Nick and Nat’s Uptown 21

Nick and Nat's Uptown 21
21 King St. North
Waterloo, Ontario
(between Erb and Dupont St.)

Lunch 11:30AM - 2PM, Tuesday - Friday
Dinner 5PM - , Tuesday - Saturday

If my memory serves me right, Uptown 21 first opened its door December 2008. Both proprietors, the chef and the manager, were originally from Hannah’s Bella Bistro. The decor is mostly the same from the now defunct Salute with some personal touches; for example, a wall of shelves full of pickled vegetables jars.

Lunch items, all served with soup of your choice, salad or fries, range from $12 to $14. They also offer a three-course prix fixe option for $25. If you order dinner a la carte, it can easily add up to $50+ per person for a three-course meal, so the three-course ($35) or four-course ($45) prix fixe options are highly recommended. By the way, all prix fixe menus change daily.

Other than the “cider beer tempura of fresh tuna”, the idea “eat local” is heavily promoted. They even installed the supplier’s name plate on the kitchen range hood. I myself also side with the "eat local" concept so Uptown 21 certainly gains bonus points on this.

During one of our visits, we had the following items:

• Dinner four-course prix fixe (two options for each course).
• Foie gras of the day: foie gras poutine with truffle
• Cocktail, the Uptown

Cocktail:

the Uptown - vodka, red Alizé passion fruit liqueur, sparkling wine, grapefruit and cranberry juice

Normally I order the cocktail named after the restaurant (I believe many people would), mainly because I automatically assume that it should be the signature drink. The composition also looks good on paper - with the clean vodka backbone and a bit of fizz from the sparkling wine, the tartness of the grapefruit juice and cranberry juice should balance well with the Alizé passion fruit liqueur. RIGHT?

It was surprisingly flat.

The bland syrupy liqueur totally dominated the drink and made it taste artificial. The juice, probably from some concentrate mix, wasn't of much help either. This is one example of good concept with poor execution. If I were the owner/bartender, I would look into changing the name of the drink or fine-tuning it. Simply removing it from the menu would do, too.

The food, however, is a lot more interesting and packed with character.

We were tempted by the description of the foie gras of the day so we ordered it in addition to the four-course prix fixe. DON'T DO THAT! The portion of every course was generous. We should have scaled back to three-course prix fixe with that foie gras dish.

The foie gras of the day was foie gras poutine with truffle. The portion was generous; a big plate full of skinny crispy fries topped with brandy-glazed foie gras bits and truffle sauce. Brandy was not completely burned off so TripleQ, who rarely drinks, found it a bit overwhelming. I myself enjoyed this course very much. It was rich and flavorful, completely maxed out the "umami" meter (if there is one). Price-wise though, this is not your everyday comfort food.

We both ordered the four-course prix fixe menu. There were at least two options for each course so we ordered different items to maximize our sampling.

First courses:

• Crisp fried frog legs with an espresso-ancho dusting served with a radish and jalapeno salsa and chive sour cream

• House-made lamb and smoked boar chorizo with herbed crème fraiche and olive-basil pesto

The chorizo was quite lean. I don't remember TripleQ commenting on it.
The frog legs were over-fried so they weren't as juicy and tender as I expected. But it might just be the spice mix overpowering its delicate flavor. By the way, I wonder where they can get frog legs locally. I would love to get some.

Second courses:

• Cream of asparagus and fiddlehead soup

• Shaved asparagus, greens, aged goat cheese, toasted almonds and rhubarb chutney

I had the soup. With the distinctive asparagus flavor, it is something you either like it or you dislike it. The salad composition sounds appealing; however, TripleQ (again) quietly worked through it stoically. Something funny was going on in that dish: all the ingredients were obviously fresh and it was seasoned. Still, I didn’t feel the whole dish came together. Could it be proportions? Maybe some asparagus could have been treated differently (e.g., grilled) to add dimensions to the dish? Maybe the almonds could have been toasted a tad longer? A squeeze of lemon juice to spike the flavor? I watched TripleQ’s fork repeatedly poking and picking up each piece, with no intention to share/help. :p

Third courses:

• Moroccan style paella with dried fruit, almonds, and olive studded saffron rice simmered with fresh seafood and smoked garlic sauce

• Roasted duck breast fanned over crisp fried sage spatzle, fiddleheads, asparagus and duck confit finished with a sherry jus

Compared with the previous course, both options of the third course were extremely savory. The chef really managed to showcase the gamey side of duck meat. As for the paella, TripleQ was awfully quiet that night but this time I am sure he was just too busy (in eating) to talk. I have to admit that between the two, the paella wins the title of “the” comfort food.

Last courses (desserts):

• Goat cheese mousse with praline maple and a fresh doughnut
• Parfait of chocolate cake, chocolate gelato and a rhubarb strawberry compote

The doughnut was really cute sitting in the glass. It won't be fair for me to comment on the taste since I am not a big fan of goat cheese, and the goat cheese had a strong presence in that dish! As for the dessert I had, at first I was just ok with the chocolate cake dessert. The more I dug into it, the more nostalgic I felt. It is just like the brownie with strawberry syrup I had as a kid when dining out with parents. I don’t know why but all of sudden I thought of the scene in the movie “Ratatouille”, when the food critic dropped his spoon and had his childhood flashbacks after he sampled Remy’s ratatouille. (And coincidentally, I write restaurant reviews just like that mean food critic!)

Now let’s recap all the dishes we had for the night:
- Crisp fried frog legs with an espresso-ancho dusting served with a radish and jalapeno salsa and chive sour cream
- House-made lamb and smoked boar chorizo with herbed crème fraiche and olive-basil pesto
- Cream of asparagus and fiddlehead soup
- Shaved asparagus, greens, aged goat cheese, toasted almonds and rhubarb chutney
- Moroccan style paella with dried fruit, almonds, and olive studded saffron rice simmered with fresh seafood and smoked garlic sauce
- Roasted duck breast fanned over crisp fried sage spatzle, fiddleheads, asparagus and duck confit finished with a sherry jus
- Goat cheese mousse with praline maple and a fresh doughnut
- Parfait of chocolate cake, chocolate gelato and a rhubarb strawberry compote
It is quite obvious that today’s (vegetable) feature of the day were asparagus and fiddlehead. The chef also had a good supply of goat cheese and a huge jar of rhubarb handy.

Eating local, sustainable produce is a good cause. A chef earns my respect instantly if he/she is willing to source local sustainable products plus changing menus daily. For the level of work he/she has to go through, it takes tremendous determination! But will I go to a restaurant simply based on those factors? Food is meant to be enjoyed after all. If I have to eat so righteously (or shall we say, politically correct?), I find it a bit hard to swallow.

In my opinion, a customer will likely return if 1) food is good; 2) service makes you feel right at home; 3) dirt cheap; 4) no where else to go (luckily #4 is rarely the case in KW). As an independent business determined to provide quality food, it's understandable that #3 is out of question for Uptown 21. Also, it might be quite a stretch to achieve #2 since the service we received wasn't that memorable (on a not-so-busy night). So the deciding factor to attract returning customers for Uptown 21 will be squarely on #1. Both TripleQ and I feel that some items could have turned out better, with more experience and polish. We'd rather see a well sought-after seasonal menu. If it's too boring, make it weekly.

Although we hope that all restaurants thrive in KW, Uptown 21 is definitely one of the few that we really want them to stay. I always enjoy dining at a bistro - small operation with quality (local) food. A place you know you can always take your friends to which is not uptight, yet the food can satisfy any self-acclaimed foodie.

Every city should have at least one of those gathering places, and Uptown 21 has the potential to be one for Uptown Waterloo.

Cora's Breakfast and Lunch

Cora's Breakfast and Lunch

75 King St. South
Waterloo, Ontario N2J 1P2
(Waterloo Town Square)

725 Ottawa St. South
Kitchener, Ontario
(Across from Laurentian Centre)

Going out for breakfast (at anytime of day or night) is a sinful indulgence for me. I'll eat anything greasy and unhealthy for breakfast, from thousand plus calorie McGriddle sandwiches, to eggs drowning in a buttery Hollandaise sauce with a pile of sugary maple breakfast sausages on the side. Cora's has attempted to put a healthier spin on restaurant breakfasts, but at its core Cora's is still a satisfying greasy spoon diner. There may be mounds on fruit on the plate, but you're not going to leave satisfied without some eggs, toast and greasy meat in your belly.

Interestingly, people can generally have the same breakfast day after day, whereas if you feed someone the same thing for dinner over and over you'll hear complaints pretty fast. Almost everyone wants familiar, routine items for breakfast, so there's not a lot of room for creativity (artful fruit sculptures not withstanding). So the key for a successful breakfast restaurant is execution. Cora's has the formula down fairly well -- and as long as you're not expecting fine dining levels of service and quality -- manages to pull it off.

I started off with a strawberry banana smoothie, which could be more accurately be described as a "crunchie". There was enough ice blended in that I suspect the ice to drink ratio was similar to what you'd find in a movie theatre fountain drink. As you can see from the picture, the strawberry on top wasn't very ripe at all, although being the middle of winter probably doesn't help.

For my main, I had the "Eggs Ben et Dictine" which was described as two poached eggs on an english muffin covered with Hollandaise sauce with roasted potatoes and fresh fruit. I chose the version with mushrooms and brie. Overall, it was a hearty portion and looked fantastic with an artful pile of sculpted fruit. On closer inspection, there were unfortunately a few flaws - the most glaring one as you can see in the second picture was that the Hollandaise had broken. Fruit wise, the pineapple wasn't trimmed very well and had a lot of "eyes" remaining. The apple was slightly browned and had a somewhat meely texture. However, I can sympathize with them due to the difficulties of sourcing high quality fresh fruit in the middle of winter and hopefully their offerings in the summer would be better. I don't know if they change up their fruit servings depending on the season, but I suspect they don't because of the inclusion of strawberries (and the fact people like consistency in the breakfasts). The poached eggs were cooked perfectly with lots of runny yolk inside.

Sapphire had the 1990's Harvest. This is cinnamon raisin brioche dipped in french toast batter with egg and bacon on one side and a mountain of fresh fruit on the other. The cinnamon bun was sweet and stale, probably because of all the items sitting on top. It was interesting for the first few bites but things were just not cohesive and she got bored with it and could easily pick
out every flaw: fruit wasn't ripe, apples soggy, bacon over-fried, and buns soggy.

Service was quick and friendly, and the kitchen was reasonably quick with about half of the restaurant filled. Portions were large and very filling for a breakfast or lunch. But don't mistake Cora's for a homely, family run diner where the owner knows your order by heart. With 100 locations now open, this is a corporate chain through and through. While we went to the Kitchener location, if the Waterloo Town Square spot is just as similar, I fear for the future of Angie's which is just outside the mall. While the prices are quite a bit higher, the healthy veneer of lots of fresh fruit will probably attract more of today's health conscious diners.

Opening Soon

There hasn't been a lot of restaurant news to talk about recently, although that's not too surprising in this economic climate. Even The Record seems to be recycling their reviews -- every time they have a new reviewer the same spots are revisited. However, there are a few new openings that we're looking forward to sampling in the near future.

Oliver & Bonacini Cafe Grill - This is a full service restaurant opening up in the recently renovated Conestoga Mall. If you've been to the mall recently, you've probably noticed the "job fair" hiring and publicity that the restaurant has been receiving. I'm a big fan of their more upscale places (Canoe, Jump, Biff's) in Toronto and hope that this more casual oriented franchise will give us a nice alternative to food court "dining" at the mall. The menu seems to be full of classic dishes that should appeal more to the mainstream, yet the compositions seem very well thought out. Michael Bonacini was also one of my favourite chefs to watch on Food Network's Cook Like a Chef so I'm really looking forward to seeing what they will be offering at this level of dining. I'm told they will be opening shortly, sometime in November.

The Bauer Kitchen - Located in the newly constructed Bauer Lofts in Uptown Waterloo, this Charcoal Group restaurant is opening on the heels of their successful Wildcraft restaurant. I don't know a lot about this place, but have heard that it will be slightly more upscale than Wildcraft. This is definitely on our list to try out soon after it opens in December. We'll try to put up a post about it as soon as we can.

Vincenzo's - While not really a restaurant, the specialty food retailer is also moving to the Bauer Lofts. Their Belmont Village place was really bursting at the seams, so it's about time they expanded.

Waterloo Town Square - First, Cora's is moving in and may already be open by the time you read this. Nothing too fancy, just good breakfasts with a large helping of fresh fruit. I'm not sure there is enough room for them and Angie's so close together, and unfortunately I think I know who is going to lose out. Secondly, Moxie's is also coming soon to Waterloo Town Square. I can't say I'm really excited about the food here, but the chain is known for their good looking decor and strict dress code for their servers ;) They will be opening in the current Scotiabank location overlooking the public square, but it probably won't be well into 2010 since Scotia will have to move out (to a King St. frontage location) first.

So even though there hasn't been a lot to post about, hopefully that will be changing in the near future!

Empress of India

Empress of India
103 King Street North
Waterloo, Ontario N2J 2X5

In short, I was not impressed by the Empress. I had fairly high expectations going in; this was their second location (first one is in Guelph) and their website shows some beautifully photographed Indian cuisine. Unfortunately, the food presented at the restaurant came no where close to what I had anticipated.

But let's back up a little. The restaurant recently opened on King St., taking over the very old and tired Maharaja Palace by the north end of Uptown Waterloo. The dark and dreary atmosphere of the old place has been livened up considerably, although the buffet equipment seems like it may have been handed down from the old owners. I was there for the lunch buffet which consisted of two large old steam tables, one with very typical butter chicken, tandoori chicken, naan bread, potato dishes, bean and yogurt sauces, and the other with non-descript salads and rice pudding. While the food was fresh and tasted fine, frankly, the equipment turned me off - it did not convey the message that they were attempting to be anything more than the average buffet.

I suppose I should give them the benefit of the doubt since I'm not very well-versed with Indian cuisine, and perhaps this is just north americanized Indian food similar to the Chinese buffets from the 70's and 80's and I wasn't ordering the right items. Their à la carte menu looks like it has a more depth to it, but after my experience with the lunch, I haven't been inspired to return for another sampling.

Loire Casual Gourmet

119 Harbord Street
Toronto, Ontario

Once in a (very long) while we're able to get away and venture into the big city of Toronto to sample the latest culinary trends. Sadly, it seems that the era of fine dining in Toronto is coming to a close with many high end establishments falling victim to the shrinking expense accounts (and employment, for that matter) of bankers and financiers. So far, we in Kitchener-Waterloo seem to be holding up fairly well, and as long as people keep buying Blackberries it seems this town will do okay.

Rising from ashes are a number of new restaurants that focus on a somewhat lower price point, but still emphasize high quality ingredients, good service, and sophisticated flavours and cooking techniques. We visited one such place a few weeks ago, Loire Casual Gourmet. Rated one of the top new restaurants of 2008 by Toronto Life, we figured it was worth a visit and would be much more affordable than the remaining high end spots.

The restaurant is tucked in a quiet corner away from the shadows of the banking towers, along a street brimming with good restaurants. It has a very neighbourhoody feel to it, and we immediately felt at home as Sylvain (sommelier and owner) led us to our table. Being there for a late afternoon weekday lunch, the place was very quiet but the phone was ringing off the hook for dinner reservations, so there certainly seems to be a buzz about the place.

We started out with a selection of charcuterie ($15), the trendy menu item that is popping up on restaurants everywhere. Essentially cured meats, this plate contained pork rillette (the jar of a pate like substance - meat cooked in fat and meant to be used as a spread on the bread). Very delicious, as anything with lots of pork fat generally is. Moving clockwise we had some cornichon (french pickle) with frisée, proscuitto, and cubed apples. Next was the most delicious item on the plate, a homemade maple and tarragon mustard. The balance of the flavours was simply perfect. Finally, at the bottom of the picture was a chicken liver pate. This was incredibly smooth and rich and literally melted in our mouths. Overall everything was superb, but this dish is definitely not for calorie counters or those with clogged arteries.

The other appetizer was a goat cheese topped with pistachios and arugula salad ($13). The goat cheese with pistachios was a great combination, but the salad and dressing wasn't terribly memorable.

For my main, I had the braised pulled-pork sandwich ($14). It was served on multigrain bread with carmelized apples. On the side was a chipolte mayo and home fries. The pork was very tender and moist, especially when combined with the juicy apples. The fries were very finely cut, and mostly crisp, but some where a little soggy. The mayo was nice but wasn't very heavy on the chipolte, and enough was provided that you could easily put on some weight if you finished it all. The execution was very good, but the plate lacked a little green - both visually and for taste balance.

Sapphire had the Lake Erie white fish with mung-bean carrot ragu, chinese greens (bok choy) and blood orange yogurt ($19). The fish skin was crisp (nicely presented facing up so it would remain so!) and the flesh was tender. It had that grassy/earth taste that is distinct to some fresh water fish, but not overpoweringly so. The combination was interesting -- certainly not something I would have come up with myself -- but didn't click as a whole to make it an exceptional dish.

We shared two desserts - one was the pecan tart with honey-thyme roasted pear puree and butterscotch gelato ($9) and the other a lemongrass-ginger crème brûlée with a mini coconut cake ($9). The tart was very sweet and probably would have gone better with a less sweet gelato. I felt the need to drink something between every bite, but perhaps I'm just getting old and can't hold my sugar like I used to be able to. The crème brûlée was also very strongly flavoured but nice, and the coconut cake was perfectly toasted and full of intense coconut flavour.

Service was friendly and prompt, although with only 3-4 four tables it was not especially difficult for Sylvain to service all the tables by himself.

I would have to agree with Toronto Life that this place has great potential. While the dishes are not at the extreme high end of cuisine, it is certainly a restaurant that is suitable for the current times. A more down to earth, friendly dinner spot with good quality, well executed bistro fair. Contrast this with Splendido -- which we coincidentally visited recently as well -- just a couple of blocks down the road. This was a place for the pre-bailout era and as a result, it is undergoing a reinvention of itself to compete with with more affordable places. Here at Loire, the title casual gourmet fits perfectly.

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.