Kitchen Wok

668 Erb St. West
Waterloo, Ontario N2T 2Z7

Being new parents and all, our opportunities for fine dining are few and far in between. It feels like we've turned in our foodie credentials, and any opportunity to eat out (anywhere!) is a luxurious indulgence these days. Out here on the west side of Waterloo, there aren't many choices other than strip mall Chinese take-out, which seems to be a design requirement when building suburban plazas. That said, these places have come a long way since the egg roll and sweet and sour chicken ball of the 70's.

Kitchen Wok is a new restaurant that opened in the so called Westside Marketplace (i.e. Canadian Tire plaza at the roundabout). It focuses on take-out, but has a few tables and chairs for diners as well. We've tried it a few times and have been mostly pleased with the quality, although expectations were not high to begin with. Everything we've ordered has been cooked freshly -- the battered items are always pleasingly crisp under the sauce -- and vegetables are rarely overcooked. With over 120 items on the menu, there appears to be a large varity of dishes but as with most Chinese menus, many are just duplicates with the protein changed. Some highlights:

General Tso's Chicken - a generous portion of battered chicken pieces in a spicy sauce on broccoli. Despite the "mild" description on the menu, this is nicely spicy and well done. The broccoli tends to get soggy quickly in the plastic take-out container though.

Moo Shu - stir fried bamboo, eggs, vegetables with beef/chicken/pork or shrimp. Meant to be wrapped in "pancakes" (four are included) but even as a filling, this is excessively salty. Tasty, but very salty.

Jar Doo Chicken Wings - we always get this as the "freebie" for cash take-out orders over $25. While it may seem these are only deep fried chicken wings, they are marinated first. Again, very greasy, but tasty.

Orange Chicken - the bitterness of the orange peel and rind really killed this dish. They were not cooked enough with the dish, and didn't impart any flavour to the chicken or sauce, only bitterness.

Ho Feng - the rice noodles were either under soaked or stale the last two times we tried this. They tended to break apart easily and were not the correct texture or consistency. China Garden's version of this is far superior.

Shanghai Noodles - My main criticism of this dish is that it is just too plain. Chinese food is known for it's strong, bold flavours, and this one just doesn't deliver.

Overall, there is a large variety of dishes that would not have been found in the suburbs just 10 years ago. There are some hits and some misses, but as a greasy, salty indulgence for harried parents, you can't go wrong.

Wok Wagon Express

Wok Wagon
450 Columbia St. West
Waterloo, Ontario

Every time I pass by Columbia and Fisher-Hallman / Bearinger, I can't help but to take a quick look into the parking lot, see if I can spot the "Wok Wagon". Eh, no, not the store, I am talking about the little white truck with the "Wok Wagon" logo and contact info.

The first time I ordered something from Wok Wagon (the restaurant) was several years ago. I grabbed the menu and expected to see items like "Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls". Well, they did have that. But there were also authentic Chinese dishes. I ordered "Almond Soo Guy" (almond chicken) w/ rice to go. I remembered I was on a tight schedule that day, I parked my car in the park and was planning to stuff myself w/ few bites of whatever so I could go to the next appointment. But man! It was good. (I am sure I didn't feel so just because I was hungry; I ordered this dish several times afterwards and it was just as good). The juicy chicken breast strips wrapped in crispy(outside) fluffy(inside) batter. The sauce, vegetables and rice were also nicely done. How come no one's ever mentioned this restaurant before? Is it because it barely qualifies as a restaurant (no seating, "take out" only)? Ever since this trial, Wok Wagon becomes "officially" on our Chinese take-out list.

What really makes Wok Wagon unique is not just the good food, but their "Kitchen-on-the-go". One year we celebrated J's B-day by inviting friends to our place and had Wok Wagon catering for us. The initial contact didn't go smoothly. Since the minimum order was $150 ($200 on weekends if I remember it correctly), I thought I might as well order all the items people might be interested. When I was on the 8th item, the guy taking the order interrupted me PROMPTLY, in an AUTHORITATIVE manner, "We can't serve this way. The food won't be hot enough if you order so many different items." "....(shocked for 5 seconds)...I'll call you back in 10 minutes." "OK." I did call back in 10 minutes, here's the final list:
- Honey Garlic Ribs $9.25
- Spicy Garlic Beef $9.25
- Imperial Pork $7.95
- Lemon Chicken $8.25
- Treasure Nest (seafood served in a bowl made of crispy fried potatoes) $12.95
- Cantonese Chow Mein $9.50
- Vegetable Fried Rice $5.50
- Spicy Tofu $6.50
I didn't order Almond Soo Guy due to allergy concern. Also, the Honey Garlic Ribs might be made in advance so it wasn't counted as a (hot) stir-fry item. (At least I wasn't interrupted this time so I guess I didn't "max out" the stir-fry limit.)

The truck arrived slightly ahead of schedule. It pulled into our driveway. Truck stopped, doors opened. The chef got off from the driver's side then went into the "kitchen" and got ready to cook. A girl walked out from the passenger's side; she was responsible for the paper work (billing), asking for serving bowls and passing the dishes to us. Btw, you could opt to rent their dishware or purchase the disposable ones. We figured it was just a friends' get-together. Worst comes worst, we have stainless steel mixing bowls and deep baking sheets. : p

After we got their permission, we took turns to visit the kitchen and saw how the chef worked in this compact kitchen. For so many dishes, it only took her less than 30 minutes to start, cook, clean-up and time to take a group picture w/ us. Not to mention all the dishes were still piping hot after the truck left our driveway.

Although some friends showed up late, as usual, and missed the show. People in general were quite happy w/ the food. The funny thing is, almost every dish had its own "fans", even the relatively generic chow mein and fried rice. Decent ingredients, a hot wok and fast action are key elements of good Chinese food. Wok Wagon achieves that with their kitchen on the wheels.

Johnny Fresco

Johnny Fresco
3-244 Weber St. North
Waterloo, Ontario, N2J 3H4

A couple of days ago a colleague insisted on going to this new place he previously remembered driving by. Of course, he didn't know the name of the place nor the type of food it served, but at least he knew where it was (corner of University and Weber). Turns out it was Johnny Fresco, which about two months ago took over the space where Donut Queen used to be. We did a brief drive by and it looked safe enough so we ventured in for lunch.

The space is bright and airy, but almost a little too sparse and empty. The menu is mostly fast food oriented, with burgers, pitas, fries, and other pick up and bite items. The set up is reminiscent of Harvey's where you order at the counter, a tray is set up and passed along the counter where toppings are placed on your cooked to order burger. The burgers are thick 6oz deals, which take a few minutes longer than the average fast food joint to cook. I ordered the only somewhat different item on the menu, the Greco Pita. This turned out to be a pita with a burger patty cut up and stuffed inside. It was a little dry and a little too full of burger meat for my tastes, even after I loaded it up with toppings, including tzatziki sauce, mushrooms, pineapple, hot peppers, plus the typical lettuce, tomato, cucumber. It came with a side and can of pop, the side being a choice of fries, garden, or caesar salad. Trying to be somewhat healthy, I choose the garden salad. It was served "Subway" style which means the same toppings that go on a sandwich/burger go into a plastic container to make the "salad". I tried some of my colleague's fries but they were not noteworthy (so why am I making a note of them?)

Overall, the food was about average, slightly above Harvey's but slightly below The Grill at University plaza. Most of the clientele seemed to be foot traffic from the local high school. It didn't seem like there was enough volume to support the place but I'm not a restaurateur. However, it was a cold and snowy day so perhaps it was down from the normal levels. Perhaps they were trying to cut costs because it felt like the only heat in the place was coming from the grill. It was freezing inside, and having bare metal chairs didn't help at all. I see no reason to return. The last thing this town needs is another copycat burger/greek fast food place.

Lunch items were $4-6, plus $1.50 for a combo or another $1 for a double burger (far too much meat for the average person).

China Garden

China Garden
31 University Ave. East
Waterloo, Ontario N2J 2A2

I can't believe we never write anything about China Garden. How can this be? We have had numerous meals from this restaurants ever since we first came to Waterloo. I still remember "the good old days", biking to China Garden for a bowlful of congee with dough fritters. We are no longer students and we've switched our main transportation tools to cars. Time flies! Still, there are days that we just crave for authentic Cantonese eatery food, and China Garden hasn't changed much since my first visit.

So far we have tried roughly 30% of their items, naturally we order some specific items more often than others:

- congee + dough fritters. I like the house special or shreaded pork with preserved eggs. There were times the congee was too watery, most of time the consistency is ok. And it is such a treat to dip crispy dough fritter into the thick congee then bite into it. :)

- fried rice: at one time we ordered the fried rice with two sauces (one ketchup-based the other cream-based) very frequently but we eventually got tired of it. Nowadays I tend to order salt fish and chicken fried rice and J enjoys the pineapple & chicken fried rice.
- sliced beef flat rice noodle. This is our all-time favorite comfort food, greasy and loads of flavor.
- fried noodles: I like the crispy noodles. As long as I get the crispy bits, I'm happy with any combination.
- beef tendon and brisket: the quantity is small but it normally packs with lots of flavour.
- XO sauce rice noodles. Pan-fried rice noodles with XO sauce and finish with peanut sauce.

Although they claim that they don't use MSG, I can still feel it afterwards(migrane, abnormal thirst and occasional rash). Not like MSG will stop me from having Chinese food completely. : p Btw, if you pay in cash and order $20+ (before tax) for takeout, you get 10% off.