming them in a proper order. Some chefs might even take it personal because they spend so much effort "plotting the drama" (from getting the freshest ingredients to designing an impeccable sequence to present their work) and you DARE to ruin it. If my memory serves me right, I should start from the upper left corner. But why was salmon the first piece? isn't it supposed to be considered very rich? I soon shook those ideas out of my head. They are probably very used to "foreigners" who don't know how to eat sushi. I might as well chill and be myself.

Most of the pieces were nigiri (hand-held sushi) except 6 pieces of California roll maki made by the assistant. Each piece was so picturesque, as if straight from Sushi Chef School text books. Ok, I made it up. But judging by naked eyes, fish slice is about 1/4" thick, 7/8"x 3" (roughly T0.5cm x W2.2cm x L7.6cm) and the rice underneath is about 3/4" tall 5/8"x1.5" (roughly H2cm x W1.6cm x L4cm).

Chef Yoshida's approach is very traditional, but he does things PROPERLY. There was no stand-alone wasabi paste on the sushi plate and soy-sauce was the only condiment available on the table. I am sure you can ask for more wasabi but this shows how confident the chef is about the freshness of the ingredients. When I first put the sushi in my mouth, I could taste slight saltiness from the fish. Then I could clearly feel that the fish being torn and surrounded by the rice, the aroma became more intense then all of sudden, the fish just "melted away". There is only one word to describe it: heavenly! And the chef was able to cast the same spell again and again until I cleaned my plate.

I strongly believe that many people who don't like raw fish sushi is because they haven't tried a GOOD one yet. Good sushi should not taste "fishy", not to mention other unpleasant characteristics such as slimy and soggy. Based on this dining experience, Hiro Sushi is quite conservative. No fusion or new ingredient combinations. But it keeps the fundamentals of a good sushi restaurant: great ingredients, solid techniques and the respect of a chef's professionalism. If there is a chance, I'll definitely go back.