We decide to go to Europe and use up all our vacation days this year. To us, as usual, "to-eat" list is just equally important as the "to-visit" list. After doing lots of reading (the official sites, menus, forums and reviews), all of sudden, the fine dining places in this area don't seem THAT expensive any more. We'll see if this becomes an incentive for us to dine out more after the trip.
Langdon Hall
1 Langdon Drive
Cambridge, Ontario N3H 4R8
Langdon Hall is a special restaurant in our memories; we went to this restaurant the day J proposed to me. There have been different chefs since then (e.g. Chef Shantz left Langdon Hall and opened his own restaurant, Verses). the current chef Jonathan Gushue started in November 2005, he previously worked at Truffles (at the Four Seasons Toronto). After checking out the sample menus posted on their website, we decided to revisit the restaurant.
Many people will probably be impressed by the grandness of Longdon Hall especially if that is the first time they see the building. It is not about the size of the building, but the soaring white columns with red bricks, dark front door and a formal yet casual, immaculate landscape. The staff is all polite and soft-spoken, the maitre'd has a sense of drama and our waiter has French accent. He seemed a bit distant, hopefully not because we didn't order any wine to start (After thinking about the case of wine sitting in our basement, we really couldn't bring ourselves to order more wine).
We ordered San Pellegrino to share, I had Campari and tonic. The amuse bouche was breaded goat cheese with tomato cumin puree, pine nuts arugula puree. This little chef's treat immediately won my heart. Goat cheese is never my thing. I had breaded chevre cheese somewhere else, it was...I'd rather not think about. Not that amuse bouche. The goat cheese wasn't overly strong, and each type of puree/dressing was very distinct. It definitely served its purpose (as a means to wake up the taste buds).
For appetizers, I had Digby scallop and champagne vichyssoise with Granny smith apple poached scallop hudson bay caviar. We don't normally see restaurants specifically label the origins of their supplies on the menu, but that is definitely a beautiful dish to show case Canadian ingredients. I just wish I had a video camera with me at that time so I could capture how this dish was served. The scallop was thinly sliced and placed in the centre of the plate. Apples were cubed in the size of (roughly) 0.5 cm x 0.5 cm x 0.5 cm and evenly scattered on the plate, along with the caviar. When the vichyssoise (which btw, is a fancy way of saying "chilled potato and leek soup") was slowly poured in the plate from a pitcher, the green apple bits and charcoal caviar started to float in the milky white liquid. It was aesthetically stunning! The taste was just equally pleasant. The scallop was very tender and fresh (in fact, I think it was raw), the subtle yet delicate champagne flavor lightened the body. Occasionally I "caught" a fish egg which generated instant burst of saltiness and richness. Without the apples, the soup might be too rich to finish. J had Dungeness crab tortellini with sweat pea sauce sherry dupuy lentils shellfish vinaigrette. It was delicious but not as interesting as the vichyssoise.
J had fennel crusted Provimi veal tenderloin with ruby beet and truffle puree, sweet pea ravioli, pistachio jus as main. At first we were slightly concerned that the fennel might overpower the veal but it turned out pretty well. In fact, fennel and truffle actually make good combination. Veal was tender as it "should" (after the appetizers, the expectation was high : p). I had Eversprings farm muscovy duck breast hazelnut crust confit leg with Girolle mushrooms (Chanterelle?) and tomato ragout, citrus jus. Another dish well-done! The duck was moist, skin was crispy. The vegetables and citric flavor counterbalanced the rich, savory duck, making it a nice summer dish. We didn't have dessert. There wasn't anything we particularly wanted to try. (Also we had desserts we made the day before still being chilled in our fridge.) Overall, it was a great experience.
Langdon Hall is well-known as a SPA resort. In terms of dining experience, it is a hidden gem in the tri-city area. The evening we went there, our car was the only one from this area (judging by the license plates, many guests were either from great Toronto area or from the States). We will try their Sunday brunch or afternoon tea some other time.
Nice Meeting You
1177 Central Parkway West
Mississauga, Ontario L5C 4P3
We went to Cameron for dim sum over the weekend. Despite the fact that we showed up around two o'clock, we still waited for good 30 min before being seated. Feeling slightly frustrated by the limited dim sum choices in town, I decide to share a (recent) pleasant experience. The restaurant is in Mississauga though.
In "Nice Meeting You" (yup, that is the name of the restaurant), the staff pushes carts among tables. It is great in a way that when you see something you like, you just grab and consume it in no time. The down side is you have no control over what options you are offered. But hey...that is part of the fun. You pay lots of attentions to your "surroundings" while carrying on conversation with friends. Your head turns like a weather vane and your eyes are sharp like eagles'. Once you spot a cart which carries items you want, you anxiously wait and hope that there will still be some left by the time the cart arrives.
The process, as mentioned above, might sometimes be disappointing (that is, the waitress turns around before reaching your table because the cart is empty), we still sampled pretty much everything we really wanted. There are standard items such as siu mai (steamed meat dumplings) and other types of dumplings and buns. There are also items not available in the few dim sum places in K-W areas, bite-size custard tart as one example (Two choices: regular or creamy). On top of all those, they also serve congee, fried rice and noodles (in small plates) but we were too full to try any of them. Overall, it was a pleasant meal. And it cost only about 2/3 of having similar items in town. I definitely don't mind revisiting this restaurant.
Ye's Sushi
103 King St. West
Kitchener, Ontario N2G 1A9
A friend told us that there was a new all-you-can-eat sushi place in downtown Kitchener, so we decided to check it out. We didn't go with high expectations, after all, what quality should you expect from an all-you-can-eat place? It turned out to be a decent restaurant; a great place to go with a bunch of friends (especially if they are thrilled by the "all you can eat" idea).
Dinner is $19.99 per person. Other than the limitation on expensive sashimi (2 pieces of tuna and scallops per person), you can order literally anything commonly seen in a Japanese restaurant. Selection ranges from appetizers, sushi to desserts. Pops are also included in the $19.99 flat fee, additional cost will apply if you order other drinks such as orange juice. They also offer lunch for $12.99 with a slightly smaller selection. By the way, make sure you only order what you can finish. You'll get charged (punished?) if anything is left, e.g. $1 for each piece of sushi left on the plate. The ordering process is quite straight-forward - you write down the item number and quantity (e.g. "65 x 1" for 1 serving of item #65), the waitress will gather the lists and deliver items once they are made.
We started with edamame (Japanese beans), sea scallop tempura, age-dashi-dofu (deep-fried tofu), house salad, smoked salmon rice pizza (deep-fried rice cake topped with smoked salmon and spicy mayonnaise). As for sashimi, we ordered tuna and scallops. Some items are ok, some are pretty good even compared with regular Japanese restaurants. The quality of sashimi is ok but it is NOT reasonable to demand top-notch grade of sashimi from an all-you-can-eat place. Regardless, the sashimi was fresh. If the sashimi we had represents the Ye's restaurant's "norm" then they have already surpassed many Japanese restaurants in town.
Then the crazy sushi sampling began. I couldn't recall all the items we had but I'll try my best:
A few new spots have opened since my last posting in February, mostly due to the Waterloo Town Square reconstruction. Hopefully a few more places will come along when the KPMG building opens, including a new LCBO (although not exactly a lunch spot per se).
Gourmet Pizza (Waterloo Town Square)
A decent pizza place, similar to Fratello. Eat in, take out. Just putting the word gourmet in the name and installing a faux brick oven (actually gas fired) doesn't make it gourmet though. Some toppings that may not be on the average pizza joint's item list but nothing terribly exotic. Slices are a decent deal for lunch, but full pizzas are much more expensive than Fratello - even after the buy one get one for $5 deal)
All About Crepes (Waterloo Town Square)
Wow. At least the waitress was friendly. Terrible value - $7-$10 for a tiny crepe. Lunch and dinner offerings were the same - crepes filled with spaghetti sauce, canned tuna, mushrooms, or plain spinach and cheese (note those aren't exactly the menu descriptions, but what I felt was served). That plus a half-hearted attempt at plating (a huge glop of sour cream topped with a single blueberry and dill) does not make for a very filling meal. Dessert crepes were a more reasonable $4-$5 but we weren't going to throw good money after bad. The place was completely full but I suspect it will thin out considerably unless the menu or the prices change.
Thai Sun (Waterloo Town Square)
Now open! See the full review.
Uptown Cafe (Marsland Centre)
A cafe that replaced the uninspired coffee shop in the basement of the Marsland Centre. A surprisingly good option for lunch - fantastic value especially for those working in the building. Daily specials include hot sandwiches and wraps with a side of pasta, chips or veggies for less than $5. The sandwiches often contain real meat - not just your normal deli slices. Burgers and hotdogs for $3 and $2 respectively. Service is very slow during the lunch rush so be warned.
Kristoria (Closed)
104 Surrey St. East
Guelph, Ontario
We visited Kristoria (French Fine Dining) quite a few months ago but were never inspired enough about it to write up the review. Not that it wasn't any good - it was - but just that it lacked anything that stood out, good or bad. So after procrastinating over this like that Masters thesis that never gets finished because there's no real deadline except for that nagging feeling hanging over your head for months, here it is.
Located in the heart of downtown Guelph, this restaurant occupies a tiny renovated old house. The walls are painted a deep, trendy red that matches the iterminably slow website, offset by dark woods and crispy white linens. The place was quite small and held 10 tables, tops. The place wasn't full but we did manage to overhear most conversations without too much difficulty.
I vaguely remembered reading that a tasting menu was available, so after perusing the a la carte menu and not finding anything that jumped out at us, we ventured to ask for a tasting. After the dishes started coming out, we started to realize that this wasn't of those tasting menus that the chef makes up on the spot daily, but it was just items off the menu that the chef chose for us. Oh. Well, not a terrible thing since we ended up getting more courses then we would have normally for a cheaper price, but someowhat disappointing since it lacked the creativity I always hope for from a tasting menu.
Overall the food was very good in a very traditional french preparation and the presentation. There was no pretense of 'fusion' or trying to venture into the new frontiers of fine dining. The style was classic french cuisine, as suggested by the restaurant's subtitle. Service was friendly and the wait staff seemed very genuine, if a little bit unpolished. Understandable seeing as the place had only been open for a few months.
Note this was awhile ago so I present to you our tasting menu without much comment. Also, much of the menu has been changed (as with any decent place).
First course - Thrice braised pressed pork belly with honey, star anise, and a korean pear salad.
Can't be disappointed with braised pork belly, unless they try somehow to make it healthy or something, which they didn't.
Second course - Lobster bisque with truffle foam (tiny little serving but still delicious) and lobster profiteroles and vanilla aioli (not the best combination, plus the lobster was overpowered by the rest of the dish).
Main course - Organic roasted guniea fowl with star anise and fig sauce. Side of carrots and asparagus wrapped in proscuitto. Great winter dish - rich, warm and hearty.
Cheese course - Chevre goat cheese with capers, berries and truffle oil. G doesn't like goat cheese so they happily brought out an alternative which was a nice touch.
Dessert - Tahatian vanilla bean creme brulee - classic, very rich vanilla flavour but overly sweet.
Finally, the bill came with two small scoops of chocolate sorbet. After the huge meal we were too stuffed to appreciate it, plus it was a little too sweet for a sorbet. Including a glass of wine, the total with tax and tip came to $140. A bargain for the amount of great food we ate. We'd probably return more often if it wasn't so far away from Waterloo.
